Saving money as a single can be difficult. You’d think it wouldn’t be, since there is only one of you, but cooking for one can be more expensive and time intensive. And when you’re busy and tired you don’t want to spare that extra time. You end up living on prepared foods and take out. After all, who wants to cook for one? So how to save money in the biggest money waster: food?

First you have to be willing to invest some time. How much will be up to you. One of the big money wasters is going to be lunch. Do you buy lunch at work every day? Or even once a week? It all adds up. Its much cheaper to bring your lunch, but that takes a little planning and possibly the investment of an insulated bag, thermos, reusable microwavable contains and everyday preparation of the food.

Some simple lunch ideas:

Peanut butter and jam sandwich (you’re never too old)

Chili in the thermos and corn chips or small containers of cheese, sour cream or whatever topping you like.

Packets of instant oatmeal, a small container of nuts and some fruit.  *you CAN make your own instant oatmeal. But the
savings over a bought lunch would more than justify the cost of buying a convenience product)*

A leftover baked potato and whatever toppings you like

Don’t forget to add some fruit to your meals, apples, pears and bananas are all easy to carry and store.

A can of soup, a microwave container and a can opener.  Probably the most simple.

Cheese and crackers and fruit.

Frozen burrito *you can make these ahead and freeze them yourself. They aren’t as pretty but can be even tastier than store bought with everything you like in them.

Last night’s leftovers.

Any hot soups in a thermos. Fill the thermos with boiling water to heat it up first, then dump that out and add your hot foods. You could even put pasta with sauce in there if you don’t have a microwave at work.

Don’t forget to bring a drink If you have access to a refrigerator that’s great, if not make use of a thermos and/or insulated lunch sacks.  There are packages of ‘shelf stable’ milk boxes, soy milk boxes and my favorite, almond milk boxes that you can take along and need no refrigeration. I cant drink them warm however, so I’d either need chocolate *and heat it up* or to chill them before hand. With things like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and baked goods you can freeze them and by lunch time they should be thawed but still chilled. The same will work for water or tea in a reusable bottle. Just don’t fill them to the top, they need room to expand.

Be sure to add some sweets, maybe even extra so you don’t need to use a vending machine later. Bakes some brownies and as soon as they cool cut them up and wrap them and store them to take with you. *I say as soon as they are done because otherwise, if they are just sitting out I will eat them rather than save them, and I suspect I am not alone in this.* Do the same with cookies, though they don‘t need to be frozen. Freezing just helps me keep from eating them too quick and keep them from drying out too quickly.  Frozen fudge is nice, and will melt in your mouth, but will thaw as well. I don’t know how this works for pie. Even bags of animal crackers can be a nice healthier alternative for snacking at work.

This is only a small list of possibilities. What you can take for lunch and snacking at work is only limited by your tastes and imagination. Try new tastes, new dishes, new combos in old favorites. Don’t be afraid to freeze and microwave.

As for dealing with the after word too-tired-to-cook, try to cook ahead. Or have precook ingredients on hand that you can just heat up into a fresh meal. For instance, some precooked rice and veggies reheat easily for a stir-fry. You’d probably add meat to that, but that too can be precooked and in the fridge ready to go. Just enough for one ‘fresh cooked’ meal at a time. Left over cooked rice can also very easily make rice pudding. I like hot brown rice for breakfast, with some sweetener and milk. Like oatmeal but chewier. it’s a nice change from the usual. I don’t particularly like precooked pasta, but its so quick that it doesn’t take more then ten minutes (depending on the type) to cook, and in that time you can heat the sauce, a frozen veggie or two and even some garlic bread. 

Equipment can save you time as well. Crock pots are great for having dinner ready when you get home. Don’t feel the need to limit yourself to just soup. They can cook potatoes, as well, while you are at work, for hot fresh baked potato for dinner. I do not have a pressure cooker, but I hear they are also wonderful for quickly cooking long cooking items like beans.  If you eat a lot of beans and like to make them from dry this might be an investment you’d be interested in.

Remember, diet is tied to health and the healthier you can keep yourself with your own efforts the less health care you have to pay for later. With that in mind, there are many cheap alternatives and a few that are more expensive but are wroth it in the long run. Whole grain pasta, rather than white, is one of the more expensive, but worthy purchases. Make sure a box or two is in your cart. Home made sauce is a bit more time intensive but leaves out the excess oil and sugar of the store bought. Though the store bought jarred sauces can be healthy. Just read the labels. Brown rice over white rice is by far healthier. Both come in instant, though dry is probably healthier. Either dry or instant, brown rice is the superior choice. Dried or canned beans are also still a cheap healthy option.  And there is no need to worry about ‘protein combining’ that’s no longer considered necessary. So go for the rice and beans. Make extra, I’ve found that it freezes well and reheats nicely. Add peas to pasta and sauce for an extra kick of protein and an extra veggie.  Peas are cheaper than meat, so this might be a good option when you are especially strapped. And a healthier alternative to mac’n’cheese, even with peas and tuna.  Unless you were making that from scratch with real cheese and whole grain pasta. It does cost a little more than mac’n’cheese or ramen noodles or a can of speghettiO’s. In the long run it is worth it.

Remember, store bought is cheaper than takeout, and homemade is cheaper than store bought. But as cost goes down, time needed goes up. Its up to you to find a good balance.  You don’t have to change all at once, give up all your outings to the local Chinese take-out in one go. Taper off slowly. Start slowly. Make a batch of brownies (remember the freezing individually trick to keep some for the next few days) for the week, and take one to work everyday.  Make a crock pot soup (the simplest to make) one day the next week to have a healthy dinner to come home to. Freeze leftover that you wont eat in the next few days for a few weeks later.  Take a sandwich to work for lunch a few times a week. The little things will start to add up and become habits.

If time is the issue, or you just hate to cook, go for the store bought convenience foods over eating out. Make health a bigger priority than eating cheap and go ahead and buy those pre-chopped veggies, or prepared sauces. Instant oatmeal and even dry cereal are still healthier cheaper alternatives than a donut or Danish from 7-11. Cereals like Chex can even be eaten on the run without milk, as finger food. Most could be, but the smaller ones might be messier when going over a pot hole in the car.

If nothing else, remember, your biggest food money waster is going to be eating out, usually at work. If you can cut that, even a little, you’re likely to see big savings at the end of the month.

Cheap Chili:
Heat together one can of chopped tomatoes and one can of chili beans in sauce. Add one can of corn if you like. Spice with chili power or hot sauce, anything you have on hand. Eat.  *feel free to add all the extras you want, this is more of a base recipe, but is good as is. Cheap and easy too.

Three ingredient peanut butter cookies:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg

Mix ingredients together. Drop by spoonfuls on parchment paper lined baking sheets. Bake at 350F for 6 - 8 minutes. Do not overbake. Bottoms should be just brown.
A little more time intensive but worth it.

Soda Cake:
Combine one box cake mix with one can *12 oz* soda (dark soda for dark cakes, light for light. Though grape or strawberry or orange soda with white cake is fun)
Bake according to package directions. 
Not so healthy, plenty simple, fairly cheap.