Reusable Lunch Bags

I pack my lunch almost everyday, except when I have a lunch meeting. I find that I can generally pack a healthier lunch than I can purchase. Even when I go out some place that has a salad bar and feel like I am generally eating a good lunch, I find myself adding things to my salad plate that quickly add up - cheese, croutons, bacon, crackers, macaroni salad, etc. I tend to use more salad dressing when I get the salad bar than when I pack a salad with dressing in separate container. Also, when it comes to estimating how much I ate, in order to calculate the PointsPlus values of the food, I find that I have a hard time. Was it 4 oz of chicken that I added - or a little more/less? If I eat out too often, you can see it reflected in my success (or lack there of) for the week.

So, as I said, packing my lunch lets me be in control of what I am eating. I can measure out my servings and calculate the PointsPlus values before I consume them. When I eat out, usually I wind up calculating the values after I eat rather thhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifan before. The exception is if I am going out to dinner somewhere where I know what I order and can 'budget' for the trip ahead of time.

When it comes to packing my lunch, I used to Brown Bag-it. I would typically reuse the same bag for days or weeks, as long as it lasted. I would fill it with a mix of plastic containers and plastic bags. The plastic bags and eventually, the browhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifn bags too, would get thrown away. Not only did this feel wasteful, but it also got to be expensive.

Finally, one day, I bought myself a reusable lunch bag. It is lightly insulated, which helps to keep my lunch cool until I get it into the refrigerator at work. Then, a couple of years ago, I found a solution for replacing my plastic bags http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif(at least many of them), I tried a reusable sandwich bag. I only have two, but I generally use one for my sandwich and one for vegetables (or sometimes a cookie or chips!). I was thinking about getting more. I saw this deal today for Re-Pac Bags and decided the time was right to get a couple more bags. Their style is different, using zippers instead of velcro. I liked that I could get a $24 voucher for only $12 through Mamapedia Sweet Deals. (if you are a first time Mamapedia Sweet Deals buyer, you can use coupon code FRIENDS2 to save $2 on this deal as well)

Using a reusable lunch bag and reusable lunch bags, is environmentally friendly and a way to save money. This post shared at Frugal Friday.

No compensation was received for this post. I am a Weight Watchers Insider and have received free access to their online tools.