Cut your Spending with these Take your Lunch to Work Containers

Did you make a New Year’s resolution to save on eating out this year? Perhaps you just want some healthier lunch options? According to a 2012 study, nearly half of Americans buy coffee on workdays and 66 percent of workers regularly buy their lunch. On average, that totals up to about $1,000 spent on coffee each year and nearly $2,000 spent on lunch!

If you cut that in half by taking your lunch to work, you would have an additional $1,500 a year to go on vacation, spend on holiday gifts or put into a savings account each year. With that in mind, here are some of our favorite to-go lunch containers that are a step above the traditional lunchbox.

BNTO Jars

Inspired by Japanese bento boxes, the BNTO (ben-toh) canning jar is designed to fit inside your lunch container. Yet it’s stylish enough to simply carry it into a professional work setting.

Basically, you can put one or two different snacks in the main compartment of the jar and fill a secondary container with dipping sauce, salad dressing, yogurt, applesauce, etc… This prevents everything from becoming a soggy mess by lunchtime. (Retail MSRP: $10 to $12)

Check Price on Amazon

Sistema Klip It Salad Container

Ideal for hitting your New Year’s resolution fitness goals, having a handy salad container for your next lunch is ideal. Similar to the BNTO jars, the Sistema Klip It lets you put different ingredients in partitioned sections of the container.

You can fill the bottom with leafy lettuce as well as other ingredients that won’t make the salad mushy by lunch. There are three areas on the top for other snacks / ingredients as well as salad dressing. It even comes with utensils! (Retail MSRP: $8 to $16)

Check Price on Amazon

Contain This Perfect Sandwich Box

The sandwich is a fantastically economical way to save money on lunch, however there’s one main problem with taking a sandwich to work. The bread absorbs moisture from wet ingredients and makes the bread soggy by lunch. Enter the Perfect Sandwich container.

This container allows you to place all your core sandwich ingredients at the bottom of the container, close one half and place two regular-sized pieces of bread on the top, then snap it shut. You have to build the sandwich at lunch, but everything will be fresh.

In addition, the cold pack built into the box will keep your wet ingredients at a chilly 40 degrees for up to five hours, ideal for lunchtime. (Retail MSRP: $15 to $22)

Check Price on Amazon

Thermos Stainless King Food Jar

If you are a fan of something hot to eat for lunch, like soup or pasta, look no further than the King Food Jar from Thermos. Providing a 16-ounce capacity for larger meals, this canister will keep your food piping hot for up to nine hours.

The outside of the container is cool to the touch, due to the double wall insulation. It comes with a fold-able spoon that pops into place on the screw-top. (Retail MSRP: $25)

Check Price on Amazon

BentoHeaven Bento Box

If you prefer a lighter lunch and love Bento Box style meals, we like the BentoHeaven design for a few reasons. The case is designed to be leakproof when locked and includes ventilation locks to keep food fresh.

It comes with a set of cutlery as well as chopsticks and the containers are microwave safe if you need to reheat something. It also has more of a professional design, ideal for the workplace. (Retail MSRP: $40)

Check Price on Amazon

Coleman Soft Cooler With Hard Liner

While lacking in design, this Coleman cooler wins out as a lunch bag due to the superior build quality as well as the massive storage capacity. Ideal for anyone that have to eat mulitple meals / snacks at work, the Coleman bag is big enough for nine 12-ounce cans of soda.

There are also 3 additional pockets for storage and bungee straps on the lid for storing even more. The removable hard liner is ideal for cleaning the bag as well. (Retail MSRP: $30)

Check Price on Amazon

Fit & Fresh Classic Insulated Lunch Bag

If you are looking for a more stylish bag to carry your lunch in, check out the Fit & Fresh insulated bag. Sporting the traditional brown bag design, this bag comes with a non-toxic ice pack to keep your lunch cool as well as a brown buckle to close it up.

Roughly the size of a gallon of milk, the bag can hold mulitple Tupperware containers as well as a drink. There’s also an interior pocket for utensils or other items. (Retail MSRP: $26)

Check Price on Amazon

Stanley 7QT Heritage Cooler

If you work outside of an office and need a container that will stand up to rougher conditions, check out the Stanley 7QT cooler. While the cooler is big enough to hold mulitple containers of food, Stanley has included a 1.1QT (35-ounces) vacuum insulated thermos as well.

The thermos locks into place at the top of the cooler and keeps drinks / food hot up to 24 hours. In addition, the lid to the cooler can be removed in order to use it as a clean lap tray while you eat. (Retail MSRP: $80)

Check Price on Amazon

Related Posts

• 

  20 Creative Ways to Reuse Your Old iPhone
  20 Creative Ways to Reuse Your Old iPhone
• 

  6 Inexpensive Items to Upgrade Your Living Room this Weekend
  6 Inexpensive Items to Upgrade Your Living Room this Weekend
• 

  Five Best & Five Worst Things to Buy at Kohl’s
  Five Best & Five Worst Things to Buy at Kohl’s
• 

  7 Ways to Save When Moving into an Apartment
  7 Ways to Save When Moving into an Apartment