Lunch - $2 or less

My office was built in 1995 in a beautiful location south of Seattle. The campus has trees, walking paths, a view of a lake, and occasionally sightings of eagles, herons, ducks, geese, and woodpeckers. The price for that beauty is having nowhere in walking distance for lunch.

Over the years, we've had various vendors in to service a canteen. The current group does a good job, and I don't mind supporting them because it's a ministry teaching job skills. And I love their salads. Problem is, when I put my change in the tip jar, it's $7 for a salad. That works out to $35 a week, which is an expense we can't justify with two weddings coming up.

The solution I've come to is to keep frozen meals on hand. Most weeks, my Safeway store has Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, or its own store brand of healthy meals on sale. These are:

Fast: I just grab one out of the freezer in the morning and cook it for 3-5 minutes at lunchtime.

Frugal: Usually on sale for $2 or less. Wal-Mart often has them for $1.89. Look for coupons. Saves enough you can splurge somewhere else (my favorite is Diet Snapple).

Fit: Some are as few as 5 Weight Watchers Points Plus, but most are 7 or 8. For now, I'm not so concerned about a point or two. As I get closer to goal, I'll write the points on each when I bring them home from the store so I know which to choose in the morning.