Save Money | 4 Baon Ideas for Less Than 500 Pesos

One way to save money is to pack lunch to work.

My company actually provides food for free but I sometimes miss eating something different, so at times I bring baon / pack lunch to work.

This is kind of timely because I chose to have high protein on my diet. So I always need hearty food so it can keep me full for a long time and keeps me from craving food that has a lot of sugar.

I will be doing 4 meals for this week good for single serving.

·         Read: Save Money 10K a Month April Update

·         Read: Save Money Lose Weight W/o Breaking my Budget

·         Read: Save Money 10K a Month

Grocery List

Here’s my grocery list total of 396 pesos, I apologize because this amount is just estimated, I am not that good with remembering prices. Also, this does not include usual ingredients such as garlic, onion, and tomatoes please adjust your budget accordingly.

I actually wanted to add more beef maybe 250 pesos worth of ground beef would be ideal for 4 recipes I am doing for this week but I just ended up having this pre-packaged portion. I will see if I need to add more within this week and I will keep this blog updated if I need to do that.

·        Ground beef                           170

·        Potato                                       10   

·        Carrots                                      20

·        Canned green beans                20

·        Garbanzos                                20

·        Raisin                                                   5

·        Egg 1/2 dozen                           30

·        Single serve fresh milk              42   

·        Mushroom mix                          39

·        Green Bell Pepper                     20

·        Tomato Sauce                           20             396.00

4 Recipes for the Week

Burger steak

·        Combine 3 eggs, shredded carrots, onion and ground beef

·        Add salt, pepper and seasoning to taste

·        Shallow fry in high heat

·        Sauce: Follow the instruction in the packet add parts of milk and water, then boil the beef patties in the sauce then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Tip: Prepping Beef

I will cook my frozen ground beef all at once so it will be easy for me to make recipe sday after day.

Filipino Style Beef Picadillo

·        Saute garlic, onions and tomatoes, then add green peas, carrots, potatoes and beef.

·        Mix for 2-3 minutes to combine flavour.

·        Simmer with little water for 5 minutes then add tomato sauce and raisins and simmer for another 5 minutes. Don’t forget to season.

Ground Beef Caldereta

·        Saute garlic, onions and tomatoes, then add garbanzos / chickpeas, carrots, potatoes and beef.

·        Mix for 2-3 minutes, add a teaspoon of caldereta mix for flavour.

·        Simmer with little water for 5 minutes then add tomato sauce, simmer for another 5 minutes with the bell pepper to maintain a little bit of bite. Season to your liking.

Beefy Egg Omelette

·        Sauté onions and tomatoes wait until tomatoes are fully cooked.

·        Add beef and then sauté for 3 minutes then add bell pepper.

·        Add 3 pcs beaten egg and season to taste.

Final Thoughts

This meal can be stretch into two servings, just be generous with your vegetables and it will go a long way.

Another important thing I want to include here is that choosing real food vs processed food actually makes you stick to your budget better because real food is packed with nutrients that will sustain you throughout the day.

I tried saving money before and chose fried chicken nuggets for pack lunch every other day. Aside from not being healthy, this makes me even more hungry at the end of the day because my body is craving for nutrients that I need for me to live.

So instead of saving money, I ended up destroying my budget and spend more on food than I should be.

That is it for my tip.

Saving is important but it has to be balance with all the aspect of our lives and that includes our health.

That is it for now!

Thanks for reading all the way.

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