I’m always asked by friends, family, and even coworkers how I prepare meals for the week. There normal response always being, “I don’t have time to do that,” or “I don’t cook much.”

It really isn’t that difficult to make some lunches for the week. I find myself making a variety of meals throughout the week because I have a bit of time but you can batch make anyone of these meals for the week, or make one or two meals of a few different types and have some variety in your meals. Let’s face it, that’s a big reason why people don’t pack lunch. Who doesn’t get sick of eating the same meal everyday?

So here are some ideas that I personally use to make lunch. I judge these ideas based on grocery store sales, what I have on hand, what I feel like eating, and knowing if I have access to a microwave (changes everything).

Meal 1: Spaghetti and Sauce

This is a really easy one to prepare, only takes about 10 minutes, and is super cheap to make. If you make an entire pound of pasta, you can get 2, if not 3 meals out of it. Just cook your pasta and heat up a jar of sauce of your choice and you are ready to go.

Meal 2: Sandwich

Of course I need to mention the sandwich because its easy and cheap. If you find it boring, I understand. Go ahead and skip to the next meal.

There are so many different sandwiches you can make. My personal favorite is some toast with sun-dried tomato spread, roasted red peppers, onions, topped with some fresh spinach. With a side of kettle-cooked potato chips, its an easy meal. But you can make any sort. Just try to make it a hearty sandwich so your not hungry again in 2 hours.

Meal 3: Burrito Bowl

This is one of my favorites because you can make these anyway you want. They are super hearty. Just start with some cooked rice, brown rice would be the most filling. I like sauteing peppers and onions but is totally optional. Add some frozen corn, a few spoonfuls of canned beans, I prefer black beans, cheese, lettuce, and a spoonful of salsa. But again, all of this is optional. Make your own combination, customize it to your taste buds. The hardest part is cooking rice, only takes 10 minutes.

Meal 4: Stir fry

This one takes a bit more time but is very rewarding. You can use some of your cooked rice from your burrito bowl or try cooking up some rice noodles to change things up. You can either buy some fresh veggies that you like or in the frozen section, there are bags of stir fry veggies ready to go. Just add the veggies to a pan with some oil and cook. Towards the end, add a few splashes of soy sauce to give it some flavor. Just mix in the rice and you are good to go.

Meal 5: Soup

This one also takes a bit more time but if you make this in bulk, you can make a bunch of meals with it. You can make any type of soup, or even just a can can do. I like to take some vegetable broth with a bag of frozen veggies and cook them until they can’t be cooked anymore. Easy soup.

So there is a 5 day lunch meal plan. All these meals can be made super cheap. A lot cheaper then eating out everyday. They also taste amazing. They are customizable to your time and taste buds. So stop wasting your money on going out to eat for lunch everyday. If not everyday, at least try some of these meals as baby steps towards bringing your own lunch everyday.