How much do you save by bringing your own lunch to work?

In Italy, choosing to bring your lunch to work rather than go out during your lunch break can save you up to €3,200 a year, the equivalent of almost two months' salary.

This financial advantage has been quantified by an analysis from Bravo, a fintech company specializing in debt management.

Takeaway lunch and its impact on monthly budget

According to the study, regular use of a 'packed lunch' saves an average of €263 per month. When extending the calculation to the whole year, the figure rises to €3,200 per year.

How much does eating out really cost?

The study also looked at the average cost of a meal out: for a standard meal consisting of a plate of pasta, water and coffee, the average bill is around €16 in northern Italy, while it drops to around €13 in southern Italy.

Preparing the same meal at home would cost around €1.70, including items such as home-cooked pasta, water from the dispenser and coffee from vending machines.

Cities where savings are greatest

The areas with the highest potential savings are: Milan, Monza-Brianza, Parma, Modena and Bologna, where savings can reach up to €3,630 per year. In the central and southern regions of Italy, the economic advantage falls to around €2,760 per year, mainly due to lower prices for meals out. However, compared with local incomes, the advantage remains substantial.

Meal planning and preparation

To reduce the burden associated with organizing meal preparation, Bravo suggests concentrating work on weekends or on a single evening. (...) This approach has also found its way onto social media networks, where content dedicated to 'Meal Prep' and quick recipes for the working week is increasing.

A simple choice in times of soaring prices

In an era marked by a general rise in the cost of living, bringing lunch to work is proving to be a practical and easily accessible solution and helps lighten daily expenses as well as improve the balance of the family budget.

(MP/GreenMe.it/Translation and adaptation: The Global Money/Pic: Unsplash)