Working moms: How to save $100 next month

I saw this great thread in the Frugal Mom’s group at Work It, Mom!, about how to save $100 a month, and I started to chime in, but when my reply grew to, well, blog-length, I thought I’d move it here. (At first, I thought the question was how to save $100 a WEEK, and I went all dizzy. But $100 a month is doable). You've already read about how I get the most out of my grocery budget; here's what I do to save a little more money each month:

1.) Bring your own lunch. If you buy lunch at work, and you spend $7 per lunch, bringing your own lunch four days a week (treat yourself on the fifth, if you want) saves you $28 a week, or about $112 a month.

2.) Bring your own coffee. I drink tea at the office, but I love a good cup of coffee (or three). Invest in a sturdy travel mug and commute with your own coffee instead of buying it on the road; you’ll save anywhere from $5 to $35 a week or more. (If you can’t live without your latte, put some milk in a container with a tight-fitting lid, shake it up well, and voila! Frothy goodness to go!)

3.) Drink tea at work. Did I mention that I drink tea at the office, even though I’m a coffee drinker at home? There are two reasons for this: a.) the coffee at work costs $2.50 a cup and tastes like brown crayons melted in a hot water, with a little ground mulch for flavor, and b.) a box of 20 jasmine-green tea bags costs less than $1 at my little local Asian grocery store, fits nicely in my desk, and hot water is free. So, instead of paying $2.50 for a cup of gak, I pay five cents for a cup of jasmine-scented deliciousness. Two cups a day saves me about $25 a week. (OK, fine, $24.50.)

4.) Ditch the juice boxes. Last summer, I was packing seven juice boxes A DAY into my kids’ lunch boxes. That’s 35 juice boxes a week. That’s crazy. This year, everyone is getting a screw-top Nalgene bottle filled with homemade lemonade, and I’m saving at least $10 a week, maybe more.

5.) Cook an extra dinner on the weekend, and stash it in the freezer. There are plenty of recipes — chili, stews, curries, lasagna, pork chops — that take practically no extra effort to double up. Later in the week, save the $10 you were going to spend on a pizza and pull that extra meal out of the freezer instead.

Share your tips in the comments -- we could all use a little inspiration (not to mention an extra $100)!

Lylah is a full-time editor, a freelance writer, and mom and step mom to five kids. She writes about juggling career and parenthood at The 36-Hour Day on Work It, Mom!, and blogs about writing at Write. Edit. Repeat.