Buying a lunchtime salad at one of those healthy, made-to-order places is the ultimate in workday convenience — they usually have you out the door in 10 minutes flat, with a meal that won't make you want to take a nap under your desk. So, what's the catch? The price, of course. Usually the classic base salads start around $8 or $10, but build your own, and it can quickly costs upward of $15. And, that's not even factoring in the cost of a tip on the days we're swamped and opt to get it delivered.

If you spend $15 on lunch five days a week, you're looking at close to $4,000 by the end of the year. That's shocking...so shocking that we challenged ourselves to recreate some of the lunch salads we're always ordering for a whole lot cheaper. And, it turns out, you can make many of them for right around $5 a serving. That's less than half of what we're already spending, plus you'll feel like a total superstar for packing your lunch. Sounds like a win, win to us.