11 Things People Who Pack Their Lunches Always Do

This story was originally published on May 10, 2016.

Maybe it's because I always got hot lunch in the cafeteria at school, but I'm a disaster when it comes to packing my own. I know I should do it; I even routinely pledge to turn over a new leaf — and inevitably fail. And while many of my Refinery29 colleagues suffer from a similar affliction, I began realizing that there are those who have achieved a higher level of being. They are the ones who pack their lunch every day.

After staring at them blankly in the office kitchen as they plated their lovely leftovers or homemade salads, I had to know their secrets. Thankfully, since I write about food, I could interrogate everyone with the excuse of writing an article about it. And, as it turns out, they had lots of good tricks that made even a Seamless addict like myself hopeful that I, too, could become a brown-bag ninja.

Ahead, 11 secrets from people who actually remember to bring their lunch every damn day — and save serious money doing it.