About 50 percent of Canadian Living survey respondents say they eat out or order in once a week or more. It might be convenient, but if you're buying your lunch, it can get expensive— and it's easy to rack up calories. Use these tips to pack delicious healthful lunches, and save money while you're at it.

1. Build a canning-jar salad. Put dressing at the bottom, then stack the salad ingredients from least to most likely to get soggy (lettuce at the top!) to keep the ingredients fresh and appealing. When you're ready for lunch, shake your salad in the jar or toss it in a bowl.

2. Try a tiffin box. These stackable stainless-steel food containers let you pack food separately, so you can graze on healthful foods all day. In the first container, keep your morning fruit and yogurt; in the second, include a quinoa salad; then at the bottom, store whole grain crackers or trail mix for an afternoon snack.

3. Pack ingredients separately, then assemble them when it's time to eat. Bring whole grain bread, avocado and other toppings and create an open-faced avocado sandwich at your desk. Try keeping oil and vinegar at your workstation so you can dress salad with a healthful vinaigrette.

Check out these 7 lunch bowls perfect for work.

This story was originally titled "Do Lunch Differently" in the March 2015 issue.             Subscribe to Canadian Living today and never miss an issue!