I went to the grocery store the other day with $7 in my hand. My mission: to buy enough food to feed myself lunch for the next week.

You see, food is one of those areas in which I'm not especially frugal on a regular basis. It is too easy to go on my lunch break, grab some fast food for $4 or $5 (if you're lucky), eat it on the way back to the office and then sit back down at my desk for the last four hours of the day.

Not the most healthy scenario to be sure, but it's quick and easy . . . and expensive.

Which led me to try to find ways to reduce costs, not just on food but on all the money I spend during working hours. For the sake of this experiment, I expanded the definition of working hours to include my commute. Here are a few of the ways I discovered to help me save some money. There's nothing groundbreaking here, but they are helpful reminders that can save big money in the long run.

1. No more coffee
This may be a really hard one for some people, but you can save tons of money making your coffee at home rather than stopping and picking up a $4 cup on the way in to work. Think about it: If you could reduce the amount you spend on coffee a week from $20 to $1, then you could save close to $100 a month on this alone.
The key to saving money is rarely about the big stuff. Most of the time it is because we nickel-and-dime ourselves to death.

2. Bottled water is NOT your friend
Some offices provide drinks for their employees, whether it is soda or a water cooler. If that is you, then you are one of the lucky ones. For those who aren't so lucky, it is very easy to pick up a bottle of water to take with you. The thing is, bottled water is often the quintessential example of wasting money. Most of the time, it is just tap water that you are paying someone to put in a bottle. Why not buy a bottle of your own, fill it up each morning from the tap and save yourself the $2 per day?
Just like with coffee, if you add that up it could save you $40 a month (and that assumes you are buying only one bottle a day).

3. Pack your lunch.
Let's go back to my $7 shopping spree. With that money, I was able to buy lunch meat ($4), a loaf of bread (78 cents), some mustard (59 cents) and two packages of ramen (49 cents each). This has given me more than enough food to last for the next five to seven days, and I still had a dollar left over. I can feed myself for around $1 dollar per day.
Now, this definitely didn't solve the "healthy eating" issue, but if you are spending only a dollar a day on lunch, you can afford to bump that up to $2 and pack fruit and other nutritious items. It's cheaper than fast food and much better for you.

4. Avoid rush hour
Maybe it is impossible for some of you, but try coming into work 30 minutes early or leaving 30 minutes late. Not only will it make you look good for your boss, you could very well avoid the worst of the traffic in your commute. This saves money on gas mileage and could very likely get you home at roughly the same time as you would have been home if you'd left earlier.

The point is this: Saving money doesn't have to happen in large chunks. In every area of our lives, there are ways to save a few dollars. Those dollars will always add up into something bigger and can make a world of difference.

Dylan Biles is a moderator and bargain-hunter for DealTaker.com, an online shopping Web site owned by Media General. E-mail dylan@dealtaker.com or follow him on Twitter @dylanbiles.