Cheaper to pack lunches rather than buy school lunches?

  • Thread starter Thread starter masondoggy
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

masondoggy

Guest
I’m not so sure anymore. Wondering what you all here think. Our schools raised the cost of lunches this year and so I decided to pack lunches this year to save money. I HATE packing lunches. With a passion. But we need to make cuts right now and that’s the first place to do it.

But now I’m not so sure I’m really saving any money. Lunch foods are so expensive. DD doesn’t like pb&j so I have to buy lunch meat and cheese. Fruit is expensive. I try to avoid snack pack items because they’re way too expensive X’s 3 kids. But I haven’t found much else to buy in bulk that’s really saving money and is healthy.

I think it costs around $37-$38 to buy lunch tickets for the week. I probably spend just under that to pack lunches so I don’t think I’m really saving much. It’s hard to add it up because we buy a lot of things at Sam’s club.

Soooo…do other parents pack lunches for the kids or buy? Do you feel that you save money? Any suggestions for packing a healthy lunch dirt cheap? Or at least that doesn’t cost and arm and a leg?
 
think outside the lunchbox

the biggest waster of money I think is food kids don’t eat whether from the school or from home, so pack what they will eat, in the form they will eat it. If they won’t eat a whole apple cut it up. there are so many better options for how to pack, to keep foods hot and cold, that you can send anything nowdays–mac and cheese, hot dog, whatever. bear in mind to purchase a good insulated lunch bag and containers may set you back as much as a semester of school lunches.

be sure to pack a snack for after school if they stay for activities

involve the kids in planning and packing the lunches (I did it for our family from 5th grade until I graduated high school, because our parochial school stopped the hot lunch program).

make a menu of 5-10 foolproof lunches that they eat, that you can afford, and just repeat the cycle. 5 is enough to start.

make all the sandwiches for the week on Sunday night, pack in plastic sandwich bags, then (reusable) freezer bags, just take out enough for each day.

Make a batch of high-power muffins with added fruit and nuts, powdered milk or whey protein, other flours with more protein, or go the savory route with added cheese.

one muffin with cheese cubes, or yogurt and fruit or veggies should do it. (I once got a call from Sister about giving my kids nothing but dessert for lunch until I explained my recipe, which has more protein and less fat and sugar than a PBJ sandwich).

look at those expensive lunch packs in the deli aisle, and take a cue from them, and make something similar of your own. They must have done market research and know the kids will eat them.

you don’t have to buy things like pudding, jello and yogurt cups, you can make your own bulk recipe, in paper cups, cover with foil or plastic wrap, they will keep until lunchtime in an insulated lunch box.

same with cheese, buy bulk, cut in cubes or strips, put one ounce servings in snack bags.

don’t by packaged lunch meat, buy cook and slice or cut in cubes or strips–chicken, ham, turkey breast, whatever they will eat. When you put these in snack bags (2-3 strips, 6-8 cubes, or slices, however they like to eat it), put what won’t be used in a week in (reusable) freezer bag or container and take out as needed. they will thaw by lunchtime

get the gadget that cuts and cores an apple, throw the slices in a sandwich bag, spritz with lemon juice and shake, they will stay fresh until lunch or even after school.

oranges are getting cheap now, cut in quarters to make it easier to eat, or in half moons. If you pack half apple, have orange slice, that will keep the apple from browning.

the fruit that comes in 3 lb bags is cheaper, and usually smaller, so much kid-friendlier, just examine to make sure there is no bad one in the bag

have kids make hobo salads–cut up celery, carrots, cuke slices.

I save babyfood and other small jars for dip and dressing, if they remember to bring them home, fine, otherwise they can be tossed.

give kids a bonus or treat if they remember to bring home containers, and penalize them if they lose a lunchbox. (there are at least a dozen sitting in the school lost and found at any given time, and these were expensive, probably still full of rotting food).

get the kids involved in planning and packing

anything in a tortilla wrap or pita pocket seems more appealing but you can make a slice of ordinary cheap bread into a wrap as well, just wrap it tight in plastic.
 
I don’t know either. We aren’t even allowed to pack pb&j at school due to kids with allergies. I have 4 in school, so packing lunches is a production but paying lunches X 4 is painful, too. What we do is they eat lunch at school when it’s something they like and they pack a lunch when it’s something they don’t like. Probably not money saving, but it works for us. 🤷
 
My kids pack lunches but they both hate sandwiches… so to solve this I buy a big box of granola bars at Sam’s club, and a box of prepackaged chips… and those fruit roll up things… then cases and cases of bottled water. To splurge I buy dd banana chips and ds gets sunflower seeds… I think I spend about $50 a month for 2 kids. Now here is the kicker… DD goes to private school with really nice new facilities… DS goes to public school… and one of the 10 worst in our state… so which school has microwaves for the kids to heat up leftovers? The public school… so DS gets to take left overs when we have them.

Oh… forgot to add… they both have salad shakers and take salads along with the “junk” stuff. They are nice because the dressing goes up top and doesn’t mix in until they are ready to eat the salad…
 
Puzzleannie gave good advice.

The school district that I was in prior to this one had the best school lunch program. I think it was $1.50 a day, for an entree, vegetable, milk and fruit.

They also had a breakfast program…which was free of charge.

And it was available for the Catholic schools also.

We moved, and lunch is A la carte. So by the time you purchase a sandwich, milk and a fruit, it cost about 4 or 5 dollars.

So I pack a lunch. DS is simple. Turkey sandwich on whole wheat every day. An apple. Milk comes from the school.
 
Soooo agree about doing real meat instead of lunch meat.

Lunch meat is going to run you $3 per lb, minimum.

You can buy a turkey for less than a dollar a pound right now. Our Kroger has english roasts on sale for $1.97 per pound. Whole chickens are always a good buy. Bulk ground beef us usually around a buck a pound.

Cook those, slice thin and freeze in portions for lunch.

Baking your own bread saves $$, and is better for you. Tortillas are a great inexpensive way to roll up sandwiches.

Do the kids like mexican food? Roll up shredded or chopped turkey/chicken or ground beef, salsa and a bit of cheese OR cream cheese in a tortilla, nuke it to melt everything together and send to school. In a little plastic cup, add some rice and beans or mexicorn. There is lunch that is way better than a lunch meat sandwich and a pudding cup!

Use a tortilla to roll up poultry or meat with BBQ sauce.

Kids DO NOT Have to have sweets with every meal. When you want to do a sweet, bake a big batch of oatmeal cookies or mini muffins.
 
My kids take to school leftovers of what I make for dinner, plus some kind of fruit, and a cliff bar or something like that, because they are allowed a mid morning snack, and some kefir in a reusable bottle. I really don’t ever buy lunch specific stuff. When I make dinner, I make extra for lunches.

Agree about the lunch meat thing…so expensive and salt laden too. Nothing like a real turkey sandwich, or real chicken instead of the processed stuff.

Don’t know who provides your school lunches, but here it’s Sodexho and good God, I don’t think I’d give my dog that stuff, honestly. Half the time they serve stuff I can’t imagine most kids even trying. Might want to look at what they serve and if it’s stuff your kids would even eat.

Last year I did ‘lunch duty’ at my daughter’s school ,and I think you could feed 50 starving kids in Haiti on what was thrown out every day…some of it never touched or even glanced at. Whole cartons of milk to boot.

A real shame not to mention a waste.
You can buy a turkey for less than a dollar a pound right now. Our Kroger has english roasts on sale for $1.97 per pound. Whole chickens are always a good buy. Bulk ground beef us usually around a buck a pound.
Click to expand...
👍 Got back from Mexico the other night and shopping yesterday was pleased to see turkey’s still on sale, got 2 whole ones and 4 breasts, frozen. Will have lots for soups, sandwiches, tetrazini, quesadillas…
 
Have you thought about attempting to qualify for reduced price or free hot lunches? This is a federal program. It is kept strictly hush-hush in the main office, and your kids will in no way be put on display for having reduced or free lunches (in fact, federal law prohibits that). We qualfied the rest of last year because of DH’s illiness. It was a blessing, after running around taking care of DH and his needs, and because he wasn’t working while sick.

The lunches are done by a company called Preferred. They are geared to kids, but also geared to reasonable health. The entree choices include popcorn chicken, pizza, low-fat hot dogs, whole grain tortilla rounds with chili, as well as a lot of frozen 100% juice, fruit and raw veggies. The girls often walk away with the packaged dessert in their bookbags, as they are too full from the meal to finish the dessert at school.

That said, I refuse to pay for what my kids won’t eat, and hot lunches are $2.50 each at our school. That’s $5 a day for my two, cheaper and healthier than Mikky D’s to be sure, but still. I’m not wasting the government’s money, and I’m not wasting mine when I (now) pay for it. So, if there’s a Miss Picky-poo who won’t eat mashed potatoes because she claims they are not made from real potatoes and the potatoes have no garlic in them at school, she doesn’t get that meal. If somebody else does not like the hot cheese sticks, then that whole meal is off the table for her.

My first line of lunch defense is to teach kids as young as possible how to make their own lunch, and make them responsible for it. I teach good kitchen hygiene and nutrition early. A four year old can easily put together a peanut butter sandwich with carrot curls made from the potato peeler and a carrot.

I keep the “good” snacks locked up. A kid has to come see me for them. When they are gone for the month, they are gone. I do this partially because my DH and I love the “good” snacks, too, and we are trying to keep losing weight (I lost a bunch last year, partially because of all the stress, but I’ll take it where I can get it:rolleyes: ).

My second line of defense is the Tightwad Gazette series. The first or second chapter of the first book is devoted to making school lunches. My three original series books are taped together in spots, but they still read just fine. A big part of that very first chapter deals with the difference in cost per individual serving of stuff like prepackaged crackers, lunchmeat, deli meat, and packaged cookies, versus leftovers, cooking from scratch, and recycled packaging. It’s very helpful.
 
OutinChgoburbs said:
Have you thought about attempting to qualify for reduced price or free hot lunches? This is a federal program. It is kept strictly hush-hush in the main office, and your kids will in no way be put on display for having reduced or free lunches (in fact, federal law prohibits that).

I second this suggestion. I am the free/reduced lunch designee at my school, and I can tell you that nearly 80 percent of my students qualify for either free or reduced price lunch. You would be amazed at how many people think they don’t qualify, but the reality is that income threshold rises based on how many people live in the house, so the more people in the house the better a family’s chances (especially if there is only one income). Here in my distict, regular lunch is $2.50, but reduced price lunch is only 40 cents. That’s a huge savings if you qualify. The free or reduced benefit also extends to breakfast.
I would suggest going into the school and getting an application.
Click to expand...
 
We wouldn’t qualify for free/reduced lunches. It’s not really that we can’t “afford” it, it’s just that with a family of 6 we’re already spending an astronomical amount of $$ on food every month and we’re trying to keep the costs down. I also feel very bad having them buy lunches because I do worry about the nutrition, the food is nasty (I wouldn’t ever eat it in school), and I’d be willing to bet much of it does go to waste. The girls actually prefer to buy, but ds hates it. I only give him lunch money in emergency situations like when I don’t get to the grocery store and there’s just nothing to pack. But I feel terrible making him buy.

I like all the suggestions here for packing. I particularly like the idea of freezing portions that I can throw into a sack in the morning.

Any body have any good recipes for good lunch foods that can be made ahead? Maybe some snacks or something that I could bake and freeze or something?
 
Let me make DH some lunch (out of leftovers;) ) and I’ll be back with some in a few.
 
Our kids buy lunch most days. It’s $1.75 for our oldest and $1.25 for our second daughter. They have two main choices everyday, pretty healthy too, always with fruits and veggies. If they don’t like either of them they have the choice of, peanut butter and jelly, carrots, cheese and pretzels. Yogurt, fruit, cheese and pretzels or a tossed salad. Plus milk and juice. Our school works very hard at keeping the lunches healthy. All snacks that come into the school must be healthy too. Now, for holiday parties, they are allowed one sweet treat, but the rest has to be healthy and only 100% fruit juice. For birthdays they can bring in a cookie or cupcake, but they really do work at teaching the kids nutrition. I also really like that the school makes sure that one of the hot lunches on Fridays is meat free. It’s a nice thing to do, since it’s a public school.
 
happymommy said:
Our kids buy lunch most days. It’s $1.75 for our oldest and $1.25 for our second daughter. They have two main choices everyday, pretty healthy too, always with fruits and veggies. If they don’t like either of them they have the choice of, peanut butter and jelly, carrots, cheese and pretzels. Yogurt, fruit, cheese and pretzels or a tossed salad. Plus milk and juice. Our school works very hard at keeping the lunches healthy. All snacks that come into the school must be healthy too. Now, for holiday parties, they are allowed one sweet treat, but the rest has to be healthy and only 100% fruit juice. For birthdays they can bring in a cookie or cupcake, but they really do work at teaching the kids nutrition. I also really like that the school makes sure that one of the hot lunches on Fridays is meat free. It’s a nice thing to do, since it’s a public school.
Click to expand...
Wow, I really like your school, lol!

My kids go to the same schools that I did growing up and the food looked horrible. I don’t know how it tasted because it smelled so bad I refused to eat it. i don’t know if it’s gotten any better, but I doubt it because ds complains up a storm. And he’s not usually a picky eater like the girls. But the girls like the school lunches. Go figure…🤷
 
Is free/reduced lunches an option at a Catholic school? I have been wondering that. At our school it’s $2/lunch without milk. $2.50 with milk. My oldest doesn’t drink milk, so hers are $2/lunch.

Anyway…it’s manageable right now (2 kids in the school), but i have worried about when I have 3 and then 4 in the school. We’ll have one year where all four will be at the same school (oldest in 8th, youngest in Kindergarten).

Basically, right now…if the girls don’t like what’s offered for hot lunch, we pack them a lunch to take.
 
OK, this is the self-made and other EQUIPMENT :hammering: I’ve used over the years to make it easier and cheaper:
  • Fill a sour cream or cottage cheese container (16 ounces) with water about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Freeze it. When it comes time to pack lunch, put the lid on it, and stick it in the bottom. It makes a great ice pack. It is recycable, if it comes back. The water source is known and drinkable.
  • Do the same thing with milk or juice if those are too expensive at school. They will melt in time for for lunch if placed early enough in the bag.
  • Ditto yogurt with a spoon.
  • I know a lot of schools don’t want kids using paper bags. I do when I make a lunch. But at Old School, I made them tote bags, and we used those except on field trips. It was a very easy, my own pattern, out of washable canvas. I just made a circular bottom about the size of a pie plate (9 or 10 inches, plus a 1/2 inch seam I later trimmed down). I made a tube about 30 inches wide plus 1/2 inch seam, and 14 inches long plus 1/2 seam, sewing a cylinder. I pinned that to the circle, working around the circle to give it a gathered look, and sewed that down. I then trimmed the seams. I hemmed the top. I gathered the hem at the top and ran a drawstring through it. I put pockets on the outside, two, big enough to hold a small bottle of water and a ziplock bag of chips. I actually found patterned canvas and let the girls pick. Mine were very machine washable, and didn’t fall apart from year to year like the vinyl ones from Walmart nad Target.
  • Get freezer wrap AND parchment paper. It makes for easier separation of snadwich stuff, and you can pile the portions into one bag.
  • Unless you have an idea on how much you want in each sandwich, a kitchen scale is a good idea. You can weigh out about 2-3 ounces of protein per serving, then freeze it.
  • I use a Rubbermaid tall container for carrot and celery sticks. I fill it with just enough water, make the sticks on Sunday evening, put in more water if necessary, stick on the lid, and put it in the fridge. I make up about a week of veggie sticks, green onions and radishes in season (I have strange kids). The kids can go into the fridge, take out a handful, put them in a sack or container, and take them to school. The water keeps them fresh for a full week.
  • If you have a kid that will eat soups and stews, a wide-mouth thermos is a necessity. They don’t cost more than $3, are washable, and make a nice change.
  • I don’t use them, but I know people who buy cloth napkins from the thrift store and pack them in lunches.
  • Tighwad Gazette offers instructions on how to re-do a plastic lunch box from the thrift store or garage sale. It’s a matter of carefully peeling off the pciture, then covering a new picture from anywhere with clear contact paper, then sticking it to the space left behind from the old pciture with rubber cement.
 
3GirlsRUs said:
Is free/reduced lunches an option at a Catholic school? I have been wondering that. At our school it’s $2/lunch without milk. $2.50 with milk. My oldest doesn’t drink milk, so hers are $2/lunch. Yes, IF the administration is willing to process the paperwork. Our principal is. We have at least 50% kids on free or reduced lunch. I don’t know who. I only know the figure because I process the eRate form.
Click to expand...
 
I actually have a meat slicer (my grandparents were a butcher and a meat-wrapper) so I can make lunch meat easily. If you want to do that, by all means check Craig’s List or your local thrift stores for one. You can easily take the blades to a knife shop for a sharpening.

I haven’t done it for a while, but you all really made me think about how much money I would save! Fruit at Costco is cheap and really lasts a long while.

We dont have hot lunch at our catholic school except on Fridays. So we have to pack. Thankfully Eden is really good at whipping lunch’s together in the AM while I get everyone else out the door!
 
Now I’m going to get into simple stuff the kids can make themselves, or with very little help. :curtsey: :aok: The more they can do for themselves, perferably the night before school, the better off all will be (and less work for Mom). I find the best time to do this is right after supper, before supper dishes.
  • If your kids are not allergic, nut butter is your friend. It doesn’t have to go on white bread. It can go on crackers, wheat bread, leftover pancakes (also wrap nicely around leftover sausage), rye bread, biscuits, Triscuits, celery and any other breadlike or stick device. Peanut butter is the cheapest, but oh I do love almond butter and will make my own when almonds are on sale!
  • Ditto cream cheese and cheese spreads.
  • Peanut butter can be embellished with carrot curls, jelly, jam, preserves, banana slices, chopped celery, raisins, craisins, apples, apple sauce, chutney, and I know of a person who eats it with pickle relish.
  • Cream cheese or cheese spread can be embellished with nuts, chopped olives, orange slices, a little finely chopped onion, sun-dried tomatoes, celery, carrots, raisins, pineapple (crushed and chunks), craisins, cherries, and apricots (so far).
  • Regular cheese cubes, slices, and grates. It freezes nicely in cubes or grated, but needs a little help from parchment paper when frozen sliced. It floats nicely and melts on top of hot soup or leftovers in a thermos.
  • Hot soup or hot leftovers really need to be zapped in the micowave in the morning before school, by a parent for kids who do not know microwave safety or are too short to reach the microwave (or older siblings who are microwaved qualfied). These freeze nicely into portions. There is nothing wrong with canned soup in my opinion except the sodium levels on some of them. But a good homemade soup- any homemade soup, including lentil- always freezes well, then can be nuked in the early morning for transport in a thermos.
  • HAM. Cook up a ham or two at the beginning of the month, slice it down into portions, freeze. It’s good cold in sandwiches, good in ham salad (for every 2 ounces of ham, add 3 TBS mayo, a little chopped onion, some chopped celery, maybe a tsp of mustard). Ham is good for breakfast, fried. Ham loaf is easy to make, and freezes well in portions. Ham bones make great soups, esp. cooked with beans, split peas, or lentils. Once you’ve cooked and packaged the ham, there is no reason the kids can’t make it into lunch.
  • LEFTOVER PIZZA. Homemade, from frozen, or from a pizza place. Cold or hot. TO KEEP WARM, nuke it, then wrap it in foil, then put a damp facecloth soaked in hot water and wrung out, then wrap in foil again.
  • Who doesn’t like a meatloaf sandwich? Hot or cold, with catsup, it’s a treat in my mind- in some kids’ minds as well.
  • BAR COOKIES. I like bar cookies best because they don’t break as easily as drop cookies. Squish them, bang them, they are still edible. Here is a recipe for chocolate chip bars, oatmeal raisin bars, brownies (leave off any frosting), and blondies.
  • FRUIT. Whatever is in season and cheapest. For little kids, peeling oranges before packaging or cutting them into “smiles” seems to work best. ORANGES FREEZE NICELY, ESP. AS SMILES OR SECTIONED.
  • LOOSE SNACKY STUFF IN A PLASTIC BAG OR CONTAINER. Gorp (good old raisins and peanuts mixed with anything from cereal to M&Ms). Pretzels. Popcorn, with or without flavored salts, powdered cheese, herbs and spices, a little cinnamon sugar. Cereal. Puppy chow. Chex Mix. Sunflower seeds. Pumpkin seeds.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top