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Tips for saving money on food that you pack in a lunch box as suggested from the ThriftyFun community.
To save money on snack items for lunches, I buy large bags of favorite chips or boxes of Ritz and put some in ziploc bags inside the lunch box. Those small bags of chips and packs of crackers can really add up!
By Julie
Buying large bags of chips and splitting them up into single servings is a great way to cut costs for packing lunches, but you can save even more (and help the environment) by using reusable plastic containers instead of disposable ziploc bags. I know some people wash their ziploc bags, but plastic containers are much easier to wash and will last a long time. I have picked most of my containers up at yard sales, so it is possible to use them and still be thrifty.
By Allison
Chips in large bags are not cheap either. Popcorn is a low price snack. A piece of fruit or homemade cookie makes even more sense.
By Barbaral
If you're looking to save money on lunches, whatever you do, do not buy convenience foods! By convenience foods, I mean things like Lunchables (a simple sandwich instead), juice boxes (use a thermos to bring a drink from home), Handi-snacks, small packages of chips and cookies. Like the previous poster said, it is so much better on your wallet to pack them into your own baggies at home. Not using convenience foods will not only save money, it will increase the nutrition value and lets you eat more varied lunches every day!
By KellyinNY
"and lets you eat more varied lunches every day!"
Actually, the only real advantage to "convenience foods" is that they allow for a wide variety of daily change. Using bulk to "pack your own" only means that little Susie has to eat a lot of whatever you bought in bulk. I remember one particular year when mom got in a rut, I had PBJ and chicken noodle soup every day for about a year. I still won't eat PBJ.
Better idea, don't buy bulk foods but instead make your food from scratch. Prepare enough that there is some left for lunches. When using a block of sharp cheddar in a recipe, slice or cube some for lunch this week. When you bake a cake, slip a tray of muffins in there too. Get creative with leftovers but not "darn mom, what were you thinking?"
It's cool to save money and all, but if you think your kids really think "it's cool" to not have the same thing everyone else has, then you are very mistaken. Their whole world is about fitting in. Is it really worth a few dollars to have her sitting over at the "nerd and geek table"? Or, could that same amount of money be saved somewhere else without the social skills damage...
By John
My daughter loves salads, cut up veggies with ranch dressing for dipping, cheese and crackers (cheese cut from a block), apples cut up with cinnamon sugar to hide the brown. Also noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese are a favorite. I use a combination of plastic containers, thermos and ziplock bags to fit it all in a lunchbox. Check dollar stores for small containers.
By Catherine
I go to the deli department at the grocery store and by the end of lunch meats. I bring home the ends, put them in the food processor. I then add pickle relish and salad dressing. Salt and pepper as needed. This makes a great sandwich spread and less expensive then the Oscar Meyer brand.
By Anonymous
My husband likes bowls of canned peaches in his lunch every day. So I buy canned peaches and bowl our own, rather than buying those pre-made fruit cups. It's much cheaper by doing it ourselves. We also buy big bags of chips and make up our own little bags of chips. This way we get more than about the average 6 chips the name brand has in their lunch size bags. The possibilities are endless as to what to put in your own lunch, rather than eating out.
By badwater
Brown bag your lunch with the previous dinner's leftovers! It's amazing how much money my husband's co-workers spend on lunch everyday. They are always envious of the yummy homemade things he brings!
By Holly Dawson
I find it much cheaper to buy a joint of meat at the weekend to fill sandwiches through the week instead of buying deli meat, I just slice it quite thinly myself!
By Julie
Why not just plain peanut butter and jelly crackers? Or make up your own lunchables with say, honey, syrup or apple butter. Just place in a small plastic container. Make your own popcorn balls or caramel corn. You can even buy popcorn ready to pop already caramel flavored and even colored and sugared. I forget the brand but I know I bought both several years ago.
Puddings and jello still come in those familiar boxes. You can also make cornstarch Tapioca, homemade sheet cakes of all flavors. Celery, peanut butter and raisins have always been a favorite of mind. Dried apples and Apricots. Make your own trail mix.
Make your own cookies, muffins or pies. If you still have a oven in your house, all these things are possible and not that time consuming or difficult. The art of candy making still exists outside of Hershey and Mars foods. How about Pickled eggs? Not difficult at all.
As far as bags, look at your cereal boxes. Inside each size box, there are very strong bags that you could use in place of baggies for everything from your children's lunch to storing your homemade treats in them in volume. As far as fresh fruit, pack some extra peanut butter with that banana or apple. If your school doesn't allow peanut products in their cafeteria then substitute it with apple butter or molasses.
Homemade drinks? If they still make thermos' then hot chocolate is possible also homemade lemonade, orange juice, apple cider and iced tea.
Think how proud you children will be having you make stuff that tastes better than what the stores sell. They will remember you for that and pass it on to their children. Me, I am 58. This kind of food was always in our Lone Ranger lunch boxes.
I wish you the best!
Feel free to post your ideas below!
i am a substitute teacher. i often have lunch duty in the elementary school. i would love to be able to write to the 100s of mothers who make those lunches so they could know what happens at lunch time. many many of these lunches are lovingly made with crusts cut off, napkins folded, and a love note for the child to have a good day. there is enough food from those wonderful lunches in the TRASH CAN TO FEED A WHOLE OTHER SCHOOL. yogurt, fruit, sandwiches, crackers, cheese, lunchmeat and plain bread fill the trash cans. i dont know the solution but ask your kid what he/she is eating at lunch. (03/21/2008)
By sandy
I used to buy the peanut butter filled pretzels 5.99 for a container. Now i buy 2 bags of pretzels and put them in tupperware with a smaller container of peanut butter to dip the pretzels in. Saves about 1/2 the price. (03/22/2008)
By jm
Sandy63 is SO right, getting on the same page with your child as far as his or her lunches go is the ticket! My son isn't the throwing food away type, he's the put it back in his pack back and let it sit there until it grows it's own civilization type. He can't bring himself to throw it away, because he knows that's wasting, but he doesn't really want to eat it either, lol. I asked my son, why didn't you eat
that, "I dunno", is usually the answer. Which tells me I was packing food he didn't want to eat.
So now I ask him "If I put raisins in your lunch, will you eat them?" Which usually gets a big yes! So I buy a box of raisins and split them up into individual containers.
My son has also brought home other kids' food that they won't eat, which drives me crazy, "Honey, please don't..." I swear I could almost stop grocery shopping with the amount of food he could bring home if I'd let him. Milks, fruit, sandwiches, snack bars, you name it, he's brought it home.
Don't worry so much about what other kids are eating, teach your child to be an individual and you won't have to worry about that. Worry about what your kid is throwing away or trading away (or growing in his backpack, lol), because you're not really saving money if he or she isn't eating it. They're not eating nutritiously if they're trading away all the wonderful food you're slaving over. Get your kids input on lunch, because once again as Sandy63 said, you'd be SHOCKED how much of it is ending up in the garbage. (03/22/2008)
I save money on lunches in several ways.
First, I refuse to buy plastic bags and throw away containers. I invested about $6 at the dollar store and bought sandwhich containers, and other small containers. These are washed out and reused. If they should happen to get lost, the are very inexpensive to replace.
I also save the small 8-12 oz bottles from water or pop. I wash these and 1/2 fill with their lunch drink, and then freeze it. In the morning, I top off the bottle with their remaining drink (usually juice or koolaid). This keeps their lunch box cool without the added expense of an icepack. By lunch time their lunch is cool, and their drink is still cool, but mostly thawed. During very hot weather, I freeze it more than half full (but careful not to overfill and split the container).
I also don't use paper napkins in the lunch. I do sometimes pack a moist washcloth in a sandwhich box for the younger ones if their lunch is a messy one, or for a trip where they may not be eating by a place to clean up at. For the older ones I pack a washable cloth dinner napkin.
I do not buy prepared foods for lunches. A good part of our lunch consists of leftovers. You can make your own "lunchables" with crackers, lunch meat etc for a fraction of the cost.
Also, consider where the lunch will be eaten at. If the 'eater' has access to a microwave or toaster, you can get very creative with your lunches. My kids used to like poptarts in their lunch and pancakes to warm up, with fruit , sauage and juice. But, if you did not have a microwave, that would not be a good choice.
Other favorites of my children: cheese cubed, fruit with dip (our dip was 1/2 plain yogurt blended with 1/2 peanut butter), cut up veggies and ranch dressing, hotdog and bun, potpie (cooked at home, warmed in microwave at school), sandwhiches, corndogs, baked potato and topping (precooked and home, rewarmed in school microwave) with salad, taco salad-eaten cold, with chips on the side, and of course leftovers from their favorite suppers.
Another good tip, is to tell your child to bring home what they don't eat. This gives you an idea of if they are eating it all, or if you need to cut back on what you are sending.
My children are no longer in school, we homeschool now. However, we often take day trips and save money lunches for day trips as well.
In the car, I always keep an Aldi's powered drink mix. McDonalds will give you free cups of water and you can add in the mix to make your own fruit drink. I also have a stash of granola bars and pretzels in the car too--if we run into time delays, that helps resist pulling into a place to eat.
If we do find we have to eat out when not planned, I have found we can go to Aldi and buy fruit, granola bars, a loaf of bread and sandwhich meat for the cost of feeding only 2 members of our family at McDonalds (and we are a family of 7). Just get it and take it to the nearest park and you have a picinic!
My aunt, who had 6 children always kept a small cooler in the back of her station wagon with peanut butter, crackers, plastic plates and silverware and cups for trips. Then, she would get free ice at McDonalds and head to the grocery store. For around $8 she would feed the entire family. Her kids (now adults) remember taking lots of road trips, but never eating out because they couldn't afford it, but they still ate well. (03/22/2008)
Everyone seems to think a kid can't miss a meal in life, have you looked at most of those kids? Geeze I grew up taking no lunches to school. I ate when I got home. My mum made everything from scratch, Had our own raised meat, and a big garden. We sure never starved. We ate better then most folks did. Some days I might of took an apple or an orange to snack on and that's all. You train your stomach to think it's hungry. It's not natural to always be stuffing our face.
Years ago some days they hardly ate at all and were healthier all in all for it. Gives the body a change to rest. Seems we forget food is something to keep us alive. You eat to live, NOT live to eat. Don't wonder why kids have all the health problems they do, you're over stuffing them. Good food or not, I grew up in a family of 9 people, were all up into our 50's or more and none of us has any health issues and are not over weight!
Yet a lot of our school classmates have many health issues. My kids never took anything to school for lunches and they're all healthy, very active and not over weight!
Start them off with a good breakfast, and if they must have a dinner, give em a fruit. Yhey'll live till they get home, and eat a good home cooked meal instead.
Kids eat to many macaroni and cheese with packets of Ingredients that are no good for them. Geeze throw out the macaroni and cheese, use plain old macaroni and tomato soup. Throw out the imitation maple syrup, use good old molasses, It's GOOD FOR YOU! We have become a people that cannot eat anything unless it is seasoned to death. Geeze if you hate your food so bad, like the guy who order an egg and wanted loads of ketchup on it, waitress said "you must really hate EGGS!
Learn to love the real food not the seasoning packet that come along that laced with all kinds of harmful stuff, Have you looked at the sodium content your kids are consuming in these so called foods they love. Useless, pointless to point out, until your health is at risk and the doctor tells you quit or die, I've watched it with my second husband,had to have everything seasoned to death, cook a steak 4 mins. Geeze people your killing yourself with blindness.
My husbands knocking on deaths door now because of his great tasting food! According to the doctors he should have passed away a year ago, Yet he freakin amazes them, I made him eat my way, EAT TO LIVE, NOT live to EAT! And real food, NOT SEASONINGS! (03/22/2008)
By Martha
Buy yogurt in the individual cups with lids. Reuse those and make individual pudding, jello, or mixed fruit. A fruit smoothie from overripe bananas, frozen strawberries or cherries and a little milk in a thermos is great. Put different granolas and cereals in baggies or plastic containers for yogurt or smoothie toppers. (03/22/2008)
I always cook enough for two meals. I freeze the leftovers and my dh can always pick what he wants to take for lunch! I`m new and I love this site! Thanks for all the great tips! (03/25/2008)
By jward02
My new thing is my Bread Maker that I got for Mother's Day. My husband thought I was crazy for wanting an appliance for Mother's Day, but now that I have made a few loaves of bread, he loves me for it.
My five year old son loves to help make the bread and eat it. He takes some sort of bread item to lunch almost every day. Not always sandwiches, but toast with apple butter or cheese with bread cubes. It is amazing how many ways you can serve the bread and I know he is eating healthy. For all of you with bread makers, get it out and use it regularly for the health of the kids. (05/25/2008)
By Carrie from NH
WOW thanks for all the help! I saved a lot on my daughter's lunches! Also you could use an insulated lunch box instead of brown bags! Which helps the environment! (07/03/2008)
By Danya AbdelHameid
This is in response to Chicklet's post. Amen Sister! I couldn't agree with you more. There are too many people that live to eat, not eat to live. My husband and I sold our 3-bedroom home and moved into a 2-bedroom apartment. My husband has asthma, the grass cutting and snow shoveling was taking a tole on his health and we both knew it was time to sell.
Before our house sold, we hired an auction business to pick up all of our antique living room furniture. Sure we sold all the furniture at a loss, but we got rid of it.
We're now living a much healthier lifestyle, we don't own a couch, living room chairs, end tables or fancy lamps etc. I bought two nylon fold up lawn chairs for whenever we have guests. We live in a bottom floor apartment and have converted our living room into a small fitness center. We have a weight bench, dumbbells and a Life Fitness motorized treadmill. We ordered and had the treadmill delivered right after we moved into the apartment. I walk for 30 minutes, 6 days a week, lift weights, do some floor exercises using an exercise mat and I FEEL GREAT! I'm turning 60 years old this month and I don't look my age. My husband walks 60 minutes, 6 days a week, lifts weights, etc. and he's 65.
If the American people would spend their time exercising instead of constantly eating we would not have the obesity problem that we do. And we've seen a lot of children that look like little rolly-pollies. They are fat now and will be fat later on in life.
I've been battling high cholesterol most of my adult life. Unfortunately there's a history of high cholesterol in my family. I kept an appointment with an RN and she told me that eating foods loaded with sugar, fats, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, etc. will raise my cholesterol levels. So I decided to get off of sugar. I love to cook and bake and I've made a lot of desserts for our senior citizen group, but I've learned not to eat them myself.
My clothes are starting to fit better again and I'm trying to lose at least 10 lbs. in a year. There's a dear woman in our senior citizen group that I've known for 35+ years. She has diabetes, was on daily insulin shots and has been overweight for many years. My husband and I were sitting at the same table with her and her husband and we didn't even recognize her. She had lost so much weight that she looked like a totally different person. I asked what her secret was and she told me that she didn't eat any sugar. Since that time her doctor said that she was doing so well that he changed her medication. She no longer has to give herself insulin injections but is now taking a pill. She's older than me and if she can lose the weight so can I.
There are people in the Thriftyfun community who submit numeous dessert recipes. Have the posters actually baked and tested the recipe themselves?
If I baked and ate every thing that is posted on this website, I would be at least 300+ lbs.
(09/06/2008)
By Marjorie
We have fruit trees, and end up with far more fruit than we can eat fresh, despite sharing with friends and neighbors. I go to the restaurant supply store and get a sleeve of 5 1/2 ounce indiv. serving cups (I pay about 5 dollars for 250, and several dollars more for lids) which means about 3 cents for a set.
We peel/cut/core the fruit (apples, peaches, pears) and cook them until they're soft enough to mash with a potato masher. We ladle the fruit sauces into the containers, put the tops on, label, and freeze. (I usually put a small amount of cinnamon sugar on some for my husband--he likes them a little sweeter than the daughters and I; otherwise, we use no sugar.)
When we are packing lunches, we grab a frozen fruit cup and put it in the lunch box. It helps to keep the lunch cool until lunch time, and is usually thawed by lunch. (I like it still partially frozen!)
The disposeable cups are not the most "green" solution; but we have moved to as many reusable containers as possible, as well as using cloth napkins and garage sale cutlery in our lunches, so I like to think we are offsetting our carbon footprint, as well as using the precious fruit. (09/07/2008)
By Jill
My kids are young so that social stigma thing hasn't kicked in yet. I give bagel, hot dog and bread bags a second use before throwing out by packing my kids sandwiches in them with a twist tie. I also have one of those FoodSaver bag machines and have found I can seal the edges of some plastic bags. I also cut up the bags cereal come in and seal the edges for the perfect sandwich/snack size. I use regular scotch tape to close the top. (09/21/2008)
By greenvase
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