10 Ways to Save Money While Packing Your Kid’s Lunch

With school starting our minds turn to packing lunches for our always hungry children. My daughter is 8 and gets a snack break once a day. This means I have to pack an additional snack with her lunch each day. I am always looking for ways to save money on lunches but do not want to spend too much extra time doing it. Why, you ask because for me TIME and MONEY are things I am always trying to save. I have created a list of ten ways to save money without adding a lot of time to an already busy schedule.

Ten Ways to Save $ packing your kid’s school lunch

1) Send a Refillable water bottle with water instead of juice drinks. They really don’t need the extra calories or sugar anyways.

2) Don’t buy individual packages of chips,pretzels, cookies or crackers. Instead buy the regular size and break them up into reusable baggies or containers. This is also good if they don’t eat them all they can close it up and save it for later.

3) Send leftovers from dinner the night before. If your child doesn’t have access to a microwave, you can use a thermos to keep it warm. Remember to send utensils with your child so they can eat it.

4) Send fresh fruit or vegetables. Most of us already have these in the fridge. If you catch a good deal on in-season fruit, wash it and then freeze it in containers. Then you just have to pull and go.

5) Be realistic about what your child really needs. If my daughter had her own way she would have 5 snacks on top of her main lunch dish. The extras never make it home as she would give them away or eat a little of each and throw the rest away. By limiting what you send you cut down on how fast you go thru the snacks you have.

6) Get creative with sandwiches. Kids will start to complain if they get the same sandwich every day, so mix it up. Try using bagels or english muffins instead of bread, use fruit slices (apple or pear work best) with peanut butter, soft taco shells and leftovers make for fun food.

7) Don’t buy individual applesauce pudding, or jello. Instead scoop your applesauce from the jar you use every day at home into small reusable containers, Make a box of jello and pudding at the beginning of the week and put into small reusable containers as well.

8) Send breakfast for lunch. You can put cereal in a reusable bowl with lid and milk in a thermos.

9) Don’t buy Lunchables. It is cheaper to make your own with a lunchmeat, cheese, crackers and a snack you already have.

10) Don’t ever pay full price for snacks. Watch your local sale ads and stock up when they are on sale. If you aren’t picky about a certain brand most stores have some kind of snacks on sale weekly.

Feel free to comment on how you save money while packing your kid’s school lunches.

Hi I’m Gwendolyn and I have been a stay at home mom since 2009. I have been with my husband, James, for 10 years and we are proud parents of Jayme (8) and Nicholas (13). We are also parents to 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 hamsters, and a snake. My father-in-law lives with us so it is always non-stop at our house. I had the honor of becoming a step-parent when I got married and have a great relationship with my step-son. I always used coupons and shopped for bargains but was forced to step up my game when my husband was disabled in 2005. I get an incredible rush from saving money and finding great deals. My life is a constant journey and I look forward to sharing it with you all.