Fun and Frugal School Lunches

The following is a guest post from Marianne. Please give her a warm welcome! She is the blogger who so graciously passed the torch of The CVS $5 Challenge on to me; and I am so very glad she did!

For those of you who might remember, I’m Marianne, former publisher of The New Frugal Mom (now defunct) and current publisher of Writer-Mommy (my personal blog).

I love reading Alyssa’s blog because she keeps bringing the deals and makes me laugh; Alyssa, I’m so glad our blogs crossed paths and thanks for giving me the chance to guest post!

Let’s get to it, shall we, Frugal Faithful?

It’s Lunchtime!

If you’ve got a child headed back to school in the next few weeks, you’ve probably been busy finding the best deals on school supplies, new shoes, and a backpack for your little super-student to haul home all those A+ papers.

But in the hectic end of summer/beginning of school month that is August, you may not have given much thought to what your child will be munching on each day in the lunchroom. Like any endeavor that involves spending money, a little pre-planning now can help you save time and money on your child’s school lunches this year.

~Lunchbox or Lunchbuy?

One of the first decisions you’ll need to make is whether your child will buy lunch, bring lunch, or do a combination of the two.

While buying lunch everyday may not be the most frugal choice, money-wise, for some families it’s the best option time-wise. And while some schools offer only standard institutional fare, there are other schools that offer healthier, tastier lunches that are actually cooked from scratch (as opposed to microwaved) each day.

After considering the cost (this information should be easily found on your child’s school or school district’s website), the quality, and the convenience, make the decision based on what works best for your family’s budget and time. I pack my children’s lunch four days a week and let them choose one day a week when they can buy based on the school’s menu. They get a little thrill once a week and I get a little break – it works for us!

~Gather Information

Spend a few minutes chit-chatting with your child about what they really like eating for lunch and what they never want to see in their lunchbox again. Encourage them to be open and honest because – let’s face it – it’s never frugal to send them to school with a lunch they won’t eat that ends up traded for junk food, or worse yet, in the trash.

If they don’t give you much direction (my five year old simply says, “I like lunch!”), then it’s time to get sleuthing! Take note of what they love eating at home and the healthy foods they prefer. My kids would demolish a pound of strawberries (or any berries) in minutes if I let them so I make sure to send in small containers of fresh berries when they’re in season and frozen when they’re not. A little pricier than a banana? Yup, but I know with rock-solid certainty that they’ll inhale those berries first thing; it’s a cost I’m willing to absorb.

You’ll also need to gather some information from the school, like does your younger student have a morning snack time and are you required to provide that snack? What’s the price of a milk or a juice carton? It’s also important to find out just how much time your child has to eat lunch; remember that a good portion of that time will be spent talking with friends so whatever you do send for lunch should be pre-prepped for quick eating – fruit peeled and sliced, sandwiches cut into triangles, cheese cubed, etc. Remember, too, that little fingers of younger students often have a hard time with all the packaging that comes with, “convenience,” food; lunch should be easy to eat, not an exercise in frustration!

One of the most important things you may want to find out from your school or establish on your own is a rule about trading food. Some schools ban this due to concerns on food allergies or spread of germs and viruses. It’s important to know if those rules exist or set those boundaries for yourselves. You should also encourage your child to bring home whatever food they can’t finish; you can decide whether or not to pitch it when you empty their lunchbox. Even if it ends up thrown away by you, your child will get a chance to practice a good frugal lesson each day – don’t throw away good food!

~Think Long term Relationship

That Hannah Montana or Iron Man lunchbox may be what your child is begging you to buy this year, but will they use it again next year? Probably not, and you’ll be spending money to replace a perfectly usable (if uncool) insulated lunchbox again next fall. Uh-oh — do I hear the Soooo Not Frugal Warning Siren going off?

This year, since my oldest son is entering all day kindergarten, I’m biting the bullet and investing in LL Bean monogrammed lunchboxes (and matching backpacks) for my second-grade daughter and my son. While I’ll pay more up front for those items this year, they will last for several years meaning the long term cost for them will be much lower than replacing them with new ones each year. Lands End also offers several styles with monogramming and their stuff lasts forever, too. I still have (and wear) the monogrammed Lands End Squall Jacket my parents bought me when I was fifteen…almost twenty years ago!

~Mix It Up!

PB&J every day makes Jack a dull boy. Check out these resources for ideas on how to add flair to your fave student’s lunch:

DotComWomen – Back to School Lunchbox Ideas

Hillbilly Housewife – Lunchbox Ideas

Amazing Moms – Fun School Lunches and More School Lunch Tips

~Stockpile!

I know you die-hard CVSers are already working on building your back-to-school supplies stockpiles; don’t forget to stockpile items you’ll need for packing lunches, too. Plastic sandwich and snack bags, paper napkins, and small Gladware containers to name a few of the non-food items. Great deals abound during this time of year on all sorts of packaged snacks, peanut butter, and jelly. Stockpiling always saves money over time.

~Send a Little Love

Your child’s day will be brighter when they feel loved by you! Make sure to send a note or scribble a message on your child’s napkin telling them how much you love them, miss them, and are just so darned proud of them! If they’re not strong readers yet, draw a little picture of you and your child holding hands. They’ll understand and they’ll feel special and loved.

Those are some of the best ways I keep lunchtime fun and frugal for my children during the school year; what’s your favorite trick, recipe, or piece of advice?

Thank you, Marianne, for this very timely post!