It’s easy to get caught in a spending rut with your kids’ lunches; while, at the same time, feeling like there must be better options out there. So, how can you save money on kids’ lunches?
The best way to save money on kids’ lunchs starts with communicating clearly and honestly with them about their likes and dislikes. Follow through on this conversation by stocking up on the nutritious things you know they will eat. Don’t be afraid to let them get the school lunch once in a while, especially if it is pizza.
Fake cheese and juice drinks are certainly lunch losers, because added fillers, fat, and sugar take the place of nutritious food…but did you know that apples and oranges can be lunch losers, too? If lunch is unhappy, unhealthy, and unexpectedly expensive for your family, read on for solutions you may not have considered.
School Lunches: all sizzle, no steak…ok, not much sizzle, either
The media is full of glowing reports of how healthy school lunches are, such as this claim by Dr. Tanya Altmann:
Typically, kids get about 30 to 50% of their calories while at school, so that means they’re getting a good portion of their nutrition outside the house. Too many children aren’t getting enough nutrients for their growing body, even many overweight children aren’t getting proper nutrition and the changes to school lunch programs will help ensure children get enough fruit, veggies, whole grains and dairy products.”
Dr. Tanya Altmann
Your packed lunch stands a better chance of being healthier for your child. He may, however, feel left out if he never gets to order the food he sees the other kids eating. Don’t feel bad if you just say no. Your kid isn’t sad because he envies the kids who are making trips to the salad bar.
The best way to save money on your child’s lunches is to avoid the school lunch plans altogether, putting only enough money into his account to cover daily milk…and maybe pizza day.
Be sure your kids have an active role in deciding what they want packed in their lunches. Otherwise, it can end up in the trash, and the child is running on empty for the rest of the day.
Sandwich Bread: the balloon that never lands
If you are lucky enough to have a bakery thrift store nearby, you’ll want to go and check it out. I avoided my local bakery thrift for years, assuming that the bread was stale, and I was wrong in this. Not only is the quality of the bread just fine, the prices are amazing and they have all kinds of bread. If you like healthier bread, they have that. If you like the fluffy, white kind, they have that, too, and the price is even lower than you pay in the supermarket.
Another good way to save money on sandwich bread is to bake it yourself. The bread is as fresh as it gets, it tastes amazing, and you have complete control over what goes into it. As far as savings goes, home-baked bread costs a fraction of a loaf from the store. A 5-pound bag of flour will make about 6 loaves of bread.
Lunchables: three cute, little compartments of utter garbage
The concept of Lunchables is great, but you could do a whole lot better filling a Bento box. A reusable, compartmented box can hold all of your kid’s favorites. Even if you followed the Lunchables model exactly, you would still improve on it, because you can choose cold cuts, cheese, and crackers with more wholesome ingredients.
If you are concerned about your child losing an expensive box, buy inexpensive, plastic ones.
Apples & Oranges: world’s healthiest lunch loser
I hate to call fruit a loser, but there are reports from school insiders that the fruit often ends up in the trash. Be clear with your child that you have heard of this kind of behavior, and that it is not acceptable. Agree on what members of the fruit and vegetable family he likes, and be sure to stick with those choices. If he feels that the healthy stuff would go down better with some dipping sauce, cream cheese, or peanut butter, then pack that, too. School lunch is no time to have a power struggle over food.
Tuna Sandwiches: not-so-nice to be near
Even if you use the better tuna, white albacore, by the time your child unwraps that sandwich, it smells horrible. It is second only to egg salad for smelling embarrassingly bad.
Another problem with these mayonnaise-based salads is that they can spoil easily; not so much because of the mayonnaise, but due to having more surfaces on which bacteria can form.
Cheese and peanut butter are safer choices if the lunch can’t stay cold. If you can provide a cold pack, less smelly choices include cold cuts, cheese, and chicken salad.
Gogurt, Snackpack: more pack than snack
Yogurt, pudding, and JellO are all fun ideas to add to a lunch, but the price is ridiculous, as you can see from the infographic below. You can make a whole week’s worth of Snackpacks for what it would cost to buy one, and it’s not like your making it from scratch. Use a mix. Buying Royal brand jello and pudding mixes will save you even more money.
Read American Cheese Labels Very Carefully
Be very careful when buying products labelled “American Cheese.” This is a case in which you do not want to get the cheapest. Why? Because it’s not actually cheese! If you read the fine print on genuine cheese, it will say “pasteurized processed American cheese.” If it says “cheese product” or “cheese food,” it is not actually cheese, but a sort of Frankencheese made with milk and oil.
Be sure to get real food for your money – There is real American cheese available at good prices; for example, Kraft Deli Deluxe (real cheese), as opposed to Kraft Singles (Frankencheese). The USEPA does a better job at explaining the difference:
Processed cheese is made by pasteurizing, emulsifying, and blending natural cheese. Processed cheese foods, spreads, and cold pack cheeses contain additional ingredients, such as nonfat milk solids and condiments. Several varieties of natural cheeses may be mixed, and powdered milk, whey, cream or butter, and water may be added.”
EPA
Kraft Deli Deluxe slices are a well-priced on sale, especially at BJ’s, where they have a double-size pack. I find the off-brands taste just as good, though. Sadly, my old favorite, Land O’Lakes, is no longer real cheese, even though they are still charging you as though it was.
Juice Drinks: sugar-water with a bit of juice in it
Similar to the cheese, you’re not getting the real thing with juice drinks. There is a similar scheme with the labelling, too. If it is not 100% juice, they have to call it a “juice drink” on the label, and tell you what percentage of it is juice.
You may respond that they taste good, and that your kids like them; and you would have two valid points there. The problem remains, however, that the percentage that is not juice is water and sugar. You will save much more money if you buy 100% juice and add your own water for free, and your own sugar for pennies. Doesn’t taste the same? Buy some of those flavored drops or little sleeves of drink mix that are meant to go in a water bottle.
My favorite way with this idea is to fill a 1-quart bottle 1/3 of the way with orange juice. Add one sleeve of Orange Crush drink mix. Cover and shake to mix. Then, fill the rest of the way with water. If it’s not sweet enough, add some sugar.
A healthier way to do this would be to replace the drink mix with sugar and vanilla. Not exactly a health food, but at least you know what’s in it.
Failure to Plan is Planning to, well, you know the rest…
The easiest way to have money drain your wallet on lunches is to not plan at all. In addition to making lunch more costly, it also makes it more fattening, more stressful, and less enjoyable.
Once you start planning, stick with it! Like anything else in life, planning takes practice. The more you do it, the faster you will get at it. Before you know it, your weekly lunch planning will just take a few minutes of your time.
Figure out what categories fit into your family’s lunches – sandwich/main course, fruit/vegetable, dessert, drink. Then, plan two or three choices for each. Set it up using prep containers or whatever organization will make it easy to pack the lunches throughout the week.
Listening: the most important ingredient in you child’s lunch
Most important of all, talk with each of your family members about what they will eat for lunch. Even though I gave my kids some lunch money, my daughter ended up enjoying her packed lunches so much, the school ended up refunding money from her account.
My son, unfortunately, was so enthralled with what his friends were eating, he actually spent money from his job (which I drove him to, under the idea that it was to save for college) to eat the same crap they were eating, after their parents falsified forms to get free lunches (which I also paid for, through my taxes)(not that I’m bitter…). To add insult to injury, I received a bill from the school, when his account ran dry and he accepted “free” cheese sandwiches ($5 each). I made him pay the bill.
Although we locked horns at the time, I’m happy to say that my son, four years later is a thrifty, trim, strong, young guy who actually takes vitamins and eats the occasional vegetable. Just wanted to let you know that you may not get through right away, but you’re teaching concepts that will still be in their heads when they are finally mature enought to understand them.
Anyhoo, no matter how good of a bargain you get on something, it’s no bargain if it ends up in the trash. A 2015 study by the Harvard School of Public Health showed that kids throw away about 2/3 of the vegetables in their lunch. Nearly half of the fruit met the same tragic fate.
