Our Frugal School Lunch Plan

Since it is back to school time here, and around the blogosphere, I thought I'd share our plan for lunch at school this year.

My girl's are fairly picky when it comes to food.  The oldest one rolls her eyes, but will eat almost anything.  The younger one refuses to eat unless she's forced.  I'm afraid they inherited their pickiness from me.  Sorry mom, now I know.

So, when faced with a strange meal everyday they aren't happy.  Don't get me wrong, I believe it is good for them to struggle and experience new things.  Maybe if they are starving they'll try something new and love it.  They react the same when they get a brown bag from home every day.  "But all the other kids get pizza..."

I also have concerns with them just having school lunch every day.  School lunches have a tendency to be rather processed.  My girl's probably waste any foods they don't like leaving them to eat whatever's left.  Cost is also huge.  The lunches at our school are $1.50 and I'm fairly confident I can pack them something for less than $.50.

Taking everything into consideration, included the kiddos favorite foods, we came up with a plan.  I am not going to advertise this as the only way you can do school lunch with your kids, but it is how we are doing it.  I feel like it has a nice balance of cost and ease.

To avoid confusion we will be sticking to this basic plan:

Mondays - Snack Lunch (Crackers, Cheese, Meat, Veggies, Fruits)

Tuesdays - School Lunch (could be traded with another day)

Wednesdays -  Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich w/ fruit slices

Thursdays -  School Lunch (Pizza Day!)

Fridays - Ham and Cheese Sandwich w/ Veggies

Any of the sandwiches can be made on any variety of bread, buns or tortillas (just depends on what we have on hand).  I'll also include a partially frozen water bottle for cooling/drinking purposes.

You may have also noticed I don't include snacks/juice/chips/pretzels a.k.a. junk food.  I'm not against them.  I'll include them if and when I can find them at a good enough price.  But, at our house those items are available for only rare or special occasions, it's not an everyday occurrence.  Just trying to keep it consistent.

  To Do: On Sunday afternoon read through lunch menu with girl's and have them initial the meal they want that week.

Buy these great divided containers, with a coupon of course, next time I'm at Wal-mart.

So, that's our plan for this year.  I really hope it will work as well as I hope.  What are your school lunch plans? (for those of you with school-age kiddos) and/or What was your favorite/least favorite part about school lunch growing up?

Note:  This post does contain my Amazon Associate link and I linked up to Org Junkie's Menu plan Roundup.

5 Ways to Save Money on Groceries, Part 2

Last week I started this series by talking about comparing price per pound.  Now I'll share the rest of my favorite ways to save money on groceries.

2. Cook from Scratch - Processing your own food, instead of buying packaged stuff in the grocery store will save a lot of money.  I can regularly feed my family of 5.5 for under $5 a meal.  We eat bread, fruit, veggies, pasta, meat and simple sauces.  To save time I make large batches and freeze them.  That way I'm working once and eating several times.  Making your own freezer meals, bread, buns, cookies and muffins then storing them to be eaten in smaller batches later saves time and money.  

3. Stick to a List - I am a huge impulse shopper.  Having a list and really focusing on only buying what is on my list is a big help with my grocery budget.  Occasionally I do make exceptions for mark downs or unadvertised deals, but I have to have money in my budget to pay for them.  Taking cash into the store and leaving all the credit cards and the checkbook in the car has really helped me learn to pay attention to what I'm placing in my cart.  I keep an estimated running total written on my shopping list.  When I'm out of money I stop shopping.  Trust me.  Once you get to a cashier and you realize you don't have enough cash on hand to pay for your basket you'll never do it again.

4. Ad matching Sites - These aren't just for folks who clip coupons.  The awesome people over at Savvy Shopper Deals also alert you to great deals on products without coupons.  Products like fruit, veggies, meats and dairy.  Stuff we rarely get coupons for.  I've added a new tab on my blog that will take you directly to their lists of best weekly deals.  Check it out!

5. Stockpile - When you find a great deal STOCKPILE.  That way when the price goes back up you can eat your food from your storage at the cheaper price.  Storing food purchased at low prices truly cuts the grocery bills.

Those are my top ways to save money *without* using coupons.  What types of things do you do to keep the grocery bills low?

5 Ways to Save Money on Groceries

...without using coupons!

{gasp}

Did I just say that out loud?

Yes, I do love to use coupons, but there are many foods we never receive coupons for.  In fact, a large percentage of my coupon use is mostly for non-food essentials like shampoo, deodorant, cleaning supplies and diapers.  I have to employ other tactics to save money on the bulk of my food purchases.  So, here are my best tips for saving money without going to the extreme of clipping coupons.

1. Compare Price per Pound - A good way to determine if any food item is a good value is to determine its price per pound.  The cheaper the price per pound the more food we can get for our buck.  Choose cheaper per pound foods and you'll fill your tummy without emptying your wallet.
   
   Fruits, vegetables and meats are easy since they are sold by the pound.
   
   Other packages are not so easy.
   
   HINT: 16 oz = 1 pound
   
   I found a 10 ct. box of fruit snacks in my food storage.  These typically go on sale for around $1.69.  Would you laugh at me if I told you I have no idea what the non-sale price is?  The box's total weight is 5 oz.  Using a little simple math $1.69 divided by 5 oz. times by 16 = $5.41 per pound.  I would consider that pretty expensive.  Apples are more than half that price, even out of season, and they are better for you.
   
   MATH: Total Price, Divided by Size in Oz. = Price per Oz.
             Multiply that number by 16 to get Price per Pound
             You can type it straight into your calculator, using the example above:
             1.69 / 5 * 16 = 5.408
   
   I'm not saying you can never have fruit snacks, just that there are cheaper alternatives.  We get them, on sale with coupons, for a special treat, but not an everyday snack.  My kids' favorite after school snacks are apples, bananas, and homemade bread.  All very good price per pound.
   
   The less processed a food the cheaper the price per pound.
   
   On Saturday I bought a 10 pound bag of potatoes for $2.69, not on sale just an average price.  So potatoes are $.27 per pound.  Compare that with the processed versions: french fries and instant potatoes typically $1-$2, or more, per 1 pound package.  Potatoes are a great value, plus there are a ton of ways to cook them.
   

...To Be Continued Next Week.