Good idea or waste of time?

**Suzy** · 06-10-2008, 12:50 PM

Summer is here although the calendar says not until June 21. Kids are home from school. I have been trying to get my grocery bill down and have succeeded some. But that was also when the kids were in school. Now that they are home they snack more during the day. No, they don't sit around all day watching t.v or playing games. My fil takes turns in taking one of the boys with him to work. Grass gets mowed, house gets "spring cleaning" more often, etc. I am blessed with having children that don't mind all that. When we go on trips (short or long) I pack goody bags with cookies, candy,chips, fruit, etc for the kids to eat on the way. Once we get to our destination, we buy whatever groceries we need for our stay and again, I refill their goody bag for the rest of our stay and for the trip home. Usually these trips are just Thursday-Sunday. That works really well for us. In the past kids have complained about one getting more of something than the others. Well, I buy groceries weekly so I thought about doing goody bags for the week. I wouldn't have complaining about someone not getting any or one getting too much. They could trade off like they do on vacation if they do want more of something than what I gave them. My thinking behind this is not to be controlling, stingy or cheap, frugal yes, and hoping to cut back on groceries for the summer. If I go ahead and evenly separate what I buy the kids and what odd and ends I have left over put aside for DH lunch , would that make sense to do or just let the kids settle their own food disputes (they are old enough-14,14,12,12,12) and what gets ate just gets ate.I was also thinking that by doing this, if the kids knew that was their limit for the week, then they might choose to "save" some for later and not eat it all just because it is there. Do I even make sense at this point? I feel as though I am just rambling on and on so I will end now. Thanks for ya'lls input into my "dilemma".

**monkeywrangler71** · 06-10-2008, 01:03 PM

I think that's a really great idea. That way they are responsible for controlling their own snacking, and they won't eat up all good stuff at the beginning of the week for fear that their siblings will get it all.

I might actually steal this idea, just for my teenager. Provide her with a reasonable number of snacks at the beginning of the week and let her work out when to eat them. Maybe then she will stop with the constant 'there's nothing to eat in this house' whining.

**itlw8** · 06-10-2008, 01:15 PM

great idea why should one hurry up and eat something because they know big brother will eat them all in a day.

give each a basket in a cabinet and a container in the fridge trade, save or eat but they are in charge of their treats.

and may I say good luck feeding 2 teen boys was rough glad I did not have 5 teens LOL

**ktsmama** · 06-10-2008, 01:31 PM

First off, bless your little pea pickin' heart. LOL (I felt sure that since you live in SC, you would get a chuckle out of that.) Feeding teens can be a challenge.

I think that is a great idea!!! When it's gone, it's gone.

**leezza** · 06-10-2008, 01:37 PM

I think it sounds like a really great idea!

Is the honor system good at your house???meaning do you have to worry at all about someone helping themselves to someone else's treats????

I hope it works for you : ) kids like to eat different things at different times so I think it will work great for your family....By the way could I have one of those treat bags too : )

Have a great day,
leezza : )

**C@rol** · 06-10-2008, 02:25 PM

Wonderful idea. There will be no arguments about how much who got when. It's evenly distributed and when it's gone, it's gone.

**ironmaiden** · 06-10-2008, 02:31 PM

Hey, can't hurt to try. If it works great, if not, so be it.
My guess is that it will work for some of the kids, but not all. Murphy's Law says so.

But it will also be an interesting lesson for them. It will be interesting to see if there is a correlation between the kids who eat everything up and having nothing left at the end of the week with those who spend their money the second they get it. One or more of the kids might even hoard worrying about not having enough. You could also turn this into a lesson about money using food instead - finding happy mediums, hoarding your money, saving for a rainy day, and people who spend every dime.

Also, as parents, see if you can predict how each child will do.
The kids will learn something about themselves as well.

**tbs727** · 06-10-2008, 02:33 PM

It sounds like a good idea. Even if it doesn't work, you can go back to your old way.

**luv-my-lexi** · 06-10-2008, 02:44 PM

I think it sounds like a great idea. Never hurts to give something a try. If it doesn't work nothing lost.

**Mom23boys** · 06-10-2008, 02:56 PM

I also think it sounds like a great idea. Let us know how it works for you.

**Jill B.** · 06-10-2008, 03:40 PM

That is a great idea! I think it will definitely be a lesson in self control. As an addition to the idea, you may want them to bake a snack. Maybe 2 kid teams to bake a snack for the week. This may cut down on your food budget rather than using the pre-packaged snacks.

**Domestic Gal** · 06-10-2008, 05:47 PM

I actually do this already. My son has aspergers and has no self control. He will eat it until it is gone if I do not portion it out. And no one else gets any.
My kids are not allowed to open any snacky food boxes unless they ask first otherwise he would eat the whole box right now without me knowing about it.

On Sunday I make 10 snack bags each for my son, daughter and Dh for the week. (they each have there own snack bucket) One for there lunches DH get 2 in his lunches. One for after school snacks. Lots of times my son is out of snacks by Wednesday because he will but 2 or 3 in his lunch at a time. So the rest of the week he gets no snacks.

This helps on the grocery budget also because I know how long the snacks will last with what I have on hand. How many I need to buy to last a week or however long before the next shopping trip.

I do this with other things as well. Like soda it is a treat in this house
but if I do not hide it or put peoples names on things he will eat it.

**zakity** · 06-10-2008, 06:40 PM

Good idea!

**Momto2Boyz** · 06-10-2008, 08:57 PM

I think that is a great idea! We constantly have the heated debates in our household over "who got more". I never really thought about seperating them into goody bags like that, but I think I will start doing that!

Thanks so much for the idea!

**ravenmaniac** · 06-10-2008, 09:10 PM

Wonderful idea. My mother used to tell my siblings and I: If you eat all your snacks now there will be no more until I go grocery shopping next week! My mother didn't replenish as things were gone. We learned to make it last or do without. I've been using this more with my kids lately.