Which is cheaper?

[FrugalMomof3]

My kids get reduced price lunches at school, 40cents a day, is it cheaper for me to just pay for school lunch versus them bringing a home packed lunch?

My daughter always tells me she wants to pack but I think of 40cents for lunch and I assume it's cheaper and her lunch includes a drink, am I correct?

Thanks!
~Tracy~

[YankeeMom]

I figured it out for what I pay for food here and it came out to about 75c to pack a home lunch. Back then my kids were paying full price (didn't qualify for reduced) so it was cheaper for me to send home lunch rather than pay 90c each for my two younger ones and $1.15 for my oldest...every day.

Now they get reduced lunch, which here is 25c/day. I can't send them with a home lunch cheaper than that. The only time they bring lunch now is if the school lunch is something gross they don't like.

Break it down. What would she bring for a lunch?
A sandwich? Divide how many servings you would get out of a loaf of bread by how much you paid for it. For me it was 24 slices/64c. And remember to count two pieces of bread for the sandwich. A serving is 1 slice.
If she likes sliced meat sandwiches, divide the cost of the deli meat by how many slices there are. Add that in.
Do the same thing with everything she would bring.

Actually, I did an entry on bag lunches on my blog last year:
http://frugalfood.blogspot.com/2005/05/bag-lunches.html

[i.m.cheap]

The reduced price lunch is cheaper. That said, my dd never ATE the school lunch (when she attended public school), except when they were having pizza. The school lunches here leave ALOT to be desired. First of all, they prepare lunches for 45,000 students in one central location, pack them in stryofoam trays (bad for the environment), put them on a truck, and transport them to each individual school. By the time they arrive at school, it is up to two hours after it was prepared. YUCK! The items on the lunches were not very healthy, or if they did give them something like a kiwi fruit (which my dd loves) they would serve them the fruit whole, with no way to peel and eat it, because the only utensil they were ever given was a "spork". At home, we cut our kiwi in half and just scoop out the fruit with a spoon. She was always frustrated at not being able to eat hers at school.

Overall, the lunches were loaded with fat and nitrates, like mac 'n cheese with little smokies in it, or corndogs, etc. We try to eat healthy at home, eating whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables. So it was a combination of the poor quality of food served at school, and the fact that my dd did not want to eat most of what was served, that led me to almost always pack her a lunch.

[FrugalMomof3]

Wow thanks! I guess it's cheaper for me to have them eat school lunch but not as healthy as I would like it to be.

~Tracy~

[Kimberlina]

Well, your school lunch might be healthier than others. You really need to take a look at the menu.

Maybe you can strike a compromise with your DD by figuring out the costs for you to make the SAME item at home for her to pack if it is something she likes and will eat. If it is NOT something she will eat, then it is just a waste of money, whether it is onyl .40 or not. On those day, it might be a better choice to pack her something she will actually eat than to pay for food she isn't eating. And take nutrition into consideratino at the same time. If you know the school pizza is REALLY bad for her (not saying it is, just that it might be) it might be a better choice for you to make it from scratch at home (a few pizzas made all at once and frozen) if you are only paying a little more. All need to be taken into consideration.

There are ways to make inexpensive lunch for her to pack, like pasking a water bottle (tap water) instead of sending a drink, but she might prefer o buy lunch.

It could be a fun project to sit down one night with her and figure it all out. Particularly if she is wanting to pack expensive things, like fruit roll-ups and individual anything. Let her see how much it all costs. It will be a great lesson for her.

[FrugalMomof3]

Well my daughter packed lunch today and here's what I figured:

2 slices of bread (30 slices to a loaf at 75 cents) = 5 cents
Peanut Butter and Jelly = Jelly 1.00 a jar can make approx 30 sandwiches = 3 cents, Peanut Butter - No Brand = $1.50 can make 30 sandwiches = 5 cents. So far I am at 13 cents.

She brought 5 keebler fudge sticks, comes 30 to a package and I get them for $1.19 = 19cents, But I didn't buy these so to me = 0 cents

She also brought a drink that we get in bulk comes 30 to a pack for only $6 = 20 cents BUT I didn't pay for these either, so her total lunch for today = 13 cents!

YAY!

[canadian gardener]

good math work. I came in late on this interesting thread, and I agree.
\
Do the math for what your dd wants to take from home, then look at the nutrition from the school lunch, and kind of figure which days it's better.

I'd be pricing out more than a pbj sandwich lunch so you know the price of several hm lunches that she can take. write them on cards and post on the fridge so she can make her own, out of the hm choices you have the fixings from at a reasonable price and then let her figure out what she wants to do that day.

I'm a big one for letting them do their own fixing and packing with a close eye on what goes into it. It's good training for later.

[Kristina Katarina]

Thank you for starting this great thread. It really got me thinking.

And YankeeMom...thanks to you I went into the kitchen and figured things out for myself. I can send a lunch to school for my kids for .96, not including the drink. I usually send water bottles anyway, so that won't cost me anything. I will occasionally send juice boxes when I can find the organic ones on sale.

For reference, my younger ones lunches cost 1.85 and my older ones cost 2.20.

And thanks to Canadian Gardener for the suggestion! My older ones are 15.5 and 14 so they can certainly make their own lunches. I'll help them until they get the hang of it themselves.

I am so excited as this will save me most of the $125.00 per month that I spend on hot lunch for all of these kiddos.

WOOHOO!

[FrugalMomof3]

My daughter has been packing lunch almost everyday since I posted this thread and I am actually spending $.30cents or less on her lunch when she brings it, and although it's only 10 cents less it's still something plus it makes her happy.

Every morning she heads downstairs and makes her lunch for the day, I buy boxes of cheez-its or teddy grahams cheap at Ollies which can give atleast 20 servings for oly $1 a bag that's only 5 cents for that, juice boxes I buy in bulk 36 for $4 so that's 11cents and I already mention the peanut butter and jelly and no frills brand bread probably costs me 6 cents, so far I am at 21 cents....

I thank everyone who helped me with this decision, now if my daughter is having pizza at school I just give her the 40cents because she wants the pizza but she likes the packing school lunch and I dont have to worry about 40cents everyday.

Thanks!
~Tracy~

[shoefairy3]

interesting thread...thankfully my oldest qualifies for free lunch so i dont have to worry about the cost...most of the time he gets the pb and j sandwich at school unless they are having hot dogs...lol

[miss_thrifty]

no such thing in our schools anything for 40cents. i wish.
cheapest and all nutritious ai 2.25, subs, sandwhiches, hot soups, with drink. Only three times a week at our sxhool they serve lunches.
Oldest boy Grade 8, can get healthy or junk, grease. and isnt cheap at all. The healthy is very exspensive. so mostly kids bring lunches.

I buy 10 packs juice(minute maid or life brand) 2 1o packs for $5.
thats .25cents a piece, for real juice, not that watered down , half sugar stuff.
And mostly sandwhiches(p.b, leftover turkey or ham)
Gragham crackers with cream cheese or apple slices on them
Ants on alog( celery, p.b. and raisins)
Yogurt i buy N.N. 1.79 large container, out in small plastic dishes for dipping purposes

[northernmom2boys]

My kids are in kindergartern and grade 2.There is pizza day on fridays and each piece is a loonie,hot unches are on THursdays and they are 4.20 each.I have to pack a lunch each day except for 2 days a week,most thursdays they dont like what is served for hot lunch so we dont get it.I have never sat down and calculated how much it costs to pack the lunches all I know is for some reason I hate doing it lol

[pepper1]

My boys are also in kindergarten and grade 2.My kids also get reduced lunch .40 cents a day so I have them buy it when they want to pack there lunch they always pick out the expensive stuff so for me it' just much easier for me to just continue to let them buy it

[Libby]

Hahaha, seems like school lunches in Canada arent as popular or seen as necessary as it is in the US and back in the day when I was at school hot lunches were always a form of starch and tomato sauce w/cheese. Spaghetti, mac and cheese or lasagna. That was $4.00/serving. Milk was $0.75 for the 2% and then the 1%/Skim/Chocolate was $1.50 for small 125ml serving (1/2 cup). So thats about $5.50/lunch and w/o dessert. On occasion they'd have a hamburger day but even then it was the smallest portion for $3.50 - no cheese. What a rip! The rest was junk food all for $1/serving: fries, 2 med/large choc chip cookies or bag of chips. Pop achine charged $1 for brand name.

The best value for a student was to have a choc milk or two, and fries w/cookies. Total $3.

And I dont ever recall being offered vegetables or fruit. All junk food or overly starchy pasta dishes that were overpriced. No wonder kids did the 10 min trek to the local arches for lunch - same price, more food, better taste and just as unhealthy - however thats total of 20 mins trekking just to get your lunch - so how bad is it really? LOL Makes you think twice.

I bagged the lunch - got more bang for my buck back in those days.

[iida]

In Finland school lunch is free. It´s usually potatoes, rice or pasta with meat or fish and some kind of salad or cooked vegetables and milk, bread and butter. It´s never anything like pizza or hamburger or french fries.