Packing school lunches for the kids is a great way to save a bundle of cash throughout the school year! By packing school lunches, you can also have a little better control over what your child eats, which is great if you’re trying to keep your family on a healthy diet.
Whether you’re a novice or newbie to packed school lunches, we’ve put together a few tips that will help you save money and time on the lilttle darling’s lunches this school year!
- Use a Gatorade bottle for drinks. Gatorade bottles are made from thicker plastic than most other drink bottles, which means you can reuse them a few times before throwing them out.
- Small spice containers are great for holding dips. Do you have a little one who loves to dip things? The small spice containers are great for holding dips and dressings, and the screw on lids mean no messy accidents!
- Freeze lunch items to keep things cool. If ice packs take up too much room in the kids’ lunchboxes, try freezing some of the lunch items instead, like drinks or fruit cups. The frozen drinks or food should keep things chilled, but they should be thawed in time for lunch.
- Make your own single servings. Don’t spend an arm and a leg on those cute little pre-portioned snacks. Instead buy the larger bags of snacks and put a few cookies or chips in a bag or container.
- Buy reusable plastic containers. A few inexpensive reusable plastic containers can really save you a bundle on baggies throughout the school year! And, they’re much better for the environment!
- Copy Lunchables. My kids still love Lunchables, but I can’t see spending the money on them. So, from time to time, I’ll make my own Lunchables with some deli meat, cheese, crackers, a treat, and a drink.
- Prep ahead. running around in the morning trying to throw together some school lunches for the kids is just plain crazy! Instead, make and prepare as much as possible ahead of time. Keep all of the items for your school lunches for the week in one spot, which makes it super simple to just grab and go!
