Eating at school or taking their lunch - Which do you find cheaper?

mckayleesmom wrote: Mckaylee recently told me that she doesn't want to take lunch to school anymore because they make the kids that eat lunch and bring lunch sit seperatly. All her friends eat at school and she feels left out being seperated from them at lunch. I told her I would think about it.

Her lunch is 2 dollars a day. Usually I buy stuff for her lunches and I also make Russell's lunch the same way so he doesn't feel left out...I even pack it in his lunchbox in the morning and set it in the fridge. I'm thinking it would be cheaper to just let her buy there since I usually have to replenish what I have at least 2 times every 2 weeks.

Her lunches usually have

PB and J or some kind of sandwich...
Capri Sun
Some type of cookie
Some time of veggie or fruit..usually carrot sticks or an apple
chips or crackers.

lisar replied: they dont do that at Lexi's school. But I let her choose which one she wants to do for what day. Sometimes they are having something that she just doesnt like so I will pack her lunch. But every friday she eats at school cause they always have pizza

Boo&BugsMom replied: Tanner gets hot lunch only a few times per month. I find it's a lot cheaper to bag him a lunch. We don't do juice or milk, I use a reusable water bottle and he drinks water with his lunch. That is what he prefers too. I usually pack him a PBJ or a bagel with cream cheese, a fruit, veggie, and a snack-like item such as a granola bar. I don't buy prepackaged things because those get expensive (chips, etc.). For instance, if he gets carrots, I buy a large bag of baby carrots and then put a handful in a baggie for him...I don't buy those single serving things.

Cece00 replied: I dont pack my kids lunches. I have no idea if it would really be cheaper @ this point...I know it probably wont be when all 4 kids are in school but with just 2 of them, I just pay for lunch. Its worth the $$ for less work for me.

momofone replied: We brown bag but her school based on income has reduced or free lunch for those who qualify.

jcc64 replied: Corey brings lunch most of the time, but as the kids get older, they prefer to buy hot lunch, at least in our district. The lunch is pretty cheap for what they get--$1.65, and they've been trying to incorporate locally grown produce when it's seasonally possible, something I really appreciate. I highly doubt I could pack a lunch for much less than that.
My district uses a debit card system- parents deposit a lump sum in the account periodically, and the kids have a pin number. I like it to a point--the cafeteria is open all day, and it's become clear to me that the older kids are buying a lot more than just lunch--cappaccinos, bagels, juice and snacks before sports practice, etc...On the one hand, it's great to have the service, but when my 16 yo ran through $50 in two weeks, I knew he was buying more than just lunch.

CantWait replied: Anthony's lunches at school are about $4 a day, Robbie's are a bit more expensive, in a month I have spent $125 each for lunch I believe.

I buy because really it saves me some time at night, Ron and I always every night sit down with a cup of tea and relax instead (and in the morning I'm too much of a zombie).

The school also sells different foods that I could never make here and gives the kids an opportunity to try new things.

Really though, food is so expensive here, it wouldn't be any cheaper for us to buy lunch things anyway, not to mention that I'd be going to the store every two days because fruit and vegetables go rotten fast here.

luvmykids replied: We do both. Their lunches are $1.65, I've never sat down and calculated it but I think it comes out pretty close either way. I do like them getting a hot lunch during the winter, and it's usually a good lunch nutritionally. When they buy, sometimes it's the convenience factor, and sometimes it's if I only have $10 for grocery money when we run out of lunch stuff I'd just rather send it to school and know their lunches are taken care of.

I never would have applied for the reduced lunch program, but the school sent home a letter saying they have money for the program and not enough applicants. Even if it's not a big amount it helps, it might be worth checking into.

boyohboyohboy replied: right now we qualify for free lunchs, but the snacks are really expensive I think. there is a lady that comes around after lunch with a tray of snacks that kids can buy. I still have no idea what he spends the money on ,but its like $2.00 a week, and he usually only has enough snack money for two days, he spends it all so fast, but we only let him have that much for the week to use.

My3LilMonkeys replied:
They did that at my elementary school and I hated it too. When my kids start going to school I'll probably do a combo - pack sometimes, buy sometimes.

mom21kid2dogs replied: Our school seperates kids in the classroom lines by tray, packer, etc but not in the lunchroom. Are you sure she might not be confusing the two? I don't know of any reason why they would segregate the lunchroom itself

O eats at school everyday lunch is available. I can't pack her a lunch for $2 a day.

mckayleesmom replied:
Yes..they seperate them...There are 2 seperate tables..My neighbor went to school for grandparents day lunch...And she said they set the kids with sack lunches at one table and the TA stays there and helps them open things they can't while the teacher helps the other kids through the line and they sit at the other table.

They are not allowed to buy snacks and stuff in Kindergarten..Just lunch because the parents send in 5 dollars a month for snack fees in the classroom. Sometimes I don't send juice, but do the water thing also. I also don't do the prepackaged lunch size stuff...Usually Its just chips (usually pretzels) I have on hand or crackers. I do the baby carrotts too....

Hillbilly Housewife replied: The lunches in the programs they have here are between 3 and 5$ a day... but you can choose which days you want, based on the menu... sometimes I buy it, usually I don't. The kids make their own lunch other than the sandwich, anyways, all their stuff is at a level they can reach.. usually consists of a sandwich (which me or dh make), an apple, a yogurt, an applesauce container, a muffin or nutrigrain bar, and a baggie of trail mix that I've already put in baggies when I make it.

mckayleesmom replied:
Thats what I was doing too. I usually buy a variety of stuff for her to choose from, and sometimes she buys and sometimes she takes, but she just now told me that its upsetting her that she is seperated from her friends....

CantWait replied:
I would talk to the school about it. It's not fair that they seperate them them, it's like punishment for not buying or taking your lunch. Not to mention that it sets kids up to be made fun of (usually because they don't get to buy their lunch) which also isn't fair.

mckayleesmom replied:
I think I am going to say something or at least ask if she can still sit with her friends when they get back from the lunch line.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: They might do that to tone down noise and distraction. I know until everyone has gone through the hot lunch line at Maddie's school and taken their seat, there can be absolutely no talking. But they let them sit where they want. They do get so little time for lunch and are pretty rushed. They probably just want it to go as smoothly as possible. If kids are fighting over where they will sit, talking, disrupting, etc, no one would get to eat their lunch. It's hard to monitor all those kids and I imagine this just makes it easier. (can you tell I worked in the lunchroom?)

Maddie hasn't had hot lunch at all this year so far. It's way too expensive, since it's catered. She packs her lunch by herself every morning, so it's not a time issue for me, either. It's cheap, too. She normally takes a sandwich, fruit, something I baked (cookies, muffins, etc) and crackers. I don't have to worry about her eating b/c it's all stuff she chose that morning.

Brias3 replied: That does seem a bit unfair to have them separated, but it could be to cut down on noise. I know Ryan and Aliyah's lunch period this year was cut down by 10 minutes due to scheduling, so having enough time to eat is an issue for their classes.

My kids will do both- they eat a packed lunch about 3-4 times a week and hot lunch usually 1-2 times. Ryan's super picky about the hot lunch, so he typically prefers to bring his. Their lunch is $2.10 per day, plus $.75 for a millk carton, which they purchase everyday either way. I really never worked it out money-wise which is cheaper- we just do both due to pickiness over certain selections on the hot lunch menu.