Is It Cost Effective to Bring a School Lunch?by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 30 Aug 2008 05:46 PM
I like the idea of packing a lunch, for a few different reasons. The first is that since my child is still young, I can have a bit more control over what he eats. I know that he won't choose a hot dog every day, for example. I can also ensure that the food he eats meets our particular standards for our family. The other reason is the cost of all of the add ons or a la cart items, such as 75-cent cookies. Lunches that meet the National School Lunch Program are carefully crafted to provide a balanced meal, and they can be a good value for the money. But last year, after doing the calculations, I determined that I can offer a bagged lunch for less. But I really started to wonder about this coming year. That $1.75 that we were charged seemed pretty good. I have to recalculate the average cost for us to prepare a bagged lunch from home based on what we are currently paying for groceries, which seems to be constantly increasing. To add to the complication, I've recently found out, the price paid for a school lunch will increase in price. Last year, in our district, a student lunch cost $1.75. This year, it will cost $2. While I am not surprised at this increase, I was curious to see if the school lunch, even a paid lunch, would be subsidized by the government. In other words, does the lunch that the school serves cost them more than that $2? The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it does. According to them, the price reimbursed to the school to support lunches for each low income child who is eligible for a free lunch is $2.50, $.50 more than the price of a paid lunch. The department also says that this figure is more than enough to cover the cost of the lunch. Of course these numbers depend on the amount of students who qualify for free lunches, in other words, the economic status and location of the school can affect the rate to which the school is reimbursed. After I run my calculations on homemade versus bought lunch, I'll share our decision. Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans. Related Articles 6 Ways to Reuse Cereal Box Liners
Just look to the right of this blog and find the subscription center (it looks just like this picture, although you'll have to find the "real" one just above the category listing ). Click on "Subscribe via Email". You'll be instantly subscribed and the email address that you registered at Families.com with will receive an instant notification whenever we post a new Frugal Living Blog! Don't miss a thing - subscribe now! Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments Starrlight (5255) 30 Aug 2008 06:22 PMOur lunch (unless you qualify for the low income lunches, which we do not) at my DD's school is $2.25! A day! I was shocked. Needless to say she'll be packing a lunch - I know I can send her a healthier lunch for less than that each day. This is what her school is offering the first week - Bean/Cheese burrito Corndog Pizza Hamburger w/potato salad Nacho cheese/chips w/string cheese and the rest of the month doesn't look any better. In fact one day they have something called 'haystack'. I'd be interested in going there for lunch that day just to see what the heck that is. Samual (11722) 31 Aug 2008 02:44 AMAt the school I was teaching at recently for chips and a sausage it was £1.80, then a drink is £1.20. Tashi (1013) 31 Aug 2008 08:33 AMI'm not a mom. I should ask my sibs who are parents about their schools' prices. However, I liken this issue to whether or not I bring my own lunch to work. Sometimes, I buy it. But the only place in the building is overpriced, which is why, if I buy anything there, it's a salad (and the quality's been slipping, so I may stop buying there altogether). Or I walk to my fave Chinese restaurant for the all-you-can-eat buffet (good, AND cheap, $7 or 8, I think.) I'm lucky that our office sometimes has leftover meeting food, which also helps me save loads on lunch. I definitely save money if I bring my own food. But how much, I've never calculated. Tashi (1013) 01 Sep 2008 04:38 PMOk, I was inspired by this article; today at Tarzhay-boutique (nickname for Target), I got a new reusable lunch bag (pink, my fave color), planning to bring my lunch to work more often. Seeing all the school supplies and parents shopping for last minute things, caused me to be reminiscient of days gone by. And more importantly, it made me want to try harder to be frugal, and also to be a smarter consumer by utilizing reusable items. Thanx, Mary Ann, for the piece. It caused me to re-assess my eating choices. Hopefully, I'll stick to the better choices as close as I can to always. :-) jonesx6 (1606) 02 Sep 2008 04:07 AMI guess an added bonus to homeschooling, no school lunches. My kids get the very affordable leftovers from dinner, mac & cheese, etc. Interesting article. That something I never think of. Laura  Mary Ann Romans |
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When planning out whether our eldest child will buy lunch or bring lunch to school, the cost involved is one factor. Last year, he brought lunch most of the time, and was allowed to buy a lunch for a special treat or as a reward for good behavior. With the cost of groceries increasing, I have been wondering if it still cost affective to have homemade lunches. 
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