How to Save on School Lunches

Remember when tuna or PB&J were your basic lunch options? Now kids have more choices, and with rising food costs as well as health concerns like childhood obesity, parents have more worries about what their children eat in the school cafeteria. But with a little planning and MainStreet's help, you can keep your grocery bill in check while sending your students to school with tasty and healthy lunches.

Get a Cool Container
Sometimes you have to spend a little to save a lot. Talk to your kids about what kind of a container they'd like to carry to school each day. Laptop Lunches ($34.99) are easily transportable and come with a complete set of small containers to pack various items like fruit, nuts, dipping sauces, salads or yogurt. (They're also great for adults trying to practice portion control.) Built NY’s insulated bags ($10 - $22) come in animal shapes, as well as an array of colors and patterns that appeal to the more sophisticated set.

Designate a drawer in your kitchen to store lunch boxes and bags, Ziploc baggies, packaged lunch snacks and small containers. Invest in several packages of inexpensive, but re-usable plastic containers and write your child's name on the outside.

Shop Around and Stock Up
Stock the same drawer where you store the lunch boxes, bags and containers with quick snacks like granola bars or bags of crackers and pretzels. Buy cases at a discounter like Costco (COST), BJ's (BJ), or from Amazon.com (AMZN), which offers free shipping on orders over $25 and great deals on bulk buys. Prepackaged snacks have a long shelf life, so look online as well as in the store, and stock up when you spot a great price.