School Lunches
by Tawra Kellam
Save $400 on school lunches this year!

These days in America, it seems that everyone is so busy that
preparing school lunches is liable to push a typical mom right
over the edge. When you have to choose between making school
lunches or spending that extra 15 minutes in bed, it seems
like buying ready-made lunches at the store is a no-brainer,
but your budget doesn't agree. The average mom packs $2 worth
of pre-packaged goodies into each lunch she sends to school
with her kids. (That works out to $720 for two kids.) What
mother hasn't wondered if those lunches are even getting
eaten? Here are some tips from www.LivingOnADime.com for
things that you can do in 30 minutes or less on the weekend to
make those school lunches a snap!

- Those snack bags of munchies cost a lot! Make your own by
pre-packaging chips, pretzels, animal crackers and other snack
items into sandwich bags on the weekends. (Have the kids
help!) Store them in a big container or basket and just throw
them in the lunchbox in the morning.

- Let the kids create their own pizza lunch kits. Toast bread
and cutout little circles with a biscuit cutter. Add small
containers of pizza sauce, cheese, and other toppings.

- Make fruit gelatin and pudding and put in small plastic
containers for the week. Make a large batch of granola bars,
cookies, pumpkin bread, banana bread or muffins. Divide them
into resealable sandwich bags and freeze so that you can grab
one or two when needed.

- Brownie bites are simple to make. Bake brownie mix in mini-
muffin pans and put three "brownie bites" in a sandwich bag
for each child's lunch. They freeze well too!

- Fill a thermos (not glass) half full with juice the night
before and freeze. In the morning, remove from the freezer and
fill the rest of the way. The juice will be cold when the kids
are ready to drink it and it keeps their food cold too.

- Clean vegetables, slice into pieces and bag. Preparing a
week's worth of veggies at a time for lunches and snacks saves
money and time.

- Purchase cheese in blocks, cut into pieces and put in
sandwich bags.

- Save napkins and catsup and mustard packets that you get
from take-out. Use in lunches.

- Before you make another peanut butter and jelly sandwich,
check out www.LivingOnADime.com for more recipe ideas.
____________________

Frugal living expert Tawra Kellam is the publisher of
www.LivingOnADime.com. Tawra and her husband paid off $20,000
debt in 5 years on $22,000 a year income.

Take the Next Step:
Decide today that ready-made lunches are no longer the norm
for your gang. This weekend, try your hand at making brownie
bits or banana bread. Next weekend, let the kids package their
own chips or pretzels. You get the picture. Make school
lunches a snap one 30 minute or less tip at a time!