Originally Posted by Chickenhauler:
Take the time to actually crunch the numbers once on what exactly goes into that bag lunch for the week, and I bet you'll find that you're spending more than $22.50.
Decent lunch meat costs $5 per package (and I don't count Oscar Mayer Bologna as "decent", unless we're talking dog treats).
No, we'd never send an Oscar Mayer snack lunch. Yuck!!!
Anyway,we have thermoses that the boys take which we put about 5-6 oz of milk in, very inexpensive considering milk in my area has been under $2 gallon lately. We make sandwiches (very cheap; we have an Amish Meat & Cheese store in town & live close to an Amish community which has several stores who compete against each other, they sell excellent deli lunch meat/cheese at GREAT prices $2.99/pound is the average- they always have 2 or three cheeses or meats at cheap sale prices to get you in the door-we simply buy the ones on sale & nothing else, lol! The meat/cheese that is not on sale is well over $3 pound; we just don't buy those! ), include a miniature box of raisins (one bag costs $1.89 for about 12 boxes) & a small Kroger brand pack of yogurt (33 cents at my Kroger grocery store). By my calculations this should cost $1.50 each, probably less. I don't have time to do the math.
But I do understand your logic; we have to take the time to make the lunch, buy the groceries, & shop for good prices, etc. But saving the $$$ is more important to us at this time. Times are tough for many & we are no exception & since I only care for one family I don't bring in much $$$.