Money Saving Mom®

Guest post from Adeline of Frugal Fanatic

Now that school has started, you may have noticed how quickly all of the different costs add up. Not only did you need to purchase new school clothes and supplies at the beginning of the year, but now you have to figure out how you are going to afford school lunches.

Many parents plan ahead and budget for school supplies throughout the school year, but they forget about school lunches. Having your child buy their lunch from the school each day will quickly add up.

You want to send your child to school with a healthy lunch, but you do not want to spend a ton of money. Here are 5 ways to save money on school lunches.

1. Think Outside the Sandwich

Lunch does not have to be a sandwich every day. Invest in an insulated container that will keep food hot or cold. Leftovers from the night before are perfect. When you make some of your child’s favorite meals you can inexpensively double the recipe to allow for extra servings for lunch.

Not only do you save money, but your child will be happy to be eating one of their favorite foods at school.

2. Slice Your Own Meat and Cheese

If your child likes to eat sandwiches for lunch buy the sandwich meat and cheese in unsliced blocks, and do the slicing yourself. This will save you money instead of spending more to have it sliced at the deli counter.

Even though you will be taking the time to slice it you will quickly see the savings add up.

3. Make Your Own Lunchables

A lot of kids love Lunchables, but they can be pretty expensive. Instead, buy containers with different size sections and make your own version of the Lunchable.

You can use crackers, meats, cheese, veggies with hummus, and fruit. Plus, you will get to use all food you just sliced from our previous tip. This is a frugal alternative and much healthier also.

4. Buy in Bulk and Divide Into Servings At Home

Do not buy single serving packs of snacks like chips, cookies, yogurt and pudding. You are paying for the convenience factor. Instead buy larger packages and separate them into single servings yourself using bags and small containers.

This is a real money saver especially if you used reusable containers.

5. Get Your Kids Involved in the Process

Do not try to force your kids to eat things they really do not like. If you send them to school with a lunch they dislike, chances are they will throw it away. That is like throwing your money in the trash!

Instead, get your kids involved int he lunch-packing process and try to compromise — finding healthy foods that they love and will eat.

It may be difficult at first, but once you get into a routine and find out some of your child’s favorite foods, you can save money while still packing foods they enjoy.

If you are already calculating how much money you are going to spend this school year, try some of these ways to save money on school lunches. You can be frugal and still give your kids a healthy and tasty lunch each day.

What tips do you have for saving money on school lunches?

Addi Ganley is a work-at-home mom of 3 young boys. Her blog, Frugal Fanatic, focuses on how to live a frugal lifestyle. She is passionate about saving money and believes that if you save where you can then you can spend where you want to. Frugal Fanatic is her way of helping other people learn how to manage their finances in every day life.

photo source

Testimonial from Samantha

About 9 months ago, we found out that my daughter had autism, it was a shock and has been something we have spent these last 9 months dealing with, as well as proactively seeking treatment for her.

We have gone the traditional routes with speech, occupational, and physical therapies for her (which are thankfully covered by insurance) as well as the biomedical route.

We also immediately started her on a Gluten-free, Casein-free diet. It is expensive but I have been able to find great deals using the coupons and match-up from your weekly Organic and Natural coupon posts.

One thing that kept coming up in my web research was a cookbook called “Special Diets for Special Kids“.  I really wanted this cookbook, but couldn’t justify the splurge on our already tight budget — so I check my Swagbucks and saw that I had enough gift cards to cash out for $25 (which was enough to pay for the book!)

Another route I have been researching (and was happy to see your post on) was essential oils. I am trying go avoid medications whenever possible, but still keep my family healthy.

While we are somewhat obsessive about hand washing and have started taking a daily multivitamin and even probiotics, I wanted to try some essential oils too. I have been able to purchase “Essential Oils for the Healthy Child” as well as few synergy blends from Plant Therapy using my various on-line earnings, as well as a sample pack from Native American Nutritionals.

So how have I been able to make money online?

Most of the ideas below came directly from your website!!

1. Swagbucks:

I try to run the Swagbucks TV app on my phone or tablet throughout the day as well as do the Daily Poll, Encrave, NOSO, and Discover Content.

2. Surveys:

I have also signed up with several survey companies including Pinecone, MyPoints, Opinion Outpost, Survey Spot, Inbox Dollars, and MySurvey.

While I don’t do those every day or even every week, when I get a free moment or while I’m watching TV with my husband, I will do a few surveys. I have earned about $10 or more from each of those survey companies — which I then cash out to my PayPal account.

3. Coupon Apps:

My final avenue of income as a SAHM is coupon apps such as Ibotta, Jingit, Shopmium, Checkout 51, and Saving Star.

I check each of those after a trip to the grocery store and upload receipts to those for matching offers. Most of those have a PayPal option as well, which I often choose.

This has been a hard year for us, both emotionally and financially, with little money to throw around. But with using my precious free time (I don’t have much as a mommy to 2 preschoolers and an infant) I have been able to make a bit of extra cash to purchase some helpful items for my daughter and my family as a whole.

Thank you!

Guest post from Cassie of Vegan Insanity

I’ve been vegan for over a year now. When I first made the switch to a plant-based diet, I spent an enormous amount of money on vegetables. Since I have them with pretty much every meal, I was buying them in abundance, and my bank account was showing that.

I started doing a bit of research and experiments to see if I could save a serious amount of money on my produce – and I did! In fact, last month I gave myself a budget of $30 per week for my produce purchases (at that point I was spending about $60), and came in under budget by $6!

Here’s what I did to save money on vegetables:

1. Check the discount rack.

My local grocery store has a discounted produce rack, and every time I went shopping, I would check it out for veggies that I could use. I often walked away with peppers, eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes (among other things) for 50% off or more!

Some vegetables had to be used right away, some would last a few days, and some of them I would stick in the freezer for later use.

2. Scour the farmer’s markets.

Farmer’s markets were a lifesaver for me last month! I went every weekend, and I always scored a ton of great deals when I was there.

I would usually show up about 30 minutes before closing time, and would ask the vendors for rock-bottom prices on their remaining vegetables. Most of them accepted!

One of the best deals I scored at the farmer’s market was a 10 pound box of bell peppers for just $5! I brought them home, washed them, cut them up, and popped them in the freezer. Now I have months’ worth of peppers in the freezer for soups, chili, and more!

3. Pick your own.

If you don’t have a farmer’s market nearby, check to see if there are any farms in your area, and if they offer “pick your own” vegetables.

Many farms allow you to pick your own potatoes, tomatoes, fruits and more – for a lot less cash than what you’d pay at a grocery store.

Plus, a trip to the farm is a fun family outing!

4. Shop in season.

One of the biggest things I did to lower my costs on veggies was to stop buying things I wanted, and instead only purchased the things that were in season.

When produce is in season, it’s not only much cheaper, but it also tastes way better.

Visit Fruits & Veggies More Matters to learn all about in-season produce and when you buy your favorite vegetables (and fruit).

These are the ways that I was able to cut my bill on veggies by 53%. Since this experiment was so successful, I’ve decided I’m going to continue doing what I’ve been doing.

There are always ways to save on foods that make up a big part of your diet, no matter what they are!

What are some ways that you’ve been able to save money on vegetables?

I’m Cassie – vegan food lover, money-saver, and blogger. I live in Vaughan, Ontario, right near the big city of Toronto, with my husband, our 2 kids, 3 cats, and a dog that thinks he’s a cat, too. I love to cook and share delicious vegan food with everyone I know.

photo source