Consumer Corner: 8 tips to cut the cost of school lunches

Pic: iStock

The dreaded school lunches are back. It’s hard to explain the pain and stress that comes with preparing school lunches. Is it the pressure about what to put in every day, the stress of not having items in the fridge or the time consuming element of it? 

There’s the added frustration then that comes with the lunchbox returning with a bite out of the sandwich, the apple not touched and the Frube untorn. 

This may not be the case for many families but for those who do struggle with the daily grind of lunchbox prep, we hear you. In fact, anyone with three children will prepare around 4,300 lunches over the years that their kids are in primary school.

It might sound dramatic, how tough school lunch prep is for anyone who has not been subjected to the task, but it can be tricky. Kids' tastes change and their demands increase and lunch prep is trickier because of that.

The Government is constantly expanding the Hot School Meals programme, and this September many more schools will be included in the programme, which will see children receive hot food in school. 

It works in a way that the cost of the meals are covered by the Government but schools then pick their provider. Not all schools are included in the programme, but according to figures, 354,000 children are eligible. 

The aim for the programme is that every primary school in Ireland will become eligible for hot meals by 2025 and to every school in the country by 2030. Until that time, however, lunches will have to be made at home for many families and with lunches come cost. 

We have prepared tips on how to do school lunches in a cost-saving way. It can be very easy to turn to handy pre-packaged items but to cut down on costs a little bit of additional thought and effort can go a long way.

Tip one: Give power back to the customer

The end game for school lunches essentially is that children eat what's inside their lunch box while at school. A good idea might be letting them have a say in what they are receiving. 

You could but items on the kitchen table for them to put in the boxes. The good thing is you get to decide what items are offered and you can tailor them as healthy choices. This way the child will have input into the lunch prep and maybe might be more inclined to eat them.

Tip two: Buy in bulk

This time of the year supermarkets will be falling over themselves to offer deals targeting the Back to School market. They will want your business and loyalty but it could be a great time to stock up on items that will have a long shelf life and that you know you will use for the coming months.

Tip three: Invest in reusable tubs

Buying items in bigger sizes will save you money and you can use little tubs to divide them out for the week ahead. For example with yogurt, buying a big tub will cost less than smaller tubs. Also you can pre-prepare the tubs for the week ahead with fruit and other items.

Tip four: Use your leftovers

Leftovers can be very useful for the following days' lunchbox. If you had a roast dinner you could use the meat for sandwiches or if you had pasta pesto you could pop some in a tub.

Tip five: Freeze

Your freezer is definitely your friend when it comes to children and food. There are so many items you can freeze and use for lunchboxes, such as bread or fruit. It can be a fantastic way of ensuring food is not wasted also.

Tip six: Baking

Get the kids involved in baking some healthy treats for the lunchbox. Rather than dumping the bananas, use them for buns or scones and these are a lovely addition to the lunchbox. You could also make use of the freezer here and batch items that you can use at a later date.

Tip seven: Plan ahead

Planning ahead can help you with the stress around the daily decision of what to put into the lunchbox. It can also help with cost saving as it will mean you won’t miss a best before date if you have the items planned out in advance.

Tip eight: Get influenced

These days there are so many outside forces only too delighted to share their tips with us. These forces come in the form of influencers on social media who are delighted to show their themed lunches or their fancy designs. A lot of what we might see online will be a step too far for many parents who are barely managing to butter a slice of bread and pop a bit of ham in it, but not all of these influencers are in the market to make you feel bad and some might actually help with ideas.