Cost of packed lunches v hot school dinner

MrsSippi

My eldest is starting Year 3 in September and therefore loses her free school meals. She has always said she preferred to have packed lunches but in the interests of money saving I've managed to keep her on the hot school meals since Reception .

The current cost of a hot dinner is £2.10 per day, though I think this will increase slightly soon. The meals are a good quality etc so there are no issues there.

Originally I said I would maybe do 50-50 during the month with a hot lunch and packed lunches as I thought this would work out cheaper than having hot meals all the time (I would like her to have hot meals sometimes during the month) but now I'm wondering if this is right.

Does anyone have any idea how much a packed lunch would cost either a day, a week or a fortnight. A very basic lunchbox will include something like a sandwich, a yoghurt, some fruit, carrot or cucumber sticks, some cheese, some breadsticks and a small fairy cake. I said she can have crisps once a week as a treat (we haven't had anything from the school regarding what is/isn't allowed so I'm assuming this will be ok). I always shop at Lidl or Aldi too.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

PasturesNew

It'd depend where you bought stuff from - and what stuff...

It could be done for well under £1, whereas those shopping for organic, at Waitrose, with "fancy fruit" and "best quality organic yoghurts" might see the price closer to £5.

I can make a sandwich with a 9p egg, two slices of 2p/slice bread and half a cheap salad tomato = 16p.... on the other hand, somebody else might use 50p of prepared salad leaves, some organic this, that and the other ... and end up with just the sandwich costing £1.

MrsSippi

PasturesNew wrote: »

It'd depend where you bought stuff from - and what stuff...

It could be done for well under £1, whereas those shopping for organic, at Waitrose, with "fancy fruit" and "best quality organic yoghurts" might see the price closer to £5.

I can make a sandwich with a 9p egg, two slices of 2p/slice bread and half a cheap salad tomato = 16p.... on the other hand, somebody else might use 50p of prepared salad leaves, some organic this, that and the other ... and end up with just the sandwich costing £1.

Sorry, I've just amended post - I always shop at Aldi or Lidl.

onlyroz

School dinners here cost £2.20 at Primary and £2.50 at secondary school. I reckon I can make packed lunches for around a quarter to a third of that cost.

E.g. a piece of fruit will be 10-20p (go for something from the Aldi Super 6), a pot of yogurt 10-20p, two slices of bread about 5p, third of a can of tuna 20p, spoon of mayo about 5p. Add some salad items, or carrot sticks, or a treat item like a biscuit for another 10-20p. Then send in with a bottle of water.

kingfisherblue

Packed lunches will be cheaper. You can get all of the sandwiches from one loaf of bread, or one pack of bread rolls. Yoghurts and fairy cakes can be bought in multi packs. Cucmber and carrots are quite cheap.



Make a list of what you would need for a week's worth of packed lunches, then write down the cost. Add up, and divide by five (days). Remember that you may have some stuff left over to use up as a family as well.


Pack of 6 bread rolls = 65p (only need five, so 55p for the packed lunch)

Fairy cakes = 60p a pack of six, but need five, so 50p

Sliced ham or chicken = £1.45 (for thirteen slices though - you'll only need five in a week, so @11p a slice, it's 55p)


And so on. So far, 32p a day.



You can make up sandwiches and freeze for the week, if no mayo in them. Also consider having a couple of tubs in the fridge - one for your daughter to pick two or three healthy snacks from a variety, and another tub in the cupboard to pick one treat from (small fairy cake, pack of crisps, etc). It means that she can mix up her lunches a bit, and gives her the cahnce to choose. She can easily help to get everything for her lunchbox as well.


ETA: if you invest in a decent small food flask, she can take homemade soup, spaghetti bolognese, or last night's leftovers for a hot meal.

DCFC79

Either take a guess at the cost or do a whole of packed lunches and write down how much cheese will make x amount of sandwiches, how far a loaf of bread will go etc. It can be done cheap, depends what you have obviously.

You could do it during the summer.

suejb2

Free school dinners fupto year 2 wasn't around when my two were at primary . I knew my d.d would eat them and she often did over the winter.
My d.s , however, wouldn't entertain school dinners so he took ham or jam on alternative days, with a small apple or grapes and biscuit or yoghurt plus a drink. In winter he had a small flasknof soup, spaghetti hoops or ravioli. I never coated it out but it was under a £1.
I work as a dinner lady and you wouldn't believe the waste., with both dinners and packed lunches.

maman

suejb2 wrote: »

I work as a dinner lady and you wouldn't believe the waste., with both dinners and packed lunches.

I agree. Many parents give children far too much food and many children can't be bothered to eat it as they're desperate to get out to play. For many a small snack at lunchtime and another at the end of the school day is preferable.


I think another thing to consider is how the children will be eating across the day.. If OP intends to cook a family evening meal then there's no need for another cooked meal at lunchtime.


But some parents have subsidised food at work or take substantial leftovers to reheat. If by having a cooked meal at school, the family can just have a light meal like something on toast or a jacket potato in the evening then as a family it might be cost effective to pay for school meals.

pumpkin89

Pack of 6 bread rolls = 65p (only need five, so 55p for the packed lunch)

Fairy cakes = 60p a pack of six, but need five, so 50p

Sliced ham or chicken = £1.45 (for thirteen slices though - you'll only need five in a week, so @11p a slice, it's 55p)


And so on. So far, 32p a day.

You can't really compare a roll made with one slice of cheap ham against a quality cooked meal. If you just want the cheapest option possible, fair enough, but otherwise OP needs a like-for-like comparison.

Stoke

pumpkin89 wrote: »

You can't really compare a roll made with one slice of cheap ham against a quality cooked meal. If you just want the cheapest option possible, fair enough, but otherwise OP needs a like-for-like comparison.

Is a school dinner a quality cooked meal? I remember high school..... just about. The food was borderline inedible and incredibly unhealthy with a fairly limited choice. Beef burger like you'd get from a football match (plastic patty job), pizza, shortbread, etc. No real option for salad or anything a little healthier.

This was before the whole school food health kick had started but I can't imagine the situation has greatly improved. Perhaps they offer an apple now?

So really, you can compare a cheaply made sandwich against a cheaply made meal.

buildersdaughter

My own experience is that they have greatly improved - my grandchildren have lovely school lunches which they enjoy.
I think a lot depends on what else your daughter eats over the day, what her friends are doing, and what her appetite is generally. Maman writes about children rushing out to play, but not all do.
If a good school lunch is enjoyable, and means she can just have what we used to call a 'bread-and-butter' tea, then you are saving time, and the money evens out. If she doesn't enjoy it, and you are still cooking an evening meal for her, then it will be expensive on time and money.
I would ask her what she wants to do, and let her know that (subject to sensible notice) she can change her mind, and so can you.
My own children took packed lunches for mix of reasons, and I would get them, from age 5, to help plan (including budget at the level they could understand) and prepare.