How much do you spend on school lunches each week?

[Phteven]

How much do you think you spend on school lunches each week?
Do you have a canteen or make it at home? Or a bit of both?

[No.5]

DS school doesn't have a canteen, they only have a snack shop one day a week so it's all from home.

I'd say we'd spend maybe $3 a week when everything is averaged out. Everything is bought or made in bulk.

[Phteven]

$3 a week! Wow. We probably spend more than that on fruit break.
I bow down to your amazing budgeting skills.

[Arimeh]

I have dd1 in kindy 5 days a fortnight and ds in grade 1.

Each day they get a sandwich (so that's like $1.50 including bread and spreads)
Tub of yoghurt (8 a week max - costs me $5 for 12 - so if someone wants to work that out they are welcome)
3 pieces of fruit a day each - so 6 per day x 8 = 48 at approximately $.50 each = $24.00
Muesli bar - probably $.40 each cos I buy the cheap brand = $2.40
Fruit bar - $.20 each = $1.60

And sometimes they get crackers too.

I spend a lot on fruit.....

[Amity]

DS1- gluten/nut free - has popcorn, yogurt, rice crackers, 2 apples, a pear and a muesli bar. About $2.50. Sometimes home made biscuits too. Or dried fruit.

DS2- sandwich, 2 pieces of fruit, yogurt, home made cake or biscuits, dried fruit, sometimes popcorn. Cost similar to DS 1.

[Tinks]

Too much. I'm trying to get the cost down.

[Nai]

I make them at home and a lunch order once a fortnight ($5)
I guess lunches each day from home probably work out to be a couple of dollars per day when you add up all the ingredients

[LimeSlice]

About $20 a week, depending on what fruit I buy I suppose.

[Jaycee]

We don't have a school canteen but the committee does lunches once a week, so DS1 has a lunch order each Tuesday that normally costs around $5.

I'd estimate I'd spend $15 per week for the other 4 days.

I only have one at school at the moment though.

[Rouge]

Fruit/veg would probably be the most expensive part. Then maybe any dairy they take. The rest is pretty cheap.

Exactly how much? I'm not sure.

[mum_of_5]

I have ds1,ds2 and dd going 5 days a week ds3 going 3 days and ds4 has playgroup once a week we spend about $50 a week ds1 and ds2 get a lunch order on a Friday

[*Ang*]

I have 2 at school full time and a third 3 days a week.

Bread/wraps - $12 per week
Fruit - $20-25 per week
Home made muesli bars - $5 per week
Fillings for wraps/sandwiches (ham, vegemite, lettuce, cheese etc) - $8
Home made pikelets/muffins - $3 per week
Cheese sticks - $7 per week
Yoghurts - $6 per week

Total - $61 per week! Wow never worked it out like that before. Upon saying that though some of those costs can be averaged over a couple of weeks - eg the yoghurts and cheese sticks are not daily and my muesli bars usually last 2 weeks too. I suppose also some weeks it may be more as I may buy a packet of muesli bars if I haven't had time to make any.

ETA - Our school only has canteen one day a week and DD1 orders sushi at a cost of $4.50 and DS a toasted sandwich $3.50 so thats an additional $8.

[Astrid]

I guess about $25 per week for 1 child fulltime. Most items are home made, what I do buy is quality though (bread, muesli bar).

Only canteen once a week. About $7+ now the prices have gone up. Still have to provide fruit and snack on those days. Normally DD will get a savoury hot item, a sweet and a drink.

[Astrolady]

I always make at home. The kids may get 1 lunch order per term. We do put on a sausage sizzle at the school once a term as well, but one of my kids still takes his lunch, as he doesn't like sausages.

[No.5]

$3 a week! Wow. We probably spend more than that on fruit break.
I bow down to your amazing budgeting skills.

DS is a picky eater and wont eat it he takes one piece of fruit a day for their fruit platter at morning tea time. Usually I just buy whatever is cheap but will last the whole week.