When we worked at the group home, we spent so many hours working each day that I usually did not have time to pack my daughter’s lunch. It was hard to pay the $1.70 each day for her to eat, but it was a chosen convenience for us.

Now that we’ve moved and I’m working from home again, I’m packing her lunch every day. One reason is because I want to monitor what she’s getting and how much she’s eating. The main reason though is the price. School lunch for elementary students is $2.30!!! Of course, rates are higher for older children and adults.

If you’re thrifty, you can pack your child a healthy lunch for less than $1 per day. Yesterday’s lunch for my daughter was a turkey and cheese sandwich on whole grain bread, sliced peaches, and a cup of milk. I pack her a Munchkin straw cup that has a valve in it, so that the milk doesn’t leak.  Of course, there is a large ice pack inside to keep everything fresh.

I’ve done the math and figured that if I bought school lunch for her everyday, it would cost about $46 per month! Ouch! That’s a good part of my grocery bill.

Please vote in our poll to the right and let us know if you buy school lunch.  We’d also like your thoughts below in the comments.  Thanks!

image by me

I’m sitting here at my parent’s house.  They live about 1 1/2 hours from us.  We planned to come for the day and return home tonight so that tomorrow we could start packing for our move (we’re moving next week!). 

I had no intentions of shopping tomorrow.  After all, we live out in the boonies and I’m lucky to find a decent restaurant.  I’d have to drive almost an hour to next largest city to get take advantage of Black Friday sales.  I’d almost considered signing up at Tree Hugging Family for Buy Nothing Day.  And then I did it . . . I saw the sales papers.  Oh dear. 

Hubby really likes House and Target has the season sets for around $13-14 per set.  I can get seasons 1-3 for less than $40, which is about the price of one season.  One sales paper led to another and now we’ve decided that we’re staying the night and heading out early in the morning to catch some deals. 

Hubby and I will get out by ourselves to shop while the kids sleep comfortably in their bedroom at my parent’s house.  Part of me thinks we’re a little crazy and then another part says it will be fun to get out alone and do something together.

How about you?  Are you shopping tomorrow?  Please take a second to answer in our poll to the right, or leave your comments below.

I was listening to Candy and Potter today and they were talking about weddings.  Listeners were calling in and telling how much they’ve spent to be in someone’s wedding.  I listened for a while because my husband was just in a wedding last week.  The cost involved really hit home for me.

When my husband and I got married, I tried to be very considerate of other people’s expenses and I didn’t want to cause them any financial stress.  One of the ways that I did this was by choosing a dress pattern for the bridesmaids.  I bought the material and pattern for them.  All they had to do was make the dress themselves or hire someone to make it for them and they also needed to purchase their shoes. 

So, all this has me wondering . . . what’s the most you’ve spent to be in a wedding?  When you got married, were you considerate of your wedding party or did you pick out expensive dresses and tuxedos?  Please vote in the poll in the sidebar and/or join in the discussion below.  Thanks!

P.S.  You might also be interested in reading 20 Ways to Save Money on Your Wedding.

We have a new poll up.  Please take a moment to vote and comment below. Thanks!

If you’d like, you can view the results of the last poll about reusable grocery bags.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again . . . I hate those little plastic grocery bags.  I can’t stand how they accumulate in my house.  It drives me nuts that I put them in my van so that I’ll take them to the store to recycle, but forget to take them inside and then they stay in my van for a few more weeks.

Recently, I wrote about how Lowe’s Foods is allowing their customers to purchase reusable grocery bags with their green points.  And not only that, they’re giving 50 green points for each reusable bag you bring back in to use. 

Two weeks ago, I purchased one more reusable bag for 1000 green points.  I also received 250 green points because I brought in 5 bags.  Now I have 6 bags of my own!  I’m so excited!!!  I have enough bags now that I haven’t had to get any plastic!  Hooray!  Don’t worry, I still have a large enough stash of the plastic ones at the house in case I need them.

All this talk of reusable bags has been a great conversation piece at Thrifty Mommy.  We had a poll to see who was using the bags, who wanted more bags, and who wasn’t giving up their plastic bag ways.  Here are the results.

Do you have reusable bags that you take to the grocery store?

36% - Yes, I have a lot of them and they are awesome!

28% - Yes, but I’d like a few more.

26% - No, but I’d really like to try them.

10% - No way, I’m sticking with plastic.

According to the results, most of you have reusable bags or would like to use them.  Thanks for working to keep those crazy little bags out of the landfills.

What do you think of the results?

The recent article about reusable bags has brought about some good conversation.  It’s time to poll our thrifty readers to see what you do.  Do you have reusable bags that you take to the grocery store?  Are you stuck on the plastic bags and couldn’t live without them?  Let us know.

While writing 10 Ways to Save Money When Eating Out, I addressed the fact that a large portion of your tab could be from beverages.  We polled the Thrifty Mommy readers and I am proud to say that you all are very thrifty.  Here’s the results of the poll:

What do you order to drink when eating out? 

167 total votes were received. 

36 (21.5%) people say that they always order water.

47 (28%) people say tha they order tea or soda.

11 (6.5%) people order alcohol.

73 (44%) people said that they usually order water, but sometimes they like a special treat.  I am also in this group.  I would say that less than 8% of the time I order a drink other than water. 

I just completed an article 10 Ways to Entertain Kids While Traveling and thought this would be a good time to ask you what your plans are.  Will you be traveling over the holidays?  Will you stay home?  Let us know in the poll and comments below.  You’ll find the poll in the sidebar above the categories.

If you will be traveling, you might want to check out these tips for saving on gas.

Let us know if you shopped on Black Friday. Vote on our poll

and let us know what you did.