One of My More Brilliant Ideas

(If I do say so myself :)

I'm trying a new strategy for school lunches this year. I let everyone in the family pick one thing to contribute. I divided up everything into good portions (about 1/2 cup) and threw it into a big container. In the morning, everyone can just pick out one item from the box, one piece of fruit, a sandwich, fill up their water bottles, and walla! It is done!




Because I'm a nerd, I broke down the prices. It beats buying pre-packaged chips and there's a lot more variety. I'm sure some of my couponing friends are shaking their heads. If one of them had gone to the store, I'm sure they'd have payed about 53 cents for the whole lot. But since I'm not smart like they are, here's the breakdown:

Pretzels: $1.18 ..................18 bags= $ .07 each
Chips: $2.50 ..................... 13 bags=$ .19 each
Crackers: $1.50 ............... 12 pkg.=$ .13 each
Fruit Snacks: $2.00 ........ 10 pkg.=$ .20 each
Granola Bars: $3.00 ....... 18 bars=$ .17 each
Gold Fish: $6.46 ...............29 bags=$ .22 each
Fruit Leather: $10.00 .... 48 pkg.=$ .21 each



All together: 148 items to choose from, averaging $ .17 each.

Not bad, huh?