Back to School Hacks and Tips to Save Money and Food

Many of us parents are relieved that school is back in session, but not excited for every part of the back-to-school routine.

Here are some helpful tips and hacks to support you and your family, save money, food, and time on school days.

Plan your menu for the week

Setting aside an hour or two on a Saturday or Sunday to set a weekly menu will help you tremendously during the school week. Search on Pinterest, flip through your favorite magazines, or review our website for recipes. Once you have some recipe inspiration, write a grocery list, and go shopping.

Get creative with leftovers

But will my child eat leftovers? They will if you start early enough. You may remember as a child yourself getting last night’s meal for lunch the next day. There’s absolutely no reason you can’t serve Sunday’s dinner as Monday’s lunch, especially if they loved it the first time. At least you know they enjoyed the meal!

Compost your kids’ leftover lunch

Obviously, the most eco-friendly option is to have your child eat all of the food in their lunch box, however they most often have leftovers. Don’t fret, you can compost virtually any cooked foods, including rice and other grains, breads, beans, pastas, sauces, soups, casseroles, eggs, and so on.

Make it a project you do with your children. Learn more here. 

Freeze batches of dinner soups and sauces

Keep your freezer stocked with items like pasta sauce, chili, and soup. A well-stocked freezer will save you from that dreaded 5 p.m. scramble of trying to decide if you can piece together a meal or if you should order in.

Freeze your breakfast favorites

Breakfast is an important meal of the day, and you want to send your kids off to school nourished and ready for a long day. For breakfast, the freezer can save you all (or most of) the time. Make waffles from scratch and freeze them. Next morning pop them in your toaster oven and you are all set. You can also make hard-boiled eggs the night before and store them in the fridge.