Pack Lunch and Save Big - Thursday 1st January 2015

Last year's lunch box probably just needs a good cleaning (and maybe a new name label and a few new stickers) to be school ready. This year, vow to stop spending top dollar on expensive, one-use juice boxes. Instead, invest in a fun, reusable water container. There are so many good water bottles around, BPA free, unbreakable, reusable and some are even insulated. You'll find them in department stores and supermarkets right now, with all the back to school paraphernalia. The next step on the lunch makeover is to hunt down reusable snack and sandwich containers. Vow to use Ziplocs and tin foil sparingly. Instead, opt for a waste-free lunch kit. You can get reusable sandwich and roll containers. Tupperware have them (although they are expensive). You can also get them at department stores. There are cloth sandwich wraps that are light to carry and easy to launder. Buying them is expensive when they are easily made. Thrifty mothers can make their own lunch kits by snapping up small Tupperware containers at garage sales and from op-shops in fun colours.