School lunch money

[MessyNDepressy]

DS is in 1st year at high school. For most of the year they haven’t been allowed to go out to the shops but they are now and will be going forward. When he was having school lunches I would put £4 per day on his lunch card as that is the maximum they were allowed to spend. Now he is going out for lunch he is getting £5 per day but still wants me to top up the card with at least £2 per day so he can get a roll etc at break time. So it will be £7 per day, £35 per week. AIBU to feel like this is quite a lot of money?

I am a single parent and money is always a bit tight but if that’s a normal amount for most kids then I’ll make sure he has it, he won’t go without but it’s just a bit of a jump for me.

That is quite a lot, my DD is yr 8 and they're not allowed out for lunch yet. I put money on her card monthly but work it out as £2.50 a day because some days she only buys a sandwich which is less but some days she'll buy something at break and lunch so it averages out. Surely he doesn't need £7 a day to spend on food? Could you compromise with taking snacks from home for break some days?

Mine get a half-termly budget and have to make themselves lunches or snacks if they've spent up. I give £20 a week and offer the night before to make a lunch. They can choose between toast at break and a hot chocolate in the afternoon every day or buying lunches some days and eating packed lunch others.

What they do varies with their friendship groups.

£35 is a big chunk of money for a lunch for one child every a week. It's not affordable for many people. I have three children - £105 a week would have crippled me!

That's a lot. My ds is in S2 and gets £15 a week. If he spends it all he can take food from home. That might be harsh but I can't afford to give loads of money for lunches everyday.

We just got a letter from secondary advising us to top up £30 per week.

I would tell him to either make his roll at home and buy lunch with the fiver or stretch the fiver over break and lunch at school.

He can take snacks from home. I wouldn't be topping up if he is already spending £5 per day

My 2 got £2 a day but if they went to Tesco a meal deal was like £3. It will depend on where they go and the cost of food. My son regularly went to the bakers as it was cheap.

If he eats his breakfast, tell him he won't need anything at break time.

£5 a day, or even £4, is plenty - if he needs more food than that, he can take some from home.

I have three children, my food budget for the month is £500. If I gave them £7 a day each, that would leave less than £100 for all other food, for 5 of us.

When my kids were at school, they took packed lunches, and had a few quid here and there to buy some snacks at school. If there was a particular school lunch they wanted, then they could have that, but it wasn't a regular thing. Otherwise they just spent it all on junk food - pizzas, pasties etc at school, while spending our food budget!

We live in a fairly affluent area, and many people did as we did.

My DS is in year 7. He gets a asked lunch and nothing on his finger 🤷🏻‍♀️

Mine have a good breakfast, home cooked meal in a hot flask for lunch and take other food with them as the school lunch bill was getting ridiculous and it was being spent on junk.
They take a selection of fruit, rice Krispy squares, smaller multi pack size chocolate bars, rolls, crackers, hummus, breadsticks from our cupboards (not all of this on the same day).

I think he should take a snack from home for break. Five pound per day is plenty and is actually a lot. Seven pound is ridiculous for a school kid

Mine take snacks to school with them, crisps, crepes, croissants, sausage rolls and I put £30 a month on their school accounts. I thought this was a lot. I think £35 a week is a crazy amount.

My DD gets £20 a month. She can choose to have a snack almost every day or buy lunch once or twice a week. The rest of the time she has to take a packed lunch. £35 would be our food shop for the whole family for 2/3 days, I couldn't afford to give that amount to one person to cover one meal a day.

Ultimately it is up to what you can afford and are happy with paying but there is nothing wrong with them having to figure out how to manage a budget.

Agree with others £5 per day is plenty.
Get him to decide how he wants to spend it, £2 on his card for break and £3 for lunch or £5 for lunch. If he's hungry at break he can bring a snack from home, which I'm sure won't have cost £2!

I would be questioning the school on letting the kids out in year 8 to be honest. A couple of local schools used to let out years 10 and 11 and it stopped because they were just causing trouble and not getting back on time.
With regards to the money, I would be saying to your child that he gets his weekly budget of X amount and it is up to him how he spends it. If he runs out, he'll have to make a packed lunch to take. If he wants to spend less on some days and have a Friday treat then that is up to him.
For comparison, my DS spends £4 a day including breakfast at school, and that's for two courses at lunchtime. There's no way I'd be giving him £7 a day for one meal.

Ours took packed lunch every day and had £15 on their account every half term to spend on the odd lunch or snack.

@MessyNDepressy that seems hugely excessive to me.

That’s a lot-mine took a packed lunch!

I am not a growing lad and I need a snack despite having breakfast!

What is he buying . Is he getting a meal deal send him with drink and crisps from home . Much cheaper .

He needs to take something for snavo

I’m always amazed by what I see school kids buying regularly in the little Coop near me. They are certainly spending more than I would on a daily basis.

Hahaha is all kid would get from me, money on school card and you can earn money to spend at shop.

Even £5 per day seems a lot. Surely he doesn’t need to be eating out every day and can take packed lunch and snacks from home sometimes? But then maybe I’m just stingy as I always take a packed lunch to work and always took packed lunches to school back in my school days (quite a while ago!).
I feel a weekly or even monthly/trembly budget would be good to teach him budgeting. He can then treat himself some days and take a packed lunch others. If he runs out quickly then hopefully the following term he’ll budget better. Of course you could add in that he gets extra budget for doing extra chores at home.

I'm fairly well paid, mortgage free - I don't spend money on buying lunch out every day of the week - I do occasionally, but most days I take lunch with me.

What a chancer he is.

Most kids are given a budget and make it stretch or take food from home when it runs out.