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.

I'm in Scotland and they can leave school at lunchtime part way through S1 (1st year at high school) when they are age 11/12.

I just didn't realise this was a thing. And I don't really understand why it's happening? Is it a good idea 🤔

@MissyB1

I just didn't realise this was a thing. And I don't really understand why it's happening? Is it a good idea 🤔

Millions of high school children will have been out of school at lunch time before they hit 6th form. You don't need to understand what other schools are doing though, you do you and all

Ours get £3 a day but we top it up half termly. A meal deal is £2.50 for main drink and pudding. So technically there's 50p left a day so every few days they will get a snack with that money. They never run out before the end of the half term.

Mine just take packed lunch in. They have £20 on Scopay every term to use for snackage and the occasional hot meal. I could not conceive of £35 a week!

Alright get over it! Crikey touched a nerve with you eh?! 😂

Same here. £35 a week on lunch is a huge waste of money unless you really have unlimited funds, which most people don't.

If he's hungry he can take packed lunch and he'd be making it himself too. Sounds like a good time to learn that buying food out because you can't be arsed to make it means you'll have to give up something else to pay for it. Plus how multipacks for crisps, biscuits and drinks from the supermarket cost a fraction of buying them individually at school/from a convenience store.

OP can you make sure there's always packed lunch stuff and snacks, breakfast bars etc in and give him an allowance that covers bought lunches, plus things like his phone and clothes above school uniform, socks/undies and basic unbranded out of school clothes and show him how taking packed lunch every day would free up money to pay for a pair of branded trainers after a month, that sort of thing?

£5 a day for food is more than enough. If he wants extra food he needs to bring stiff in from home

@Stylishcooncil But that would be ridiculous for kids eating lunch out of school

I agree - we will probably do similar to others and set a budget so DS can have a mixture of packed lunch with the odd school meal or top up.

Do you get to spend £7 per day on one meal for yourself op? I doubt it.
No, he can have the £5 to eat out and make a roll or sandwich/flapjack to take with him.

loosen the purse strings Scrooge!

DS16 doesn't have a limit but only chooses what he needs (quite health focused). He spends about £7 a day. But he has taken lunch from home before and that was cheaper (usually chicken/rice based, hot or cold).

Even if I could afford 7 pound a say ineoukd not pay it- ridiculous. As for the school advising 30 pound a week most people could not afford that

I think £7 a day is a lot. My teen gets £5 per day and anything else he wants he pays for himself. He also takes an apple/banana and a couple of pepperoni sticks for break. He also has a cooked breakfast, like sausages, bacon, hash browns and eggs or scrambled eggs and tomatoes on toast, before college every day.

If they are under 18 they can't have a supermarket loyalty card so a meal deal cost £3.50 with a loyalty card but £5 without one. I think that's wrong.

for onesvhool aged kid 7 quid daily is ok but if you have three, then its hard

5 quid seem more than fair - if he wants more - tell him to get paper round - not sure what the min age is on that but the one that comes up our close on an electric scooter looks 10 years old

But they can keep a picture of their parents clubcard barcode on their phone to get clubcard prices

Buy multipacks of the snacks he likes which will save you lots, and get him used to taking a packed lunch atleast a few times a week.
All mine used to take packed lunches from home plus a fruit piece and snacks, youngest teen likes school fish and chips on Thursdays so he'll have that as a meal deal but on other days will take a packed lunch.
If he's new to buying his lunch at the shops he's obviously gotten carried away without realising how much it's all totalling up to. Have a chat with him and give him a choice between £4 a day or everything from home.

First year of secondary we gave ds a monthly allowance that covered basic school meal (with water), mobile phone, pocket money and let him budget. Explained to him if he chose to buy a bottle of juice every school day for £1.50 that would be £30 of his monthly allowance gone and he would not be able to socialise as much. His choice.

He quickly switched to drinking water and regularly took wraps made up at home.

Monthly allowance was paid into his debit account that he had a debit card for and was setup to use on his phone. He dealt with transferring any money he needed to parent pay at the school.

You’ll be surprised how quickly they learn, and enjoy the responsibility, also it is a good habit to get into now.

Everyone can leave my ds school at lunchtime. The school catering wouldn't be able to cope with serving 2000 kids lunch in 50 minutes. The space and facilities are not available. Also the school kids bring lots of custom to the local businesses, lots of them do lunchtime deals for school kids or they can phone orders ahead when the bell goes and they'll be ready collect. It teaches independence and time management too. Why would it not be a good idea?

£7.00 is a lot a day - every day - £35.00 per week - just under £500.00 a term - approximately £1400 per school year. That’s alot - too much

Boys can eat you out of house and home I know, so a massive bowl of porridge for breakfast with some fruit in it, possibly egg on toast too.

Give him three or four cheese sandwiches, and a flask of homemade vegetable soup for lunch, and then a proper dinner and supper.

The school meals system sounds like it hasn’t changed, they are still fleecing the parents for inferior food

Snap. Both DH and I take lunch with us to the office. It costs a fortune to have canteen lunches (better quality than school) or to buy in shops so if we don't do it regularly, nor will they!!

He has already had an increase of a pound a day. Time to learn about choices and budgeting.

Mine is moving to packed lunches because of this. I've just noticed it's going to £6 per day when the agreement was £4. It's not just that, but he is eating absolute shit. He must comprise of 90% greasy cheese at the moment.

That's a crazy amount. High school is a nightmare there though.

Our school has a maximum of £5 a day for the canteen(More like a cafe!) to me that is too much. I allow £4 a day(£20 a week)which to me is plenty but no matter how many times I tell him he still goes over 1 or 2 days a week. Sometimes he asks if he can buy a coop meal deal on way to school for lunch instead(£2.60ish with my discount). That is fine, as long as he doesn't spend more than £1.40 on a snack that day. I wish it was just cash at school. Then he could only spend what he is actually given, instead of me having to top more. If only parent pay wouldn't let you go over drawn but they do, then you have to pay it!