Affordable Lunchbox Gear! Leak-proof, easy-open, affordable bento boxes, drink bottles and snack containers for your kid’s lunchbox.
Affordable Lunchbox Gear
I know, I know. You did your Back-to-School shopping last month and checked that box for the year, thankyouverymuch. Sure, its a month into the school year. But let me ask you this: do you know where you’re children’s (possibly super pricey, ultra-cool) lunch containers are right now? By this time last year, my best snack containers had collected in a (moldy) pile at the bottom of our daughter’s locker. 🤦🏻♀️ Yeah.
It happens. Kids are kids. Kids lose lunchboxes. And snack containers. They forget bottles of milk under their beds and in their soccer bags and…OMG WHAT IS THAT SMELL IN THE MINIVAN??? Yeah.
In an effort to save my sanity and my wallet (yours too), I made it my personal crusade to find the coolest, most user-friendly, adorable, Affordable Lunchbox Gear to replace all the stuff that our kids are in the process of losing and destroying (NOW, they’re doing it right now!!).
After a ton of research and six weeks of road testing, I’ve got the goods. Affordable (seriously 2 for $25), easy-open, easy-clean bento boxes, snack containers for under a dollar (what what!?) and full week’s worth of drink bottles for $12! They’re all super cute to boot. So let’s get started here shall we?
BUDGET BENTOS
Bento Boxes can be a really budget buster. Some of the brand-name, stainless steel ones cost upwards of $50 a box. I get that their eco-friendly and virtually indestructible, but I still can’t stomach that price. Plus, most of the stainless ones don’t feature water-tight compartments, so your crackers might end up soggy with watermelon juice.
Even the leakproof, brand-name plastic boxes can be rather pricey. But after a ton of research I found these off-brand Bento Boxes on Amazon. They are completely leakproof, easy to clean, easy for the kids to open and they only cost $24.99 for a set of TWO.
One note: these claim they are dishwasher safe but thats only for the bottom portion. The lids should be hand washed to maintain correct seal — they’re so easy to wipe clean with hot, soapy water that it hasn’t been an issue at all. They have held up amazing so far and the kids use them almost daily. Definitely worth the money and then some!
SAAVY SNACKS AND DRINKS
We always send water bottles to school for the kids to keep with them in the classroom, but when its time for lunch I’ve found they need a second bottle. Those big clunky water bottles were too difficult to fit into a lunchbox and I didn’t like to fill them with anything other than water because the spouts are hard to clean. These bottles from Reduce are the perfect solution. They’re perfectly sized to tuck into a punchbag and have a simple screw-top lid and open drinking mouth so they’re easy to clean. Plus they come 5 to a set for $12!
Finally, lets talk about snacks. I feel like kids leave a trail of snack containers wherever they go so I like to spend as little as possible on them. To date, I’ve found that Dollar Tree offers the absolute best snack container value. All of their containers feature leakproof, easy-open lock tops and come in a variety of sizes. And they’re a dollar each. You can’t beat that.
LUNCHBOX LOVE
One final note on Affordable Lunchbox Gear– although these aren’t particularly budget priced, I absolutely love PACKIT Freezable Lunchboxes. They have cooling gel built right into the walls of the lunch sacks to keep them ultra cool. Store them in the freezer, add your lunch in the morning and everything stays perfectly cool until midday. No need to worry about adding a bulky ice pack. Its all built in. Plus they containers are super durable and come in awesome patterns.
Now if you need some fun ideas on what to PACK in that lunchbox gear, click here.
So, thats how we’re doing Affordable Lunchbox Gear this year. How about you? Any tips or budget buys that you can share?
