What does a packed lunch actually cost — per child, per week, per school year? This planner answers with your own numbers: a five-day packing grid per child, every main, snack and drink costed from your grocery entries, and a variety counter that tells you plainly when the same main has landed three days running.
The sample week shows why per-child matters. Child 1’s week totals $19.65 ($3.93 a lunch, a $746.70 school-year run-rate at 38 weeks); Child 2’s totals $18.25 ($3.65 a lunch, $693.50 a year). And the variety counter splits them too: Child 1’s chicken wrap repeats 3 of 5 days and is flagged REPEAT-HEAVY, while Child 2’s most-repeated main lands twice — Variety OK.
HOW IT WORKS
– ‘Packing Grid’: for each child, five days of main + snack + drink with the cost of each from your own grocery entries, a day total per day, and a free-text notes column for your own reminders, in your own words. Last week’s mains go in the block at the bottom so the counter can compare.
– ‘Cost & Variety’: week total per child, cost per lunch, the school-year run-rate at the weeks-per-year figure you type on Start Here (count your own school calendar), and the variety counter — distinct mains this week vs last week, the most-repeated main, and a plain REPEAT-HEAVY flag at 3 or more days.
WHAT THIS SHEET DOES NOT DO
It gives no food, allergy or nutrition advice, suggests nothing to pack and judges nothing you pack. It is a planning grid and a cost counter. Every item and every note on it was typed by the parent — if a note matters to your family, you write it yourself.
WHAT’S INSIDE
– A five-day packing grid for two children, every lunch costed (sample household week: $37.90 for 10 lunches)
– Per-child costs that honestly differ ($3.93 vs $3.65 a lunch in the sample)
– School-year run-rates per child from your own weeks-per-year setting
– A variety counter with a plain REPEAT-HEAVY flag
– Plus the standard Expense Log, zero-based Monthly Budget, Dashboard and Monthly Summary tabs
How it works: the seven tabs are Start Here (your settings + step-by-step), the two feature tabs, Expense Log, Monthly Budget (zero-based), Dashboard and Monthly Summary. Yellow cells are the only places you type — every yellow value is your own entry. Formula cells are locked (password: sheetdaily, disclosed on the Start Here tab) and every formula is error-wrapped, so an untouched sheet reads blank instead of showing error codes. Instant download, ready for Excel and Google Sheets.
A note on the sample data: every price and date in this workbook is example data, typed in by hand to show you how the sheet behaves. Replace it with your own.
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