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Brown bagging it saves you money! If you buy your lunch each work day, you're probably spending between $5 and $10, for a weekly total of $25 - $50 and a monthly total of $100 - $200. If each of your children buys a school lunch, you're paying between $1.50 and $3.00 a day, $7.50 - $15 a week, $30 - $60 a month per child. You can save big money by packing lunches most of the time. It's easy to get organized to "brown bag" weekly lunches:

1.  Make this a family project. Talk about what you'll prepare for lunches, keeping food allergies, cost, and nutrition in mind. This is a great teaching conversation to have with children about balanced diet and balanced family budget.
2. Decide on lunch menus. For ideas beyond yogurt and baby carrots, visit WebMD for lunches that suit both adults and children.
3. Create a shopping list. Use your lunch menu as a guide, and watch for opportunities to save even more money using coupons and grocery store specials. For ideas, link to Thought2Action.
4. Prepare lunches over the weekend. It doesn't take long once you try it. Whether it's setting up a sandwich-making assembly line on the kitchen counter or preparing and packaging containers of chili and cornbread, you'll become efficient at preparing and packing those lunches quickly. For ideas from sandwiches to salads to leftovers, visit Dumb Little Man.
5. Splurge from time to time. Like any other routine, packing your lunch can get boring. Plan to treat yourself from time to time - once a week or a few times a month, depending on your budget - to have lunch out. Chances are, you'll enjoy the splurges more and appreciate all that money you're saving by brown-bagging it. Find discounts for those splurge days at Groupon and DineOutCheap.

Share here your tips for saving lunch money.

But wait, there's more!

You've mastered coupons and promotion codes (see the article), and now you're looking for more ways to save money on dining, clothing, and fun activities. Try subscribing to one or more of these services that alert you to deals online and in your local area:

• Gilt Groupe. At Gilt.com, you're offered "exclusive access to private sales" by registering your email address and checking daily for scheduled sales of designer items. Your savings can be up to 70% off retail prices on first-quality goods.

• Groupon. Sign up by locality with your email and credit card information, and receive a daily notice of one deal - usually 50% to 90% off - for a product or service. These deals are only available if they receive a set minimum volume of responders, so your credit card will not be charged until the minimum is satisfied. If the daily deal is a go, your credit card is charged for the discounted price, and you receive an email with a printable coupon to present at the local vendor sponsoring the deal. Every deal has an expiration date (usually weeks to months), so be sure to use your Groupon!

• Living Social. Similar to Groupon, Living Social also offers daily discounts of up to 90% off "restaurants, bars, spas, theaters, and more." For both services, you can sign up for the city closest to where you live, or sign up for an area you'll be visiting to find deals throughout your stay.

• ShopItToMe. This service allows you to customize notifications of online discounts by registering your preferences for brands, sizes, and other details. You receive an email when one of your preferred stores offers a deal that satisfies one of your preferences. The email includes details of the deal, and you choose whether or not to click the link to follow through on the deal.

To save even more, resist the temptation to buy on impulse. Instead, make a list of items you need or want, and use your shopping subscriptions to look for the items on your list at discounted prices. Share here how you save money shopping.

But wait, there's more! 

You've mastered coupons and promotion codes (see the article), and now you're looking for more ways to save money on dining, clothing, and fun activities. Try subscribing to one or more of these services that alert you to deals online and in your local area:

• Gilt Groupe. At Gilt.com, you're offered "exclusive access to private sales" by registering your email address and checking daily for scheduled sales of designer items. Your savings can be up to 70% off retail prices on first-quality goods.

• Groupon. Sign up by locality with your email and credit card information, and receive a daily notice of one deal - usually 50% to 90% off - for a product or service. These deals are only available if they receive a set minimum volume of responders, so your credit card will not be charged until the minimum is satisfied. If the daily deal is a go, your credit card is charged for the discounted price, and you receive an email with a printable coupon to present at the local vendor sponsoring the deal. Every deal has an expiration date (usually weeks to months), so be sure to use your Groupon!

• Living Social. Similar to Groupon, Living Social also offers daily discounts of up to 90% off "restaurants, bars, spas, theaters, and more." For both services, you can sign up for the city closest to where you live, or sign up for an area you'll be visiting to find deals throughout your stay.

• ShopItToMe. This service allows you to customize notifications of online discounts by registering your preferences for brands, sizes, and other details. You receive an email when one of your preferred stores offers a deal that satisfies one of your preferences. The email includes details of the deal, and you choose whether or not to click the link to follow through on the deal.

To save even more, resist the temptation to buy on impulse. Instead, make a list of items you need or want, and use your shopping subscriptions to look for the items on your list at discounted prices. Share here how you save money shopping.