Time Magazine’s Brad Tuttle, who writes the Cheapskate Blog, is a little late to the back-to-school tips train (or is he early for next year?) but makes up for the tardiness with some zingers in his 10 ways to save on school piece.

My favorite is No. 4, in which he advises against springing for expensive lunchboxes:

Ever see a child bring lunch to school in a bento box? Me neither. These pricey lunchboxes (upwards of $35) are designed to appeal to moms, not kids.

I think parents can go a little further and do away with lunchboxes entirely. Sure, their structural integrity prevents PB&J mashage, but their cumbersome nature makes them awkward for munchkins to carry, don’t fit into backpacks well, and are pretty much just one more thing to lose or get beaten up over.

In my day (the second half of the 80s), kids shed the lunchbox burden by mid-elementary school in favor of paper bags, and in junior high some people started bringing them to school once again for ironic effect. These were the very people who would go on to follow Ashton Kutcher and Paris Hilton’s lead in with the trucker hat fad.

Any parents out there who know whether lunchboxes are in or out this season? Any money and burden-saving tips on packing your kids’ lunches?

(Photo: KitanaOR)

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