If you are taking a road trip this summer, this equation for saving money will never let you down (unless you are an ultra gourmet lunch packer!) and has been passed on from generation to generation. I remember my Mom packing turkey sandwiches, chips, drinks and homemade chocolate chip cookies in a cooler when we traveled from Ohio to Iowa during the summer to visit family. Back then fast food was not as prevalent as is it today, and the cost of eating out was still much more than packing a healthy lunch and snacks for the road.

So now that I have 3 children of my own, I totally appreciate how stopping to eat while traveling becomes costly in more ways than one. Besides, my Dad had a very low tolerance for restaurant clatter and bad service so we avoided restaurants partly for this reason. But today, if you stop at a fast food place like McDonald?s, the service can be slow and it becomes more about the playtime than eating lunch. Talk about clatter, have you ever been in the playplace at McDonald's during peak lunch hour? Then the begging for ice cream and other messy treats add to the mix and all this turns a 30 minute break for lunch into an hour of playing and 10 minutes of lunch.

While packing a lunch requires some advance planning, it is well worth the pay off once you are on the road. Below are some tips to help make it a great break and meal:

1) Pack your cooler with ice cubes and reusable ice blocks. The ice cubes are nice to have to put in drinks while the reusable ice packs are great for maintaining a cool temperature inside your cooler after theice melts. If you are staying overnight, refreeze your reusable ice blocks at your hotel (ask at front desk for help) and load back up on ice to have a fresh cold cooler for the next day.

2) Pack everything in watertight containers. Lock & Lock 8pc Color Food Storage Container Set sells for $18.16 on QVC.com are the best watertight plastic containers I have ever used. This will ensure that if things shift around, you will still have something to eat. Soggy sandwiches are just plain yucky no matter how frugal you are attempting to be!

3) Keep the menu simple. Once you find a nice picnic area even the simplest of menu will satisfy a hungry family. Sandwich, chips, fruit, cookies, drink ? how hard is that?

4) Choose a lunch spot along your route. State operated rest stop areas can be clean, have space to run around and provide bathrooms and covered picnic areas. These areas work out best for our family since distractions are minimized and we can get back on the road faster than if we drove somewhere out of the way.

Please understand I love to stop and eat at restaurants occasionally due to the convenience of someone else doing the work, but I have learned the value of packing a few meals and snacks while on the road. And now that I am a parent, I fully appreciate my mom's turkey sandwiches why my Dad liked the packed lunch picnic option much better.

I bought the Couponizer as a spur of the moment purchase but boy am I glad I bought it. Since then I have saved at least $30 on every grocery trip I do. I am such a believer in the Couponizer that I bought two more ~ one for my mom and one for my sister-in- law. They live in Dallas, Texas and they now have people approaching them asking where they got their Couponizers. Thank you so much!

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