One hot summer afternoon, I found Joshua, who was then a feisty 5-year-old, rummaging through the dress-up box. Soon, he ran into the garage and got his little red wagon. Then he dashed back inside and enlisted his sister’s help with a sign before darting outside again.

When I went out into the 105-degree heat, I found my little boy sitting by the curb in a lawn chair with his red wagon in front of him. He had on his cowboy hat, favorite multicolored shorts, and a striped shirt. Over his shirt he wore a leather vest with a sheriff’s badge pinned neatly on it. Around his waist he had a cowboy belt, holster and gun. A pair of sunglasses completed the outfit as he awaited business.

The sign taped to the wagon read: “COWBOY AUTOGRAPHS — 10 cents.”

When that hot summer was over and my little cowboy went back to school, I found a way to stay connected with my little partner and our other children was through the school lunches I packed each week.

Here are a few ideas to make your lunch crew happy while saving time and money:

Brown bag variety. You can save an average of $3 per person per day by taking a lunch to work or school versus buying lunch. For a family of four, with both parents working and two kids in school, that’s a savings of about $260 per month.

Love notes. No matter what age your child (or spouse) is, he appreciates knowing he is valued. The next time you’re waiting in a long line or for an appointment, pull out some paper and write short notes to each of your children. Be creative. Share family jokes, draw a cartoon, or write why you appreciate them.

Big to little brown bag tips. Any time you can divide menu items from a larger quantity to a smaller size, you will save big. For example, I buy a 2-pound bag of mini-carrots, then divide them into snack-sized plastic bags. I know I’ve saved as much as 40 percent over buying prepackaged, smaller bags of carrots. Do this for chips, cookies, nuts, fruit snacks, raisins, grapes, sweet snap peas, celery, cherries and anything else your family enjoys.

Organizing brown bags. With as many kids as we had, I remember a time when the morning ritual of getting ready for school was as complex as organizing a traveling circus. I developed a system that saved my money and my mind. When watching TV at night with the family, I got the lunch bags and labeled them with the kids’ names, then filled them with nonperishables for the week. I pre-bagged chips, drinks, snacks and veggies, then all I had to do in the mornings was create a sandwich assembly line and make seven sandwiches for the day. (I told you we had a lot of kids.)

Kid power of choice. When my kids were younger, I discovered that if they didn’t like the sandwich in their lunch, they would throw it away. It’s not saving money if they don’t like it and won’t eat it. So I took them to the store with me to choose their favorite flavor of lunch meats or other sandwich fillers. Giving them this power to choose saved money and made them happy to eat their lunch.

Stay connected. Some of the ways I stay in touch with my teenage kids is by texting and tweeting. When I send my kids to the grocery store to pick up a few things for me, I have them text the various products and price options. I then help them select the best value.