SCHOOL holidays are a brilliant time to spend much-needed quality time with the kids, whether you’re heading on holiday or staying home.
But with costs sky-rocketing, millions of parents across the country will be hit with hefty food bills to keep their little ones fed.
In fact, research by Reassured found that on average, the cost of school holidays can reach an eye-watering £1,047 – a little over £226 of which goes towards supermarket shopping and £196.60 on eating out.
If you’re looking to keep costs down, one savvy shopper, Kathryn Leech – whose slogan is shop smarter and save money – has a host of helpful tips, including all the popular places where kids eat for free or for just £1.
Check out what the money-smart expert, who shares her tips with her 42k followers on Instagram, swears by to keep the costs low…
This is a great way to not only get some free food but also get out of the house without it costing the earth – a win-win!
Morrisons are also offering free breakfasts over the holidays.
The supermarket has partnered with Kelloggs to launch breakfast clubs and will be giving out free bowls of cereal to families over the next three weeks.
Both adults and children can choose a bowl of cereal (either Coco Pops, Cornflakes or Rice Crispies) with the choice of dairy or dairy-free milk and a piece of fruit.
But be quick, this offer ends on August 4.
Avoid spending money on overpriced meals when you take the kids on days out.
Packed lunches are the ideal way to save money.
You can make it a fun activity in itself and let the kids make their own sandwiches, it doesn’t have to be boring and just spending a little bit of extra time preparing a picnic could save a lot of money and stress.
Try not to get sucked into buying food while you’re out even if tempted – an ice cream alone costs about £4 these days.
Pre-packaged snacks seem like the easier option, but you can make some really tasty healthy snacks with very affordable ingredients.
Apple slices with peanut butter for example, or try coating strawberries in yoghurt and putting them in the freezer.
Snacks don’t have to be crisps and chocolate bars, you can even have fun creating your own inventions.
ANY parent knows just how pricey it can be to feed the kids - especially if they're a fan of branded, expensive products. But there are a few hacks that can help save you money, as mum-of-two and Fabulous Digital Senior Reporter Sarah Bull explained:
Batch cook
This is a hack that lots of mums, including myself, swear by. One thing I like to do is batch cook a tomato sauce – hiding a load of vegetables inside, including carrots, peppers and onion. Once it’s cooled, pop it into an ice cube tray to freeze. Then you can pop out the portions and bag up – ready to use for anything from a pasta sauce to a pizza base.
Home Happy meal
You’d be hard pushed to find a kid who doesn’t like McDonald’s. But with Happy Meals now priced at £3.89 each, it can be pricey getting them for your children – especially if you’ve got more than two. But why not try making your own home? Keep the packaging from your last trip to McDonald’s and cook up some chicken nuggets and fries in the air fryer. Pop a budget toy in a little bag and serve with a Fruit Shoot for a budget-friendly at home Happy Meal.
Make use of leftovers
If you’re savvy enough to plan things in advance, you can make use of leftovers to keep your kids sustained for another day. If you make something like pizza, for example, why not make enough for lunch the next day too? Lots of kids actually prefer cold pizza, and it’s especially useful if you make packed lunches for yours.
Get the kids involved
Not specifically a budget hack, but one that I’ve found always helps encourage kids to eat things they haven’t tried before. I’ve cooked things like fajitas, and put the ingredients all in different bowls, before getting the kids to make their own. While I’ve put out their favourites – like chicken, cheese and cucumber – I’ve also popped pepper and lettuce in a bowl. And, much to my delight, they both sampled that in their fajitas. What a score!
Ditch the brands
One thing that can make shopping much more expensive than it needs to be is going for branded products. We always used to be a family that swore by Heinz ketchup, refusing to go for anything else, but with the price of that shooting up, we’ve swapped for supermarket own brand ketchup and saved loads – especially considering how much of it we get through. If your kids are less than willing to make that swap, why not put the unbranded product in the branded product’s packaging and see if they notice the difference?
Avoid spending an extortionate amount of money on takeaways over the summer and have your own fakeaway nights instead.
It doesn’t have to take up too much time either, for example Aldi sell mini cheese and tomato pizzas for only 55p, you could buy some toppings and let your kids go crazy creating their own.
That beats spending £50 on Domino’s.
It’s a great idea to stock up on some frozen fruit and veg instead of buying fresh.
It usually always works out cheaper per 100g when you buy frozen and it lasts way longer!
So you can get all those nutrients in and not have loads of food waste.
Frozen broccoli florets in Aldi are £1.19 for 100g, and the cheapest fresh broccoli comes in at £2.20 per 100g.
The things that you know will get used are always worth buying in bulk to keep costs down.
Things like pasta, rice and tea bags last so long you don’t have to worry about them going out of date.
Look out for bigger packets and boxes of these things but also multi buy offers.
It’s also worth bulk buying ingredients to batch cook meals, which is my next point…
Think about cooking big batches of easy meals that can be portioned up and kept in the fridge or freezer for later.
I’m talking about spaghetti bolognese or a curry. You buy the ingredients in bulk, cook a huge batch of it, and then you’ve got meals ready to heat up for days in advance.
This not only saves money but also so much time.
Basically, eat what you already have! We’ve all got things at the back of our freezer that we’ve forgotten about, why not have a really good look through everything and try and actually use it all up.
This can keep grocery costs down because you don’t need to buy as much food and you can just base meals around the items you’ve already got.
Life with kids can indeed get busy – and someone who knows is mum Casey Major-Bunce aka The Queen of Hacks @MajorMumHacks on Instagram.
Here are two of her top recipes that are sure to be a hit this summer.
Three Ingredient Cheese Straws
Who doesn’t love cheese straws? They are a delicious and versatile snack that everyone, especially kids, will enjoy. They make a perfect addition to summer holidays, after-school snacks, or lunchboxes.
The best part is that you can easily make them dairy-free by using dairy-free puff pastry sheets.
This makes the recipe super accessible and suitable for those with dietary restrictions.
Here’s what you’ll need for this simple and tasty treat:
– 50g of cheese (you can choose your favourite type)
– Puff pastry sheets
– One egg for brushing
To make the cheese straws, roll out the pastry sheet and sprinkle it with 40g of cheese. Then, place another pastry sheet on top and cut the layered sheets into strips. Twist each strip gently and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
Next, preheat your oven to 175°C and bake the cheese straws for 22 to 25 minutes. This will give them a golden and crispy texture that is irresistible.
For your convenience, I recommend batch cooking these cheese straws. This way, you can save time and money by preparing a larger quantity. They can last up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container, ensuring that you always have a delicious snack on hand.
Enjoy the cheesy goodness of these homemade cheese straws!
Jelly Watermelon
To create this tantalizing masterpiece, gather the following ingredients:
– An empty, ripe watermelon
– Two packs of your favourite jelly
– Two sachets of gelatine powder
– Fresh, juicy fruits of your choice
Begin by following the instructions on the jelly packet, but here’s the secret twist: reduce the amount of hot water by 100ml. For example, if the packet suggests adding 200ml per pack, take 50ml from each pack, totalling 100ml.
Take it up a notch by adding two sachets of gelatine powder to the jelly mixture. Stir well to ensure the gelatine is fully incorporated.
Then, add all the fruits to the empty watermelon, gently mix the ingredients together. Now comes the exciting part – carefully pour the jelly mixture into the hollowed-out watermelon.
Allow the jelly to set for approximately five hours.
Patience is key!
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