Tips for saving money ready for the Summer holidays #AD

**Collaborative post**

Another half-term is fast approaching and then it is a fast countdown to the LONG summer holidays. this is the one holiday we parents both love and hate equally. With no school runs for 6 whole weeks it means we get to have lots of fun and a much-needed break the children crave, but juggling childcare and work commitments is difficult for us all, and it also means we spend a lot more money trying to entertain the children.

With 6 weeks of summer to fill it can be an expensive time indeed because let’s face it unless you live in a theme park the kids are going to utter those words “I’m bored” at least once a week, or more if you are really unlucky – I tend to hear it on repeat from the 2nd week of holidays – that first week is often spent in our PJ’s glad of not having to get up and out of the house by 8.30am.

It can be so easy to spend more money than we actually want or plan to:

• A free trip to the park can so turn into £12 – £15 spent if the ice cream van turns up (for a family – it costs me £6 just for Emmy and Harry to have a sundae each without flakes and added extras)
• A cinema trip for 2 adults and 2 children costs £28.00 (odeon saver deal which is the cheapest option)
• Netflix subscription = £15.99 a month for us as we usually have 4 devices connected at a time
• 2 children’s magazines = £10 – £12 (or just under with the average magazine costing around £4.99)
• Lunch out costs roughly £60 (that’s if my kids have a meal deal – starter, drink, main and ice cream, while Paul and I just have a starter and a main plus soft drinks only)
• Theme park – Legoland for example for us would cost £34 per ticket each if booked in advance or £66 on the day

As you can see these all add up, factor in food and souvenirs when on the bigger days out, petrol and extras and you can see how it’s easy to spend so much. I’m sure I actually spend far more than that if I am honest.

I, like many parents budget for the school holidays – it has to be done otherwise it could be financially crippling for those weeks, especially when I am self-employed and working from home, my working hours become shortened with the kids home as it’s near on impossible to write with them interrupting every 5 minutes asking for drinks and snacks.

Simple swaps during the next few weeks could see you saving enough for that big day out the kids are begging for.

Here are a few tips which could see you saving money ready for the holidays:

• Have a pizza night at home instead of heading out to a restaurant – why not all sit together around the table and have a sharing feast? Add some non-alcoholic cocktails, vegetable sticks, dips, etc., and pretend you are in a restaurant.
  Or you could make your own pizza’s and add your own toppings to make them as individual as you are – and it adds to the fun family experience.
• Home movie night instead of the cinema
  Why not raid the DVD collection of a friend for a movie you haven’t seen before, you can share films with friends to save on the costs and you’ll be sure to find something you’ve not seen before. Or take advantage of all the movies on streaming subscriptions you may already have such as Amazon Prime or Netflix.Grab some bags of sweets in the supermarkets and put into bowls, get the popcorn cooking in the microwave and darken the room to make your own cinema. Close all the curtains, grab pillows and blankets and get comfy.We do this every Friday and have a campout in the front room too – the kids get out of their camp beds and they sleep downstairs for added fun
  
• Playdates
  Are your kids like mine and have a house full of toys they rarely play with? Why not have some friends over and it’s a surefire way of rediscovering a love of those toys – mine always want to play with them if someone else does.
  Alternate between each other’s houses so one person isn’t always hosting otherwise it’s unfair, take over some snacks and you can easily have a whole day filled for free – and adult company during school holidays is ALWAYS welcomed. Here are some top tips on how to have a successful playdate.
• Bake some treats instead of heading to the bakery
• Search for discounts wherever possible
  There are so many to find and you could end up with amazing savings – try Love Discount Vouchers for example. Tesco Clubcard vouchers can be used for days out, cereal boxes often have days out vouchers, 1 entry free at theme parks etc so keep a lookout, and newspapers too.
• Book in advance
  You will usually find better deals for booking your adventures in advance than you would buying on-the-day tickets.
• Pool fun
  If the weather is nice – then set up a pool in the garden if you have room, not only will it amuse the kids for hours but you’ll have somewhere to cool off too. If you don’t have room you could head over to a friends and share the fun, or perhaps visit a local splash park with a picnic to keep down costs.Of course please ensure your children are supervised near water at all times
  
• Make giant bubbles
  All you’ll need is a stick, some string, a bucket or large container, washing up liquid and water.Tie the string to the stick to form a D shape, mix the water and washing up liquid together in the bucket and dip in your homemade giant bubble wand. Get the kids to wave it around or run and water the giant bubbles appear.
• Make scrapbooks
• Picnic Time 
  Who doesn’t like picnic food! My children eat far more food picnic-style than they do if I was to place the same food on their plates for lunch.
  Pop a selection of mini nibbles into a picnic basket or even a packet lunch box and have a picnic – outside if the weather is nice or indoors if it’s not so nice. Pop down a picnic blanket to help contain the mess.
• Camp out
  If you have the room why not set up a tent in the garden and sleep outdoors for the night, use pillows and blankets or sleeping bags.
  Light a mini fire in a fire bucket or fire pit and roast some marshmallows.
  Take out your torches and tell scary stories at night time…….and the best thing is you are close by to the toilet unlike camping in a field.

Have you budgeted for the summer holidays yet?