Save £500 in just six weeks before the school summer holidays start – from money challenges to cancelling subscriptions
WITH the six-week school holidays right around the corner, we've got some ideas for how you could save cash to help pay for the summer period.
Save £10 each day for 42 days from this Monday (June 14), and by July 24, when the school holidays start, you'll have just under £500.
If you're dreading the thought of looking at your bank balance, then you might want to take a leaf out of the books of this thrifty lady.
This savvy bargain lover mum has shared her budget-friendly tips for how to save £500 in time for the school holidays - and she reckons it mostly includes cooking from scratch.
Blogger Laura Light, 36, shared her thrifty tips on her website .
1. TRY A MONEY-SAVING CHALLENGE
“If you are new to saving money, then try a money saving challenge,” says Laura. Her family loves doing the reverse 1p challenge.
She said, “We like the reverse 1p challenge. This is when you save 1p less every day. So you start at £3.36 and the next day it's £3.35 and you work backwards.
“If you do this for 30 days then you'll save over £100.”
2. MEAL PLAN EVERYTHING
The mum of two, who lives in Southampton, Hampshire, said her number two tip to save £500 before the six-week holidays begin, is to plan everything you eat and drink.
She said, “You don't have to stick to it religiously, but it will help you to keep your shopping bill down.
“We get the kids involved and we all pick a meal or two each. That way, there's always something that the kids want to eat.
“Remember to always check your cupboards, freezer and fridge before you go shopping as there is no point having food just sitting in your cupboard going off.”
3. DOWNGRADE YOUR BRANDS
The savvy mum said an easy way to save money quickly is to ditch the pricey brands in supermarkets - and instead downgrade them for the "bottom" ones.
She said, “Start at the very bottom brands and work your way up if you don't like the taste.
“If your family isn't too sure then do a blind taste test - they properly won't even know the difference!"
If you normally buy coffee or a doughnut on the train, then buy it with your shopping and take it with you. You could save an extra £5 a day by doing this alone!
4. FREEZE LEFTOVERS
Laura also explained that by freezing leftovers and utilising them in your weekly meal plan, will save you money - just in time for the summer holidays.
She commented, “Freeze any leftovers you can and use them in your meal plan.
“This works out great for those days that you've come home late and would normally reach for the takeaway menu!”
5. USE PRICE COMPARISON WEBSITES
The money-saving blogger also suggested that fellow mums could use price comparison websites for all things bill-related to save money in time for the school holidays.
Laura added, “Get a ballpark figure, phone up and haggle!
“What’s the worst that’s going to happen?"
6. USE PETROL PRICES
While she also believes a clever way to save money in time for the school holidays is to use Petrol Prices to keep an eye out for price drops in your area.
She continued: “3p a litre less than your convenient station is worth a small trip out of your way as it will save you money in the long run!”
7. WALK MORE
Laura also thinks mums can save money by using their cars less.
Too often, busy mums are hopping in and out of their cars multiple times a day to make small journeys - as their hectic schedules mean they’re often short on time.
The thrifty enthusiast said, “After a busy day out, could you walk home instead of taking the bus or get the bus instead of the normal taxi?
“Or if you have to use transport, save money on fares by getting out a mile before your door and walking the rest of the way.
“The extra small savings could pay for the kids to have an extra ice cream or two in the summer holidays."
8. TAKE YOUR OWN LUNCH
Another one of Laura’s tips to save up to £500 is to take your own lunch everywhere you go.
She said, “Include everything you are going to need throughout the day including snacks and drinks. Remember to make lunch for work too.
“If you normally buy coffee or a doughnut on the train, then buy it with your shopping and take it with you.
“You could save an extra £5 a day by doing this alone!"
9. SELL CLOTHES YOU HAVEN’T WORN IN A YEAR ONLINE
A quick way to make cash - maybe even more than £500 - is to sell your old clothes online.
Laura commented, “Anything you haven’t worn in the last year, sell it on Facebook or eBay.
“You may only get a couple of quid, but it’s better than a cupboard full of dusty old clothes.
“You could also hold a swap party with your friends where you all bring your old clothes and do a swap. New clothes without extra spending!”
10. CANCEL SUBSCRIPTIONS
And Laura’s final tip for saving money ahead of the school holidays is to cancel subscriptions that you don’t use.
Whether it’s the gym, Netflix, Amazon or a weekly flower delivery, if you don’t use them, cancel them.
Laura explained, “Cancel any subscriptions that you don’t use. With the ones you just can’t live without, call them up.
“Threatening to leave or downgrade your package normally works - but don’t go too far in case they call your bluff!”
Laura, who is mum to Holly, eight, and Abigail, six, first got into money saving when she went on maternity leave, pregnant with her first daughter.
She realised quickly that one full-time wage and maternity pay wasn’t going to pay the bills and cover what a baby needed - so she had to make some changes.
For the first time, Laura started to look at the couple’s income and outgoings and see what they actually spent compared to what they brought in.
That's when the true horror of our finances really hit me and made me realise that we actually had to start budgeting and watch what we spent."
“Once I had written down what we were spending, I realised that food was one of our biggest outgoings after our regular bills. So I started to meal plan every single meal, drink and snack.
“I made a shopping list and we stuck to it. We noticed a difference straight away and saved over £200 within our first month.”
After this, Laura started to downgrade the brands that she purchased - with everything from nappies to shampoo, bread and baked beans.
Everything the family would normally purchase was swapped with supermarket own brands - this saved them another £100 a month and they hardly noticed the taste or quality difference.
Laura added, “After that, we started to buy everything that we needed second hand. We would shop at charity shops for our clothes and the baby toys.
“Facebook Marketplace was also amazing as we got a lot of items for free or for a couple of pounds.
“When we found out we were pregnant with our second daughter, we knew we had to step up our money saving again.
“We phoned all our regular bill suppliers and tried to get money off. We used price comparison sites to get an idea of how much we should be paying and haggled from there.
“It was time consuming but we saved a whopping £175 off our gas, electric, phone, internet, TV package and contact lens bills.
“Car and home insurance took a little longer to haggle but we ended up moving providers and saved £75 off our yearly bill.”
Laura said the family also started to walk everywhere they could - and always took their lunch and drinks with them from home.
They would only go on days out that were free - and this had the positive outcome, that meant they explored their local area more than they ever would have before.
Now they appreciate the odd takeaway - instead of having them on a regular basis - and they all feel like it’s a real treat and a ‘win’ when they order food in.
Laura’s favourite way to save money is through the meals her family eats; she said she always thinks ‘outside the box’ and she’s come up with lots of money saving family recipes.
LAURA’S MONEY-SAVING FAMILY RECIPES
Southern Fried Chicken (based on four people)
- 4 chicken breasts - £1.40
- 150g breadcrumbs - 65p
- 2 eggs - 20p
- 4 tbsp plain flour - 15p
- 4 tbsp milk - 10p
- 2 tbsp low cal spray - 10p
- 4 potatoes - 40p
- 4 corn of cob - 52p
TOTAL: £3.52
Vegan shepherd’s pie
- 1 tin chickpeas - 33p
- 1 tin lentils - 55p
- 2 large potatoes - 20p
- 3 sweet potatoes - 47p
- 1 onion - 8p
- 4 tomatoes - 20p
- 5 mushrooms - 40p
- 2 carrots - 14p
- 2 celery sticks - 60p
- 2 garlic cloves - 5p
- 300ml vegan stock - 3p
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar - 6p
- 2 tbsp tomato puree - 10p
- 2 tbsp low cal spray - 10p
TOTAL: £3.31
Creamy Chicken and Pepper Pasta
- 100g Lightest Philadelphia - 80p
- 125g Wholemeal pasta - 14p
- 125g Frozen peppers - 25p
- 10g Garlic - 2p
- 400g Frozen chicken breasts - £2.54
TOTAL: £4
Laura said, “We never cooked anything homemade until Holly came along and then I found how easy it was to make a simple pasta sauce, and how much cheaper it was to make it then to buy it!
“I've never been a good cook but saving money has opened my eyes to how easy it actually is to cook from scratch and how, with a little prep, and frozen veg, you can have a yummy meal on the table for everyone that doesn't cost the earth.
“We've even now swapped our monthly takeaways to fakeaways that we cook ourselves. The kid’s favourite is homemade pizza, where they make the base and add toppings themselves.
“It makes me feel amazing to be able to save my family so much money and means that we can now do all the things that we never thought we could ever afford.
“It makes me feel empowered and excited everytime I save money.”
And mums needing to save lots of money in a short amount of time with the summer holidays coming up, should use their freezer for everything, says Laura.
If she has leftovers, they get frozen to be eaten for another meal.
Buying frozen fruit and vegetables is great - they are already cut up and prepped meaning no waste at all.
They use theirs in everything from meals to smoothies and desserts. Your freezer really can be your friend!
Laura added, “Get the whole family involved in saving money. When it comes to money saving, it won't work without the whole family being committed.
THE BEST SAVINGS CHALLENGES
A savings challenge helps you put small sums of money aside each day or week so you have a larger pot by the end of the year. Here are some of the most popular.
- Weather saving challenge - Save potentially hundreds by putting aside an amount equal to whatever the highest temperature was that week. £1 = 1C.
- 20p a day challenge - Start by putting 20p in savings, then increase the amount by 20p every day. For example, the first week will look like this: 20p, 40p, 60p, 80p, £1, £1.20, £1.40.
- £5 a week challenge - Like the 20p challenge, put aside £5 a week and increase it by a fiver each week. Eg £5, £10, £15, £20
- Round-up challenge - Every time you buy something, round up the purchase to the nearest £1 and put the difference in a savings account. Eg. You pay £2.60, so you put 40p in savings. You can use an app such as Monzo or Starling to do this.
- Bingo challenge - Here you have a bingo card with different numbers on it and you tick them off when you’ve put that amount in your savings account. It can be ad hoc but you have to tick them all off by the end of the month.
- Monday to Sunday challenge - With this challenge, you simply save £1 on Monday, £2 on Tuesday and so on until the weekend where you don't save on Saturday or Sunday.
- 365 day challenge - Every Sunday you put aside £1, followed by £2 on Monday, £3 on Wednesday and so on. On Saturday you’ll put away £7, and then the process repeats and you’ll put aside £1 on Sunday as the new week begins.
“Sit everyone down together and be honest. Money shouldn't be a scary or an embarrassing subject.
“Have a saving goal in mind - it could be anything from a trip out or a meal. Reaching that saving goal will really help to push you all on to saving even more money.
“Just by using a meal plan and downgrading your brands, you'll see a huge difference in cost!”
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