With school breaks during December (& February, April, July and what seems to be every other month), many families will be worrying about the added costs of having the kids around. Holidays can be financially challenging due to requests for costly activities and the added cost of meals at home. In this article, we will present top holiday saving tips while making sure the family is still having an enjoyable vacation.
Holiday Saving Tips For Food
Research by Olio, a food sharing app, found that the average UK family wastes £730 worth of food that could have been eaten annually. This is a significant amount of food and money going to waste. One simple way to reduce food waste is to purchase less food in the first place. This does not mean that you should let your children go hungry, but rather that you should plan better and only buy what you will actually use.
Meal Planning
To reduce food waste, it is helpful to create a meal planner that includes every meal and snack for the week, including breakfast, packed lunches, and snacks. Once you have made the plan, make a shopping list based only on the items that you need for those meals. This helps to ensure that you are not purchasing more food than you will use.
Evening Shop
Going to the supermarket later in the day can be an opportunity to find discounts on food that is close to its expiration date. These reduced items can be a good deal if you plan to use them immediately or if they can be frozen for future use.
Pack Some Food
To save money on food while on a day trip, consider packing a picnic or bringing your own snacks for the journey. Purchasing items like coffee, soda, and chips at train stations or tourist attractions can be very expensive. To save money at the cinema, you can also bring your own sweets and popcorn from the supermarket.
Olio and Too Good To Go
Food sharing apps like Olio and Too Good To Go can help reduce food waste and save money on groceries. Olio allows users to share unused food with their neighbors for free, while Too Good To Go allows businesses to sell unsold food items at a discounted price. Consumers can use the app to search for nearby businesses with surplus food and purchase a “Magic Bag” of food at a reduced price. The value of the bag is worth three times the price that is paid for it, but the contents of the bag are not revealed until it is picked up. This can be a good way for families to save money on groceries from supermarkets and independent businesses, including chain restaurants.
I have personally saved hundreds using Olio. Pret and Tesco work with Olio volunteers to give away their foods before they go to waste. You can also find Greggs, Leon and Costa on Too Good To Go. Do yourself a favour and download both apps right now.
Holiday Saving Tips For Takeaways and Treats
We don’t believe you need to completely cut out takeaways and treats to achieve your financial goals. Obviously it is perfectly reasonable to dedicate a portion of the income to treating the family. The trick is, how to make your budget go further? Check out the tips below.
Mailing Lists
It is possible to save money and still treat your family to special outings. One way to do this is to sign up for mailing lists for restaurants and other establishments that offer discounts through email. Some examples of places that may send out discounts include Pizza Express, Prezzo, and Zizzi.
Ditch The Platforms For Your Takeaway
It is important to keep in mind that food delivery apps charge fees and inflate prices. In fact, you should know that Uber Eats and Deliveroo charge the restaurants more than 25% of the order value. That is why the prices are usually more expensive on the platforms. It may be cheaper to order directly from the restaurant. You can use a search engine to find the menu and phone number for local restaurants and compare prices before placing an order.
Can You Collect?
Picking up your food from the restaurant instead of having it delivered can often result in lower prices, as many pizza places offer exclusive deals for pickup orders. It can also be helpful to watch for coupons or vouchers for local restaurants that come through your mail or email. Another option is to prepare some elements of your meal at home to save money. For example, you could make a large batch of rice to serve with a takeout meal from an Indian restaurant, or make your own salad and garlic bread to serve with pizzas or kebabs.
Loyalty Schemes
Many takeout restaurants offer loyalty programs that allow you to earn points with each purchase. Creating an online account and ordering through it can help you take advantage of these programs. You can also find pre-made meals from chain restaurants at supermarkets, such as Pizza Express pizzas or Chiquito meals from Iceland. This can be a convenient and cost-effective option for enjoying restaurant-style meals at home.
Don’t Forget To Claim Your Perks!
People seem to forget that they get perks to save money on these treats. The idea is to get to spend more with retail partners but we are smarter than this. We will use these perks to save money. We list below a few, usually forgotten, perks:
- Meerkat Meals or Movies: 2 for 1 deals for 12 months when you take out an insurance policy through comparethemarket.com. Don’t forget to claim (and use) this nice perk.
- Deliveroo Plus: Amazon prime members get Deliveroo Plus now. I am not the biggest fan of these food delivery apps but they surely come in handy from time to time.
- Your Mobile Network Operator: Vodafone has VeryMe Rewards, O2 has O2 rewards and the list goes on. Check your rewards through the mobile network app. These can range from free drinks and treats to great discounts.
- Your Employer: Your employer may have signed up to benefits providers that specialise in getting you discounts. Check with HR what benefits you get and check the relevant portal for great offers and discounts.
Holiday Saving Tips For Days Outs
Plan Ahead and Book Online
There are many interesting and enjoyable places to visit in the UK, such as theme parks, zoos, historic homes, and castles. However, these outings can be expensive for families. One way to save money is to plan and book tickets in advance, as many attractions offer lower prices online.
Use Groupon
Let us take the first tip a step further and check Groupon first. Groupon has unmissable deals on days out for the family. You can really save serious money using this platform.
Check 2 for 1 Offers
There are also two-for-one deals available at many attractions in the UK. National Rail offers two-for-one tickets to a variety of destinations including museums, aquariums, and football stadium tours in cities like London, Birmingham, Brighton, and Manchester. To qualify for the deal, you must travel by train and have a ticket to show. You can find a full list of participating venues on the website daysoutguide.co.uk.
Railcard and GroupSave
Speaking of trains, do not forget your railcards. They give you 33% discount on the fare. You may also not need them as purchasing 3 tickets or more at the same time makes you eligible for the Groupsave discount with some operators. The Groupsave discount knocks a third off the ticket price.
Cinemas
Many larger chains, such as Cineworld and Odeon, offer kids clubs on weekends and during school holidays where they show older films at discounted prices. These tickets can be as low as £2.50 per person, regardless of age. Also, off-peak times tend to have cheaper pricing at some Cinemas.
In Conclusion
We shared top holiday saving tips to reduce that holiday burden and save money while still making the family happy. No need to cut out the fun stuff to save money. Just need to be intentional and mindful about every discount, perk and benefit at your disposal. If you found this content helpful, then subscribe to our newsletter for more savings tips and tricks and explore our other financial hacks here.
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