A single mum-of-four has revealed how she cut her summer holiday spending down from £1,000 to just £450 with "meticulous" planning and utilising free, local activities.
Charlene Woracker, 35, says she used to spend £1,000 on her children - aged 16, 15, eight, and three - throughout the six-week school summer holidays, but has managed to slice her budget by more than half.
Having previously spent up to £200 on a day out, it was the Covid-19 pandemic that made Charlene realise how she could keep her kids entertained "without spending a lot of money".
Strict weekly budget
After the pandemic, Charlene started living more frugally, sticking to a strict weekly budget of £75 - spending £450 across the summer. With food and snacks being her biggest expense, Charlene buys in bulk and makes her own version of high street snacks at home.
Throughout the year Charlene adds £30 per month into a Monzo pot to prepare for the summer holidays.
Charlene, a content creator, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, says: "Especially before Covid I just didn’t plan the summer holidays and day trips and it all adds up really quickly. Actually, surprisingly it’s the little expenses that adds up very quickly.
"Some days I would spend £200 on a day out for a family of five, and that was the situation I was in. I was feeling like it was costing me a lot to entertain the kids. I was probably spending £1,000 over the whole term but just by changing a lot of things I’ve more than halved that.
"I spend more like £450 in comparison."
Pandemic as an eye-opener
As the pandemic meant spending more time at home, Charlene said this encouraged her to be more savvy with her money.
"That was kind of an eye opener in a way to see that I can entertain the kids without spending a lot of money," she says. "Now I have more of a weekly budget.
"I find that’s a bit easier to plan because you don’t know what’s going to happen the next week, and you have to take into account the weather as well which can affect plans.
"Food and a meal plan for a family of five is about £80 per week in the summer holidays with snacks and everything. I’m very meticulously meal planning. For most parents they’re going to find snacks cost the most.
"My kids eat me out of a home and for me I’ve got to make sure I’ve got a good amount of snacks in the house every day. A way around for me that’s a lot cheaper is making snacks rather than buying pre-packaged things.
"Even cheesy sticks like Cheesestrings I just cut up a block of cheese and make it into sticks and it’s a lot cheaper. Basic things like baking cookies, cupcakes and things like that cost pennies to make and are a lot cheaper than buying pre-packaged food."
Free local activities
Charlene also advises finding free local resources and activities to keep costs low. She says every time they visit a new city they will go to the local museum.
"The best one we did was in Edinburgh and it was completely free," she says. "It took us a whole day to get through.
"The library has fantastic programmes for children and always have an event running through the six-week holidays. A free library card is resourceful for the children.
"Where as before I would think of looking up places you need to buy tickets for, stuff like that".
Saving £30 per month sets up Charlene for the kids’ time off school – and says it "relieves anxiety and stress of finances".
"It’s really important to plan the holidays week by week," she adds. Even if you don’t stick to it completely, just having a rough guide – lots of parents have anxiety for the holidays and being in control of what’s happening with their finances.
"I spend £450 in comparison to before I was living frugally".
