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Original poster

Ideas for cheap snacks for kids over the holidays.

53 replies

Binforky · 02/08/2019 18:23

Hi all I am really struggling this holiday. We are a family of 4 me and three children. We are on a very tight budget of no more than £50 a week and I'm finding my oldest is coming round with friends and eating everything which I just cant afford. So is there any ideas for things I can have for them all to snack on and not leave us with nothing after 2 days?

OP posts:
CherryPavlova · 02/08/2019 20:26

Toast.
Cheap baked beans.
Send her Blackberry picking and make muffins.
Orange squash ice cubes.
Tell her to make some flapjacks
Value range digestive biscuits.

AndromedaPerseus · 02/08/2019 20:29

Baguettes or slice bread with a choice of fillings: cheese, peanut butter, marmite and butter. Microwave popcorn from Lidl, bananas, ramen noodles are also cheap and popular in our house.

Chocolatedaim · 02/08/2019 20:30

She is 15, I would just tell her to stop as you can’t keep paying for her and her pals. She is old enough to understand!

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General food
OhioOhioOhio · 02/08/2019 20:33

I'm the opposite of snacks. My holiday policy is to keep them out of the house. Starve them. They Devour their dinner! And mine are aged 7 and under.

OhioOhioOhio · 02/08/2019 20:34

Oatcakes. If they are hungry they will eat them dry.

AdaColeman · 02/08/2019 20:43

She's old enough to understand that your money is limited, and so you cannot afford to feed other children. Tell her to stop bringing them into your house.
Make sure she has filling meals herself, porridge for breakfast, thick soups and lots of bread for lunch. If she is eating three meals a day, she will manage without snacks.

ohtheholidays · 04/08/2019 00:53

Alot of the time with older DC it is more about the socialising bit than the actual eating.

Like a PP mentioned getting them to make they're own popcorn it's something fun and unusual for them to do(not many children get to make things like that at home)and it's very very cheap and they can flavour it with different toppings,sugar,salt,maple syrup,a light sprinkling of a spice.

Cheap packets of biscuits that they can top with icing(rich tea,digestives)and sprinkles,it would be something fun for the younger DC to take part in as well.

Supermarkets own brand flour and margarine and jam is a very cheap way of making jam tarts/jam sponge.

They could make they're own pizzas using cheap wraps or the crusts of a loaf of bread(crust bread pizzas)they just toast the crusts lightly,cover with some tomato puree and a sprinkle of cheese and some ham or chicken or vegetables and then stick them under the grill for a few minutes.

Really cheap large ice pops(stick loads in the freezer)were always popular with mine and they're friends.

I know what it's like I was a single mum to 4DC and they always had lots of friends around and with doing the things above I managed to be able to let them all have snacks for a few pounds a week.

managedmis · 04/08/2019 02:35

Hard boiled eggs

Peanut butter sandwiches
Egg mayo sandwiches
Crumpets with cream cheese and jam
Homemade banana bread
Homemade carrot cake

Vegetarian dishes are always cheaper

Original poster
Binforky · 04/08/2019 07:57

Thanks everyone. She does know our situation and is usually pretty good but it seems to go out of the window when her friends come round.

At the moment she seems embarrassed if where we live and our situation. I work full time and try my best but to her we are not good enough and our council flat isn't good enough. It's just depressing. Probably not helped by the fact she is friends with people who live in 7 bed houses and have their own horses but still.

OP posts:
Original poster
Binforky · 04/08/2019 07:58

Also thanks for all the ideas reading this is making me hungry.

OP posts:
EssentialHummus · 04/08/2019 09:42

And yet they're all coming round yours bin, probably because they feel comfortable in your home and with you. Which is great! I think she needs a chat about what's OK to snack on and how to keep a cooler head when friends turn up. I reckon a specified drawer/cupboard with popcorn, digestives, pasta, whatever else is the way to go, so your food for meals stays untouched.

Original poster
Binforky · 04/08/2019 20:17

Aw thanks that made me feel alot better. Teenagers can really make you feel like crap can't they.

OP posts:
Original poster
Binforky · 04/08/2019 20:18

Today I went through the cupboard and managed to make cheese straws which seemed popular and we even have some left which is a result.

OP posts:
WitchesGlove · 04/08/2019 21:14

This is what food banks are for.

At 15, your DD is old enough to fish/ hunt/ grow/ pick her own food.

Do you have a garden?

If not, get a basic fishing net and get them to go fishing for their snacks.

Or do you have an air rifle? Pigeons are very tasty.....

Or pick mushrooms/ blackberries

DragonTrainer3 · 04/08/2019 22:23

At 15, your DD is old enough to fish/ hunt/ grow/ pick her own food.

Do you have a garden?

If not, get a basic fishing net and get them to go fishing for their snacks.

Or do you have an air rifle? Pigeons are very tasty.....

Or pick mushrooms/ blackberries

Would go down so well in inner cities, blackberries are inedible/poisonous due to lead and other heavy metals from car fumes, pigeons also. And around me the council flats have, at most, a shared bit of grass (happy to be told this doesn't happen elsewhere in the country!).

WitchesGlove · 04/08/2019 22:28

Dragon- Where did the OP state she was inner city?

DragonTrainer3 · 04/08/2019 22:32

I'd go for - homemade popcorn, garlic bread, homemade humus, carrot sticks, eggs/egg based snacks like fritatta (you can bung in leftovers).
Maybe just lots of toast with some butter and jam (all from Lidl/Aldi so very cheap).

DragonTrainer3 · 04/08/2019 22:34

@WitchesGlove - she didn't, but she didn't say she lived in the country either. I live in London, what you were suggesting would sound impossible to anyone here (and yes, people keep horses here too).

WitchesGlove · 04/08/2019 22:48

Dragon- I also live in London and everyone picks and eats blackberries in the summer

Original poster
Binforky · 04/08/2019 23:07

I dont need a food bank we aren't in that bad a state I feed them 3 meals a day just cant afford to feed everyone else all day long. They are more than welcome to have meals with us.

OP posts:
Original poster
Binforky · 04/08/2019 23:08

They do pick blackberries but I dont want her having an air rifle especially round my younger two.

OP posts:
TinklyLittleLaugh · 04/08/2019 23:23

I’m pretty sure Witches was just quoting a few mumsnet cliches in a lighthearted way.

Original poster
Binforky · 04/08/2019 23:38

Oh sorry I haven't been on here long. I thought she was being serious.

OP posts:
flappi · 04/08/2019 23:44

Don’t feel bad . Tell her that you cannot afford to feed her friends and give her her own budget for snacks a pound if that’s what U can afford .She can learn to value and budget . Giver her ideas ( as above ) for cheap snacks she can buy for her friends .

Suggest her friends also chip in and they can all go buy snacks together . They’ll enjoy it x

DragonTrainer3 · 05/08/2019 00:24

I also live in London and everyone picks and eats blackberries in the summer

OK, everyone you know might. I don't know anyone who does (unless they've grown some in their garden) but each to their own!

I also thought your post was serious, so was a bit Hmm but happy to be told it wasn't.