Share your parenting money-saving tips - £200 voucher to be won

[CeriMumsnet]

Whether it’s new toys and gadgets, after school clubs or family days out, keeping your children entertained can be expensive. That’s why we want you to share your best money saving advice. Do you set yourself a budget for kids’ activities? Maybe you shop around for the best deals? Whatever your hacks are, please share with us below.

• Post your tips/hacks in the thread below to be entered into a prize draw
• One lucky MNer will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

Here’s what Klarna has to say:
"It can be expensive keeping kids entertained, the list of requests can seem never-ending, from the latest toys, trips to soft play or the farm and everything in between. We’ve developed our app so that shopping doesn’t become a burden and take up too much time. With our new app features, you can spend less time searching and more time enjoying yourself - whether you’re shopping for birthdays, Christmas or everyday essentials, we’ve got you covered. Shop smarter with our range of tools from price comparison, to price drop alters and delivery tracking, we’ve got it all to ensure you get great value for the money and time that you spend."

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!
MNHQ

Insight T&Cs apply

Always take drinks and snacks with you. Always!

check what you can get on supermarket vouchers or discount codes and book via a cash back app for days out.

I use the Camel Camel Camel website to track Amazon prices on things I know the children will want or need.

Facebook marketplace and local Facebook eco sites have meant I have bought very little of my baby things new. I have also been gifted some new bits through there that I will pads on again when finished.

Also using olio and too good to go apps and freezing anything I can't use immediately. I then meal plan around the bits I pick up from there and get any extras needed to make up meals. I also use the 'hello fresh' app for recipe ideas but don't actually get the boxes, have a lot of the ingredients in the cupboard anyway.

My tips would be to make a budget from when you get paid, money in, money out, whats left, your Christmas/Birthday/Emergency fund - and try to stick to it. Use budget supermarkets - the quality is there - but not the prices - freeze short dated items for later in the week. When buying on-line use cashback sites, and use these to change your gas/electricity/broadband/insurance when your contract has expired - and get cashback on those - you can rack up quite a bit (I do this and pay off the majority of my Council Tax with the proceeds)

Use ebay and vinted and charity shops when you can for 'as new' or BNWT clothes. Use cashback sites, use Olio to get free stuff locally - you'd be surprised what people would like to donate rather than throw away.

Take your own snacks to the cinema - and look out for 2 for 1 deals.
Use cashback sites, swap your utilities annually via cashback sights, if you make £30-£50 for each swap - there is quite a fund to be built up (particularly for internet providers who are very generous via quidco and topcashback)

Use a slow cooker and airfryer more and look out for toy sales at Argos

Download the online shopping apps for the big supermarkets and compare prices on your sofa, then go to the shop selling most of what you want on offer, and register for their loyalty cards so you get the reductions and/or points.

I would say swap to Aldi or Lidl, the prices are the lowest - the quality is as good as the highstreet supermarkets - and the short dated items which you can freeze are 1/3 or 1/2 price - not like others which knock 30 or 50 pence off !

Little kids - When your kid gets loads of xmas / birthday presents off others from parties or relatives buying. Put them away and give them to the kid next month or the month after. They are excited for new toys they forgot about. Or I give excess gifts, that my kids don't really need or I know will only be played with once to others so I don't need to buy other kids presents.

Meal plan, shopping list and stick to it! Life is so much easier knowing what dinner is that night, and it saves money on takeaways if you already have the meat out defrosting.

Less trips to the shop for random items (I am bad for this!) Or send DH who will just get what we need to get and not get distracted by other aisles 😶

Save at the start of the month, no matter how small, and if you can put it in an account with limited access. We save for Christmas every month so it's not a panic come November time.

We also do our budget at the start of our payday for the following month, and work out how much we will need for shopping, petrol, childcare etc. The money gets put into named pots (Starling bank account is great for this) so even if I've blown through all the money in our main bank account, I know I have the money for the essentials and I haven't spent it accidentally!

Going to the park with a picnic is cheap and the children always enjoy it.

Checkout your local Council website, they may have half term activities, swimming activities, or leisure centre activities and clubs - if not links to charities/children centres which runs activities - also checkout your local church for brownies and guides. All are really cheap - mine go to brownies and a craft club at the children's centre.

Monzo pot to regularly top up for school holiday expenses.

Also in the school holidays, try some free days - park, library, community fridge.

If I'm taking my daughter on a day trip somewhere, I'll google to see if there's a discount code, if it's cheaper to buy tickets online, or if I can book via Topcashback. You can also sometimes get 2 for 1 deals via coupons on cereal packets which i save up for a rainy day, like the sealife centre. But the main way to save money on outings is to bring your own food. The cost of buying lunches out, especially in theme parks, can be extortionate and it all adds up.

We always take food with us, rather than buying at attractions.

Buy large packs of pasta - and make your own pasta sauces with mince, tinned tomatoes, lots of vegetables, and some dried herbs, you can feed your family for very little when your near to payday and you have not much money left - £10 can go a long way with pasta meals.

Free visiting passes from the national trust every so often put online and then if not down the beach with a small hammer looking for fossils it keeps them entertained for ages as even if they don’t find fossils they find small animals in the rock pools.

Register with a toy library, have a cinema night with microwave popcorn.

try not to compete with the " must have something planned everyday" lie. or the social media pictures. you are not them,and often neither are they!
there can be great days doing nothing. great days being bored and finding imagination.
pack a picnic. and go out for a picnic and games activity day
plan a menu that they choose and cook. then set up the resutarant. create the menu.

get on the local footpaths app or website for appropriate trails and walks. there is often free activities at many places.
can you get gifted a Nt membership or afford one. endless days out at these. and often have activities set up. deff worth the money. even to pack a bat and ball and picnic to sit and adventure in the grounds.
search local pubs or eateries that do family help meals or deals.
library and then creating your own stories.

look for local parks with more wooded areas to them. lots nowadays have more wild parts which are great for kids exploration.

look up what trees,plants,flowers are in season near you and make a list you know the kids will be able to go out and spot.

pick a place on the map and drive there. be critics and adventerers and try and tick off as many random places as you can.

camping

top floor bus adventure

library

when you can shop at the stores yellow label zones.

Always pack more lunch than you think you need….. for everyone!

I'd say scour the internet using key words - activities, your home town, free, children .... I have found so many things to do this way. Check that your local train company is offering half term reduced family tickets and go some where lovely with a packed lunch - visit a museum. Check Ebay for BNWT toys and games - or facebook market place - where you could collect a BNWT toy at a bargain price.

Do some volunteering as a family as it will be a free activity and teach the children new skills, meet new friends and you do some good

Local services such as libraries for free activities & event brite

If you don’t have time to make sandwiches for a day out, Asda meal deals are good value. You can buy 3 sandwiches for the price of 2, then buy a multipack of crisps. So that’s from £4 for 3 sandwiches and a multipack of crisps.

Find a place with activities that the whole family enjoys and get the annual pass. No need to constantly explore new places and nice to have a familiar place to keep returning to.