As exciting as it is to have the kids home for the summer, there’s no denying that things get more expensive once school lets out for the summer. You spend money on activities and entertainment for the kids, or you take time off work when you can’t find anyone to look after them, which is problematic if you’re working shift jobs, or freelance gigs. Fortunately, there are many ways to give your kids a fun summer, without dreading your bank balance in the fall.
Hay fever medications
One of the most expensive things you might have to buy this summer is an entire pharmacy of hay fever medications. However, you can make massive savings this year by turning to natural remedies instead. Your kids can start fighting back against hay fever with just a glass of fresh orange juice every morning. Orange juice is full of Vitamin C, which boosts the body’s immune system, and bioflavonoids, which are nature’s antihistamine and decongestant. Another way to get more bioflavonoids into your body is through eating other citrus fruits, such as lemons and grapefruits, so have these freely available as snacks. Finally, you can prevent hay fever altogether by consuming more garlic in the run up to the hay fever season. By putting an extra clove or two of garlic in your Bolognese or chilli, you can set yourself up for a more painless summer. The same is true for onions, which contain quercetin, another of nature’s antihistamines.
Summer fashions
Hard as it may be to admit, your little ones aren’t as little as they were last year, and all their clothes from the previous summer no longer fit. While shopping in the kids’ aisle is cheaper than buying full size clothes, it doesn’t hurt to try and save a few pennies. One option is to go to thrift stores or reach out to relatives with older children to raid their hand-me-downs, but you can also use discounts from https://www.couponsherpa.com/ to buy your kids brand new clothes from big name stores. Make sure you buy a few sizes too big so you can put off buying more new clothes next summer.
Cheap holidays
You’d be surprised at how little your family summer holiday could cost if you try a few money saving hacks. Flights tend to be more expensive from Friday to Sunday because most people want to make the most of the weekend in a foreign country. Since you have the whole summer holiday to choose from, try to book a flight that leaves in the middle of the week to save a few dollars. You can also save if you aim to travel the week before the kids go back to school, as this is when prices might start to drop. Websites such as Skyscanner can help you compare flight prices across a whole month so you'll know the cheapest days to fly, saving you a potential packet. Spanish destinations such as Majorca and Tenerife, or Algarve in Portugal, are always a hit with families, so these are good places to start looking for an all-inclusive vacation.
Rainy day fun
Despite your best efforts to get your kids out of the house and away from all electronic devices, there might be days when the weather has other ideas. Fortunately, you can still find ways to keep the kids busy without the lure of technology. If you’d like them to learn a fun, but essential, new skill, then take the time to teach them how to cook. Your options are endless; you can have them help you make the family’s favourite dinner, you can choose a new recipe to try together, or you can teach them how to make a really easy dish so they can begin building their cooking skills. If you have them help you with dinner, be sure to compliment them on their contribution and watch their little faces light up with pride.
Family activities
If you’ve been trying to find a way to motivate yourself to do more exercise, there is no bigger encouragement than your children; not just because you want to be healthy, but because they will drive you crazy when they start climbing the walls with boredom and the only solution is to get everyone out of the house. If you have fairly young children, take them to the park and actually play with them; run around to catch them on the slide, push them on the swings, or try getting involved in their game of tag. With slightly older kids, organise fun family days out on weekends. This could involve getting everyone on their bikes and riding down the coast before stopping for a healthy picnic, getting out the water pistols and having an all-out war, or checking your local area and see if there are any events that will get them walking. If you show your children the value of getting out of the house and having a good time, they may never catch on that you’re doing this for the exercise.
Shop smart
Buying food on a budget is a struggle for a lot of people for various reasons, but the costs do seem to rise during the summer when you have to supply all the kids’ meals and snacks throughout the day. Fortunately, there are several ways to save money on grocery shopping each week, including buying cheaper store brands, stocking up on non-perishables items in bulk, or sticking to a shopping list. The best thing you can do to keep your grocery bills low is to find ways to reduce the amount of waste food you throw away each week. Leftover casserole is your best friend, but you can also use up some vegetables by setting up a pizza station for the children one night. Kids are more likely to eat things they’ve prepared themselves, so even if the pizza station has nothing but vegetables, they’ll still happily take a big bite out of their homemade pizza.