How to save money in the summer holidays - 20 easy ideas for parents

We share helpful tips and tricks to help you save money in the school holidays, covering everything from food and travel to days out and special offers.

With school holidays found to cost £3,000 per child in 2024, it comes as no surprise that parents are keen to know how to save money during the school breaks. After all, having to find things to do with kids for weeks on end, or paying for holiday childcare, can all add up and put a serious dent in your family budget.

To ease the pressure, try following these tips to keep the summer spending low, but fun times high.

20 ways to save money in the school holidays

1. Save on cinema tickets if you are a Prime member

If you are an Amazon Prime member, you might not be aware that you can actually get cheaper cinema tickets as a perk of your subscription. Once a month, members can access a discount code for Odeon cinemas which will give them either two standard tickets for £10, or two recliner tickets for £15. You can only use one code a month, and the tickets are valid all day Monday to Thursday.

2. Find places where kids eat free

Make sure you're aware of all the places kids eat free (or for just £1) this summer. There are loads of restaurants and cafes offering free or cheap food to kids over the school holidays - including Bill's, TGI Fridays and Yo! Sushi!

In most cases the free child's meal is offered alongside a full price paying adult, but despite that, these offers provide a significant saving when eating out as a family.

3. Look out for special offers on days out

Finding ways to keep the kids entertained throughout the summer holidays can be an expensive challenge. But it's worth keeping your finger on the pulse of discounts and offers available for the likes of Alton Towers, SEA LIFE, Madame Tussauds. For example, until 11.59pm on 3 September 2024, you can get 50 per cent off kids tickets to the London Eye, Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE, the Dungeons and LEGOLAND Discover Centres. Kids under 16 can also get a day ticket for just £19 at Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures, Thorpe Park, LEGOLAND Windsor and Warwick Castle.

Make sure you book in advance too - it's cheaper and over the summer hols, there is a chance popular attractions will sell out.

4. Start a babysitting circle with your mum and dad friends

As any parent will attest, taking time away from the kids for yourself, or for you and your partner, is key to keeping on top of your own mental health and wellbeing. This can be especially important during the summer holidays when you might be juggling work responsibilities and your family commitments at the same time.

However forking out for a babysitter can often put parents off taking this valuable step. But setting up a babysitting circle with your friends can be a great way to help each other out, without breaking the bank. To keep it fair, try setting up a rota, or work on a token system, where you earn a token every time you babysit, and it costs a token to get a babysitter.

5. Save on train travel

If you’re after cheap train tickets, it's crucial to book in advance and see if you can save by split ticketing, where it can cost less to buy one or more tickets to cover a single journey on the same train. Plus, travelling by train, you'll also avoid traffic, and save on car parking too! But make sure you keep an eye on whether there are any train strikes planned so you can avoid those dates.

6. Label your child's belongings

Sometimes, saving money is about making what you do buy last as long as possible. When it comes to your child's belongings, this means making sure everything is labelled with their name so it can be returned to you if it gets left at a friend's house or on a field after a sports club during the summer. You can buy simple personalised washable and no-iron labels on Amazon for around £10-15. Some even come with cute designs, like this Amazon bestseller.

7. Join the National Trust

Paying a monthly or annual National Trust membership fee means you can get free entry to more than 500 National Trust attractions (as well as free parking in most National Trust car parks to boot). It can also help to keep your eyes peeled for free National Trust tickets, which are released in batches a couple of times a year.

While you might still be paying a monthly or annual fee, it's a way to spread the cost of your membership. If you and your family visit National Trust attractions often enough, you'll also get really good value for money, and avoid busting your summer holiday budget.

8. Use TooGoodToGo for cheaper food

Using an app like TooGoodToGo is another way to feed the family for less, while also helping cafes, bakeries and restaurants reduce food waste. Any fresh food that isn’t past its use by date can be sold on the app, whether that’s supermarket groceries, sushi, sandwiches, a roast dinner, or breakfast pastries. In some cases, you could be sold goods that have just passed their best before date but are still safe to eat. Stores can’t know exactly what will be left at the end of the day, so the contents of the bag will be unknown until you pick it up.

Download the free Too Good To Go app from the App Store or Google Play.

9. Look out for places with Rainy Day Guarantees

The weather in the school holidays can be quite hit and miss - scorching one minute and pouring with rain the next - which can make it challenging to plan activities and excursions. If you're worried about your day out becoming a wash-out, check which attractions offer a Rainy Day Guarantee, which means you and your family will be able to visit again.

But remember, what classes as a Rainy Day is up to the attraction itself, and it will usually publish affected dates on its website. If it rains during your visit, hang on to your tickets and see if your date appears on the site. There are usually limitations on when you can book your return visit, but you usually have a decent amount of time in which to return.

10. Make your own playdough

Looking for a really inexpensive way to keep kids entertained at home? Try making your own playdough. Let kids pick their favourite colours and let them unleash their creativity. To make your own, you will need:

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tbsp cream of tartar (which you can get in the baking aisle at the supermarket or on Amazon)
• ½ cup salt
• 1 to 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 cup water
• food colouring

Mix the flour, cream of tartar and salt in a saucepan. Add the water and oil and cook over medium heat until thick. At this stage you can either add a few drops of food colouring to the mixture and kneed in. If you want two colours, split the mixture and add different colours to each half. Then hey presto, home-made playdough.

11. Shop around for fuel

Being savvy about where you fill up the family car is key to saving money, especially if you are planning on getting out and about a lot over the school holidays. Try this fuel prices tool from Go.Compare to find the cheapest fuel near you.

Once you've filled up, remember there are ways to make your fuel last longer, from making sure your tyres are correctly inflated, and not driving around with unnecessary cargo (squabbling kids don't count).

12. Create snack packs for whenever you leave the house

We've all been there. You nip out with your little human, packing everything you need for changeable weather and to keep them entertained, but when they utter those two little words 'I'm hungry' you realise that you have no snacks in your bag and have to resort to buying them while you're out. But this can prove really expensive, especially if you are somewhere like a theme park or zoo.

Instead, make up a few snack packs using non-perishable snackarooneys that you can leave in key places, like your handbag, car or by the front door, so you can avoid getting caught out again.

13. Save money when you book a last-minute summer holiday

If you want to take the kids away for a holiday during the school break, make sure you follow our tips and tricks for saving money on a last-minute holiday. For example, it turns out that it can be cheaper to book a package holiday on a Monday, while it's often cheaper to book flights or hotels on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

14. Make the most of your loyalty card perks

If you’ve got a loyalty card for your local supermarket, it's worthwhile making sure you understand the benefits you can get, as well as how to access them. In some cases, you’ll get exclusive discounts or coupons, and in others you’ll be able to exchange loyalty points for things like restaurant vouchers, theme-park and cinema tickets and more. Save enough points and you can get a family day out for free! For some inspo, check out these surprising ways you could spend your Tesco Clubcard points.

15. Save on kids theatre tickets

Every year, there is a popular Kids Week promotion on London theatre tickets, where you a get a free child ticket to more than 50 West End shows when you buy a full-priced adult ticket from the Official London Theatre's Kids Week website.

The promotion began on 11 June and applies to performance from 24 July until 6 September 2024. The tickets sell out fast, so you might find that the most popular shows are sold out, but it's worth checking availability to see if you find some gems left.

16. Research days out before you go

It might sound obvious, but researching attractions, venues and activities before you book, is key to avoiding paying good money for a day out that turns out to be a bit of a dud, especially if you've had to travel quite a distance to get there.

Take a look at our list of the best zoos in the UK, which is based on ticket prices, visitor reviews and value for money to get started.

16. Team up with another family for days out and holidays

Joining forces with another family on things like day trips, mini breaks or holiday can be a great way to share the cost on things like accommodation, car hire and fuel costs. You could also benefit from discounts on group entry tickets to popular attractions. Make sure you agree how joint costs will be split ahead of time to avoid any fallouts.

17. Get your kids a Blue Peter badge

If your kids are fans of iconic children's TV show Blue Peter, then it's definitely worth encouraging them to apply for a Blue Peter badge. Kids between five and 15 can apply for a badge, and the entry requirements will depend on which badge they are applying for (there are 8 badges in total).

But from a money point of view, the best thing about the Blue Peter badge, is that it grants your child free entry to more than 200 attractions around the country, from theme parks and zoos to castles and museums, when a full price adult ticket is purchased.

18. Buy items in bulk or 'subscribe and save'

With the kids around more during the summer holidays, you might find yourself barrelling through household supplies at an alarming rate. This is where buying in bulk can be really handy. Items like toilet roll, washing tabs, crisps and cereal can be worthwhile stocking up on during the school break.

Avoid bulk-buying anything you've never tried before, even if it's a bargain, as if you end up hating it, you could end up wasting a large supply or miserable as you begrudgingly work your way through using it up. If you shop on Amazon, you could take advantage of its Subscribe and Save option, which our Deputy Editor and mum-of-three Heidi Scrimgeour is obsessed with.

19. Cut the cost of summer childcare

With holiday childcare costs up by six per cent, it's never been more important for working parents to understand how they can reduce the cost of childcare during the summer holiday.

According to government figures, 1.3 million parents are eligible for the tax-free childcare scheme, but only 500,000 are currently claiming it. Under the scheme, for every 80p you put into your childcare account, the government adds 20p, up to a maximum of £500 every three months, or £2,000 a year. While you might know that you can then use the money in this account to pay for childcare during term-time, it can also be used to pay for holiday clubs and camps over the summer too. But remember, the club must be registered with the tax-free childcare scheme and be regulated by a body such as Ofsted, the Early Years Register or the Childcare Register in order to qualify.

You could also consider joining forces with other parents who live nearby, or grandparents to share childcare duties over the summer.

For more money-saving tips during the school holidays, find out how you can get the £20 Morrisons Family Picnic box for less, how you might be able to bag free Disney+, and the other hidden benefits of your Prime membership.