Frugal School Holiday Ideas

School holidays can get expensive if you aren't careful. Kids eat so much more when they are at home, they want to go to the movies and do everything else. So how can you make it more affordable?

Find Free Events in Your Area. For younger kid's, shopping centres have lots of activities, as do libraries and community centres. Look on Facebook and community noticeboards plus check with your school.

Be a Tourist in Your City. Find all the free tourist attractions and do them.

Pack lunches. Keep the same routine as you do during school terms when it comes to lunches and 'recess' instead of having the kids snack all day.

Cook Together. Let them bake cakes, muffins, biscuits and get them started on cooking main meals. They can help with washing, peeling, grating, crushing, stirring etc. It's math and science too.

Plan Presents. Now is a good time to plan and start making some Christmas presents. Bath products such as bath salts, bath bombs, soaps, beard or body oils etc. Candles, things you might want to sew, potting cuttings, starting seeds to give seedlings, preserving items, creating infused oils, these are all great to keep them occupied and save money at Christmas.

Sports. Sports equipment such as a basketball, soccer ball, cricket set, sand toys etc can create hours of fun for minimal cost.

Crafts. Keep your recycling, get some cheap paper, paints and glue then let the kids imaginations run wild. Or look up ideas on Pinterest for things such as jetpacks from drink bottles, paper mache, race tracks or forts from boxes. Check Facebook Marketplace for moving boxes to create bigger forts or cubby houses, create cars from them and set up a drive in movie.

Movie Time in a Fort. Use a sheet, some rope and pegs to set up a fort and let them watch a movie in it.

Scavenger Hunt. Search scavenger hunt list ideas, print them off and head off on a scavenger hunt.

Life Skills. Teach your kids to fish, light a fire, sew on a button, garden, change a tyre or any other life skill. If you don't know how to do it there are loads of YouTube channels that will teach you how and you could learn together.

Dance Workouts. YouTube has loads of dance workouts and other tutorials you can do with your kids.

Check out these articles:
​8 frugal and fun ideas for summer school holidays​
​Cheap winter school holiday ideas​
​37 fun and frugal family activities​

No Childcare? Try These Ideas

Not having childcare is a huge issue for many parents. The shortage, the cost, the long waitlists, the decision on where to send them, not to mention the things in the news of late.

How can you afford childcare?

Check your entitlements first with Centrelink and make sure that is all done properly.
See if any parents want to do a childcare swap.
Join a gym so you can workout and use the creche. Some offer up to 2 hours a day as part of their membership so you can exercise and squeeze in a little time for a side hustle.
Have quality time with the kids so they are more likely to give you some space to work when needed.
Combine with another family to see if a sitter can look after both/all your kids at once for a set fee. This can work out cheaper as you split the cost but take into account if you have 3+ kids combined, the fee might be higher and it is harder for that person to manage.

Alternatively, see if your workplace has flexible options such as working different hours, doing extra hours during the school term to enable you to take some time off still paid during the holidays. Many places can't but some office environments allow for this.

How to Reduce the Cost of Raising Kids

The cost of raising kids is significantly more than it was for our parents and grandparents.

For example, years ago, kids could pretty much roam free at any age, walk themselves to and from school, be home for periods of time without supervision which greatly reduced the cost of childcare/afterschool care/ a nanny etc.

There's also laws about kids sharing rooms, expectations on your house, activities for the kids and so much more.

Devices are required for school, there is less of a community to help now and even op shops have become ridiculously priced.

Many parents have reached out expressing the stress of no longer being able to afford the extras, and some are unable to afford the basics. ​How to Reduce the Cost of Raising Kids is a huge article covering most things from medical through to education.

Also check out the free vouchers and options for your state here.

Older kids can be encouraged to make their own money to pay for their wants. You cover the basics then teach them how to work and budget for things such as a phone, Playstation or whatever else extra they want. It teaches them life skills and they will appreciate what they buy more.

Plus if they are making their own money, there is no reason when they ask for treats and whatever else that you can't say "You can buy that with your money." It makes them think about all those small purchases and how much they add up.

Ways Kids Can Make Money

Check regulations in your area as to what is allowed first.

Younger kids could create things like slime to sell, grow plants to sell etc. Lemonade stands aren't legal everywhere but can produce some income for little entrepreneurs.

Older kids can clean wheelie bins, walk dogs, pet sit, do some gardening, cleaning, babysitting, put up Halloween or Christmas decorations and other odd jobs.

Reduce The Cost of Groceries

School holidays means the cost of groceries often goes up due to "I'm bored" = eating all the snacks.

Popcorn is a cheap snack if you get the kernels and pop them in oil on the stove or use a brown paper bag in the microwave. Mix it up by making salted popcorn one day, make different seasonings or do caramel or icing sugar.

Make banana bread or cupcakes from old bananas. This could be done with any fruit really.

Pancakes, waffles and pikelets can be cheap but filling.

Consider getting the kids to make their own bread or start sourdough. It gives them something to do and they get to eat afterwards.

Pasta can be stretched and if you roast sad veggies you can puree them with some tomato sauce to make a healthy vegetable sauce to stir through it.

Fried rice using leftover rice, random sad vegetables, eggs, ham if you have it or any leftover meat chopped up including a sausage.

Sausages can be stretched into a variety of meals for hungry kids. Check out these 20 options.

Get older kids to learn to plan meals and cook using discounted meal kits here.

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Discounts For You!

$100 from ING, $21 from Up, $30 from ubank, up to $210 off different meal kits, discounted accommodation and more can be found in our freebies section.

The Thrifty Issue Community

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