WITH six weeks to go until schools break up, you might be fretting about how to afford family activities over the summer.
Whether you’re planning a holiday in the sun or special days out, our spending diet can help you hit your target by the end of term.
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Whether you’re planning a holiday in the sun or special days out, our spending diet can help you hit your target by the end of termCredit: Getty
It will mean making some sacrifices, but it’s only for a few weeks.
Plus if you get the kids on board with their own challenges, the whole family can work together for well-earned rewards.
Here, Lynsey Hope sets out our spending diet to help you save up to £1,123 for your summer fun fund.
Coffee
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Switch to instant latte sachets for a much cheaper caffeine fix and save over £100Credit: Alamy
BEAT the Costa living crisis by ditching your daily coffee.
A medium latte at the coffee chain will now cost you around £3.40 and prices at rival stores are similar.
If you’re buying one every weekday, that amounts to a hefty £102 over six weeks, or £204 if your partner does the same.
Switch to instant latte sachets for a much cheaper caffeine fix. Sun Money reporter Ellie Smitherman found Aldi’s Alcafé caramel lattes were a winner on price and taste when she compared them to big brands.
They might not be up to barista-made coffee standards, but they cost just 95p for a box of eight sachets – that’s 12p per cup. So you would pay only £7.20 for six weeks of coffees for two of you.
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Savings: £196.80
Food
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Pret A Manger recently pushed up prices by as much as 18 per cent so a chicken caesar and bacon baguette will now set you back £5.25 – so why not make a dupe at home?Credit: Getty
MIDWEEK lunches can take a huge bite out of your budget.
Pret A Manger recently pushed up prices by as much as 18 per cent so a chicken caesar and bacon baguette will now set you back £5.25.
Reach for one of these or something similar, five days a week and that’s £26.25.
But you can make your own dupe at home with supermarket ingredients. If you’re a couple, take it in turns to prepare each other’s lunch.
To buy all the ingredients for both of you for one week this would only set you back £13.02.
If two of you switch from a Pret baguette to a homemade version (see box) every weekday for six weeks you would save £236.88 over the course of the challenge.
You probably won’t want to eat the same thing every day, so for similar savings, make a big pasta salad or cook two extra portions of dinner each night and have the leftovers the next day.
Then swap your Friday night takeaway for a fakeaway instead. A Nando’s family platter is £49.95, which includes two chickens and five large sides such as coleslaw, corn-on-the cob, garlic bread, spicy rice or chips.
Pick up some Nando’s Peri-Peri rub at the supermarket instead, as well as a couple of roast-in-the-bag chickens and five sides and it comes to £15.16, based on Asda prices. That’s £208.74 saved by th …
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