WHEN it comes to family days out over the summer, we all know how easy it is for costs to creep up.
But parents who opened a Starling account for their kids could save themselves some cash when visiting a number of UK attractions.
Paying for travel and keeping everyone fed and watered quickly add up, so anything that can keep these hidden costs to a minimum has got to be good for the budget.
That’s why I’m always on the lookout for ideas of how to enjoy a picnic lunch for next to nothing when I’m taking my boys for a trip.
There’s nothing worse than paying an expensive entry fee to an attraction, only to then get stung when it comes to buying food and drink as well.
This year, Starling Bank is sponsoring the National Trust’s summer of play again and that means there will be a free kids’ meal voucher winging its way to anyone who has a Kite account, just in time for the school holidays.
Read more on money saving
The Kite account is for children aged between 6 and 15, giving them access to a bank card and making it easy for parents to keep track of what is being spent.
It’s the first year I’ve had these accounts for my boys, so I’m looking forward to being able to get a free lunch for them while we’re out and about enjoying what the National Trust has to offer.
I normally only buy ice creams or cold drinks from the cafe and then take our own food with us, so it’ll be a nice treat to do something different this summer.
Although all the details for this summer’s offer haven’t been released yet, about 30 National Trust properties were excluded from last year’s free meal offer, so it’s worth checking beforehand to avoid disappointment.
Last year, participants received a gift card to the value of £5.25, which covered five pick ‘n’ mix lunch items in National Trust cafes: a sandwich, savoury snack, sweet treat, piece of fruit and drink.
The card could also be used to purchase anything else in the cafe up to the value of £5.25.
Cards that were issued last year will still be valid this summer if they have any balance left on them.
We’re also lucky that another historic site near us, not run by the National Trust, is holding a community lunch one day in the holidays, which is open to anyone to attend.
It’s worth looking on social media to see if smaller visitor attractions have their own offers around food and drink over the holidays.
Planning ahead is key to keeping food costs low over the holidays.
There’s some great apps, like Olio, which has volunteers rescuing fresh food like bread and fruit that’s on its use-by date from supermarkets.
We do occasionally use the kids eat free or for £1 offers that lots of restaurants, pubs and supermarket cafes run over the school holidays.
However, I tend to find that it can soon cost quite a bit, especially if you’ve got a few children to feed, there’s a minimum spend for an adult and drinks aren’t included.
You need to be a bit savvy if you’re going down that route and make sure you don’t end up paying more than you expect.
How to save money on chocolate
CONSUMER reporter Sam Walker explains how to save money on your next chocolate haul…
Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed on flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for supermarket’s own brand bars.
Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.
They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
Now is the perfect time to start planning ahead for how to feed your family while having fun over the long summer break.
Here are some other ways to save money on your family holiday this year.