North East parents forced to splash the cash to keep the kids happy
Parents here in the North East are expected to fork out as much as £500 over the summer, keeping the kids entertained
Now that the summer holidays have already started, parents across the UK are getting ready to splash out over £500 on entertaining their children, according to Post Office Money’s annual Parents’ Summer Spending report.
Although the costs associated with the summer holidays have decreased by nine per cent from last year, the amount parents spend on their children during the six-week break has increased by a third 37% over the last five years.
Almost half of parents expect to spend the most money visiting attractions, while 41% are planning family meals out. Three in 10 parents will rack up both pounds and air miles as they set off abroad.
There are additional costs of summer spending which bump up the overall cost for cash-strapped mums and dads.
Parents expect to spend an average of £59 on other people’s children in addition to their own. They also expect to spend £96 on childcare and a huge £129 on fuel, ferrying their children from place to place.
While children will be getting excited for activities over the summer holidays, three in five parents are worried about how they will afford the summer costs.
To cover the cost of summer, parents turn to a number of different measures. More than a quarter dip into their savings to cover the expense – an increase of eight per cent from 2015.
A further quarter will depend on their credit card and one in five will generate extra cash by working overtime.
Ashleigh swan from Walkergate set up her money saving business to keep mams and dads spending savvy.
“It’s really expensive during the summer holidays but it doesn’t have to be. A few years ago, before I was a money saver, I was spending a fortune, like hundreds of pounds, but now I’ve pulled my finances in, I haven’t even spent £50 yet this summer”