School holidays can blow budget
PARENTS are forking out a fortune to keep kids happy over the school holidays, with the latest data showing the additional costs of the vacations regularly blow the family budget.
Townsville co- ordinator for The Smith Family’s Saver Plus program Nikki Storey said many people had a hard time financially over the school holiday period and families in the Townsville region were no exception.
“There are a lot of extra costs incurred for many of our families and these can include the simple task of trying to keep our kids busy and avoid the ‘ I’m bored’ complaints, to needing to find the extra dollars for travelling to sporting events for special carnivals and competitive events,” she said.
“For those parents who are working and unfortunately do not have family or friends available to help out, the cost of additional childcare and vacation care is also an extra burden on the family budget.”
A survey conducted by NRMA Blue found 72 per cent of families felt school holidays put a greater financial burden on their budgets, with 64 per cent saying the additional costs that added up either always or regularly blew the family budget altogether. Almost half ( 42 per cent) said school holiday budget blowouts created additional stress in the family, while more than a quarter ( 27 per cent) reported that the costs made them anxious for their financial future.
Ms Storey, who runs Saver Plus workshops to provide financial education for Townsville families on lower incomes, said school holiday costs could be eased with planning and research.
Deeragun mother of three Emma Greengrass said the survey results were no surprise to her.
“I’ve always acknowledged that I need to put extra money away for the school holidays,” she said. “If I am working during the school holidays, I still need to pay extra for vacation care and if I also take holidays during the school holidays, it’s easy to spend up big to keep the children happy … but I try to balance the high- cost activities with free activites — ( such as) my children getting outdoors on their scooters.”
Ms Greengrass said she tried to do as many free or low- cost activities as possible during school breaks.
“This school holidays we are going to Airlie Beach for junior rugby league, so we have budget for that,” she said. “As a mum you want to get the balance between higher cost and low cost/ free activities because you still want to create fun holiday experiences for your children, but keeping the family budget in mind.”
To find out if you’re eligible to join the Saver Plus program, SMS your details to Nikki Storey on 0418 201 533 or email nikki.storey@thesmithfamily.com.au