Mum shares budget school holiday hack for kid's snacks

Including the exact breakdown of products she buys to ensure costs stay low. 

With the school holidays in full swing, many parents find themselves scrambling for quick, nutritious snacks to keep their kids satisfied throughout the day. 

Add working from home to the mix and the constant "Muuuuum, I'm hungry" calls from the kitchen, it's little wonder we often resort to convenience foods and pre-packaged snacks. 

But now one mum in Victoria has come up with a simple yet brilliant solution — homemade snack boxes. 

In a recent post in the Mums Who Budget & Save Facebook group, she shared her strategy for keeping her two boys happy and well-fed while saving money. 

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this. 

Image: Facebook

RELATED: ‘Best ALDI buy ever!’: Mum’s indoor clothesline hack divides fans

The DIY snack pack

By making her own versions of cheese and cracker packs from the supermarket, she says she can massively cut down on her school holiday grocery spend and also ensure her kids have something ready to go—just like they would if they were at school.

"Packets of biscuits and cheese are pretty expensive and not so environmentally friendly, so I make my own," the mum wrote to the group.

"I got the plastic containers a while ago on a 1/2 price sale at Coles and each holidays I bring them out and make snack boxes," she explained. "We have some with just biscuits and cheese as Mr Seven doesn’t like meat and some with biscuits, cheese, salami and cabana as Mr Nine loves meat."

Image: Facebook

The photos show an impressive array of neatly packed snack boxes containing various combinations of deli items tailored to her kid's preferences. She also portions yoghurt into separate containers and says she keeps everything in a low drawer in the fridge, within easy reach of the kids.

The savvy mum also shared more of her budget snack tips, saying, "They also have free access to fruit and veg and I buy large bags of potato chips which they can have a small bowl of each day.

"We also pop fresh popcorn when we are having a movie afternoon/evening."

Introducing our new podcast: Mum Club! Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.

RELATED: Grim reason you can’t find eggs in the supermarket

Praise for the creative hack

Her hack received an outpouring of positive feedback from fellow parents.

"I think it's great for the kids to know that's what they can eat and not stand there with the door open every 5 minutes looking for things," wrote one top comment. 

"Love it!! I buy the cheese and crackers (Coles or Woolies home brand four packs) as a treat, but I’m thinking for the school holidays, I might do the same. Have you worked out which packet of crackers is the same as the packs?" someone else asked.

The mum replied that she uses Coles brand water crackers, which cost 95 cents and makes seven snack boxes with approximately six crackers each. She also uses the Coles brand salami and chops it up for the snack packs.

"Awesome idea, and so easy to just throw in a bag if you’re heading out somewhere too," another mum replied on the post, while someone else said: "Looks amazing. Can you pack some for me?"

Then others shared their own cost-saving tips, like this mum who said: "I have a small basket for each child and they can pick two-three snacks a day and once it’s gone it’s gone and I’m not getting snack requests every 30 mins. They can also have as much fruit and veg as they like."

Originally published as Mum shares budget school holiday hack for kid's snacks