A savvy mum has revealed her clever trick for saving £150 when she goes on holiday.
Like most travellers, Lisa is usually forced to spend hefty amounts of money on feeding her family of six at airports, where prices are frequently inflated.
Along with husband Neil, 37, the pair were planning to jet off from Belfast Airport to Turkey for a weeklong holiday with their four kids on 19 August.
Dreading the cost of airport meals, the mum found out a nifty solution.
The 36-year-old travel agent purchased a plastic container with 10 compartments at B&M for just £4.
She then filled it with various snacks including cookies, Pringles and Haribos.
Lisa spent £8 on treats in total for her kids; Steven, 16, Jude, 12, Reuben, nine, and Caleb, six.
The foursome was kept satisfied for the duration of the airport wait, plus the four-and-a-half-hour flight.
Lisa got the idea after spotting the containers while buying school lunch boxes.
“When we go on holiday, we get to the airport and we end up spending £150 before we’re even on the plane,” Lisa, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, told Luxury Travel Daily.
“It would cost us a fortune just for drinks if we all had one.
“Everything is more expensive – often several pounds more than if you bought it on the high street – and you end up having to budget for the airport, as well as your holiday.
“I was in B&M the other day getting lunch boxes when I spotted the container.
“Then I filled it up with some treats.
“A small tub of Pringles is about £2.99 at the airport but I got a big tub for £1.95.
“It kept the kids full and happy.
“You can put anything in it.
“If you don’t want to add sweets, you can put fruit in the box because it’s airtight.”
The mum also bought her children reusable cups, which means she can pay for one refillable drink at the airport and fill all four mugs.
Lisa added: “We eat at the airport depending on flight times, but if we get there three hours early and we’ve got a long flight, even if we’ve had breakfast, the kids get hungry again.
“When you’ve got four kids, you’re always looking for ways to budget.”
The mum plans to put the money she’s saved this year towards a deposit for their next holiday.
Lisa spent £13.99 on her pre-packed snacks and the container.
At the airport, she splashed £19.50 on a sausage bap, bacon bap and coffee.
Her grand total was £33.49 – meaning the mum saved herself £116.51 on her usual airport spend.
LISA’S SNACK BUDGET:
B&M container – £4
Chocolate chip cookies – 89p
Haribos – £1.29
Straw mallows – 99p
Chocolate buttons – £1.99
Pringles – £1.95
Milky Way Stars – £1.89
A six-pack of chocolate biscuits – 99p
READ MORE: ‘I flew to Ibiza for whirlwind 24 hour-party and it cost less than a train to Manchester’
