With the summer holidays just around the corner, catering for your family of hungry kids can get eye-wateringly expensive.
You can no longer ship them off to breakfast club or rely on the free school lunches they chow down on during the day.
In fact, 93% of parents are expecting to fork out more than an extra £300 on food in this six-week period alone.
What’s more is a quarter of parents plan to skip meals in order to feed their children while they’re off school, according to Iceland.
But two supermarkets may just have the answers to your prayers. That’s right, Iceland and Aldi are offering millions of families money off their weekly shop.
And luckily for you, we’ve got the lowdown on how to save some much needed cash…
Getting money off your weekly shop at Iceland
Iceland and its sister store The Food Warehouse are offering a great way to get money off your weekly shop, from June 30, until August 30, 2025.
The supermarkets will be accepting free school meal vouchers to get you money off your groceries.
The money you get off your shop is dependent on the monetary value of your free school meal vouchers, which varies depending on your council, but is typically £15 a week.
What’s more, is if you spend the minimum of £15 of School Meal Gift Cards, then you can get an extra £5 off your shop.
This is as long as you have a registered Iceland and The Food Warehouse Bonus Card. You’ll need to scan it in store when completing your shop, and then wait up to seven working days for the £5 bonus to be credited onto your card.
This cash top up is more than double the amount Iceland offered back in 2023, making it a pretty good deal.
Don’t get caught out though, because this deal isn’t available in Iceland Locals.
Iceland’s deals
The supermarket is also running an eight for £10 deal, which includes items for quick and easy meals.
Items included in this offer are:
- Goodfella’s Thin Pepperoni Pizza £2.00
- Goodfella’s Thin Cheese Pizza – £2.00
- Chicago Town Pepperoni Deep Dish – 310g, £1.75
- Chicago Town Four Cheese Deep Dish – 296g, £1.75
- Birds Eye Bbq Chicken Griddlers – 8 Pack, £2.50
- Birds Eye Chicken Dippers – 12 Pack, £2.50
- Birds Eye Crispy Chicken – 2 Pack, £2.50
- Birds Eye Southern Fried Chicken – 2 Pack, £2.50
- Aunt Bessies Straight Chips – 600g, £2.20
- Birds Eye Alphabites – 456g, £2.25
- Mccain Quick Chips – 2 Pack, £2.00
- Youngs Fish Fingers – 10 Pack, £1.79
- Young’s Chip Shop Omega 3 Fish Fillets – 2 Pack, £2.00
- Richmond Thick Pork Sausage – 8 Pack, £2.00
Iceland also has a buy two get one free offer on items like Doritos, Heinz 1kg Tomato Ketchup and Baked Beans.
If you’re finding yourself stressed about the cost of doing the laundry, then the supermarket has also reduced items like certain detergents and capsules to half price.
Think your child should be eligible for free school meals?
If you’re in England and think your child should be eligible for free school meals but isn’t receiving them, you should check with your local council to find out if you qualify.
Not all councils offer free school meal vouchers during school holidays, because they may choose to run school holiday and food clubs instead.
Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
Children who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or guardian, can also get free school meals.
The free schools meals scheme is separate to the Healthy Start scheme in England, Northern Ireland and Wales which gives you £4.25 a week to put towards fresh fruit and veg if you’re eligible.
Getting money off your weekly shop at Aldi
Budget supermarket giant, Aldi, has launched its Summer Support Scheme,which will see vouchers given away every day over the six-week break in July and August.
Now, this one is more of a competition format and, to enter, you’ll need to submit your name and email address to SummerSupportScheme@aldi.co.uk to be eligible.
Of all the families that do this, one will be chosen at random each day to receive a £50 voucher to spend in store.
This can be spent on whatever you wish, from your weekly shop and cupboard essentials, to toys and games to entertain kids from the Specialbuy aisle.
A total of 62 vouchers are up for grabs, and remember, you have to be in it to win it.
Julie Ashfield, Chief Commercial Officer at Aldi UK, said: ‘The school holidays can put extra pressure on finances, especially when it comes to keeping children fed, entertained and active.
‘As the UK’s cheapest supermarket, we don’t believe in paying a premium for healthy, quality food and we’ll always do what we can to support parents in making their money go further.’
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