Our new money-saving hub offers tips to help parents during the summer holidays

We've launched a new online money-saving advice hub to help parents facing the cost-of-living crisis keep children occupied during the summer holidays.

The Essential Living Hub – asda.com/essential-living – offers a wide range of hints, tips and hacks which go beyond the weekly food shop, covering how to save energy, budget better, buy and cook smarter, entertain the kids for free and even eat out without paying a penny.

We've created the hub after conducting research which revealed the tough choices parents face as they prepare for the school holidays. Despite their best efforts to create a fun-filled summer, 78% of parents said they would have to cut back on holiday activities such as day trips, cinema visits and eating out because they are struggling to afford these treats.

More than two-thirds plan to take on extra work and almost half plan to borrow money from friends and family so that their kids can enjoy some holiday treats. And 14% said that any kids’ activity that costs money this summer is unaffordable.

Cutbacks to holiday treats and activities will be felt the most by low-income families as they continue to be disproportionately affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

The hub is the latest initiative from Asda to help customers save on their essential living costs, so they have more money to spend on other things.

To help tackle holiday hunger, children aged 16 and under can eat for just £1 in Asda Cafes across the UK during the school holidays and until the end of the year. The offer is available seven days a week during Café opening hours, and no minimum adult spend is required.

We've launched ‘Just Essentials’ – a new range of over 300 budget-friendly products in all categories of the store, including fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat, fish and poultry designed to help customers enjoy nutritious food on a budget.

And we've also launched a ‘Dropped and Locked’ initiative – dropping the price of family-favourite products and committing to keep the prices down until the end of the year. Asda now has hundreds of products price locked until the end of the year.

Jasmine Birtles, founder of MoneyMagpie.com, has been a key contributor to the new Essential Living Hub, ensuring it covers all aspects of money saving that are relevant to those customers struggling the most.

Sam Dickson, Asda’s Acting Chief Customer Officer, said: “We know things are tough for many families as our latest Asda Income Tracker shows the average household is £160 per month worse off compared with last year. This makes it harder to find the money to go on holiday or keep the kids entertained while they are off school.

“We know that despite the budget pressures – parents and carers want to do the best for their kids, which is why we’ve launched the Essential Living Hub to help them through the holidays. And with our Just Essentials range offering over 300 products at the lowest possible prices, we’re here to help them make their budgets stretch further so they will have more to spend on doing the things they love.”

To find out more information, visit: asda.com/essential-living