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How not to succumb to the lure of the ice cream van

It looks like summer is here and one of the ways you can tell is that tinny tune that the ice cream van makes.  When I was small my father told me that if it played a tune it meant that they had run out of ice cream and guess what............... I believed him.



As a mum that sound of the van used to fill me with dread as it is no longer inexpensive to get an ice cream for the boys from the van.  But never fear, you do not have to succumb to the van if you are well prepared.

I make sure that I have the following in my house over the summer period:


  • Ice cream cones, I like the flat bottomed ones as it means the boys can pop them down
  • Various ice creams
  • Toppings (raspberry sauce or monkeys blood as it is known in our house)
  • Sprinkles
  • Ice pops - inexpensive and as such means I can hand them out to all the boys mates
  • Ice lollies
  • Homemade ice lollies 

Teaching Kids Money Management and Value


We decided to use the ice cream van as a learning exercise for the boys and we gave them their pocket money of £2 and let them choose to spend it how ever they wanted,

It was a fantastic exercise.  They realised that they only got 2 icecreams from the van from their £2 per week, where I bought 9 cones for £2 from Lidl.

They also realised that Ice Pops are much more frugal too and also that making our own can be fun and thrifty at the same time.

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