A mum-of-three has opened up about her thrifty hack for saving money on school photographs amid the ongoing cost of living crisis - choosing instead to take the snaps herself for free. Vickie Garraway, 38, began thinking of ways to cut costs after becoming pregnant with her third child, Freddie, nine months, and decided to start with school photo day.
The primary school teacher, who is also mum to Em-Jay, 11, and Vienna, six, used to save money by getting sibling school photos, as opposed to individual ones. This option however was stopped once Covid restrictions were brought in. Nowadays, Vickie, from Loughborough, Leicestershire, says the cheapest photo option available to her would cost £18 per snap, compared to just £9 in previous years.
Vickie was first prompted to resort to DIY alternatives after being left impressed by a friend's attempt at an at-home photo day.
She recalled: "I saw how good [my friend's photos] were and I knew I had to do it too. It wasn't even a proper shoot, as I simply took the usual first day at school photo and then discovered an app, which I tried out with the snap I'd taken that day and it looked so good, that I decided to use it."
After downloading the app Free Prints, Vickie clicked on the 'deals' section and chose 'school photo bundle'. She then uploaded her photos and picked a different background from a variety of studio and novelty options.
Vickie went on to share her thrifty hack on Facebook, clocking up 11,000 likes. A number of followers were impressed by the 'amazing' tip, vowing to try it for themselves, while others weren't quite as sure, conscious of professional photographers potentially losing work.
One person applauded: "We do this!!! Not paying school prices especially when they always take photos after dinner and all kids look a mess with dinner all over and hair all over lol."
Another, less approving, individual commented: "Crazy, it's almost like a photographer is trying to make a living from their work. For the time, training, electronics, printing, editing, storage space, etc, that they've put in."
Addressing the mixed bag of opinions, Vickie reflected: "It's been interesting, as many people have reacted positively and thanked me for sharing.
"For reasons being the cost of the outcome of photos, such as if their child had PE before and their hair was all over the place, or they were upset because they didn't like the situation – so that's been good.
"Then, there were others who reacted in a way that made me out to be putting professional photographers out of business or telling me how I didn't realise the amount of time or effort that goes into it."
She went on to clarify: "I am in no way slating professionals and I fully appreciate all the time and work that goes into what they do – but for a lot of people, their services are a luxury that many can't simply afford any more.
"If you can still get a photo to remember your children's milestones and it looks professional, yet costing a fraction of the price, then it's a no-brainer."
Do you have a money-saving tip to share? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
