Haemorrhaging money during school holidays

[JMAngel1]

Anyone else?

Trying to have stay at home days every other day but we usually get stir crazy by the afternoon and head out. But everything costs money when the weather is so bad - would be so much easier to pack a picnic and head to the park if it was sunny.

Money situation made worse by DDs wanting to bring a friend sometimes so everything costs twice as much - not sure what the etiquette is in this situation - we live in an affluent area so I think there is just an assumption that the hosting parent pays for everything. It's got to the point where I'm having to say no to DDs seeing their friends which I know isn't fair.

August is always sooooo expensive and goes on forever. We're already down to the dregs of our money and still have a holiday next week (spending money has had to be taken from Christmas savings which will impact at the end of the year - it's never-ending). The weather hasn't helped.

We often invite a friend along for our oldest dd (9) as her little sisters (5) are twins and in a world all of their own.

Finding things which are a set price however many you take is one idea. Eg we go to a swimming beach where you pay per car rather than person so I can take my dds plus up to 3 friends in our 7 seater for the same cost as just taking my own.

Also some family membership places allow you to take a number of children rather than just your own children.

We tend to find the window of the day that has the lowest chance of rain, and head out then.
Yes, weve got rained on a couple of times, but it just means a change of clothes and hot chocolate when we get home.
We dont go too far unless the weather looks good - and rarely take a picnic. Just a couple of hours out of the house does everyone some good.

I think my DDs have high expectations - they want to go to Costa or trampolining or rock climbing or the cinema.
I wish the weather would buck up!!

I'm in Scotland so my kids are back in school now but from end June to early August we spent an absolute fortune and that was even with some gorgeous weather. Multiple coffee shop trips and meals out, cinema trips, attractions. Only our beach day was cheap spending wise but it was so far from us that is was a fortune in petrol.

I've resigned myself to the summer holidays just being super expensive.

I also think if you invite a child somewhere then you have to pay for them (so mine don't get to invite friends often!).

Yes, I'm skint 😩

The weather has been particularly bad this summer so it has been really expensive. There is only so much baking, crafts or movie days you can do. The dc's want to be out doing fun stuff and they want to do it with their friends.

Also my kids just seem to grow like mad over the summer so I've forked out a lot on new clothes. And growth spurts mean they eat more (plus the endless snacks 🤯) so food shopping has been costing a fortune. We've still got a dc's birthday and a holiday before they go back to school. Luckily the party is paid for, presents are bought and breakfast and dinner are included in the holiday but it's still not going to be cheap over the next couple of weeks.

We will just have to spend a few months desperately trying to build some savings back up until it all has to be blown on Christmas 😂 we're already discussing how we can pick up extra hours in September and October.

Can you let them have friends over on the at home days instead??
Outings to museums and national trust properties instead?

Yep yep same here too! Dh was made redundant last year and has taken a massive pay cutin his new job. It’s had a huge impact on our summer! That, plus DS starting secondary school means I’ve spent over £200 on uniform and paraphernalia 😱

So expensive!! I'm a teacher so it's the only time I'm off properly with DD, so basically I've decided to just sod it and spend whatever and accept that I'll save nothing this month. Also have my car service and mot this month, horray! The cheapest days are obviously at home and actually we've had some nice days with playing with the mud kitchen, trampoline etc. We've also spent a lot of our tesco club card points (West Midlands safari etc) but with petrol and food it's still going to be a pricey day out.

Yes to friends at home! Go wild buying as many Poundland craft supplies as you can fit in your car, big plastic sheet out and let them go wild. 50p aldi fairy cake and cookie mixes with more pound land sprinkles. Mild supervision needed near oven. Tie dye day - pick an old plain tee and do tie dye in a bucket
My niece always loved having a set of face paints and doing face painting on her siblings! You can get a snazaroo set cheaply.

When friends come keep food simple. Cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks and hummus, aldi Pom bears and squash. Put it out like a picnic to make it more interesting. They don’t need gourmet stuff.

Photography afternoon - who can take the best picture and edit it etc
Make a short film together with friends, give them a fiver for props and costume

It still costs money but less than 3 or 4 indoor rock climbing tickets or whatever. It’s so hard though they do want to be entertained all the time and it seems like other people are doing indoor skydiving one day and sailing lessons the next and then jetting off to Ibiza the next and it’s hard to keep up!

Sorry meant to say - mine will often say baking cookies is boring but if a friend is involved it’s suddenly the most hilarious fun activity ever

How old are they? If old enough, you could put them in charge of a weekly budget for activities so they have to choose which to do and which to abandon? (Budget has to include inviting friends along as well.) It might not be the worst idea in terms of teaching them budgeting skills, getting some sense of how much things cost, that they can save money and do two activities if they pack a picnic or buy a supermarket ice cream rather than asking for coffee and cake while they're out, etc.

How about any of these:

swimming at the local leisure centre
geocaching
going hiking - mine whinge when it's just us, but they don't even notice the time passing when they're with a friend
free museums
bike ride to a beauty spot
catch a bus or train to the next town
or bike there and train back
project at home, e.g. cardboard castle, Lego town, scarecrow, animation movie
camping in the garden
borrow a paddle board and go paddleboarding
summer reading challenge

Oh god op, us too! We were stung with a big, unexpected bill in June of over £800 and then the car died before our week away in Cornwall so we had to rent one at £600 so that was our holiday money gone!! We are currently on our weeks holiday and spending money like it's water!!! It's difficult because we're on holiday and we want to eat out and have treats and I don't want to say no to things, but bloody hell it's costing us! It'll take us a good few months to get our savings back up!

Fortunately mine are in their teens and summer holidays have become less expensive. DC is a member of a golf club and has played lots of golf and DD meets up with friends. We are fortunate to live near a beach which makes things much easier as they enjoy going with friends.
When mine were younger a group of us in the street would make up treasure/ scavenger hunts which covered the street and near by woods. Scavenger hunts would be find an insect, blue flower not from a garden, red berry etc. When they came back they would turn them into pictures. Treasure hunts can be adapted from online.
If it was raining we would often go to the woods as it was never as heavy in trees.

Weve had major car troubles too and just had a holiday that was more expensive due to the weather - so instead of beach we ended up doing other things. Now the car has wiped out our savings so a cheap week now for us

How old are they?

Days out are for family only in our house! They play outside with their friends in the street. The weather here hasn't been too bad and there's usually an hour most days they can get out in the back garden, on their bikes or play out front.

My DC prefer to be at home TBH. They are generally happy to entertain themselves and I don't mind pottering about while they do. I try to alternate days out between expensive ones and cheap/free ones.

Apart from the 500 we spent on a long weekend at the coast (the cost of the caravan) we haven't spent much at all. My dc either stay in the house and entertain themselves with the TV, the switch, the laptop, their toys or their books or they go out and play with their friends on the street.

But we have had a few cheap days out: we're members of English Heritage and the National Trust so go to local places with a picnic. Next week we're off to the seaside for a daytrip and it'll only cost the money for fuel and another picnic.

Yes me too, I'm only having to do days out for two of the five days but it's costing me a fortune as my dd 9 always wants to invite her friend to do things. Sadly picnics don't really cut it any more.

I would say days out are for families only, and have her friends over on your "at home" days. Get some cheap snacks from the supermarket or let them do some baking and leave them to it :)

I’m so glad we bought zoo passes for the children last Christmas, we’ve been going twice a week it’s been worth every penny. I think I’m going to get more passes for different things next Christmas and birthdays as it saves so much money in the long run.

Definitely agree with the passes - we have two for country houses near us. One was £75 for a family pass for the year, the other £65. They’re ten minutes drive from home so it’s really easy to hop in the car any time and go - with a picnic if we’re motivated enough/weather looks good enough. If you only stay for an hour it still feels like you’ve done something that day, and they both have playgrounds that DC can easily spend an hour in. They’ve been the best investments for sure (and no pre-booking needed if you have a pass either).

Our local sports centres offer “a kid for a quid “ for racket sports and that included rackets and either shuttlecocks or balls. Swimming was another favourite.
If the weather was awful we often had a game of monopoly, my DC enjoyed spending time with us.
When really little they enjoyed going round the house with a magnet, drawing pictures of everything which was magnetic.

Dd is older now. But we have / had stuff for the garden and indoor toys. She often has friends round. As I’m not well, we didn’t and still don’t go out much. She’s now old enough to go out alone. Perhaps once a week we used to go somewhere special. Other than than walks, crafts, games, tv etc.

Even just snacks, drinks, ice creams out are emptying my bank account bloody quickly! I haven’t done many “days out” but he’s eating non stop!
My food bill has shot up!