Days out- how do people afford them?

[lovelydaffodils]

Went to a local attraction.
Coffee was £2.90
Pizza was £12
Entry was £30 for the three of us.
Activity was approx a two hour max

@TaylorsSwimShorts

We have merlin passes, without these theme parks would be a definite no ( 6 kids and a step kid) we also have passes to adventure island in Southend , this is our go to few hours of fun, we without fail take food, rarely buy food out, we have even been known to take hot dogs in flasks.. beach days are cheap, ( well before petrol became liquid gold 😬) we would take a big picnic and then spend the whole day/evening , kids range from 4 - 17 and they all swim/crab whatever , I wouldn't say days out are cheap because there's just so many of us but we define manage to do a lot ! If we aren't driving we will walk to a local park, take chalks/bikes/skates/cards/ball games, we can easily spend the whole afternoon, again we would take a big picnic and maybe just buy them an ice cream/slushie so keep the cost down... swimming here is free or very cheap, I think around £10 for all of us, so that's a good rainy day option as well.

We use Adventure Island too. Annual passes £50, well worth it! Also the sea life in Southend is cheap annual passes at moment

We do a ‘day out’ theme park/zoo/soft play once a month on pay day, always take our own food and drinks, rest of the month do cheap things such as beach/moors/woods/bike ride/park/annual membership stuff.
Dont have sky, dont smoke, dont have takeaways, dont have latest phones, have a very old TV and buy almost everything second hand where poss. Average incomes.
This isnt for everyone but is how we manage days out and holidays.

Sorry to derail the thread but is NT membership any good when you have kids? Pre dc we used to have a yearly membership but on the odd occasions we have taken dc to an NT place they really haven't enjoyed it. Same as our local museum after they had been once. They would much rather go to the park tbh and would quite happily stay there for 2 hours or more. PIL keep offering to get us NT membership for Christmas but we've always said no thanks.

We had NT membership for several years with kids when they were younger and was good with young kids maybe 5 to 10s ish, younger can work as well but may get restless looking round the houses. When DS got to about 12 or so he declared it ''old mans places' and refused to go again but we had several good years with it. Though we used to do 1 year NT then 1 year EH so see different things but that varies by area. Both are good value and have things like half term events. In London Kew Gardens is good and has membership.

When we lived by London we did Merlin for a couple of years at older primary age, it is pricey but includes lots of pricey entry things and lots accessible from there.

Never eat out at these places, food is always overpriced and disappointing. We go out after a big breakfast or lunch at home. I usually set up the slow cooker before we go so we have an easy meal on hand when we are tired when we get home. Food is pricy on a day trip so either include it in the experience and cost or exclude it and still have a good time out. Parking fees are usually another unavoidable cost that add up.
We have an expensive bean to cup coffee machine at home so having a coffee out is not a special experience. We take bottles of water with us, leave them on the car.
Covid and lockdowns have dampened our enthusiasm for day trips but I don't think there's any need for overspending when we do go out.

@ChoiceMummy depends on the circumstances. We home educate now and intend on visiting one of the attractions every fortnight or so, so for us it definitely is worth the money.

You also get money off staying in the theme park hotels, free parking and the food places (depending on which membership you take)… and other places like Welcome Break.

If not for the home educating we probably wouldn’t have bothered.

We just don’t do “big” days out that often. Most weekends we go to places like swimming, soft play, library, park, nature reserve, beach etc. Things like the aquarium (which cost nearly £40 just for entry!) or the big farm we do once every couple of months. Those days are special memories and we can relax and do things like let DD pick a toy in the gift shop, because it’s not something we do every week.

It’s inflation. Is everywhere. I wanna take dd to theatre in London but the ticket costs for any decent seat are crazy and once you add on travel and food for a family it’s nearly £500. Mad.

If you work in a public service (including the NHS and Army) you can apply to join CSSC (civil service sports and social club) its about £4 a month and gives free access to English heritage and CADW properties. Great if you love castles. Also gives discounts at cinemas and Tastecard membership.

I also forgot to mention local festivals and carnivals, the Cornish ones such as Marazion and Tintagel are particularly wonderful.

Prior to lockdown our local council always did free swimming sessions in the school holidays, not sure that they have reinstated this but worth checking.

Planning is key
I’ll always bring water bottles from home
I’ll bring my thermos of coffee. This isn’t a hardship, I order my home coffee
Summer - picnics
Winter - trips are shorter so invariably home anyway for lunch. If not, will research recommended good value cafes or a nice chain with a discount code

prefer

@elliejjtiny

Sorry to derail the thread but is NT membership any good when you have kids? Pre dc we used to have a yearly membership but on the odd occasions we have taken dc to an NT place they really haven't enjoyed it. Same as our local museum after they had been once. They would much rather go to the park tbh and would quite happily stay there for 2 hours or more. PIL keep offering to get us NT membership for Christmas but we've always said no thanks.

I think that NT isn't as great as EH Tbh as the latter tend to be more child friendly in our experience re there being areas the children can play and also the attitude of the NT clientele.

It also depends on where you live. For us, though SE, everything is quite a trek in the car minimum of 50 minutes, so the petrol costs add to the costs of the day out, which when looking at local passes this has to be a consideration for most.
However, the NT shops are fab and the EH food if you ever have a treat are gorgeous.

[quote Booklover3]@ChoiceMummy depends on the circumstances. We home educate now and intend on visiting one of the attractions every fortnight or so, so for us it definitely is worth the money.

You also get money off staying in the theme park hotels, free parking and the food places (depending on which membership you take)… and other places like Welcome Break.

If not for the home educating we probably wouldn’t have bothered.[/quote]
I can see if home educating and using fortnightly that would be different!

As for the hotels, they're so overpriced, even with discounts lol and I'd be looking at travelodge etc first! (I have actually booked some hotels and intend to go to some Merlin attractions lol).

We live in London so most weekends we’ll do something like a free museum or gallery, then it’s just the cost of the bus fare to get there, so buying lunch out isn’t unreasonable.

For paid attractions we often have one parent takes the kids while the other stays home, so only paying for one adult ticket. The one that stays home does jobs around the house or gets some hobby time, and we alternate to make it fair.

I took DD1 (6) to Legoland Manchester while on a family visit, £24 to get in with a voucher and she had a meltdown in the first ten minutes and wanted to leave! Thankfully she calmed down and enjoyed the soft play and building bits but wouldn’t go on any of the rides. TBH I should have just taken her to a regular soft play, it would have been cheaper.

@ChoiceMummy we found if you are only using the hotel to sleep that you can get really cheap Travelodge / other chains on the motorway.

Very basic but we did do 4 nights in the Lake District for the four of us for £80!

It is expensive. I’m relatively well paid but very grateful that you often get a free adult entry as a carer with DLA letter for DS and wonder how other families justify the cost.

The winter light show here was nearly £20 each for an adult ticket. It was nice but it wasn’t £40 nice I don’t think!

We used to to go to free or cheap places and always took sandwiches and drinks. I couldn’t even afford to take my DC into Macdonalds for lunch but we had great days out. And have a no-purchases rule in the gift shops. My GC think it is normal to spend £20 in the gift shop every time they go out!

I would take packed lunch but I get what you are saying sometimes you just want to not have to always to think about ways of not spending money even just buying drinks can be pricey

going to local parks is becoming costly it isn’t fair that for many parents buying just ice creams for their children at the park is expensive and for some not affordable

Not many on MN can appreciate how a coffee and an ice cream on a day out is money that some just don’t have spare

When the DC were young we had the Historic Scotland membership, annual pass to the science centre in Glasgow & DS loved the aquarium in St Andrews (takes an hour to go round but he'd happily go round 4/5/20 times then we'd head to the beach for a picnic & ice cream.

A train into Edinburgh & day at the museum with a picnic in princes street gardens was a cheapish day out with only cost being the train fare & a coffee for the adults.

Edinburgh Zoo/Blairdrummond Safari Park were once every couple of years days out with a picnic.

We have a huge country park we can walk to from my mums house & as I grew up there know the walks where we can avoid the influx of visitors from outwith the area who stick to the main paths. We also have quite a lot of places within the local area we can go for walks/parks/beaches etc which are free.

Now that my first grandchild is on the way I'll be looking to re-instate my memberships/annual passes in a couple of years.

Agree with others for a 2 hour activity I'd be planning that between meal times, eating at home & taking my contigo cup for coffee.

My children are grown up, but I know the prices of many attractions are way beyond what most people can afford, and this has been the case for a long time.
There's been some great tips on here re vouchers, special offers etc.
My tip is to get the children used to not visiting the gift shop, not buying food and drink from the attraction, and when going out to eat, everyone has water, and no starter or pudding. Sounds harsh but soft drinks alone for a family of 5 can easily more than £20 to the bill. Starters and pudding could be another £50.
The rule applies on the cinema, too- popcorn and coke comes to the price of a ticket .
If they get used to the idea of the outing itself being the treat from a young age, it's easier.
The things that they really enjoyed was in the car picnics, watching trains and having a picnic on the station, having big picnics in the park with friends.

Why anyone oays the obscene prices of cinema snacks is beyond me. They aren't even just a little but higher than supermarket prices - they are triple. It's ridiculous. Take your own!

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Why anyone oays the obscene prices of cinema snacks is beyond me. They aren't even just a little but higher than supermarket prices - they are triple. It's ridiculous. Take your own!

Plus the popcorn portions are huge

We swing by newsagent before and I say packet of sweets or popcorn
Bring bottles of water
£1.50 - they get a treat, no waste and cheap as chips

I will never buy from a cinema!

I go to the cinema a lot, 3 times last week, I never buy anything.

Almost always used to go to Poundland or WH Smith’s for cinema snacks. In our local
Everyman and Picturehouse we sometimes buy their chocolates.