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

[quote BarbaraofSeville]@NoWayRose

The lottery offer is one single £25 voucher, that will barely touch the sides of family entry to those places.[/quote]
It’s one per person so you could use it to cover as many adults as are going at least

Museums and galleries are free.
Picnic and a flask.

Park is free

only do big attractions if i have vouchers and it's a special occasion.

Most days out i take food from home to last the day, flask of coffee for me. Most trips are to do free things so only need to pay for travel.

Will splash out on an ice cream or a slushy for the kids but not for me.

Proper day at legoland or something i couldnt afford in a months of Sundays! (not that my kids like rides anyway) let alone buying food there. I do see families all having full on slap up meals there, with all the hats and toys and just wonder wtf im doing wrong that i cant afford all that!!

For those criticising why the OP bought pizza and coffee - it’s possible the place she went to wouldn’t allow them to take their own food in (e.g soft play or indoor trampoline place). And yes for a 2 hour activity food isn’t necessary but the OP may not live nearby so you have to allow travel time - an hour each way makes it a 4 hour round trip and then the need to feed people becomes more necessary. I suppose they could still have taken their own food and eaten it in the car before or after the activity but if the children are small that’s not always easy.

It's not so much a criticism, more just pointing out that lots of us keep costs down by not buying food.
I'm planning two days out, maybe three this week, none can involve anything other than the petrol that is already in my car, as that's all I have.

When you plan a day out, so you think about the whole cost. That includes travel, entry, any food or other expenses.

Some days out will involve all of these expenses…a lengthy journey, plus hefty entry fee, plus somewhere where you have to buy their food…..of course it will be an expensive day out. You know that when you go.

Going local, places without entry fees or low ones and places where you can take your own food, all allow it to be a cheaper day.

It’s not rocket science. It’s low level planning and thinking ahead.

People who are surprised at the cost of their day out….quite simply haven’t really looked into it all ahead of time. That’s fine if cash is of no concern, but most people need to keep a lid on prices and planning ahead and making strategic choices (food being the obvious one) can reduce the price by more than 50%.

There’s no wrong or right….but this is a thread about days out being expensive. Lots of people have made lotads of great suggestions about ways to save costs. But if you are insistent on eating out and also on going to places with hefty entry fees, it’s going to be expensive. Just going once a year or very rarely will be the only way to keep a lid on prices. Lots of people though, want regular days out. Their days out don’t have to be big ticket expensive days. They’re happy with a park and picnic, or cheap entry place and an ice cream. As many say, you g kids enjoy all Kinds of stuff and it’s a mistake to think expensive=good in their minds.

As with a lot of things, often those who can most afford certain things aren’t those going for them in a big way. Sometimes those who struggle to afford them, or struggle to afford the entry, plus food, plus lots of goodies in the gift shop, are those whom all the bells and whistles really appeal to, and ‘going big’ seems to really matter to. For some people, their kids having a sense that they had a day when they could have anything they wanted, matters a lot. For others, it’s more important that the family go out together every week or every couple of weeks, and exactly what’s happening or whether the food was a sandwich you took with you or a full scale meal, is neither here nor there.

@ChessieFL

For those criticising why the OP bought pizza and coffee - it’s possible the place she went to wouldn’t allow them to take their own food in (e.g soft play or indoor trampoline place). And yes for a 2 hour activity food isn’t necessary but the OP may not live nearby so you have to allow travel time - an hour each way makes it a 4 hour round trip and then the need to feed people becomes more necessary. I suppose they could still have taken their own food and eaten it in the car before or after the activity but if the children are small that’s not always easy.

It's actually easier to take packed lunch with little ones I find.

No need to worry about if there's stuff they will eat. They can eat almost as soon as they're hungry, and can eat the food pretty much anywhere.

No waiting in queues/waiting for orders to come to table etc.

@ChessieFL

For those criticising why the OP bought pizza and coffee - it’s possible the place she went to wouldn’t allow them to take their own food in (e.g soft play or indoor trampoline place). And yes for a 2 hour activity food isn’t necessary but the OP may not live nearby so you have to allow travel time - an hour each way makes it a 4 hour round trip and then the need to feed people becomes more necessary. I suppose they could still have taken their own food and eaten it in the car before or after the activity but if the children are small that’s not always easy.

Right, but if you go to an event which you know is a distance away and you know you’ll be there at a meal time so decide to buy food at that venue, chances are high it’ll be expensive food. Moaning about the cost of days out afterwards when you could have done something about it to massively bring the cost down yourself, seems odd.

Absolutely, I was just pointing out a scenario where taking your own food might not be practical. I agree that it’s obvious it would be expensive.

Look for fetes or local activities (fb is quite useful for this) join national trust, local parks or beaches.

Take your own food and water.

We do 'proper' days out at activity type places maybe once or twice a year.

I have to say getting a dog has been a good way to save money on days out as generally we go to places that are dog friendly such as nature reserves or the beach.

@ChessieFL

For those criticising why the OP bought pizza and coffee - it’s possible the place she went to wouldn’t allow them to take their own food in (e.g soft play or indoor trampoline place). And yes for a 2 hour activity food isn’t necessary but the OP may not live nearby so you have to allow travel time - an hour each way makes it a 4 hour round trip and then the need to feed people becomes more necessary. I suppose they could still have taken their own food and eaten it in the car before or after the activity but if the children are small that’s not always easy.

I don't think people are criticising. OP asked how people can afford it, and people are explaining that they make days out more affordable by doing X, Y, and Z.

I agree with pp, with small dc, it is MUCH easier to take your own food than get a space in a cafe, get the food to them, be sure there is something they are going to like etc.
The issue of not being able to take food in - which I've never come across at a farm park / zoo / day trip type place in the UK - doesn't mean you can't have your picnic before you go in, or after you come out.