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

We can afford lots of days out plus lots of holiday because we prioritise that rather than a big house and 2 cars.

It’s also a lot healthier to take your own picnic 👍🏻

We are going to the zoo tomorrow, i went and bought four Tesco meal deals this morning to take with us, £3 each for sandwich, snack and a drink that would set us back at least £6 each inside the zoo!

Definitely everyone carries their own food.
A sandwich, packet of crisps, banana and bottle of water isn't heavy.
I have severe osteoporosis and can manage that with an ice pack and a few other bits and bobs for a day out.

I hated " experiences " when dcs were little. Never did them. They never went to Disney land, Legoland, Chessington, Thorpe Park.

@Nidan2Sandan

Our local farm place is £6/4 better deal still is the one next to the huge farm shop because they give you a £10 off £40 or £20 off £60 voucher with entry so you basically get your money back.

Never seen a farm charge £27 a head, the zoo is less

Problem is, depending on the attraction, it can be a PITA lugging a picnic around all day.

Does it sound better if I call it a packed lunch ? I'm not talking about some wicker picnic hamper here.
When we had one who was still in the pram, stuff just went under the pram, when they got a bit bigger, the dc had things in their back packs. Many places, you can leave stuff in the car and come back to it. I've got many a photo of them sitting in the boot, on a rainy day, eating our picnic

Did you really need coffee and pizza for a 2 hour attraction?!! I think if you’re going to make choices like that, things will inevitably cost loads, but that’s a choice that for some reason you have decided to make, so you can’t really then complain that it was expensive!

Take a bottle of drink and then eat before or after. Or take rolls with you.

We usually take rolls with us and buy a coffee or a cake and make good use of Tesco Clubcard vouchers.

Packed lunches and flasks for lunch (we bought a couple of wide mouthed ones for this year that we're going to try out so we can have hot pasta and the like as well as sandwiches, soup, and crisps....!); vouchers including Tesco "double your money" ones; special offers in papers, on cereal boxes etc; making full use of any schemes you can (e.g. Blue Light if you work in that sort of work area, any AA offers, keep an eagle eye on Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert and others).

And my recent mini project has been to download as many relevant apps as possible, they often have offers on them especially when you first join.

Download a walking tour to your phone; special offers on NT and the Heritage Open Days (I think they're September?); the Gardeners' World "2 for 1" entry scheme, they publish a magazine once a year, around May to June I think, with a card in it; free events at local colleges, farms, art centres, libraries...

It's really hard work and can be very time consuming, but is one of the ways we manage to really stretch our pennies. And going on "big" days out is limited to special occasions like birthdays. It also probably does help that we live really close to some nice beaches, parks, and small woodland/nature reserves and that we don't have particularly expensive hobbies, but I honestly don't know how larger families without pots of money do it.

Mind you, I'm of the generation where a trip to the coast, fish and chips with bread and butter and a cup of tea, and building a sandcastle or two counted as an exotic day out...

Vouchers and NT etc memberships are a good idea. You can bring picnics but also buy a coffee if it’s affordable or ice cream.

Free museums are great. Our local one is Horniman in Forest Hill but Greenwich Maritime Museum and others are free.

I live in London so there are loads of free things to do, appreciate I’m lucky though. I don’t think the cost you’ve said is too bad if it’s a one off.

25 years ago we were moving ooop North.
So we decided to take the dc to Legoland.
We bought lunch and they were allowed a small box of lego each.
The day cost a £100 with admission, food and a gift.
It stung a bit.

I think most people do a balance of cheap days out and the bigger ticket ones. Some things you can do for cheap: our local farm park with a big outdoor play park is a fiver and has picnic benches, so you could easily spend three hours there for £15 if there's three of you, which seems pretty good to me.

On the flipside the bigger farm near us with soft play and cafe etc would be triple or quadruple that, so that's a rarer visit.

, I do have cringeworthy memories of my mother shoving picnics on rides at Alton towers and skating round the ice rink clinging to one, which may impact my view somewhat!

Some people have more money than you do.
Some people have less money than you do but choose to spend it differently.
Some people don’t pay for pizza during a 2 hour activity.

@Qwill

I live in London so there are loads of free things to do, appreciate I’m lucky though. I don’t think the cost you’ve said is too bad if it’s a one off.

There are free things to do in most places. I live in the midlands and there are plenty of free activities/museums etc. Also lots of beautiful countryside to visit which is obviously free.

Ooo will also add that if it’s an NT sort of day we have been known to bring the old camping stove (mini gas one) and do bacon butties out of the back of the car 😊
@BuyBuyBuyBuy I don’t think that is helpful because areas and incomes for different people are different…2 people working on minimum wage with two kids in certain areas of the country wouldn’t be able to afford the big house and two cars vs holidays and outings debate, I know people who scrimp and save every penny and still wouldn’t be able to routinely afford the bigger days out.

Our local authority(very touristy place so lots of activities/places to visit) have a 'locals' discount scheme on entrance fees to zoo, swimming pools etc etc. I think you pay a nominal fee and have produce your Council Tax letter to register but get very good discounts. Also if you or any of your family work for the NHS or any of the emergency services discounts or even free entry to some places are common arou x here. Some bank accts, Union memberships or household ins policies also have day out offers included in the policy /membership etc.
Many places around here are also much cheaper if booked online or if you sign up to their emails send random offers regularly.

Annual passes help, our local aquarium is £16 per adult and £11 per child an annual family pass is £50 for two adults and a child. Soft play £7.50 a go or £22 annual pass, local rare breeds farm park £8 adult £6 child a child annual pass is £25 send an accompanying adult goes free. Also use Tesco vouchers for Legoland Warwick castle etc and even Eurostar. We almost always take our own lunch, drinks and snacks

@Fishpondinthegarden

, I do have cringeworthy memories of my mother shoving picnics on rides at Alton towers and skating round the ice rink clinging to one, which may impact my view somewhat!

@Fishpondinthegarden 😂 yes! My mum used to do peanut butter sandwiches wrapped up in clingfilm and I can still recall the Tupperware taste that came with it 😂 and how squished the sandwiches would always be!

Another national trust member, they do regular children’s trails and activities for a few pounds. We last did a Percy park keeper activity trail which came with an adventure kit bag for £2. The Easter egg hunts are next. Ours do weekly free toddler groups too

There are free things to do in most places. I live in the midlands and there are plenty of free activities/museums etc. Also lots of beautiful countryside to visit which is obviously free.

I agree- it's not just London that has lots of free stuff, all cities have loads to do, whether Manchester, Belfast or Aberdeen.
My local city has a ton of free stuff, and also a very short distance to unspoit coastline with beaches, forests and mountains are also close.
It's a bit London centric to think free stuff only happens there- there are free things to do all around the UK.

The National lottery days out are really good.
I’ve got a friend who bought like 6 different lottery tickets with 6 different email addresses and then every adult in their party got in the attraction ‘free’ (well £2 for the ticket). Personally I’m not sure I’d have the brass neck, but it’s certainly one way to do it.

We snipped a load of the 2 for 1 vouchers off DD’s selection boxes at Christmas (and ate the chocolate too as she doesn’t really have it) and still have a couple. We use them for things like the sealife centre - still pricey but without the voucher code would actually be prohibitively expensive.

We have a local community farm that’s free entry, another that’s a suggested donation
of £3.

DD is also still of an age where feeding the ducks or trying a different park to the usual is pretty exciting, I know it’s going to get harder but I’m making the most of free stuff now.

We do days out pretty much every weekend. Almost always bring a packed lunch, as much for convenience and healthiness as saving money. Mostly stay within London (where we live) so don't spend much on travel as I have a pass/DCs travel free. Sometimes we'll take a train further out but use a Family Railcard so not too expensive. Often our days out are free - museums, galleries, big parks, free events, country walks. When we do pay it can cost a fair bit (theatre, tourist attractions), bit I figure it's balanced out by the free stuff. We don't spend much else when we've paid for entrance fees - no food or drink or gift shop purchases.

We don't have a car and NT and EH properties are a pain to get to, so not great value for us. We had a zoo pass last year but we're looking for a different annual pass this year for a change.

Asked my kids what their favourite days out were when they were little.

Going to visit the goats... our local farm shop (walking distance) had goats, we walked there for something to do if we needed a bit of time out.

And dressing up granny's dog. Placid old thing that let them put hats and baby cardigans on it.

We went to theme parks, zoos, soft play etc. Didn't make the top 5.