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Original poster

Days out- how do people afford them?

312 replies

lovelydaffodils · 19/03/2022 16:28

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

OP posts:
notanothertakeaway · 19/03/2022 20:43

@StScholastica

Look out for events like open farm weekend or try sailing/climbing etc at your local club, these are usually free or really cheap.

Go fishing, rock pooling, nature watching.

Mini golf/putting at local parks.

Find a local stream to paddle in.

Do you have bikes? Take them out for an adventure on those.

Go camping.

The sun newspaper (I know its an awful paper) starts it's free entry to Alton Towers token collect today.

Blackpool illuminations.

Firework competitions at various seaside resorts for free.

Lifeboat days.

Build a den in the woods.

Go to museums for free.

Go to an RAF base or airport and watch the jets take off with a picnic.

Get your name down for an allotment.

Climb a mountain (Snowdon is easiest).

Go to an impressive waterfall.

We didn't have much money but did all of the above many times and I don't think our DC missed out.

@StScholastica

Lots of brilliant ideas there. Thanks for sharing

dottiedodah · 19/03/2022 20:45

Nt places ? Yes you have to pay membership, but some good offers on atm .also if you are in different areas .gives good value for money I think .often museums are free as well

Jaxhog · 19/03/2022 20:49

Our local nature reserve is free. We take a flask or refillable water bottle which is also free.

Ionsion · 19/03/2022 20:53

We do day trips but certain places are a very occasional treat. I do think these places milk it as much as they can get away with - especially when it comes to the food.

Solmum1964 · 19/03/2022 20:56

Lots of people suggesting using Tesco vouchers. These are brilliant for days out, though used to be even better! We've even used them for birthday parties - 2 family tickets for 10 of us to go to Drayton Manor and a picnic back at the car half way through.
Also people saying go to the local park and get an ice cream from the van if there is one. This can be very pricey. Our local park is next to an Aldi and over the road from Iceland. Much cheaper to buy a pack of ice creams from there (if you can get everyone to agree).

Fishpondinthegarden · 19/03/2022 20:56

@Jaxhog

Our local nature reserve is free. We take a flask or refillable water bottle which is also free.
Every single weekend could possibly get a little repetitive.
Luredbyapomegranate · 19/03/2022 20:58

By taking food and drink with you! It’s normally better anyway. Entry fees can be a lot but look out for vouchers and national trust type memberships are good value (just say away from the tea shops)

shabbalabba · 19/03/2022 21:04

@Nidan2Sandan that is day light robbery! Our local farm park is 7 per person or 25 for a family of 4.

whattodu · 19/03/2022 21:05

Yep It's ridiculous how much things cost. Two hour soft play for two kids £15 before any food /drinks. We went to an ice cream parlour that had mini golf and a few rides. Spent £30. Then there's theme parks 😩😩 we spend a lot of time at parks and museums.

whattodu · 19/03/2022 21:07

@BluebellsGreenbells the farm near us is £14 a head including adults

mam0918 · 19/03/2022 21:12

Under £45 is really not bad... it's hardly like a daily occurrence.

There are always cheaper options too, you choose what to spend.

We considered doing the Santa express but it would have been over £80, we decide that was too much in the run-up to Xmas clearly though hundreds of others didn't because it sold out.

I know people where a day out is a picnic in the park and others where its £300 to travel down to alton towers for the day.

RoostasTowel · 19/03/2022 21:13

Where the hell is the £27pp farm?!

thevassal · 19/03/2022 21:17

What on earth odd about that?

Is it the sushi part specifically or just the idea of planning ahead and buying food before you need it? If the second, the concept of a weekly "big shop" must blow your mind!

MrsIglesias · 19/03/2022 21:21

Packed lunches and flask and snacks.

ChiswickFlo · 19/03/2022 21:34

So £45 for activity, food and drink for 3 people?

Quite reasonable surely? £15 each?

ohfook · 19/03/2022 21:37

I always take a packed lunch and flask of juice and try to go to free places. If you do the lottery, visit Britain are doing £25 vouchers towards a range of places you just need to give them a ticket number and your email address.

gingerhills · 19/03/2022 21:39

When DC were little and money was tight we always took packed lunch and coffee in a flask.
We used Christmas money from relatives and put it aside for days out.
We never paid full price for places like Tower of London, Legoland or Chessington etc but waited for 2-for-1 vouchers on cereal packets or with train deals etc.
We'd do cheap days out to local petting farms or steam fairs and then just a few expensive ones a year.

venusmay · 19/03/2022 21:41

We have National Trust membership and take a packed lunch with us.We avoid the gift shops and just buy an ice cream or lolly. Petrol now is the main issue for us as the pump price is v high

Kaleidoscope2 · 19/03/2022 21:47

We prioritise free things or lower cost, bigger days out we tend to do when they're on offer and every so often we may have a splurge and go somewhere full price but the combination of the above keeps things on the lower cost side.

We used to just get coffee or lunch out instead we take packed lunches instead which I now prefer anyway.

Katya213 · 19/03/2022 21:47

@RoostasTowel

Where the hell is the £27pp farm?!
Lol, this is what I want to know too!🤣
Mackmama · 19/03/2022 21:48

Does your local area have a ‘days out’ website or Facebook? We have a brilliant one here in the North East that gives you loads of ideas for days out including lots of free ones.

Other than that, make use of what’s free, beaches, parks, woodlands, museums. Have a look at National Lottery days out for money off attractions.

Take flask and picnic everywhere, beach blankets (Amazon) are great, lightweight, fold up small and are much larger than picnic blankets.

ChoiceMummy · 19/03/2022 21:52

@Kite22

Merlin passes are really expensive

Yes, but buy them for one year and have a real focus on visiting those places and getting full vfm from it, then don't buy again next year.

Loads of attractions have free return, or visit all attractions in the group for a tiny bit more than the price of the one place, so you focus that year's days out on that and do something else another year.

I looked at these in the sale. And even knowing that I planned to visit a number of the venues, with 9 separate visits I think, it was it was not the cheapest way to do it as they now have such good online offers and combined entries available.

I imagine, like with all things if you have a pass to one venue that you'll go to every 4 to 6 weeks, I that's probably a different story, by the actual passes not so, especially as the date restrictions mean that for most families with school aged children would need a gold pass or more to make best use of the passes in school holidays.
Equally, the fact you cannot use tesco vouchers for the passes either anymore also reduces their value.

RowanAlong · 19/03/2022 22:06

Yep we don’t buy the food there - usually packed lunch

Gilly12345 · 19/03/2022 22:07

Save up and go without something else like takeaways, sky tv, Netflix etc.

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