How do you afford days out?

[1AngelicFruitCake]

There was a great thread on here a few years ago called 'packed lunch is sad' or similar and it revealed people's attitudes to days out and how people afford them.

I'm just nosy but do you plan lots of cheap days out like I do or do you prefer to wait and then spend what you want on a bigger day out? I love this time of year for looking ahead to what we'll do.

It's also worth giving DC a bank account with a cash card for their pocket money or even better cash so they physically hand over the money.

When we go out somewhere there is likely to be tat or overpriced sweet treats then I remind DD that I won't be buying it but if she wants to spend her own money she can take some pocket money. It's funny how quickly they don't want things when they have to part with their own cash

Also, things like ice creams on a day out we will aim to find a corner shop or supermarket and buy a multi pack, if there's too many you can always offer out the spares and it's still cheaper than buying from an ice cream van etc.

We do NT (good value and we went yesterday ,packed! Roundabout for little ones ,A walk lit up and Christmas music.Still very good value.DC older now .We usually take a packed lunch and have a coffee/cake later on. Live near the beach and not far from New Forest both free .Occasional trips to London free museums and so froth .

We lived near Thorpe Park Chessington and legoland never went there as could not afford it. We used to take picnics to different parks around the area. Lots of walking in the woods, building dens. Walking down the canal feeding ducks. Playing games at the recreation ground.

Those were the days when the DC thought a family picnic somewhere with a playground was the ultimate day out.

Annual passes. NT, EH, local zoo kinda thing. Free museums.

Spend on appropriate clothing. These are outgrown quickly so they are always available on Ebay vinted and fb. Waterproofs, wellies, fleeces, walking boots and so on. Good quality outdoor wear sells on well. Buy neutral colours to hand down and sell on.

Keep towels, change of clothes, spare socks in car. You can use the towels to shield changing children.

Packed lunch. Keep picnic blanket in car.

Have a blanket rule to avoid gift shops. Remind children that the day out is the treat, not buying tat from gift shop.

Take packed lunch. This is the killer. I found I was always the one making the packed lunch. Paying for food is the biggest thing that ramps up the cost. Have water bottles washed and filled and ready to go. Take a flask with hot drinks and a pre-sliced cake. I am really cheap and would take a multipack of aldis own cornettos in a cool box. I would bring something like maltesers to bribe them to walk. One for every 200m vertical ascent.

Make sure you always have a ball or Frisbee for use on a beach or somewhere suitable. Don't use at NT or someone will start a thread about you.

All this sounds quite miserable and penny pinching. My dc are past this age now but they have lots of good memories of that time. Most of our days out were not paid for at all. The annual passes are nice to have but a map of your local area will give you loads of walks and nice places to go. The walks are the things my dc enjoyed most.

I know I have put car and many people won't have cars.

Even a paid attraction can be cheap if you are organised. At a busy attraction having a packed lunch is often a much more attractive option than waiting to be seated and having an indifferent meal.

Having a nice meal when you get home can go a long way to making up for the privations of doing all the above.

Find a local bike recycling project for properly built bikes. There are loads of these now and they are very good value. I don't really like it when people recommend spending money to save money but bikes are a game changer.

Always have a plan b. Read a book about games to play on a walk.

If you get organised as soon as you are in the door on a Friday night you can be away having a nice day out on the Saturday.

Remember that your children will remember the time you spent with them. If you are not worrying about the cost of things you will be more present with your children on these days out.

We could never have done legoland or that sort of thing. Many people would not enjoy the days out I describe but it was really that or no days out.

Another tip for preteens and teens. Download Pokémon Go. And everyone does it together including adults. This will make a walk more fun for them.

We have young DC and plenty of good national trust places around. We have a membership (get a yearly one from my mum each Christmas) and take a packed lunch when it's warmer and we're staying for longer. So we have many free or very cheap (sometimes we'll buy ice cream or something) days out.

Even if we paid for the NT membership ourselves, the amount we use it would make it very cheap per visit.

It's not just the cost of food at attractions, it's almost always poor quality and at the end of a long queue. Having to queue for ages to pay over the odds for food that I don't even enjoy is a punishment, not a treat for me, so I'd avoid it at all costs by taking my own food.

Both National Trust and English Heritage membership is excellent value, especially for a family, even if you don't go in the houses because you get free parking, free entry to grounds that DC can run around, there's often play areas, bike tracks etc, and in some areas they give you free parking at the beach. So with a picnic, it can be a comparatively cheap day out.

Otherwise, always google for discounts. For example, the Yorkshire Wildlife Park currently has a sale on which gives discounted membership, or half price day entry until late March. In short, always be aware of offers and never turn up somewhere without looking online for these before.

On the matter of your Easter eggs OP, have you thought about reducing the number you buy? If you're buying so many, you have to spread the cost, or it's impacting money available for other things, surely you're buying too many? Who on earth are you buying them all for?