To already be dreading the summer hols because of money

[Blueskiesandcherrypies]

I love having my children home for the holidays but honestly feel I could cry today. I have 3 dc (9, 7, 18m) and one due in May. I know it was mine and dh choice to gave 4 dc and, for the moment, be a one income family and most of the time it's fine. We eat well, I don't think the kids feel they go without, we have one nice uk holiday a year. However, we have very little disposable income and it's in the holidays that I feel this most. With two weeks still left to go of the Easter hols I'm trying so hard to think of fun things we can do for little cost, or for free, and I have visions of DCs friends living it up at legoland, paultons etc. Whether they are or not I don't know. Ds has told me of THREE of his friends that are spending the Easter hols in Disney, Florida - how on earth do people afford these things!

There are only so many picnics and local park trips we can do! We're planning on a trip to Brighton tomorrow for chips on the beach and arcades - that's the highlight of our Easter hols and I'm already worrying about how much it'll cost in petrol to get there (it's one and a half hours away).

Doesn't bode well for the summer holidays does it!

Sorry just needed to vent in the hope someone can inspire me :)

You could try geocaching. It's free ( if you have a smart phone) gets kids out of house exploring the outdoors. It's like a treasure hunt.

Before the holidays I spent a little while trawling through all of the local places looking for free things to do. Check all local places, castles, parks etc.

yesterday there was crafts at the nearby windfarm, today geocaching and tomorrow the local authority is puting on an activity in the local park. It's all about getting muddy, building forts and nature crafts.

Not sure I can inspire you but I can certainly sympathise. I have only one child and am very lucky that her grandparents have taken her on holiday for a good chunk of the Easter holidays. But for the last week of the holiday I know it's going to cost and I've been saving up for it.

And the summer holiday is the same. Grandparents are bearing the brunt of cost (UK), but I can't let them pay for everything.

My friend and I used our tesco vouchers yesterday to have a day out with 5 kids. It would have cost us £73.40 for the main thing we went to, and £78.60 for lunch but tesco vouchers covered the cost.

I also use the local boards on mumsnet and another forum for freebies too.

I don't know if you eat cereal but Kelloggs boxes are doing Grown ups go free vouchers into loads of places.

I've been saving them up for a while to use during the holidays, it would mean you probably would only have to pay for 7 & 9 yo as most places under 3 are free.

grownupsgofree.kelloggs.co.uk/index.html

There are plenty of fun things to do at home, check out pinterest for some ideas.

I'm pretty sure that all families don't go loads of places all the time I think we just think they are.

All the best for DC4

Kings Camp offer free places to families needing some respite - you may as well apply and see what happens!
There's a link on the website - www.kingscamps.org

I got a really good book from the Works with ideas for days out in the UK, it lists lots of museums and places to go, many of which are free. I have a rail card which gives 30% off adult fares and 60% off children's fares (though there's only 2 of us, you can have up to 5 using the card at a time). The plan for our summer is lots of walks with picnics and day/weekend trips (Travelodge) and museums. As my DS is now 6, I'm going to make him start a log of the places that we've been to which will go into an A4 file so that we can add to when we visit again as he gets older.

I'm also looking at getting membership for English Heritage which will give free access to all of their houses/sites in England for £50 (ish) for the year. Children go free.

HTH :)

Arrange some playdates with DC's friends. If their friends are there, just going to the park or doing crafts and so on at home becomes a lot more fun. And hopefully they will be invited back. Arrange a couple of sleepovers for the older 2.
Check out local music festivals - some of these are free or have free events.

If you have a Natwest gold account you can get free family entry to National Trust properties twice in a 12 month period.

I only found this out recently. It means we can take the kids to a castle when we're on holiday in Somerset next month.

I was also going to suggest Geocaching. I introduced it to my neighbour's kids last summer (8 & 10) and they adored it. All they wanted to do was go on long walks to find more treasure.

Keep an eye on the groupon and voucher sites just now. Quite often they vouchers don't expire for months and it's a very cheap way to get everyone into a local adventure/animal parks.

If you are really worried now then there is time to start squirrelling away a few quid a week, it will soon add up by the time August comes around.

Are you on Pinterest, OP? Lots of fab, free ideas. Try searching for outdoor learning.

One of our local Councils does Forest School in the holidays, free, in a local country park. Two differetn groups: an 8+ where they stay on their own and the under 8s, when you stay with them. I am certain some free sports classes are advertised, as well.

Also, think about lashing out on Family railcard, we have one and save LOADS by trolling around the country by rail, no petrol, no parking fees, great fun

Keep a look out for Gardeners World Magazine - every year around this time they do a little card that gives you 2 for 1 for loads of gardens - including eden project, stately homes, lots of good places for kids, and you can use it as much as you want through the year.

Also he says he has 3 mates going to disney - out of a class of 30 i assume, that's 27 who aren't! They only notice the ones that are, not the ones who are same as them.

Yeah, my DS wants to go to Disney - not the Paris one, the Florida one.

I've told him we'll go when he's 14.

Some parents that we know have been, and another family took an African Safari trip - but it's only holiday for around 3 years to save up enough.

I stopped worrying about other families going on exotic holidays ages ago - I go away more than they do on our cheap breaks than they do anyway.

However, if I hear one more family saying they're going to Centre Parcs I'm going to scream!!

It IS hard, but you just have to have a positive attitude and try not to compare yourself to people going to Disney. I know thats not what youwant to hear, but you know its true .

I took the kids to the cinema yesterday, DH is taking them bowling today. I got a groupon deal for a bank holiday funfair nearby. Thats the limit to expensive outings for us this Easter. I just cannot afford it.

What I have found helpful is making a holiday planner and getting the kids to help me write in one or two fun things to do each day that they can look forward to. That makes me sound like a Kirsty Allsop, craft-and-bunting type mum (NOT at ALL), but its having things to look forward to, spending time together and not having the dull school routine that makes holidays fun, not how much cash you chuck at it. Even really basic stuff like 'trip to the library' or 'make pizza' or 'go to the garden centre and help mum plant herbs in the garden' are fun if they decide on it themselves and look forward to the day they'll be doing it. All this endless expensive entertainment is a mug's game anyway

The main thing is not to compare yourself with others who seem to be doing more. Enjoy what you do with your own family, regardless of anyone else. There are some lovely ideas suggested here which I'm sure you'll appreciate and try out.

Have a lovely holiday and remember these times are precious. My DS is off out with his mates into town and DD is fast asleep in bed after a late night. :)

All day bike rides with a break for a picnic
Another break for an ice cream

The uk is full of, canals, rivers, woods, beaches and parks.
Find everything in a 10 mile radius and start planning.
Get together with other mums for big picnics.
Check out you local museum.
Ring your local council, ours have a claiming wall outside the swimming baths once a week in the school holidays, and it's free.
Get books like, things to do with sticks.
Hope education sell 12kg of clay for £7, one of those has kept us going for 2 years.
Plaster cast your own fossils.
If you shop at telco or sansburys save all your points for days out.
It's all very doable.
Good luck.

Thanks all, really useful tips here.

I should have mentioned, I'm often without a car too as DH usually has it for work!

You are so right about not comparing my own family activities to that of others. I bloody love my family - having 4 kids comes at a price (literally!) of having to be a one income family for the foreseeable, but I need to suck it up, as they say, and get on with it.

I'm going to :

Change my attitude - focus on what we ARE doing (Brighton, moors valley, picnics, being together!) and not on what we're NOT doing

Get the kids to help me plan lots of free/cheap activities and stick plan on fridge. Some of these can even be DVD days!

Start putting some money away each month for summer hols. Will only be a little bit as 'my' money is just the child benefit each month.

Geocach! Forgot I even have the app!

Thanks all :)

Where do you live? What have you got nearby? Do you have bikes, etc?

I have 12 and nearly 9 year olds but I'm lucky, I live in a holiday area near the beach so free days out are easy, even if it's not hot and sunny

Fossil hunting, we take a disposable BBQ and some sausages down to the beach.

Bike rides with a picnic

We have a couple of nature reserves - my 2 love taking my camera and farting around taking pics of 'nature' (dodgy close up shots of blurry dandelions)

Skimming stones

Crabbing

Geocaching

They like big old long dog walks dressed up as 'exploring'

Do you have many local attraction near by? A lot of ours give free annual passes to locals if you go as a paying customer once

Rail card - you can get one for £27 instead of £30 with the code family10 before the end of April - we've done Natural History museum/mooch along the Thames/Buckingham Palace/bits of the British Museum for free, just the train fare

Making then flying kites

Coupled with days at home baking/DVD days/making camps/we did some papier mâché model building/videoing each other playing Minecraft

not going to Disney will not actually damage anyone...

the geocache app will lead you to loads of good things in your area. These islands are STUFFED with things to do and see for anyone with functioning feet.

loads of good fun on here. Enjoy.

This thread has some good ideas for things to do at home.

I forgot about the Cinema, our local one does holiday specials for £1 - early showings and old films, but we've spent a few rainy mornings in there and sneaked in our own bags of sweets

They also love camping out in the garden - our crappy 2 man tent was about a tenner in Tesco

A couple of hours rooting through their baby stuff in the loft

An afternoon free reign to hide anywhere to play hide and seek or shooting 7 bells out of each other with Nerf guns, water fights with the neighbours kids

To be honest, we've had days where we've gone to Thorpe Park or something, spent a fortune even with vouchers and and I'd love to be able to do it more often, but we can't and they love the free/cheap stuff. The best days out always seem to be the last minute freebie stuff. I mean, they've had fun at Thorpe Park and enjoyed it, but they're also happy enough slinging wotsit sarnies in a bag and going 'exploring'

About the railcard (£27) is that for one person? Where can you go on it? We live about a five min walk from a train station (west berks) but haven't used it much!