To be upset that we can't afford to take the kids on holiday?

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We have no mobile contracts just payg, don't smoke don't drink much (have never been to the pub since we moved nearly a year ago), but we never seem to be able to afford to take our dcx2 to nice places for a treat - no beach, no playhouse, no weekend away, not even camping. I see pictures of my ds1 friends (and parents obviously!) on Facebook and see their happy little faces and wish I could give those kind of memories to my own children. I feel we are sheltering them too much, they need more life experiences and I worry it will hold them back as it has me (only been abroad one day in my life with school) and they deserve so much more. Am I being silly in feeling this way?

Charis1 and ArcheryAnnie you can even get the camping experience in your back garden if you have one! Borrow that tent, set it up. let the kids sleep out side even for a few hours, set up a fire/bbq/stove outside to cook on. Young children get all the experience of camping with the comfort of home. They will still love it. Still remember it and will probably demand you do it again! There is very little that beats lazying in a tent in your own back garden.

Other things you could try in your own garden. Outdoor cinema, you don't need a big projector or anything fancy. My box has sat outside with my old laptop in a box (sun shield) with popcorn and I just put up a couple of wind breaks. Its the experience not the place that's important.

These are perfectly doable for any family with a garden and doesn't rely on cost at all. Popcorn is pennies, a movie you already have and whatever else you have to hand.

It's either/or though isn't t? You can camp with your own duvets, plates and cutlery, saucepans and minimal 'special' equipment, but that will make it very difficult to travel light. If you are going to do it by bus you'd really need to buy sleeping bags and mats, a camping stove and kettle, some sort of ground sheet or picnic rug at a minimum.

Anyway I think it's all getting a bit theoretical. OP, with limited funds I would focus on days out. If kids are desperate to camp, "camp out" in the living room (or garden if you could borrow a little tent.), otherwise enjoy sleeping in your own beds. Even if funds did magically stretch to camping, you'd still have to fill the days.

Op - hope that you get back to this thread, with lots of good ideas (and some heated debate on)

I love the idea of a freecycle tent - free - to put up in the garden, and am at the kind mumsnetters who have offered their houses to you.

Hope that you are enjoying a fun day puddle jumping or somesuch today.

We have just returned from a three week trip that cost us about £200 in all,

Okay Charis, I'll bite, would you like to give us a breakdown of costs for 3 weeks of camping for £200 "all in"?

the big problem with camping is the cost of getting there and whether or not there is any public transport. It might be worth researching local campsites in your area. It is amazing that you can be just an hour down the road camping in a field with other campers and you could be anywhere. The important thing is to figure out the public transport.
also have a really good look around where you live, by DS was four before I discovered the local park had a river running through it that had several little mini 'beaches'. He loved playing in the water and drying off with a quick ham sandwich picnic.

I feel for you OP we are in a similar situation. My children have never been abroad and aren't likely too for years.

We have had some treats this holiday (Cinema, thank you Tesco, with smuggled sweets too), baking, water fights in the paddling pool in the rain park nearly every day, my kids have had a brilliant time.

Our city has a facebook group where people post offers and ideas for cheap things to do which is realty popular, and I know someone that has bought a family railcard which is saving them loads of money on train travel?

I have promised my kids a night camping too in the lounge they are really excited x

bettyberry we're on the 8th floor, not even a balcony. I don't know many people who even have a garden here.

In some places in the UK you're allowed to camp for free - eg Dartmoor.

honestly I camp a lot but I wouldn't do it without chairs and a table and beds and a stove and a tent big enough for 4 of us

Just goes to show different peoples idea of camping. We have a large 6 person tent with the tables, chairs, blow up beds etc that we use for 4 nights away in a campsite.

But we also camp in the Brecon Beacons when we want to rough it.

2 x 2 man tents (both free) so DH and I each sleep with one dc. We have a 2 burner camping stove which was £12 and 4 sleeping bags that were £30.

We take a blanket to sit on (from home) and a tarp for the ground (again free). We take our pans/plates/cutlery from home. Food is the same cost - we eat what we would have at home.

If you choose to spend a fortune you can, but you can also camp for next to nothing.

OP, I remember one of the first posts I saw on Mumsnet, a mother moaning that she'd taken her kids to Mauritius on holiday and her little girl went home and saw grandma: GM - did you enjoy your holiday DGD? DGD - yes, we went to the park and had ice cream. The poster was bemoaning the waste of money as her DD obviously didn't appreciate / wasn't old enough to appreciate going to such a country. The location didn't matter, she just remembered the park and the ice cream.

I get a similar feeling to you when I see kids on day trips in the summer. I work FT so only see DS for limited time, he'd like me to be off more but I can't. It can be grim seeing people having 3 or 4 weeks away in their caravans or endless day trips, but you can only do what you can do.

Look at unfollowing the worst offenders until school starts again, so you don't see their acitivties in school holidays. How old are your DC, just in case we can suggest home-based activities for them that other parents have tried for that age group.

but you can also camp for next to nothing

How much did your car cost, EmeraldKitten?

Peter that made me smile. We had an amazing, holiday of a lifetime (for me and dh at least ) to California when ds2 was 5. His favourite things were: playing with his cousins, the beach and Yoyo's frozen yogurt. All of which he does in the UK each summer (although the brand of frozen yogurt was different). At least San Diago zoo made it onto DS1's top 3.

EmeraldKitten there are very few places were wild camping is both allowed and accessible by public transport in England. Most land owners object to people turning up without permission, lighting fires and crapping on their property.

Gunpowder, that's not strictly true about being able to camp for free on Dartmoor - unless you are happy with just 1-2 nights in a small tent. You couldn't just pitch up a family tent in a beauty spot near a river for a week for example.

Rules here

It's an aside from the thread, sorry, but just in case anyone saw that and thought they could just pitch wherever they wanted.

I couldn't afford a holiday abroad this year but I was able to manage a few nights away in a youth hostel.

I saved £2 coins for a year and claimed back ppi & a tax rebate which paid for our mini break.

Could you do something like this op? Save up pound coins, switch & save on your grocery and utility suppliers and save the extra for next year.

I'm also using ideas from this website to entertain my dc cheaply.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/school-holiday-deals

Youth hostelling is really expensive these days. They seem to have stopped their special offers too. The cheap hotels are cheaper than the hostels, but expensive in the summer.
If you're renting it's difficult to house swap, which I'd do if we owned. I keep on hoping that our rich relatives will invite us to stay in their mansion house while they're away. It has happened twice, and was great, but we can't reciprocate as they wouldn't want to stay in our tiny rented flat! People who are well off don't seem to get that others can't afford to go away for a week, and you don't want to have to ram it down their throat.

Gunpowderplot that's why dogsitting has really worked well for us - my friends were desperate to have someone look after the pets! And it is a commitment - three dogwalks a day, including a morning one - but it meant we were actively doing them a favour as we lolled about in their lovely house in a picturesque spot while they were away!

Gunpowderplot Dartmoor is great for free camping BUT there are rules some a lot stricter than the usual campsites www.dartmoor.gov.uk/visiting/vi-planningyourvisit/camping

As for other activities you can do for free try this list

national trust did 30 days wild www.mywildlife.org.uk/30dayswild/ you will obviously have to arrange this yourself. But a list of a few things to do and a park you are away.

Litter pick! The local conservation group here arranges big litter picks in our woodlands. Try that with the kids they are kid friendly and provide all gear you need including pickers and gloves. Its not glamorous but its the feel good factor of caring for the environment. The group also runs bug hunts with an expert, guided walks, den building afternoons. All these are free!

Our museum runs free craft days during half terms, guided tours of the collections and story telling at xmas. Sign up to your local museum email list or follow the twitter account.

In fact I'd suggest getting a twitter account and follow as many of the local attractions/museums/librarys and galleries as you can to find free events. More often than not they retweet other local organisations increasing your pool of activities.

The library will also contain a ton of ideas for free days out. Their mailing lists/twitter feed will keep you up to date with all thats going on.

You local council events page. Keep an eye on that or again sign up to the mailing list. My council sends out a weekly email of everything that is going on in the area. I can pick and choose.

Don't dismiss things like carnivals, Pride events or any kind of 'festival' your area has. Usually there are many things to do.

Here we have pride, food, music, history and arts festivals through the year with free and paid for events along the way.

i'm also lucky here to have a playscheme thats free for kids. you just have to turn up!

Also have a look for a scrap store near you www.scrapstoresuk.org/ they too can run free workshops for kids and adults. Its also a great way of getting materials cheap or even hiring art kits for a day in doing something new. Much much cheaper than if you were to buy it all yourself.

I hired out a batik kit for a week and it cost me £15 plus the wax. Thats way below what it would cost to buy the items new.

Yes, we were invited to look after the 2 cats, but sadly these have passed away and not been replaced, and we have had no invitation since!

Wow! I never expected this thread to take off like this, I honestly expected a few "get over yourself", certainly not the generosity. Thank you so much Wootodoo but we have our mot due on Monday so no car for the next week probably xx Sorry for not replying sooner and thank you so much for your lovely offers, that's unbelievably generous to a complete stranger! I have been out today (dosed up on antibiotics and painkillers) to a local park with the dc, both enjoyed it as we took the bucket and spade :) . In answer to some of your questions I think money is only one reason we haven't arranged anything "big", the other being my dh suffers from depression, refuses to acknowledge it, and his favourite saying at the moment seems to be "what's the point?". Trying to get him motivated to make the effort to even go to a car boot sale to pick up camping stuff (which he expressed a brief interest in before dismissing until next year) takes more energy than I have at the moment. Eldest ds1 also gets carsick so day trips are limited to less than an hours journey and under £20 - we went to a zoo that you can walk round the outside and took a picnic but so far my lack of local knowledge is holding me back.
Again, apologies for late response xxx and thanks for the understanding I have been shown, I know there are people in worse situations, and yes I agree with not looking at Facebook but it is sometimes the only way I can stay in contact with relatives. (None that we could stay with unfortunately!).

Have you heard of the Family Holiday Association? It is a UK charity that owns many caravans across the UK and families can stay in them for free. They help out with expenses too.

It is the charity that I support (financially) above all others. I treasure our holidays and really want others to be able to have holidays too.

I don't know how you qualify sorry, but look at their website and it will tell you.

Real family holidays charge £20 pp per night. Have a look on the link below:
www.real-family-holidays.org