That school holidays are not that expensive...

[Soggyflatjack]

We had some family over the other day who said the school holidays end up so expensive because of all the trips the children want to go on and to keep the kids entertained.

I disagreed.

I have two school aged children 5&7.

Yes, I'm paying more because they are home for an extra (morning) snack and lunch.

Petrol is just a little added cost as I drive DC to two different schools anyway which are quite far apart. I pay extra for car parking costs or sometimes we get the train somewhere

I'm lucky that we have a garden so I can throw DC outside to play.

We play games, make a creative mess which gets on my fucking nerves, go to parks, have picnics, go to friends houses and they come over to us. I also take the DC to toy shops so they can play.

I don't have any membership for anywhere like the merlin pass

I'm not including childcare costs.

I'm not including any booked summer holidays.

AIBU to think that you don't need to spend much on outings or am I missing something completely...? What are you doing which costs so much?

Can I be cheeky and ask how much you spend over the 6 weeks...? Do you budget for the holidays?

If you have a hobby craft near you they also have craft activities in for the kids over the holidays and some garden centres.

Teenage years - I also used to stay in and read books, go into town with friends, go to friends houses, watch tv, play on the sega master system! I didn't go to a theme park until I was at college.

Maybe I will know the point I'm missing once my DC get to teenagers...

There's no 'maybe' - and they don't even have to get to the teenage stage. If you're happy for your pre- teen to stay in and play on the computer, fair enough, you may have access to regular bus service, and your DC may be happy to read for hours on end - but many don't and that's when it becomes expensive. Add adult fares or entry fees to the mix and you will look back and laugh at this thread.

DP and I work full time so we have paid:

Week 1 £80 + £40 for DS1 / £200 for DS2 = £320
Week 2 £80 for DS1 / £10 for DS2 = £90
Week 3 £100 for DS1 / £10 for DS2 = £100
Week 4 £122 for DS1 / £200 for DS2 = £322
Week 5 - Holiday
Week 6 - DP annual leave

So = £832 for summer clubs, plus two holidays which came to about £5000

So I do think it is expensive!

How do you propose your teenagers get into town in the first place, OP? Unless you live within walking distance or are happy to ferry them around, bus/train fares will add up, even if it's only once/twice a week.

Feeding them is expensive. Teenagers easily eat twice as much as most adults - funding that for six weeks is bloody expensive!

ah ok - I see what you mean now about playing with toys in toy shops. mine aren't teenagers yet but luckily quite a lot of them near us tend to be happy going to the beach with friends, we are extremely lucky this is possible as I hope I can get mine to do the same when they are older.

I am about to teach mine how to sew. I am not looking forward to it as I would much prefer to be doing something else (anything else, washing, ironing, cleaning the bathroom....)but they are REALLY excited and have been bugging me for weeks now so I am running out of excuses.

You can choose to have thrifty holidays if you want or need to. I really treasure fun days out with my family - most times I'll make a picnic to take with us. Childhood is over so quickly that it is good to fill the holidays with fun and interesting things.

Yeah, but at school they're out of the house between 8-3 ish. During the holidays, they're home for more waking hours. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that it will cost more!

I get the travel costs can add up.

We all have to feed our DC which I know is expensive.

I'm not talking about childcare costs if you have to work and I'm not talking about holidays as in my experience a holiday is more expensive than childcare.

I'm talking about pure entertainment here. Holiday clubs which you choose to send your child to but not because you are working.

I now get that teenagers need more entertaining and I'm not looking forward to them eating more than they already do!

Yesterday I made my teens clean the loos and cook lunch

Wins thread 😎

I've two teens and I dread to think what we've spent!

Meeting mates, a music festival ( so ticket, train fare, spending money and new tent), visit to grandma ( train fare plus spending money), a surfing course.

Plus good. My two seem to eat incessantly during the vacation!!!

I would disagree. A packed lunch or school dinners are much cheaper than spending money on teens who wake at 11am and graze constantly until they go to bed at 3 in the morning!

True hermione.

I give my DC £5 per day during term time to spend on lunch/snacks/drinks.

Today they've eaten none stop!

Teenagers generally need a lot of calories though. I know I lived off toast and biscuits between meals as a teen and was always starving even though I never got above a size 10.

Read the threads on here about how much it costs to feed a family - everyone with teens says their teenagers eat them out of house and home and often eat more than the parents!

During the holidays they seem to eat and sleep much more than during term time, as if they're making up for lost ground.

I think it depends on what your idea of expensive is and where you live and what is available to you as well as how many children you have and their ages.

We live on the south coast, very near the beach so we get lots of good days out for nothing more than the cost of a packed lunch. We have been camping for a week (locally so no actual petrol costs) which cost us about £350 plus spending money.

My oldest is 18 and I have a 10 year old. We really do seem to have lived at the beach all summer though and it's been lovely. We've not done any theme parks (although going to Legoland next month for dd's birthday) and the most expensive trip was an evening boat trip with food included to watch the fireworks.

Where we lived before was inner city, no garden, crap weather and everything cost money. I do appreciate that not everyone has decent weather or local amenities which are cheap or free.

I think you are probably just a better parent than your friend
indeed!

your kids are little yet, good luck.

God yes, mine - especially the older one - are either sleeping or eating or doing something that costs a small but significant amount of money. DD1 is currently out eating pizza with her BFF....

There is a limit to just how frugal one can be with the poor buggers if sooner or later they are going to be staaaaaaarving.

Yabu a. To expect your friends life to mirror yours financially and b. To include going to some poor bastard toy store and letting your kids bugger about with their stock with no intention of buying anything

A ) your kids are 5 & 7

B ) You have a garden and a car.

I have one teen at home, no car or garden and have spent £400 more than I usually would this month. Works out at just over £13 each day. Dribs and drabs but it soon adds up.

I have four DC and the holidays are definitely a lot more expensive due to the older two being 9 and 11. A day at the park just doesn't cut it for them anymore. I have taken them swimming and to the cinema but they want the company of other children not just me so they have done some holiday clubs.