School holidays are so expensive

[singingismypassion]

I feel I have literally shredded money so far these holidays. Children seem to have had a nice time but we haven't even done that much...
Sports camp for 3 days for one child
Riding for 4 days for one child
Two day trips to NT houses

Oh and just to add i have older children too (ones 15 and ones 10). The eldest has just gone out with various mates or just hidden away watching Netflix. Cost me £0 (she has a bus pass for school that can be used in holidays. She gets £10 a week allowance and I think shes been making the most of the McDonalds monopoly stickers getting various free food!). The 10yr old is happy on the playstation but will happily come to the woods and park if he gets to play pokemon go on my phone.

Not spent a penny so far unless you count calpol 🤷‍♀️

Both of my dc have had this awful virus, sick, fever, headache and coldy thing so apart from some time in the garden we haven’t been anywhere.

I’m hoping to have a couple of days out next week.

our holidays are only expensive because teacher DH spends like a fool on Amazon and eBay. All stuff we need but during term time he doesn't have time. ie paint, umbrella for garden, football boots, god knows what else

Not a bean on the DC btw who spend their time in their PJ's playing god knows what and prevaricating about brushing their teeth etc

I agree it can be expensive. But we seem to have found a good balance this holiday.

We have done/plan to do-
Beach for fish and chips/ice cream
Park
Library
Local museum
Cafe with soft play - buying a couple of drinks is way cheaper than actual soft play prices!
Local farm
Adventure playground - council run and free
Free event at local shopping centre with treasure hunt
Meet up with friends
Arts and crafts at home
Walks with scooters
Check out the local charity shops for dvds and have a film day with popcorn etc

Some stuff costs more, some less, some free.

6 pages in and no reply from OP - is this just another cheap bit of lazy journalism ?

Yes the activities were due to child care. Yes I do have NT membership.

It's fuel costs, packed lunches, the odd ice cream treat... everything adds up.

We have no family locally and live rurally so rely on car to get anywhere.

Long country walks are a daily norm for us and something we have done everyday.

I'm just saying that life is expensive I guess!

Children are 12 and 13 so lots of the free activities are a little too young for them (not all I admit).

DS(14) still enjoys geocaching, but he tends to combine it with wild camping on the moors now

What about free stuff (or vaguely cheap) for teens. Join YFC, guides, volunteer at the church kids group

^

Yeah, get Julian, Dick, George and Anne to meet you there. If you're lucky Timmy might come along too

It is well documented that the use of food banks increases during school holidays. So, yes, school holidays are expensive - and it’s not only because of expensive day trips.

The extra food costs money. The extra electricity/ water/ gas costs money. Last time I looked, crafts resources and baking ingredients weren’t free.

All the people on this thread with National Trust memberships, networks of family and friends, kids with a bedroom each so they can play independently, gardens, kitchens big enough to bake in, horses (!!!) to entertain thier kids with might want to stop being smug about how “cheap” their holidays are and check their privilege.

you sound very defensive. I don't know what GOALS is but if your DS enjoyed it what else matters

Not defensive- just entertained

Goals is a 5 a side football venue, catnip to teenage boys

Ours has the added bonus of being next door to mcdonalds. He’s also been playing monopoly all week

This is why I am against spreading out the school hols: we don't need more time off when it is colder

Speak for yourself. I do need time off just now and you would be prising next week's leave out of my cold, dead hands, regardless of the weather.

Yeah, get Julian, Dick, George and Anne to meet you there. If you're lucky Timmy might come along too

If the op is rural then yfc, guides and church are 3 organisations that would occupy a teen for fairly cheap in my local village. Worth looking into as an option rather than just slating it.

DD is 14, I’ve given her a £5 a day (week days) spending money for the holidays. So far she’s been to the cinema and a noodle bar. She has about £30 left I think for next week but she’s helping out at our church run Easter holiday club from 10-3 Monday to Thursday so will probably not spend much.
Back in the day we just played out in the holidays with a tupperware beaker of squash and a jam piece for lunch 🤣🤣🤣 if we went somewhere.

I agree - just having them home means petrol, extra food for lunches etc. Picnic food if you take a picnic out to the park. 2 weeks is a long time just to do parks (and it's quite cold!) and we don't have so many friends that they can have endless play dates for free! It adds up even if you don't do expensive activities. In my city children swim for free in the pools within the city so that's quite cheap, but I hear you op.

I just spend the day out at parks or whatever with them. You're not obliged to spend money on them. Unless of course you have to arrange childcare.

My 10 year old dd is happiest chilling at home doing nowt. Bargain...except its boring and i want to go on days out etc!

It depends on what you do but I think it is harder when children are older.

My son is only 5 and so far we haven't really spent much this week. He has done a 5 day intensive swim course (so a 30 min lesson each day) - he absolutely loves swimming and he has really progressed this week so it was £25 well spent. It also meant that with getting there, getting changed and lesson it took up most of the afternoon!

Monday we saw my mum in the morning and she came to watch swimming so no extra cost.

Tue we had an appointment in the morning and then played outside at home before swimming so no cost.

I had to pop into town on Wed morning so we did that and DS had a couple of turns on rides so a couple of quid there. Plus, I took him for lunch before swimming.

Thur/Fri we played at home and DS 'helped' me tidy and we went to swimming in the afternoon.

I am lucky that his usual weekend activities of drama and swimming still run in the hols and we see my Nan and Aunt on Saturdays which he loves.

Not sure next week - will go to the library/park/go swimming ourselves for fun /planning a day trip with DH/baking at home.

So a mixture of things that cost and free things. As I say though, older kids are harder to entertain imo.

Day one here. They are being dragged into town to do some food shopping. Iv got nothing planned yet which I feel awful about. Dp is working all holidays and I don’t drive 😩

Weve just broken the dd is 4.

This week we have plans of pj day as shes shattered, free art activities at local libraby then a play on the little park after, friend is sleeping over, then an easter egg hunt at ny place so nothing too extravagant here, might go tobogganing at local ski center with friend who stays over equally might open the back doors and let them roam feral in the garden

flowerycurtain exactly.

When you live rurally things like the cinema, swimming pools, bowling, McDonalds, museums etc are not always easily accessible. If you drive it’s not too bad but then you have to add in petrol costs and parking. If you don’t drive public transport is usually sporadic if non existent. So you have to make your own entertainment.

If you live near somewhere like the moors then that can become your playground from an early age and it is a cheap activity. Children swim in the natural pools rather than at a heated indoor swimming pool or going to the beach. You can fly kites there, mountain biking and obviously walking. Local youth hostels offer, reasonably cheaply, activities like gorge scrambling, rock climbing, abseiling. It’s just a different way of life.

DS does Scouts/DofE so yomping across the moors is second nature to him. As is camping on there.

He and DH sometimes go off and do wild camping, which once you have made the initial outlay on the equipment, is a relatively cheap activity. I don’t join them as I draw the line of going anywhere where going to the toilet involves a trowel

I agree it gets more difficult as they get older. It also is more expensive the more DC you have- trampolining for 1 DC costing £10 is not too bad, but £30 for 3 hits the pocket a lot more! I have 3 DC & they are now at ages where they are not necessarily interested in the same things, so it can be challenging.

We are on holiday all Easter break, so not counting this in normal spends, but my usual ways to save money are:

• Get free adult admission to most places as a carer for DS2 (there's got to be some perks to having a DS with SEN)

• Use free swimming sessions that come with their lessons

• lots of free parks (or just pay parking) & take picnic

• lots of playdates

“Speak for yourself. I do need time off just now and you would be prising next week's leave out of my cold, dead hands, regardless of the weather.”

I didn’t say do away with the current cold season holidays. Just the proposals that people make from time to time to move half the summer holiday to colder parts of the year.

Alright for this who go ski-ing...

OP Yanbu. It is expensive and having now RTFT I find all the competitive 'My dc can occupy themselves with a cotton bud and a piece of string for 13 hours' rather hilarious. Having kids is expensive full stop. Holidays are another type of expense both in time and monetary terms.

Joining in the frugality here, so apart from the yearly pass thing inc have now gone off with their dad on their little sailing dinghy they have been doing up...costs nothing (but he's taken time off so missing money that way I guess) Anyway we made banana cake together from old bananas and a rocky road to take with them so all in all a cheap few days here bolstered by the good weather. They might be doing a sleep over on the boat with sleeping bags and then off to the local car boot sale tomorrow to spend some pocket money.

Next week i plan to use the pass again and possibly use our family rail card to go on a trip- saves so much on the fares and love train travel...possibly to a swimming pool for the day..and have a clear out day at home. we might also go to our favourite wood fired pizza place which does half price pizzas in weekdays lunchtimes- £5 I think. I'll also try and encourage them to go out themselves for a bit in town or to the park now they are a bit older. and maybe walk family's dog.

I have a 6 and 15 twins DC we sit down at the beginning of the hols and discuss how much money we have and what they would like to do, they can either do a few free things and one big day out or lots of little things.......they tend to pick around the weather. So far we have done lots of walks, made cakes, watched a film at home but bought snacks they don't normally have, revision day.....and then they picked McDonalds for lunch on Friday!!
Next week they are saving the money for bank holiday so we can go on days out......
We have dogs too so walking is always a winner, we don't have any nice parks but we've had lots of friends visit with their DC so it's been very relaxing......its not always about doing stuff but to chill out and let them unwind and recharge!
I love having them home x