Buying companion tickets when buying a gift - cost

[driftingintheair]

This is probably a bit of an odd one but here goes -

DH would like experience gifts and we budget around £60-80 for each other at Christmas. He has wanted to go to two different places - one a museum and the other a royal palace - for years but we’ve never got around to it.

Both cost £28 and £33 per ticket (kids about half price).

Is it a bit off to only buy him a ticket or should I buy tickets to cover all of us (we tend to visit these places together as a family, as we all have an interest in them)? It’s just that money is a bit tight at the moment and I’d rather stagger paying for my own ticket and that of DS when we actually go to these places in the next few months. For the £33 place it would cost £82 upfront now if I bought for all of us.

I’ve just started a new job so money won’t be an issue in a few months time. Or should I just bin the idea altogether? Obviously if I was buying afternoon tea vouchers you’d buy it for 2 people but for a museum etc is it a bit different?

Are you buying a ticket, or a voucher? If you're buying a voucher that goes towards the ticket price, I'd go for that alone. If I was actually buying the ticket, I'd probably go for two tickets.

I'm putting quite a bit of Christmas on credit card, as I am between jobs (new one starts Monday,) so it's putting off paying for it till I have funds coming in again.

This is your DH, not a friend who might want to go by himself or with someone else.

I'd just make him a home made IOU voucher!

Then when the time comes, you either pay for the whole family, or else you put however much you're contributing extra into your joint account.

And of course, you organise it and prioritise it as a family trip!

I'd make him a homemade voucher for a trip to either, and set the money aside for at least his ticket now from your Xmas budget. When you know when you are going then just book for everyone.

That way you also have a little Lee-way about when you go, and if for any reason you don't manage the trip this year you haven't lost any money.

Can’t just you and dh go, without the kids?

Definitely a home-made IOU with the names of the places the tickets will be for, eg, 'IOU a trip to the Natural History Museum. ' To make it more fun you could add an illustration (if you've got the artistic chops) or an appropriate sticker (if not.)

I guess it depends on your dh's preference, but personally I would always buy two tickets because it isn't fun to go places on your own.