How to not spend a fortune over the holiday with kids

[sirachaoneverything]

I have to admit I am absolutely crap with money and budgeting - even more so when I am out with the kids. I find it hard to say no… I want them to be happy! And I suppose sometimes I want an easy life!

I have over a week off with the kids (age 10 and 12) and every time I do anything with them it costs a small fortune - and money is incredibly tight this month.

please can you give me some ideas of what to do over the holidays that costs next to nothing other than “go to the park and maybe don’t spend £9 on two ice creams”

thank you!

sorry but it is as simple as not going places that charge for activities/entry/food. If you go to Legoland you’re going to spend money. If you go to the park, you can manage not to.

Obvious tips are to always take packed lunches and water bottles.

But beyond that you just have to do free stuff or very low cost stuff like swimming (no cafe trip after). Camping can work out economically if you already have the gear. We just do stuff like.. Bike rides, chill days at home, park trips, swimming, walks, football etc.

Sorry I know you asked for ideas… Libraries and local museums also offer activities over the hols. Easter egg hunt in the garden? Yours are a bit older than mine but when I was this age I spent most of the school holidays playing out with friends. Let them have a day plugged into devices or a movie day, buy some cheap popcorn as a treat.

maybe also have a list of chores for them to do to earn £1 at a time for if they say they’re bored 😑 washing the car, hoovering the lounge, cooking dinner?

i always do packed lunch (put nice things in there obvs) so it’s still a treat

buy a box of ice pops in the shop while out if you want ice cream

heaps of parent vloggers out there sharing cool free things to do with kids (not sure where you live but kiddo adventures is one I follow / London based though and my kids are younger than yours)

this week we’ve been at the Tate modern for a free kids event

swimming

adventure playground

Easter egg trail tomorrow (yours probably too old for this

there was lush make your own bath bomb events on (not sure if they were free or not - we didn’t go this time )

I got cheap cinema tickets (fiver) so we going Friday and bring own snacks

Go out on bikes, doing a picnic, going to the beach, parks, free museums, walk in the woods.

Stay at home - Gardening (dig a hole / sprinkler / paddling pool), painting, experiments (look online for stuff you can use from your cupboards), bake, get them to design a menu and cook dinner, have a movie day in the house with popcorn

Bring food, snacks and water bottles everywhere!

Some things we do (appreciate not all of them will work these holidays) :

If you have sky cinema/Monzo plus you get free vue tickets which you can stack for a cheap cinema trip. You can always try and nab these off friends if they have them as often go unused.

Look for NT properties a bit further afield, lots are free except parking too which helps.

Appreciate its not exactly what you’re asking, but buy ice creams for your freezer and put them in a frozen, good quality flask if you have one. Then you can take them with you for a fraction of the cost of the ice cream van.

If you claim any UC/benefits, check out any local attractions that may offer discounted tickets. Near us the zoo/multiple museums/gardens offer £1 entry.

Look at any offers ahead of time to book in - in the sky app a few times a year I can book discounted legoland tickets that work out cheaper than full price/even half price. There are often full on freebies on there too.

Check out local social media sites for free activities over the holidays.

Film festival at home? We've done LOTR, assorted Marvel and Star Wars collections, anything they were into, really. Planning and making snacks, sometimes even posters, themed meals... It took some time to research and plan (which kept them busy for quite a while) and was free or at least very cheap. We invited friends over for a few of them.

We've also done Come Dine With Me competitions where each child planned a meal, laid the table, did the whole shebang (with adult help as required)

Also done I've Never Seen Star Wars challenge where we all came up with things we hadn't done (or couldn't do) and the others helped. Watching a parent trying to learn The Floss caused MUCH hilarity. Learning to French plait a sister's hair was also very funny.

Good luck, OP!

These are all great - thank you so much.

Rough idea of area where you live would help?

Yorkshire

Search on Facebook for free things to do in your area. Check regularly so you have future school holidays covered too.

I buy a box of ice creams at the supermarket to save money. One box will be less than £9 and you get an ice cream too. If you have a McDonalds drive thru then go for McFlurries.

You could always organise activities which make money!

Ask them to clear out their old clothes and toys with the bribe that they can sell them and keep the money. They get to do the whole project - listing on Vinted and then posting out and then collecting the money. This teaches them the value of money and project management skills!

Another good activity I found (my children are grown up now) was making pizzas from scratch. It might mean a bit of clearing up to do (which they can help you with) but at least you get a meal out of it at the end. If they enjoy that - then decorating or making cakes always goes down well.

Get them to make dinner

Invite a friend over each and let play/hang out.

I'm in Yorkshire too 😊 Obviously it's a big place so these might not be near you, but here are some of our favourite free/nearly free things over the years for when we want a cheap trip out...

Royal Armouries, Leeds
Leeds City Museum
Science and Media Museum, Bradford
National Railway Museum, York
The World Museum (Liverpool, but worth the drive!)
St Ives, Bingley (gorgeous country estate with huge adventure playground
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Conyngham Hall, Knaresborough (hidden gem with activities such as crazy golf, pitch and putt and tennis, all just for a voluntary donation of whatever you want, set in beautiful grounds)
Several of the parks near us have tennis courts for hire through the LTA website for £4 an hour
Squash at our local sports hall for £8 per hour

I hope some of those might help! 🤞

Taking picnics, making things at home, self catering.

Basically don’t take the card with you, a bit sad but eating out is so expensive these days. Budget for a few treats and stick to it.

When mine were young I never, ever bought food or drink out. I always had snacks and water in my bag (their bags as the got older). Somehow it was easier to manage if everyone just knew we wouldn't be buying ice cream, drinks, popcorn.

If you're near Bradford or going to the Science and Media Museum, Bolling Hall used to be nice, and Bowling Park is just over the road. All free, take a picnic.

https://bradfordmuseums.org/venue/bolling-hall-museum/

We've been doing playdates in the mornings at the park which has been great. We usually take the bike with us. The library also has activties for kids so we did that one day. Another day we went to the beach. Today going to the grandparents. Tomorrow playdate at our house as the weather isn't going to be great. So far, all free and happy DC. We'll also do our usual swimming class one day and always have a packed lunch, not really for cost but convenience and most places dont serve great food for kids anyway. Bath in the afternoon or most evenings. Play boardgames or books, but usually DC (3.5) is happy just playing with their toys. Crafts are good, if you don't mind the mess! Yesterday they made a picture with felts and glued feathers etc on paper. Google probably has lots of ideas.

We are national trust members (we pay annually but works out around 12 quid a month for a family membership by direct debit I think) and we have rinsed that this Easter hols. We've been to 4 different (new) places and some of them we've been multiple times. Going to a 5th & 6th before the end of the holidays too.

There’s the treasure hunts you can do .. I know there’s some in Yorkshire as I’ve done them. Great for your kids ages. They are called treasure trails if you google them

To help budget, before you go out ideally, write down how much you are / or would normally going to spend. Then you will see how much all the £5 add up and can confidently cross them all off / replace for ‘from home’ versions to half the cost of your day out.

manage kids expectations - ie we are doing x y z but no money for the arcade and we’ll have nuggets and chips when we get home.

Check out moneysavingexpert and sign up to the weekly email. They usually gather up offers and the school holidays usually have child friendly ones.

Meet up with friends in local parks for picnics and games
bike ride
frisbee and tennis in the park
swimming
vue cinema (take your own snacks and drinks)
check out groupon for cheap tickets to local places
bike rides
check out your councils things to do with kids
give them a reading challenge if they’re not big readers and visit the library

https://yorkshiretots.com/

Lots of free days out and ideas.

at that age Mine responded well to a budget - and each taking turns over how it was spent - so it’ daddy’s choice today - it gives a reason to the no - and for that you guys have to toughen up as it’s important that children learn about “no” and disappointment

edited as I didn’t clock the age of the kids at first

I give dd some cash at the start of the week that she can use to cover extras like ice cream and slushies and when it's run out it's gone.