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It’s no secret that I like an outing. My favourite kind of outing involves a little drive, something nice to look at, and a delicious brunch, ideally followed by a small lie down with an Agatha Christie when I get home. What can I say? I’m a simple soul, easy to please.
What I don’t like however is how stupidly expensive everything has got lately. I get it, cost of living crisis and all that, but can a girl not get an eggs florentine for single figures anymore? When you add in children, (mine are 20 and 27 now but I still seem to be the one paying for brunch), even just going out for a coffee and a toasted sandwich feels ridiculously pricey. There must be some ways to save money on family days out, surely?
There are!
There are loads actually, but I’m just going to suggest a few to get you started and then I’ll let you use your initiative on the rest. With the Easter holidays coming up, I’ve picked things that I think suit the spring weather – hopefully you’ll find this useful but feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments.
Look for crossovers
I recently joined the RHS, (I know! And I’m not even retired!), and one of the things I liked was that as well as giving me entry to the RHS gardens, there are loads of partner gardens that offer free entry to RHS members on certain days of the week or times of the year. It’s the same with my Hestercombe Gardens membership – I can use that to get in half price at lots of other local gardens, saving a decent amount of money in the process.
If you’re a member of anything like this it’s worth looking at whether they have any partner offers you can take advantage of. If you don’t have any memberships, are there any worth doing? If you’ve got a few days out planned over Easter and the summer holidays it could be worth investing now in an annual family ticket.
Mako enjoying a day out at Hestercombe
Sign up to tastecard
I once had a boyfriend who wouldn’t so much as order a pizza without spending at least half an hour scouring multiple discount sites for the best deals. Is 25% off orders over £30 better than buy one pizza get a chicken side free? Who knows and honestly, after half an hour, I didn’t care much either.
I admired his philosophy though – why pay full price for something when you don’t have to – I just didn’t enjoy the hassle. If this sounds like you then a service like tastecard could be right up your street. tastecard offers discounts on all sorts of things, from cinema tickets to days out, plus lots of dining discounts at places like Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge and Ask Italian. They also do 50% off pizza delivery from the UK’s biggest names in pizza, so no more wasting precious pizza eating time comparing discount codes.
tastecard is a subscription service but they offer a decent free trial period so you can see if it works for you. The average customer in 2022 saved £23 per meal out, so it feels like it would be money well spent.
Team up with another family
One thing that really used to bug me when my kids were small was that all of the family tickets to attractions were based on two parent families. This meant that the cost of being a single parent was actually much higher, as you end up paying for everyone AND not benefiting from potential savings.
To get the system working for you, how about teaming up with another single parent for days out where you know they do good deals on tickets for two adults plus kids? Not only do you save some money, but you’ll have some adult company and someone to watch the kids while you go to the toilet. (Anyone else find this unreasonably stressful on solo parent outings??) Add in potential tastecard discounts on attractions and you could be quids in.
Take a packed lunch
Okay, so I say this reluctantly because eating out is one of my favourite things to do, but when you have young children especially it just makes sense. Everything is so expensive now that even buying bottles of water and snacks can cost a fortune, so why waste money on kids who probably won’t even appreciate it?
If you’re going for a day out where the food is not the focus, just fill up a few flasks, make a couple of rounds of sandwiches and fill a bag with crisps and apples. Not only will you save money but you’ll also get that wonderful smug feeling that comes with being THAT parent. Of course if you’re going out specifically to eat then that’s different, just whip out your tastecard and save money that way instead.
Cash in your loyalty points
If you’re anything like me you must be signed up to at least one supermarket points scheme, but how often do you actually look at the offers available and cash in your points? Have a browse through the deals and you may find that you’ve got enough points saved for a discounted family trip somewhere fun.
Alternatively, why not spend a couple of weeks using up things like your Boots points and putting the money you save towards your next outing instead?
I hope that this has given you a few ideas to get you started, but I’d love to hear any more tips you have for saving money on family days out – just leave a comment below!