With the Easter break just around the corner, families across the country will be trying to think of ways to keep the kiddies entertained – and if you’re anything like me, you’ll be keen to find some ideas that won’t break the bank!
As easy as it would be to suggest ways to entertain the kids for free at home, it can’t be denied that a lot of parents feel a certain pressure to have a family day out or two during the school holidays – but there are ways to do that while still keeping an eye on the pennies.
Here are my top 5 tips for saving money on your family days out this Easter.
1) Make Use Of Cashback Sites & Offers
Cashback sites are often an overlooked way of saving money on family holidays and days out, but they can often help you to make these big spend experiences much more affordable in the long run. Before planning any days out for the holidays, be sure to spend some time looking at what offers are available through cashback websites and make your choices based around these. It’s also worth looking at any vouchers you’ve accumulated through shopping schemes such as Tesco Clubcard as often they will run offers for various attractions and activities too.
2) Sign up for tastecard
If you’re looking to save money on family experiences more regularly, it’s worth signing up for tastecard – they offer incredible dining, attraction and cinema discounts which can help you to make your money go further. The tastecard app is so easy to use, just pop in the area you’re looking at and what kind of discount you’re looking for – bristol restaurant deals for example – and the app will
bring up a list of possibilities for you, with most areas offering a range of well-loved family favourites such as Prezzo and Zizzi to independent local eateries. Our local restaurants usually offer 2 for 1 deals through tastecard, with my favorite independent Italian offering 25% off the bill – an offer I’ll certainly be making use of!
If meals out aren’t your thing, remember you can also make use of tastecard discounts at cinemas such as Vue, Odeon and Cineworld as well as at Kaspa’s ice cream parlours and many other places.
3) Organise A Group Trip
One of my favorite ways to make a saving on local days out is to organize a group trip with other local families or friends & their children, as this often allows you to make use of the group discounts that many tourist attractions offer. Our local zoos, model village and caves all offer an attractive group discount rate which enables us to make significant savings on the usual high admission costs we’re faced with as a family of 5. It could even be worth starting a group for local families who would like to take it in turns to organize group trips, whether local or further afield.
4) Take A Packed Lunch
A tried and tested parents favourite, but not one to be overlooked – without a doubt our biggest expense on any family day out is always the food and drink! My kids seem to be completely incapable of passing by a snack stand without suddenly being desperately in need of refreshments! As most attractions charge a small fortune for food and drink, you can make huge savings by planning ahead and taking supplies along with you. Whether you take food to enjoy at your destination if allowed, or simply make time to stop for a picnic lunch on the way – the key is to bring a variety of snacks that will fill little tummies up as much as possible so that they’re not always nagging for popcorn and slushies! The little pocket-sized squashes are really handy to take along too if there are water fountains available to fill up water bottles….we saved a fortune on our recent Disney World trip by doing this!
It’s also worth taking notice of refill options if you do end up agreeing to buy snacks – many places will offer refillable slushies or popcorn buckets which can be more cost effective.
5) Don’t Rule Out Free Activities
As appealing as zoos and theme parks can be to children, it’s always worth considering some free or low cost options during school holidays as well – as many places will offer special entertainment to attract families and keep children happy. Our local museums are free to visit, and always have an interesting selection of childrens activities and workshops on offer during the school holidays – usually free of charge. Local libraries and childrens centres also often offer free activities which are worth looking in to.
I hope these tips are useful for the upcoming Easter break, whatever you end up doing – remember that you don’t need to spend a fortune to make memories. A simple walk in the woods, day at the beach or picnic in the local park can be a perfect opportunity to make memories too.
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