It’s no secret that we love having an adventure, days out as a family is extremely important to us. Our budget is also really important to us too and that’s why we love to find ways to save money on our family days out. The way I look at it is that the more money we can save the more adventures we can go on. I’m always looking for new ways to save money so I thought I would share some of them with you.
How To Save Money On Family Days Out
Take A Picnic
Taking your own food is the easiest way you can immediately save money on days out. Food can be incredibly expensive when you are visiting an event or attraction, costs can soon mount up if you have ravenous children like mine. To resist the temptation of all those cafes and fast food I pack a delicious variety of picnic food. We love including things like pork pies, sausage rolls, hard-boiled eggs, vegetable sticks, and hummus. I also make sure that we take plenty of drinks with us by using refillable water bottles.
I’m always tempted by the smell of coffee on days out so to prevent me from wasting money I always take myself a thermos flask or cup. Not only does this save me money but it helps the environment too. We try to pack all of our picnic food in eco-friendly reusable tubs and wraps.
Look For Deals & Discounts
Looking for deals and discounts before you plan your family days out can save you a fortune. We never pay the full entry price if we can avoid it, making full use of discount codes, special offers, and membership perks. Here are some of the ways we have personally saved money:
- Took advantage of attraction discounts by booking online before our visit
- Visited the special kids club screenings at the cinema
- Clipped coupons from products for ‘free kids entry’ or ‘buy one get one free’ tickets
- Signed up for free memberships to get member discounts at our local soft play centre
- Used Top Cashback and Quidco to get money back on ticket purchases
- Bought discounted family experiences through Buyagift and Red Letter Days.
- Visited during off-peak seasons, sometimes saving as much as 50% off ticket prices
Save Money With Kids Pass
Another great way to get deals and discounts on days out is with a Kids Pass membership. With over 4,000 family-friendly offers, you can save up to 40% off at cinemas nationwide and take advantage of thousands of kids eat free offers.
Days Out For Free
There are so many fantastic places you can visit as a family for free, museums, libraries and parks are the obvious choices. You could also sign up for local attractions and events via email newsletters or follow them on social media to find out about any free events taking place.
One way that my family enjoys free days out is by winning tickets. I enter competitions as a hobby and often search for local prizes like tickets to shows, events, and attractions. For a great guide to getting started with entering competitions as a hobby have a look at the Super Lucky blog.
Parking
Parking can be incredibly expensive on a day out, one way to combat this cost is to research cheaper alternatives before you set off. You can often find free or cheap parking in the surrounding areas, if you don’t mind a little stroll then this is a really good option.
We recently saved money on parking by paying in advance online, many city parking companies offer discounts on pre-booked spaces.
I hope I’ve given you some ideas to save you some money on your family days out. Leave me a comment if you have any other tips and ideas that I haven’t covered.
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Great advice. It is so easy do days out on a budget if you take a picnic and go somewhere which is free. I am all for low cost days out. x
Low-cost days out are the best, being on a budget doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the fun at all x
All great tips. We always take a picnic as it saves money and time, and we look for online deals or discounts before visiting. Savings can then be used for little extras on the day like ice creams or souvenirs x
That’s what we like to spend any money saved on too, it’s nice being able to treat the kids x
Loads of great tips here! I always like to look online for deals before we go and picnics is something else we do quite a lot too. x #MMBC
There are so many great deals available online, it’s just a case of having a good search around x
I’m terrible at not packing picnics & going for the easy but waaay more expensive option! #MMBC
It really does save so much money, I find preparing it the night before helps too x
We definitely need to make more use of the free museums, there are loads in Essex and we’ve only done a few. #MMBC
Yes definitely check them out, there’s usually so much happening especially around half term x