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Family fun days are an essential part of creating lasting memories, but the costs can quickly add up. It leaves many wondering how to save money without being cheap. Luckily, we have 18 Financial Life Hacks to Save on Family Fun Days
From budget-friendly activities to smart shopping tips, implementing these strategies will ensure that every family outing is not only enjoyable but also affordable.
Reduce Spending on Road Trip Snacks
One area where it’s easy to spend money is on all the snacks that the kids want before you even get to your day out. Check local grocery circulars for deals on your favorite snacks leading up to your day out. This will reduce the price in half, and you can always buy an extra few bags and save them for another day out, creating a day-out stockpile of supplies.
Make Snacks to Pack
This leads to number 2: make your own snack to take. I usually bake and make something to take, such as flapjacks. I always avoid chocolate because it will melt in the car and make a mess. Another thing I take with me is some small Tupperware, which I then fill with some sweets. These little tubs are small, so one bag of sweets will be enough for two kids to go there and come back. They don’t realize their portion has been reduced, which has saved me at least one more bag of sweets.
Take a Picnic & Eat in the Gardens
You have now made your snacks for less, and then the next thing to think about is the food you plan to eat while you are there. One of my favorite days out is Burton Agnes Hall, which is a beautiful stately home in the North of England. It costs about £36/$45 to visit, and this includes both the gardens and the stately home itself. But if I eat at the café here, that will double my daily spending and will go from a cheap day out to an expensive day out. What I will do instead is make a picnic the night before and have a picnic on the lawn in front of the house. It’s such a pretty location, and it feels like a waste compared to visiting the café.
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Almost Take a Picnic With You
Or maybe you are not a picnic making person, you can meet in the middle and then it can be less overwhelming for you. Instead of thinking about having a pretty picnic blanket filled with treats, just take the sandwiches and crisps (potato chips) and some rocky road from the café for dessert. This puts less pressure on you, and you can enjoy a bit of both. Or if it is a theme park and they have excellent French fries, you can take a sandwich and then top it off with fries.
Don’t Forget Your Water Bottles
Another big expenditure on food and drink that is easy to avoid is buying drinks. Fill up water bottles the night before, freeze them, and then put them into the travel bag in the morning. They will stay chilled until the afternoon. We also recommend this travel bag because it has a cold compartment that will keep your drinks and food cold all day, plus plenty of room for your other essentials.
Buy Your Kids Essentials Before You Go
There is nothing worse than arriving at the beach, and the kids want to buy a bucket and spade, then floatables, and then they see something else they want. We have a special box we keep in our garage with all our day-out supplies. We then make it their responsibility to head to the garage and choose what they want for that day.
The Dreaded Gift Shops
I am sure my kids are more excited about the gift shops than about the day out itself. It’s another opportunity for them to buy something they don’t need at an inflated price that will soon be forgotten about. I recommend sticking to a low budget or pointing out that they can have something better from a bargain shop on the way home instead. We stick to a budget, and they usually collect a magnet or a keyring, which can eventually go into their memory box.
Free Day Out in the City
I love how many different things there are to do for free in your local city. York is our local city, and we have many days out just for the cost of fuel and parking. We have visited beautiful parks, walked around the outside of castles, and even checked out movie locations. If you live near a city that is popular among tourists, there are likely to be even more things you can do for free.
Keep an Eye Out for Festivals
Another free city option is to look for festivals. Just by chance, when we visited Edinburgh last summer, they had a brilliant summer festival, and we could watch the street performers from around the world. There were magic shows, comedians, singers, and so much more, and we realized we could have a few days in Edinburgh and hardly spend any money.
Get a City Pass & Plan Wisely
We did the York City Pass a few weeks ago, and our goal was to save money on our days out in York. We spent 3 days taking in as many attractions as possible in those days and also focused on the more expensive options. We did a city cruise, went to several museums, visited all of York’s major attractions, and then finished the 3 days pass with a trip to a stately home. By planning our York pass wisely, we saved more than 30% off what these attractions would have cost us if we had bought them individually. I have researched the city pass and noticed there are options for York, New York, London, and Lisbon, and I am sure other cities have a similar system in place.
Visit Your Local Forest
We live less than an hour away from beautiful national forests. They are beautiful, and you just pay for parking, which helps with the upkeep of the forest. Then you can enjoy the forest and the playgrounds. Usually, we will take our bikes with us and do one of the many bike trails. Or we will take our dog and go on one of the long walks.
Have a Day at the Beach
Another fun, cheap day out is a trip to the beach. Of course, it is a plus if the sun is shining when you visit. Rather than doing it 100% free, we have a small budget, with money for a doughnut and a little money for the kids to spend in the arcade. We then pair this small spend with a beach picnic and bring our own beach supplies, and we get a great day out for a small spend.
Visit a Stately Home or National Trust Castle
We often visit a stately home or a castle, and we find it much cheaper than visiting a theme park or a water park. You usually have huge grounds to explore, a stately home to walk around and learn the history of the place you are visiting, and kids will always be impressed by the playgrounds.
Look out for 2 for 1 Tickets
I always aim to fit in at least one trip to a theme park each year with the kids. They are more expensive than stately homes, forests, or the beach, but you can get a good price if you shop around. I have noticed that local newspapers and magazines will have a special price where you can get 2 tickets for the price of 1, which can bring the price right down. A service like Groupon can have plenty of vouchers for you to try, too.
Visit Expensive Places Off-Season
I love visiting Flamingo Land and other great theme parks, but they are very expensive in summer. Instead, we go in the winter months on a nicer day, and there is not as much open, but still enough to keep us very busy from when they open to when they close. Plus, the tickets are much cheaper for the winter opening special than the high season.
Be the Last Visitors to an Attraction
I do this to save money and time because, seriously, who likes to queue? By entering an attraction in the last 90-120 minutes, you will be charged a lot less to visit, and there will be no queues. One of the popular attractions in York has a queue all the way down the street and only needs an hour of your time. By going late as the last visitor for the day, you get a better price and better service.
Facebook Groups Are Your BFF
If you are looking for things to do in your local area, check out Facebook and join some local groups. This has helped me discover many places that I had not heard of before and that have helped me think outside the box. Also, many local businesses will post their own special offers and free things on Facebook.
Compare Prices for the Cheapest Day Out
We will often have a small list of places we want to visit for a day out, then check the prices online the day before, and then go with what will be the cheapest. I recommend having a bucket list (we use Google Docs for our ideas), and then when you see somewhere recommended that you want to visit, you can plan around this list for what is the best price. Or we will rotate between 2 free days out, then one paid to really save money on our days out.
