It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

sparrer

narabanekeater wrote: »

Im still very young at not yet 30 but I see my friends struggling badly and those burying heads in the sand and still thinking they 'have to and the children need to' go abroad to have a good time. Its the occasional trip to the sea side for us and ice cream on the beach

I'm with you on that one narabanekeater, I was fortunate that we could afford to go on holiday in UK and abroad when the children were small, and now they have children of their own but for various reasons can't spend the money on holidays, foreign or otherwise. Next month I'm taking 4 DGC 13, 13, 10 and 8 to a caravan in Morecambe and they're so excited! (Me too, just us 5 and no parents to tell us what to do ) I firmly believe all children should experience the fun of an English seaside holiday be it wet or dry. I'm on a pension but there are so many free and inexpensive things we've found to do for all weathers that it won't be difficult keeping within our small budget.

ceridwen

sparrer wrote: »

I'm with you on that one narabanekeater, I was fortunate that we could afford to go on holiday in UK and abroad when the children were small, and now they have children of their own but for various reasons can't spend the money on holidays, foreign or otherwise. Next month I'm taking 4 DGC 13, 13, 10 and 8 to a caravan in Morecambe and they're so excited! (Me too, just us 5 and no parents to tell us what to do ) I firmly believe all children should experience the fun of an English seaside holiday be it wet or dry. I'm on a pension but there are so many free and inexpensive things we've found to do for all weathers that it won't be difficult keeping within our small budget.

Don't know what sorta beach Morecambe has - as I've never been there. But - maybe rockpools? I'm just remembering one of those mini guide books (the sorta £5 jobbie) that I had a glance at the other day and it was showing things like rockpools and giving photos of the different things living in it and talking about the different types of seaweed (I think pretty much all of the British ones are edible if you're interested).

Can't you tell if I'd ever had any children they would have been going on a LOT of naturewalks - complete with guidebook in hand?:rotfl:Also there's paddling, sandcastle making, shell collecting, making their own icecream....

Re icecream making I found:

http://www.ask.com/food/Milk/Ice-Cream-Recipes-Using-Condensed-MIlk.html

Hardup_Hester

I had a conversation with one of the inlaws at the weekend, they phoned to see if I had any suggestions, she's a SAHM, he's a 'property developer', he has no work, he used to buy houses, knock them down & build 2 or 3 in it's place & that's all being stopped now & the bank won't lend him any money as the rules have changed. They are paying one credit card off against the other, are massively overdrawn but won't sell either the Porsche Cayenne or the Jag as they need 2 cars despite them both being at home all day & they can't possibly give up their holiday in Mauritius as they need it to stay sane! The 3 children all need every new toy that comes along otherwise they will get bored & they all need designer clothes as anything else feels cheap!
My only suggestion was to phone me back when reality has struck.
Hester

ceridwen

Hmmm...Hester....guess thats where the phrase "Wake up and smell the coffee" comes in...:cool:

Just remembering how one of the things my father says is "Children NEED to develop their imagination"....well thats free...(errr...and tends to lead to school reports commenting on how "she's often off in a world of her own daydreaming...." - but at least it costs nowt.

[Deleted User]

Well my DD and I took her four boys to the beach yesterday ages 14,10,9,&6 and we had a great time and it didn't cost us very much at all. We took a picnic and a large bottle of squash and a huge flask of coffee. Once there out came the towels and within minutes there was a line of four lads stretched out in a line with their sun cream on sunbathing.Half an hour of that with Granny telling them to turn over every ten minutes like sausages, then they all went for a swim ,or in Mikeys case a paddle Back to the towels for cheese salad rolls ,a box of pringles an apple each and a drink and then they went off to explore the beach leaving Mum and Granny sitting with the towels and picnic stuff .Back they came half an hour later glowing with fresh air and hungry again.They finished off what was left of the picnic and were treated to an ice cream.More games on the beach of kick-about -football then the smell of chips from a local shop drifed over .£1.40 secured a tray of chips which they scrupulously shared between themselves.Then three of them buried the 9 year old in the sand up to his neck whilst he lay there roaring with laughter.Then after getting up and going to the beach tap and rinsing himself off they all went for a search around the shore for shells. Back to Mum and Granny for the last of the squash, and then we packed up and made our way home from Broadstairs.
Cost of the day
chips £1.40
4 ice creams £4.00
total £5.40 = result four very happy, brown, but rather sandy little boys who have a lot of memories of a good day out with Mum and Granny.They were good as gold, and no trouble.They know that money is a worry at home for Mum & Dad as Dad might lose his job in the local government redundancies, but they don't ask for much at all.
We sat on the beach asking them where over the next few weeks they would like to go for days out and they are putting together a list of places to go.
So far it is

Greenwich Park ,very popular as there's lots to do(also doesn't cost very much)

Swimming( that too is relatively cheap at least until the end of July as the boys and I go free until then

Our local country park where there are also lots of 'free' things to do(another picnic involved)

Dover Castle (free for the boys as I am an English Heritage member and the four boys are on my ticket and my DD goes as my carer.

Library; where they are running a scheme for summer readers and if six books are read they get a certificate and medal and the chance of winning a prize

They like to see if they can find outings to go on which don't cost a lot.

What they don't know and we won't tell them is on the 13th August we have booked and paid for a house on the Isle of Wight for a fortnight .We keep it a suprise for them as they are such good lads and never ask for too much.My DD and I have been paying for it since last October every month and we save all of our Tesco vouchers to go towards the food bill We have about £180 odd in the kitty in vouchers which with about another £50.00 cash should cover our food bill as there are 7 of us going this year.All their ice cream cash is what I have saved from left over money from my food purse during the year so they won't go without the basic ice creams on the beach We have looked up all the different carnivals and festivals that we can take then to.Our annual holiday is very well organised between my DD and I .But it takes careful planning and downright deviousness at times so the boys don't get an inkling of whats going on.
O.K. so they won't get to disneyland or the
Med but they are just as happy, and happy kids are what family holidays are about.We shall go blackberrying whilst there and the kids love picking fruit for the crumble for dinner.If the weathers bad we can all play cards or board games .Jack (10) is writing his holiday diary everyday which I am pleased about as I said it will remind him of what he did with his time off He goes into year 6 when he goes back to school and has the dreaded 11+ in September so we try to keep him as less stressed as we can

jackieglasgow

Jackie, and anyone else who is interested, don't know who you get your gas and electricity from, but British Gas are offering all of their customers a free swim at participating pools, heres a link to apply for it if you are eligible. We live in a regeneration area, and our local council offers free swimming all year round to people in our post code, we have a wee card for membership, and also get concessionary prices for the gym and classes which is a great offer.

Kittikins

JackieO your day out sounds lovely and hoorah for the secret holiday, what a lovely family you have

DD and I have been having a few fun days, DD's 5 and cute as a button. She's really into the Famous 5 at the moment, so for her a perfect day is going for a walk in the village solving "mysteries" and "walking" Timmy....the number of sticks I've had to throw for our imaginary dog doesn't bear thinking about!!

Tomorrow we've been invited to a local young children's theme park, I'd like to go but I'm just annoyed that the invite has come too late for me to swap Mr T vouchers for the entrance fee. It's hellishly expensive so I think I may have to decline as it's been a pricy month and DD's got a fortnight with grandparents coming up then we're on a 2-week holiday ourselves so it's not like she's not going to be having lots of adventures during her school holiday........

icelandic_queen

JackieO, your holiday sounds fab, any room for a little one?!! If I was to have 1 of these holidays with my 3 girls I would have to go on my own as my mum is nothing like you!! Even just going to B +Q to buy paint involves going for a 'cup of tea' as she puts it. In reality it's usually something to eat as well and I end up paying!! it does spoil our outings a bit, especially if I haven't budgeted for it. I don't have any tips to add but just to say that I love this board, apart from the brilliant tips it keeps my spirits up. I was made redundant in March and I've now become my dad's carer which to be honest I didn't expec to do so soon. I feel that I've surrendered my life over and what makes it worse is that I have family like Hardup Hester who moan about not being able to update the Jeep!!! Feel tempted to point them in the direction of this site but to be honest it would be wasted on them!!

taplady

Sparrer and JackieO - what briliant memories you are giving the children of their days on the beach!:T they will remeber this in years to come long after their friends forget all the expensive holidays abroad and expensive toys they were given - its giving your time that counts not your cash!:)

Primrose

Sparrer & Jackie - taplady beat me to it, but I was also thinking what very precious memories you are giving to your grandchildren with these traditional cheapie holidays and days out. When I think back to my own childhood, the simple fun activities stand out in my memory. Encouraging their ingenuity in play is far better development for them than laying on lots of expensive Theme Park activities will also help them to understand that you don't necessary have to spend lots of money to have a good time.