Holiday at Home DFW Style!

elona · 19 March 2006 at 9:29AM

I have about three huge piles of ironing if you are really desperate!

How about a small home improvement task?

Buy a couple of tester pots or mix together oddments of paint and paint just one wall in any room you want to change a bit- call it a designer "accent" wall.

Pooky · 19 March 2006 at 9:43AM

The National Portrait Gallery is free - could spend hours in there.....

For those of you with kids...during holidays and half terms they do "art workshops" there too - just ask any of the guides about them. We popped in for a quick wander last year on the way to Hamleys and got involved, got to go behind the scenes to one of their workshops - all got given (parents and adults) paper and charcol and taken to do some sketching around the gallery....then back to the workshops to make some models from different bits and bobs - all free and we stayed there for about 4 hours....kids were so pleased, they got to bring their models home (not easy on the train) and we never got to Hamleys so very money saving indeed.

lynzpower · 19 March 2006 at 9:52AM

also take a look at this http://www.londonforfree.net/

Lewby · 19 March 2006 at 11:28AM

What a brilliant idea for a thread! As I've got kids I'm always trying to think of things to do with them in the holidays and now I'm a DFW it needs to be cheap! You're right Nabowla about food costing so much when you are out. With 5 kids even a McDonalds costs not less than £20!

As you are in London are there any things that you could do as a volunteer that would be interesting to you? There must be some websites with stuff like that on.

Hope you won't mind me pinching this idea for another thread at the start of the Easter Holidays 'Got kids with nothing to do for 2 weeks!!'. I'm sure we can collectively come up with some action paked days out for next to nothing!

Hope you have a great holiday! :j

nabowla · 19 March 2006 at 12:59PM

Don't mind anyone pinching the idea to start another thread if it helps! I'll keep my eyes open for ideas for the Easter hols. One thought springs to mind straight away: are you a member of the Nat Trust/English Heritage or similar? I'm a member and hardly ever use my membership, which is stupid as the days out are free if you're already paid your annual subscription! A lot of properties have special Easter activities for the kids too, e.g Easter egg hunts.

Speaking of Easter eggs, how about having a craft morning painting and decorating eggs, making Easter bonnets etc (not sure how old your kids are, but you get the idea).

Batgirl · 19 March 2006 at 1:03PM

Why not spend some time thinking about how to make extra money, list all your things on ebay, amazon or do a car boot. i know this is a boring idea but when your at work you won't fancy doing it and if you do this at the beginning of your ten days you could have made enough money to have a nice lunch out towards the end of your hols, and paid of some debt rather than getting in more. Also you said about doing some cratfs, are you good enough at making anything that you could sell? Boring ideas I know but they could be useful.

Ps enjoy your hols!

MrsMW · 19 March 2006 at 5:33PM

Spend a day looking round all those cheap shops that you don't have time to look at normally. It's amazing what you can find.
Enjoy!

LookingAhead · 19 March 2006 at 5:44PM

I have been to a free radio show...I went to see the News Quiz (RIP the fabulous Linda Smith) being recorded in London last year and it was really really good. You just apply for tickets via the BBC website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/whatson/tickets/

Go for it! See what you can get.

summerday · 19 March 2006 at 5:54PM

As of today a new passtime of mine is to visit showhomes- we have to spin a bit of a yarn about the price range but it's fun looking round the gorgeous new homes dreaming about living there and nicking decor ideas for our current abode!

Also if you like animals you could visit pet shops like Pets at Home, it's nice to see all the bunnies and parrots etc. Also visiting animal shelters. Only thing is you have to be disciplined to not come home with loads of new pets!

Go to the library and borrow loads of books on all subjects, including crafts etc that you said you like.

You could do a collage and stick lots of pictures in a scrapbook/ piece of paper of all the things you would like in your life when you are debt free- could be a new career, new house/car, a new hobby...whatever!

Have a great time!

Sarahx

ScarletStarlet_2 · 22 March 2006 at 10:07AM

I have just had a few days off on holiday, and didn't have any cash to go away. We spent the time cleaning the house from top to bottom, putting things on e-bay and giving stuff to charity shop. We did go out for a walk locally as well, which didn't cost anything. There are plently of sites on the internet which you can print directions for local walks: Here's a directory of them.

http://www.Walking-Routes.co.uk

For a bit of restbite from cleaning, I had suduko puzzles, printed free form the internet

http://www.sudoku.org.uk/backpuzzles.htm

and all my crafting projects, scrapbooking, card making and knitting. Which are my only splurges in life. I did a few weeks ago invest in a dartboard, which is not only a great reliever of boredom, but its helping my mental arithmatic!

I would also suggest inviting friends round, as I always get bored and lonely when I'm on holiday, so even if its an evening thing, its something to look forward to. You could even have pot luck dinner (where everyone brings something for dinner, all you decide is who brings what courses, and people's likes and dislikes)

Hope you have a good time off!

Holiday at Home DFW Style!

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free