Consumer Expert Reveals How Parents Can Save Over £200 On Christmas Activities
- Christmas holidays can be expensive for parents on a budget
- Consumer expert Tom Church reveals the best deals for the festive season
- Activities such as ice skating, bowling and movies can be purchased for less
- Tricks include reading small print, using split trains and booking free schemes
With many schools breaking up for the Christmas holidays on Friday 17 December, parents who are already strapped for cash after spending on presents for the big day may be struggling to find budget-friendly ideas that will keep everyone entertained.
Tom Church, Co-Founder of money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘It’s already difficult enough to keep children occupied at the best of times, let alone for a few weeks. Plus, the cold weather restricts the number of activities you can easily do outdoors. Fortunately, there are some discounts to be made if you know where to look. Here are my ideas, tips and tricks to make the Christmas holidays fun-filled for all the family.’
Get 2 Games Of Bowling, Laser Tag Or Karaoke & A Meal For £8.50 - Read The Small Print
Tenpin is offering up some festive cheer this Christmas by providing customers with money off 2 games of bowling, laser tag or karaoke with a meal. This deal costs just £10 per child and £12.50 per adult, but if you read the Terms and Conditions you’ll see that those residing in Southampton, Swansea, Warrington, Wrexham and York can get the deal for £8.50 per child and £10 per adult. If you prefer laser tag or karaoke and your local branch has these available, you can swap 2 games of bowling for 60 minutes of one of these activities instead. Laser tag is normally up to £30 per person, karaoke costs up to £40 per hour and two rounds of bowling with a meal costs around £18. In other words, you could save around £10 per person!
Kids Travel For £1 Or Less On Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern & Southeastern Trains
There are some serious reductions to be made on kids tickets with Trainline. Those who are using Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern trains can get kids tickets for £2 with any route within Zones 1-9. Even better, Southeastern and London Northwestern Railway routes allow for £1 kids tickets. If you’re struggling to find a good price, I recommend checking out the Cheaper Slower Trains tool. It brings up alternative tickets which are valid for your selected journey and highlights the difference in price, so you can pick the one which is the best value for money. Alternatively, you can visit Split Your Ticket and see how much you can save by booking multiple tickets for a longer journey. When you perform a search, you can see how much you’re saving or pick Intensive Search to find even better results.
Kids Get Free Ice Skating, Roller Disco & More With Government Holiday Scheme
Parents who are eligible can book onto free holiday activity sessions in their local area thanks to a grant delivered by the Department for Education. According to the GOV.UK page, up to £220 million has been made available to local authorities so that free provisions such as healthy food and activities can be provided across England. Examples of events include Christmas Craft workshops, Pokemon Club and sports such as football and cricket.
Book Onto Library Christmas Events For £2 - Storytime, Tots Time & More
Checking out the events available at your local library can pay off. For example, many will put on special storytime sessions with a festive theme, crafts or a Tots Time for younger members. With books becoming much more easily available in digital formats these days, it can be easy to forget that libraries exist, but you can stop by for more than simply checking out what’s on the shelves. Walk into your local branch and ask for information on what they have going on in the next few weeks, or check out their social media - some libraries are very active on Facebook and Instagram! Plus, these events will often be very cheap to attend, with some listed online for £2 or less.
Book A Winter Staycation For £29 Or Less With Travelodge
Many of us will be choosing not to travel abroad for now, but it’s easy to take the family away for a change of scenery within the UK if you shop online for deals. For example, Travelodge currently has over 800,000 winter rooms available for £29 or less - and you can pick up a family room for a cosy holiday that doesn’t break the bank. Check out their Price Finder tool for an overview of the cheapest options available. For example, I found a room at Liverpool John Lennon Airport for just £25 - great for fitting in a trip away just before the kids go back to school!
Get £2.50 Cinema Tickets For Kids At Vue & Cineworld
When it’s too cold to spend the day outside but you don’t want to keep the kids cooped up indoors, why not take them to the cinema for less? Vue is offering discounts on tickets if you buy online in advance - pay just £2.49 per ticket when you take part in their Mini Mornings. These run on weekend mornings and every day during the school holidays. Similarly, the Movies For Juniors offer at Cineworld gives families access to discounted weekly screenings of kids films from just £2.50.
Purchase A Stay In A Nectar Hotel & Save £200
Did you know your Sainsburys loyalty card points can be exchanged for a hotel stay? It’s easy to get started - from the Nectar Hotels homepage, select your preferred dates and location, then click on Spend Nectar points. Alternatively, you can pay in cash and collect Nectar points to get money off groceries or other deals in the future. Then filter the results to sort by the lowest price first. When I looked up London hotels, I found The Olde Swan Hotel available for 27,000 Nectar Points plus £45, and The Forester Ealing for 30,000 Nectar Points plus £50. Both are rated Excellent, and when I looked up standard room prices, The Olde Swan was £180 for two nights and The Forester was £200 for this timeframe. In other words, you can save over £200 if you have enough Nectar points!
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