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21/02/2013 9:27 pm
Well, for anyone who has been keeping up with my posts, having taken the necessary steps to undertake a Trust Deed to get myself and wife out of our financial black hole I have been thinking about how I can stretch every penny we have space at present, cut costs and still maintain fun things for this kids (8,2 and 1) over the next three + years.
I have discovered a few things which I thought I would share with you all.
Supermarket price comparisons: Did you know that all the major supermarkets offer price comparisons? Our local stores are Asda and Tesco's and with a young family spend a considerable amount of money in these stores weekly. With the TD started we have been looking more closely at our shopping and as a result I tried out the price comparison option from both shops. What I discovered is that every time I go shopping and come home and check my receipt I am being given money back. Then all you do is print your coupon and use it on your next shop. Obviously key is to try and cut down your shopping bills and what you are buying which we have done... this seems to be a nice wee added bonus
Glasgow city centre parking: Boy is it expensive... but it doesn't need to be. There are a few open private land car parks operating which cost half as much as multi-storey car park in the centre of town. I am using the one which is by the side of the Menses hotel/ MOD building next to the water front which is only £4 a day. There is also one just a bit further on below the Kingston bridge which is £3.50 a day. Both have parking attendants to keep an eye on your car and maintain the ground.
Free Days out: Three places are proving popular with our kids, The transport museum (riverside museum), Kelvingrove and Sumerlee in Coatbridge. All are free, great for kids and idea for killing a few hours with the family at no cost.
Im making it a mission not to have my kids penalised where possible for the financial mistakes we have made so will be hunting out lots of other places, bargains etc and will post my findings up here.
Feel free to help with this quest folks with any suggestions you may have.
Colski
Half way already!
22/02/2013 4:33 am
Plenty of great parks to go to like strathclyde or lanark loch,polkemmet etc I found playing old games like rounders ,kick the can, getting the old bikes out and going for a wee cycle picnic were all great fun and the kids really enjoyed it, it brought us all back together again. Hope you have great days out, no matter the weather.
22/02/2013 5:40 am
I've done the Sun £9 caravan holidays for the past couple of years with the kids. They're a bit of a climb down from the credit card funded foreign jaunts I used to go on but my 8 and 5 year old boys see them as a big adventure and they absolutely love it! We're booked for Blackpool at Easter and Great Yarmouth in summer. It's amazing how far £1 in 2p coins lasts in those machines at the arcades too!
Glad that's over with....
22/02/2013 9:18 am
Hi ,
Remember kids travel free with an adult on the train in Scotland and under 5's are free anyway. A nice day out is National Museum in Edinburgh then use your Tesco vouchers and have a nice lunch/dinner at pizza express . (currently Tesco will give you 4x the value in pizza express vouchers)
Another idea is a house swap. We did that at New Year and ended up in a beautiful cottage in Skye while the owners had a trip down here.
Lesley
22/02/2013 10:14 am
Nice ideas in there, we went to Summerlee and it's pretty good.
Other cheaper ideas...
Sat morning cinema for £1 each (kids films). Dry slope ski club at Polmont is £1.80 for an hours' session (I think you need a couple of lessons first though, but it's an option). Our kids also joined the local air cadets. It's £8 a month each and they go twice a week in the evenings. My son went gliding up at Arbroath the other week - didnt cost a penny and he had a fantastic time.
23/02/2013 12:43 am
Lanark Loch (lanark) drumpelier loch (coatbridge) and Callander Park (Falkirk) are all free and plenty space to spend a couple of hours with scooters or bikes.
26/02/2013 11:32 am
Hi Colski,
This is some excellent advice. More and more people are becoming savvy when doing their shopping. I watched a program on C4 a few days ago and it showed how you can negotiate with some independent retailers when buying clothing and other items. It also showed you that when buying a pre packaged fruit it's more expensive than buying fruit that isn't pre packaged. Everyone that they stopped and asked all though the pre-packaged food was cheaper.
I did the price comparison with Asda and got my voucher. The first time I gave the cashier the voucher I was a little unsure but now I don't think twice.
One of the members of my team regularly collects the vouchers in the Sun newspaper and twice a year gets away for a weekend for less than £100. He can't speak highly enough of them. The park facilities and caravans nowadays are fantastic. Gas central heating in some caravans as well.
I'll need to pass on the advice re Saturday morning cinema for £1 for kids films as nowadays cinemas can be a very expensive day out.
The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Transport Museum are also good days out!
For people in the east, Beescraigs Country Park is also very good and worth a visit on a nice day.
Thanks for sharing everyone!
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