Credit Crunch Ideas

At home - Days out - Projects

Days out

1. Special Days

Look out for local 'special' days. Most villages and hamlets have one day a year in which something extra is laid on, for free, partly as a tradition, partly to promote the place. These are usually family friendly and it pays dividends to watch for these and to put them in your family diary. Shown on the left is an entry in Sonning's 'Scarecrow' day...

Your only expense will be a donation to charity (usually) and maybe a little for a cup of tea and a cake at the end.

2. Retail Treasure Hunt

No, don't worry, you won't have to go anywhere to 'seed' or set up the hunt. When the kids are screaming for a 'retail opportunity' and the weather's perhaps a bit poor, tell them you're all going on a "treasure hunt".

Before setting out, think ahead to all the shops your family like looking in and write down something you know is in each shop (don't make it too easy!) Then give each family member the list and take them round town, giving clues where needed. The aim is to get round all the shops without buying anything! Of course, there's got to be 'treasure', so a 'little something' will need to be purchased beforehand or at one of the last shops in the tour. But it will be a lot cheaper than full-on shopping mode throughout!

3. Riverside fun

As shown in the image on the front of this site, paddling in, or simply hanging around by your local canals, rivers and lakes is always fun. Remember to take some towels, remember to bring a picnic and always observe any local signs. Note that swimming in most rivers isn't recommended for safety reasons!

4. Your local park

Every town has one - really! Even though you may not go there often. The trick is to take things with you, things which make the most of all that nicely-maintained space. Frisbees, footballs, model planes, and so on.

Depending on the weather, your biggest expense will be for a hot drink or ice cream or two from the park cafe.

5. Charity begins in town

Another retail idea. Charity shops are booming, sorting through and then reselling all the stuff you and other people don't want. When the family say they want to 'shop', make a point of majoring on the charity shops - everything will be far, far cheaper than 'new' prices and you have the added boon that all the money you do spend is going to a charity and not to some fat cat retail establishment!

6. Go geocaching

What used to be a real geek hobby has now started to hit the mainstream, especially now that many phones have built-in GPS. The idea is that you and your family use GPS to track down 'caches' stashed across the country. When you get there, there's a logbook to update and an object to remove. In return you leave an object for someone else to discover.

A totally free activity that can easily fill a day with no expense whatsoever (other than your fuel). Start geocaching by browsing through events and locations here.

7. Draw away

As long as it's not raining, arm your family with sketchpads, a variety of pencils and pens and something to lean on if needed. And then head out to something interesting - a church, a lake, a statue, and so on. Dont spend too long at each location if the children are very young, or they'll get bored. Perhaps cover 3 or 4 subjects in an afternoon session.

When you all get home, you can enjoy each other's efforts, maybe frame one or two and even reward children's efforts with ice creams.

8. Use your local library

OK, you don't get refreshments laid on (and are discouraged from eating and drinking on the premises), but other than that, libraries are wonderful resources. Most stay open all week now and have chairs to sit down to read, tables for laying out maps or newspapers, Internet workstations that you can use for free, child-friendly workstations where your kids can do the same, plus special events and exhibitions.

Most of all, when you or your kids take a fancy to a book or DVD or CD, just borrow it for free or nearly free for a few weeks. For children, it's just about as good as being bought the books in a bookshop. Just make sure you remember to take everything back before the relevant deadline!!

9. Museum time

Did you know that most museums in the UK are now free as part of the Government's initiatives? Making them a great and free day out for the family.

Don't be worried that they're stuffy and old fashioned, most museums are now fully modernised with attractively lit exhibits, special areas, resources, a cafe and so on. As with all the ideas on these pages, do your research online so that you know when special exhibitions are 'on'.