We are planning a Staycation this year
Regular readers of the blog will know that hubby and I have just returned from Las Vegas. This was my 40th birthday celebration and a group of us went and had the most fabulous holiday. No kids just grown-ups doing what we wanted when we wanted. It was amazing.
You will also know that after returning from the holiday it was time to assess our finances, tot up the credit cards and work out how much money we owed. I wrote about it here, and was also recently published in the Huffington Post with a shortened version of the article.
With a chunk of debt to pay back we are saving money this summer by going to Cornwall for a staycation rather than our usual two-week holiday to Spain with the boys. Cornwall is where I grew up, I lived in Penzance from birth to 18 and my sister still lives there. She has a house in a village on the outskirts of Penzance with four bedrooms and a huge garden. She has plenty of room for us to stay so we are heading there for a week at some point in August when we don’t have a wedding or a 40th birthday party to attend! It appears to be the year for birthday party and wedding invites!
A staycation can save you money
A staycation is the way forward from a money saving point of view and there are so many options for having a money saving holiday in the UK. A staycation normally involve a long drive to the coast or countryside. Our trip will be a 6-7 hours’ car journey of 300 miles. Entertainment for the car is an essential for our three boys.
Aldi have some great ideas to keep the children happy, from portable DVD players for £44.99, with fantastic screen quality perfect for the little ones to watch on the back seat. They also have virtual reality headsets for £14.99. Dylan got one of these for Christmas, we have downloaded apps on my phone to watch on the headset, the rollercoaster one is so real!!
They also have child boost seat, so like the Bubble bum which retails for £30ish on eBay…the booster seat is just £18.99 in Aldi. Perfect for the staycation or travelling abroad. Suitable for children aged 4 -11, 15-36kg in weight and up to 135cm in height.
Always handy in the car is a handheld vacuum cleaner. It cleans up liquid and dry spillages and it battery operated. I have been trying it out at home. It’s perfect for clearing down the crumbs on the sofa, the crumbs that seem to lie everywhere with 3 boys! All of these products are available from 11th May in store as a special buy and online. Those booster seats will sell out quickly!
One Week in Cornwall
We are going to be spending one week in Cornwall. We are ever so hopeful that the week will be sunny, then we can go to the beach every day and the boys are happy. We take a picnic and our spending money goes on an ice-cream and parking! There are so many beaches a short drive from where my sister lives. There is Porthcurnow cut into the cliffs, on the south coast. The sea has a shelf though that drops deep quickly. There is Sennon on North coast. A wide sandy beach perfect for children with shallows. The surfers are always there on the right-hand side with the waves.
There is Long Rock and Marazion that are 5 mins drive away nestled into the bay. South side of Cornwall and are calm with sandy beaches again. Marazion is where St. Michaels mount is. Long Rock you can park for £1.50 all day.
We no doubt will do something that cost money, maybe a visit to Gweek seal sanctuary or Paradise park to give the children some variety. I will of course be searching for 2for1 vouchers, I’ll be tapping up my school friends who still live in Penzance.
I am thinking that this week in Cornwall will cost around £500 in petrol and spending money, depending on how often we eat out. We are fortunate to have family there with accommodation to stay for freeJ
Are you planning a Staycation this year? Is it going to save you money?
I received products mentioned in this post to review free of charge.