Bank Holidays Don’t Mean a Trip to the Bank!

We’ve got two May bank holidays and I can’t think of anything better than having time with my family, catching up with friends and just kicking back. Just bear with me on this one but, and I know this is such a different message but I think you can have great fun on a bank holiday weekend and spend next to nothing at all! It might take a little planning but this is what we will get up to this bank holiday.

 

 

SourceTo start with, we’ll make sure our bikes are road worthy and we’ll get them out of the shed a week in advance, give them both a clean and oil them well and check the tyres. We’ll also dust off our bike helmets in readiness to get out and about now that the weather is so much better. I don’t know where you are but we have several off road bikes routes and trails where we can ride our bikes safely and for free. We make a great day of a bike ride and will pack our panniers with a picnic, a flask of tea and find somewhere to stop for lunch and quietly gloat that we’re having a free day out when the less organised are forking our for takeaways and lunches in cafes. For years, we would have days out just like this and they are some of the most memorable fun days we’ve ever had.

We love to take time with our family on a Bank Holiday and it’s a great opportunity to get together and I love to host a big Sunday lunch. There really is something wonderful about taking time out as a family around the table to talk, laugh and enjoy each other’s company. Now I know what you’re thinking, that the local carvery does a slap up Sunday lunch for £7.50 each and the desserts are only a couple of quid, well for a family of four, including a few drinks you’ll soon part with £50 that could be better budgeted elsewhere! If I’m catering for a big crowd, then I pick up three chickens for £10 and can easily feed ten people with that many. I’ll make a couple of sponge cakes, a punnet of strawberries, whip up half a litre of cream and make sumptuous gateaux with enough to feed ten for under a fiver! There’s nothing easier than a home cooked Sunday lunch and it’s great fun sharing the washing up over a good gossip and a cup of tea afterwards.

We do budget somewhere over the weekend for a day trip somewhere special. Weather depending, we’ll head off on a big walk with a cream tea at the end, or visit an Open Garden such as Ince Castle where the entrance fee is cheap, we can picnic in the grounds and children can go for free. We’ll treat ourselves to a leisurely walk around someone else’s lovely gardens and enjoy all of their hard work. Something else we’ll do for free over the bank holiday weekend is to head to the park, woodlands and beaches to walk in the brighter sunshine and warmer weather.

If you’re all thinking, that all sounds too good to be true, I’ll leave you with this. Previously, every bank holiday would add another £200 to our debt pile and if I look back I can’t remember why it cost so much. Now, in our debt free life on a budget we really take time to enjoy our family life, to get out and about, even if that’s with a picnic and enjoy the fresh air, some time off and most of all, each other.