Categories: heritage-and-art, lone-parenting
Tags: Parenting
Date: 08 July 2009 07:37:44
The Guardian has an article about Bargain London. It's an article more useful for its links than it's actual content, particulary the one to "The Artful Ticket-Dodger".
Whilst these articles both focus on London they are based around the idea that you don't have to pay a fortune to enjoy a bit of culture. Having lived on a relatively tight budget fairly consistently I have picked up the odd idea on how to do this.
So here are a few ideas, some of which were included within the article and some of which weren't:
1) Spend a little time thinking through what you might be doing in the year ahead.
If you know that you are likely to visit a number of heritage sites than it is worth investing in either an English Heritage or National Trust membership. In order to work out what is going to be the best value for you think about which parts of the country you are going to visit when and then check what kind of attractions has in each area and whether they are open to the public when you want to visit. Personally I have found EH the better deal out of the two and so have renewed this on a more regular basis.
If you regularly visit a particular city and like art check what exhibitions are coming up. If there are more than a couple you want to see then think about becoming a member. Membership of the Tate, for example, gave me free access to all the exhibitions at the Britain and the Modern. It also gave 10% off in the shop aswell as access to the members cafes. If you don't want the exhibition entry alot of these places are free to go and wander around.
Decide if you are a coach or a train person, but be ready to change for long haul if required. Personally, whilst I will do coach travel if cost dictates I am much more of a train person. This means I invest in rail cards. With both options if you know when you need to be travelling major discounts can be found by travelling in advance. National Express has some great deals if you are travelling by coach between major cities.
Accomodation wise the Youth Hostel Association is worth thinking about. They now do family rooms and it's good clean accomodation at a reasonable price.
Works out best for budgeting if you spread the purchase of these cards through the year and perhaps put things like heritage / gallery memberships on your Christmas / birthday lists. Oh and if you are a UK tax payer and getting membership don't forget to gift aid.
2) Remember that restricted view often means just a slightly less good one.
For sporting and theatre events I have gone for restricted view tickets in the past and had no problem. What I would suggest though is checking that it isn't straight behind a pillar, but slightly to one side. My best restricted view ticket was at the Globe one day when I decided I wanted a seat. The groundling tickets are great value, but more suitable for some performances than others, (think about the length of the play and the weather forecast).
3) Britain has a lot of free stuff that happens on a regular basis. Most towns have carnivals, fireworks or music festivals which happen on an annual basis. A couple of famous examples include: Durham Miners Gala happening this Saturday, (and which I will unfortunately be missing), Nottinghill Carnival and Whistable Oyster Festival, which has cool fireworks on the sea front. These are just a few examples but events happen all over the summer all over the country.
4) Most galleries and museums have space for you to sit and eat a packed lunch if you take one. If you don't want to lug one about remember that Boots, M&S and Sainsbury's all do meal deals and are now located in most central stations or nearby. If you shop wisely you can save alot of money this way.
5) Discount coupons abound in newspapers, shopping receipts, stations and elsewhere. If you are going to a major attraction with friends or family these can save you lots of money.
6) Always look at the concessionary information and check if they apply to any of your group.