Overwhelmingly, we just want to see friends and family again without any restrictions, but here’s our more specific post-lockdown wish list.

Family wish list

Trip to the British Museum

Maria and Gabby are studying the Egyptians (Key stage 2), which they love. It would be great to see the museum’s vast Egyptian collection again. We also recently really enjoyed watching The Dig, so are keen to go and see the artefacts from the Sutton Hoo site.

Horse riding

The girls have wanted to go horse riding for a very long time. We had this planned last March for when we were visiting the Derbyshire Peak District. Sadly, the trip got cancelled (lockdown one). It’s very high up on the wish list.

Whitstable

This is one of our favourite seaside towns. We can’t wait to get back to visiting the coast and this will be one of our first destinations; crabbing, metal detecting, beach combing and great seafood. We had our first meal – after the so-called ‘Super Saturday’ relaxation of lockdown rules (July 4th) – at the brilliant The Lobster Shack.

Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

We had a great late summer’s day down here as part of Maria and Gabby’s birthday celebrations in 2019. The simple pleasure of splashing about in the water and grabbing an ice-cream.

Summer Holiday

We had a fantastic driving holiday last year and would love to repeat. It was amazing to stop in so many wonderful locations. I think it’s too risky to book lots of accommodation at this point. Instead I’ve nabbed some very cheap flights on EasyJet. If we can fly out come July, we’ll stay with family in Italy. If things look more positive in the run up, we’ll book accommodation in other parts of Liguria as well. I’m thinking Cinque Terre. We’ll see.

Visiting an antique shop

The girls love shiny things, curiosities and bargain hunting. We’ve had many visits to antique shops and this is something they can’t wait to resume. One of our favourites is The Hampton Court Emporium in East Molesey.

Mooch about London

Despite that, aside from Matt, we were all born in London and live just 15 miles outside, the capital still holds a fascinating appeal. We’d like a day visiting our favourite spots – including the church in Covent Garden where Matt and I got married (and where my mum is buried) -, taking a walk in a London park, strolling by the river, taking in a museum… I’d also like to take the girls to The View From the Shard to see all across London from up high. I fancy taking a tourist bus; as a Londoner it’s something I’ve never done.

Big Garden Party

A couple of years ago we had a big garden party and the kids absolutely loved it and still talk about it. We love entertaining and have missed socialising so much. We really want to do something on a big scale again for neighbours, friends and family. The girls want to get out the gymnastic equipment, have netball shoot outs and play badminton and other garden games with their friends. We love to feed people; we also need to have my dad on arrosticini duty – these were a huge hit last time.

Sleepover

The girls are desperate to have a sleepover at their friends’ or have friends over here. A simple pleasure that’s been denied for almost a year.

Bluebell Railway

Going on a steam train is quite magical in any case, but when you travel through 11 miles of wonderful countryside carpeted with 1000s of beautiful bluebells it’s something else. Fingers crossed it opens in time for the season. https://www.bluebell-railway.com/

Bowling

This is a perennial favourite (especially on a rainy day) so no surprise it’s on the wish list.

Sofia and my theatre trip

My eldest’s birthday is in December. For the last few years we’ve had a day out just the two of us along with her friend and friend’s mum: shopping, food and then The Rose Theatre. We missed out last year because of Covid; we’re already booked for December 2021!

Chessington World of Adventure

No explanation required!

Eating out

We all love eating out and it’s the focal point of most of our trips.

The girls unanimously said Flat Iron as their first port of call for a nice steak.

Then, in no particular order, as requested by the kids and ranging from inexpensive to Michelin star (!):

• Tozi in Victoria for cicchetti
• A banquet in China Town – spinny wheel in the middle of the table essential
• Galu (Mediterranean Bar & Grill) – our most local restaurant in Banstead, Surrey
• Haché – for a burger
• Locanda Locatelli – we were meant to go here on Mother’s Day 2020 but, you guessed it, it was cancelled
• Al Forno – family favourite in Kingston
• Cin Cin – an absolute gem in Hove, one of our favourite seaside towns.

Wish list just for the parents

Theatre

I’ve never seen Les Misérables at the theatre. After watching the film and the BBC series, we’d love to see it on stage.

Hotel stay

The kids have been bloomin’ amazing throughout this crazy period. However, it would be lovely to have a night or two away just the two of us.

Cinema

We’d like to see the postponed James Bond film No Time to Die. It’s currently scheduled for September 30th. I can’t remember the last thing we actually saw at the cinema.

Eating out

Minus the kids, Matt and I would like to have return visits to Restaurant Gordon Ramsay on Hospital Road and Trinity in Clapham. We also want to go to Al Boccon Di’ vino in Richmond. We have a reservation at another favourite (Sorrel) already in the bag for June.

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Money Making Ideas

Online surveys and market research

There are plenty of companies willing to pay you for your views and feedback about brands or for telling them about your shopping habits, or even your personal and social habits! MoneySavingExpert.com has a great round up of some of the best: Surveys.

Sell LEGO by weight

Sites such as musicMagpie buy old LEGO by weight, so no need to worry about complete sets. You can sell anything from 500g up to 10Kg. Just put your LEGO bricks into a plastic bag and seal/tie it. Then weigh and round up to the nearest 500g (0.5Kg) and select the weight from the dropdown. You’ll get an instant quote and you can send it for free. Then sit back and receive a same day payment.

Recycle old clothes

High Street favourite H&M has offered an in-store garment recycling service since 2013. They accept clothes by any brand, in any condition at all of their stores. All donations are used somehow and won’t end up in landfill. Simply fill up a standard carrier bag with your unwanted clothing and you’ll get a £5 voucher in return to spend at the store. Win, win.

M&S has an initiative in place with Oxfam. Donate any item of M&S-labelled clothing or soft-furnishings to the charity store and you’ll receive a £5 voucher for Marks & Spencer, which you can use at any participating store when you spend £35 or more. More details here.

Get a current account that pays interest

I really like the Santander 1-2-3 account. It’s a current account, but pays 2% on balances up to £20,000. It also gives you cash back on many household bills and up to 15% cash back when you use the Santander debit card at a range of major retailers. There’s a £4 monthly account fee, but this is more than offset by the cash back you get. In order to qualify, you have to pay at least £500 into your account a month and have two active Direct Debits.

Selling unwanted items 

Facebook is a great platform for selling things you no longer need. There are loads of local selling groups so you can connect easily with people in your area. You’ll also find many selling pages for specific items/categories such as Mini Boden & Joules Children’s Clothes UK  Additionally, there are sites such as Mazuma for selling old mobile phones or tablets and great general selling sites such as Preloved and Gumtree.

Offline, there are plenty of options too. Nearly New Sales or Mum2Mum Markets are great and there are also old school car boot sales.

Money Saving Ideas

Just as important as money making, is money saving! Here are a few ideas…

Refer a friend

You can get money off for yourself and a discount for whoever you’ve referred with lots of businesses/brands such as banks, clothing stores, utility providers and supermarkets. Use ‘Francesca De Franco’ for clothes brand hush to get you £20 off your first order.

The Penny Challenge

A really simple idea… Starting with just 1p, you save money every day for 365 days, going up in increments of a penny each day. So on day one of the challenge you put 1p away, and then on day two 2p, 3p on day three and so on. If you do this for a year you’ll have £667.95 – Skint Dad’s chart helps you keep track – https://skintdad.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Skint-Dad-1p-Saving-Challenge-2022.pdf

Teaching Your Children About the Value of Money

Rotate online supermarket shops 

Sadly, loyalty doesn’t pay. If you have a number of online supermarket accounts chop and change which one you use. Ocado in particular is very good at sending discount voucher codes to lure you back if you haven’t shopped with them in a while.

Saving money on petrol and diesel

Before you next fill up the car, take a quick look on PetrolPrices.com. The site tells you where you can get fuel cheapest in your local area. Prices fluctuate all the time so it’s worth looking regularly. You can make very big savings.

Discounted tickets for Merlin attractions – Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures, Legoland…

Kellogg’s cereal boxes regularly have vouchers giving one free adult entry with another full-paying adult or child for Merlin attractions. We recently redeemed two at Legoland so my husband and I got in for free. However, the three childrens’ tickets were still £180. I’ve since discovered there are better bargains to be had on eBay. Just do a search on the site and you’ll get an array of ticket sellers (many tickets are for specific days).

Kids Pass – a digital membership platform – offers discounts at cinemas, attractions and restaurants across the UK (and even on UK and European holidays). You can try it out for £1 here.

Online discount vouchers

Before you click ‘pay’ and make that online purchase, always look for online discount coupons for the site in question. Daily Mail, Voucher codes and Voucher Cloud are some of the best. However, it’s worthwhile Googling the name of the retailer followed by ‘voucher code’ or ‘discount code’ and seeing what comes up. You might get a few duff ones/expired ones, but it’s worth persevering. I’ve found codes for everything from chocolates to a garden shed! I’ve signed up to a number of voucher sites so get alerted when a new one becomes available for brands I’m interested in.

Prepay

I’m always remembering birthdays at the last minute so Funky Pigeon is a frequent port of call for me as it is so fast and efficient. What I particularly like is you can load up credit and get bonus credit added. If you prepay £5 you get £1.25 added to your account balance for free; £10 and you get £2.50 and with £20 you get £5.

Switching utility providers

If you’re not on a fixed-term contact, regularly check whether there are better deals out there. USwitch is brilliant for this. Obviously, this also applies when you’re coming towards the end of your fixed contract. Make sure that you’re not going to be automatically rolled over onto a less-attractive deal with your existing provider and shop around.

I’m with Octopus who will gift you £50 credit (and me) if you sign up using this link.

Cheaper meals out

Save money on a meal by booking a table through an e-commerce site such as Groupon or Bookatable. There are some great deals out there.

Car and home insurance

When my renewal quote is sent for car and home insurance I always hit GoCompare immediately as the renewal price is always higher than the previous year (without any claims).

I’ve discovered there’s no point in going to your existing provider first to get a better quote; you have to call them armed with a list of alternative providers that can offer the same cover cheaper. Almost always they’ll then price match or even undercut. If they don’t then just swap, it’s very straight forward.

Saving money on your will

If you’ve not made a will, try and schedule it in the month of November with a solicitor that’s taking part in Will Aid. It will save you A LOT of money. Here’s what you need to know. 

Discounts for multiples

If you have twins, triplets or more then a membership to Twins Trust offers a whole host of benefits including great discounts at a wide range of high street retailers. Lots of independents offer special discounts too; usually because they have a multiples connection! Independent Usborne book seller Fiona also offers a twins and multiples discount. 

National Trust membership  

Entry fees for a family of five at a local attraction can easily cost in excess of £50 and something such as Legoland is a whopping £60 per person! On the other hand, National Trust membership for one adult and up to 10 children costs £78 a year and for two adults and up to 10 children is £126 a year (under 5s are free). This can be paid in monthly instalments and gives access to over 500 NT venues and includes free parking. Also check out National Trust Holidays.

Would love to hear about your money making and money saving ideas. Please comment below.

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