Last week was half term and we took advantage of the Autumn sunshine and booked a last minute trip to Norfolk using AirBNB again. I really love Norfolk and its a great time of year to go with it being quieter. It was cold but sunny, so we still had a great excuse to eat ice-creams!
Air BNB Mundesley Norfolk
The AirBNB this time was a chalet in Mundesley Norfolk, a small seaside town just south of Cromer. Our chalet was a 2 minute walk from the cliff side, with some handy cardiac (!!) steps to get down to the beach. The day we arrived we headed straight for the beach and the tide was out exposing miles of sandy beach. It was beautiful.
We went to the beach every day in the four days we were there and had three lovely days of sunshine. Just one drizzly day, the last day, when we headed home when it got too wet.
My favourite bit by far was a visit to Horsey Gap, I googled the best place to see seals. Oh My Gosh. I have never seen so many in my life, there was maybe 500 seal in three different groups between the breakers on the beach at low tide! I literally stood and watched them for an hour, it was incredible, awesome and beautiful.
We also had a day out at Bewilderwood, I wasn’t sure if the boys were maybe too old? And after this last trip, yes I think they are. Its a wood theme park with lots of climbing things, mythical creatures. It is a very cool place, but they got bored quickly, not good when the tickets cost £70. Ouch.
Balanced out by the cost of the AirBNB which was £140 for 4 of us for three nights. And such a lovely touch from the chalet owner as well with milk and chocolate mini rolls for our arrival.
Stocking Up in Aldi on route
On the way to Norfolk we did a little Aldi shop for essentials and dinner for one of the nights. The boys got some treats for the journey, a tub of celebrations for £3.99, cheapest I have seen! We also stocked up on cereals (their fav) and fruit. £30 well spent on holiday essentials.
Fish N Chips Dinner
We decided to have fish and chips dinner one night, and chose Halloween for the day. The people of Mundesley are so thoughtful and generous. The owners of the fish and chips shop had set up the shop next door for trick or treaters. Any child could go in and fill up a bag of pick n’ mix sweets for free! What a lovely thing to do!
My boys were slightly annoyed to be away from home for Halloween so this made up for it.
Arcade winnings
Now I do not advocate gambling in the slightest but oh my gohs how much do children love an arcade by the beach. The boys decided that winning tickets was the way to getting a good gift. Hmmmmm. They won 800 tickets and got two small rubber balls!
However Jack was the master at winning, he spotted a grabber machine with some huge sequinned Ty toys in, mummy can I have a go? Go on then Jack. On first attempt he grabbed a toy and won!! I sort of feel like the £30 we spent in the arcades was converted into Jacks winning prize. He was so happy. What are the chances?!
Time to Spend Less
It is a struggle this time of the year with budgets, but I really need to focus on spending less and controlling any emotional spending urges. It is the beginning of the month so time to pay off the AMEX (I put all spending through on this to maximise cash back and pay off in full each month). The bill was too big this month, double what it normally is, including two lots of birthday pressies, a party for Josh and legal costs.
This means its time to start the spending diary again, and think about every bit of spend and if it really is essential. The daily focus on what I have spent really helps to keep control. An added extra for now is a monthly cumulative total so I can really see if every day spending is getting out of control.
