Week 2: Fun Memberships
Well it was one step forward last week with our Insurance Saving. But then, as life often does, our poor fluffly girl was injured when grass seeds went into her paws. (Note: don’t walk your dogs through long grass…) It has so far cost $450, as she needed to be anethesised, BUT she is on the mend and that’s all that really matters. But it definitely served as a reminder to us how important it is to have those savings tucked away.
This week I want to share something that we started last year to save our family money. Each year we have invested in quality memberships for the kids, they are both very active pre-schoolers and having some places that we can go, both indoor and out has been absolutely wonderful. At first we purchased these memberships ourselves, but after our house accumulated more toys than we can store, we decided to ask our families instead to contribute to the memberships – saving our family the following:
Zoos Victoria Membership: $90 per adult and FREE for kids on an adult membership.
Includes:
Entry to Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, as well as selected zoos in other states and other discounts and savings within the zoo.
Museums Victoria Membership: $79 per family including up to 4 children up to 16 years
Entry into Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks and the Immigration Museum.
Sea Life Melbourne Annual Pass: $79 Per Adult, $50 per child (4-15 years) or $250 for a family of 4)
Entry
We have found great value in each of the memberships because the kids never get sick of the locations, having all of them has meant that we always had somewhere fun to go in rain, hail and sunshine and we never really felt like we were always at the same places.
In asking for these memberships as birthday and Christmas gifts throughout the year instead of paying for them ourselves, we have saved $388 from our yearly budget as follows:
$190 2 x adult and 2 x kids Zoo Membership
$79 2 x adult and 2 x kids (up to 4 kids included) Museums Victoria Membership
$129 1 x adult and 1 x 4+ kid Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium (Mr 3 is free and dad usually stays at home when we venture in to explore the city, so he might only come with us once a year and take advantage of the 20% discount he gets by attending with us as members.
We have decided that these memberships work for our family, because this is where the kids interests lie – and we enjoy taking them to these locations, but there are many memberships that are out there that might be more suitable for your family or location that are great as gift suggestions:
– Play centre passes (I learnt that Crocs has a 10 session pass, will definitely have to pencil that one in!) but they are available at selected other play centres too.
– NGV Membership
– Swimming Lessons
– Sports Classes at something local to you
– Cinema Vouchers
On the way home from the Rhythm of Africa at Werribee Zoo on Saturday I called mum who purchased the passes for us, and the boys were so excited to tell her about all the fun we had – it was much more rewarding for her to hear their excitement and see the videos – and having 12 months to spend enjoying each location is definitely a big win for everyone.
Over at The Melbourne Kid, we have joined up with Bubbler to Offer you the chance to win a Zoos Victoria Membership to get you started. Entry is simple. You can enter here! Good Luck!!
Savings Tally so far:
Insurance: $190
Memberships: $388
Total $578
See you next week!
General Advice Disclaimer:
This represents general information only. Before making any financial or investment decisions, we recommend you consult a financial planner to take into account your personal investment objectives, financial situation and individual needs. This information is based on our personal circumstance and it will be different for everyone. Information provided on this website is general in nature and does not constitute financial advice.
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