Budget Weekend Challenge with Ford KA - Part 1

Over the Welsh half term while we had the chance to try out the new Ford KA+ for a few days, it was perfect timing in fact as our Van had to have an accelerator belt repaired so we were really looking forward to driving something far more economical for a while.

I have to admit I didn't know what to expect as my mother had one of the older style KA's for a while and even though it was a nice nippy car it was very small and not something that would be suitable for our out-going family but the new KA+ was the complete opposite and was extremely spacious. It has some pretty cool tech updates including heated seats and rear parking sensors as well as a good size boot which easily fitted our stroller as well as the boys scooters.

After a few months of driving a heavy and pretty old Camper Van we truly embraced the silent drive as we had become somewhat accustom to our vans quirky noises while the KA was as quiet as a mouse well except for the kids of course who were extremely excited about the budget friendly weekend challenge we had ahead of ourselves. Just like the KA you get loads for your money and we had to aim to get the same with an action packed weekend with only £25 to spend.


So on the Friday we decided to pick up some goodies for a family night in and spent around £20 on some Pizza, tortilla chips and dip and a little dessert plus good for our picnics before headed home to watch Swallows and Amazons, making for a cheap and cheerful night in. We also backed some flapjacks and prepared our picnic for the next day so we could get up early and make the most of it. We decided to use our National Trust passes and visit Tredegar House and Park as we had been meaning to go for a longtime but for some reason hadn't yet so we made our way to Newport on Saturday.

When we arrived we decided to first head to the house and explore the walled garden. The kids loved running around especially as the weather had not been great of late and we all needed a good few hours in the fresh air. I'm so glad we decided to join the National Trust a few months back as we have saved so much money visiting such beautiful places. The house also had a small vegetable patch and a few little secret paths to explore.

We then went in search of some picnic benches as we had a whole cooler bag filled with sandwiches, fruit, drinks and some homemade cake and flapjacks. It may seem strange to some having a picnic in winter but we all really enjoyed it and it was such a easy and stress free way to eat while out on adventure as sitting down in a cafe with two boys can be somewhat of a challenge in itself.

After our picnic we explored Tredegar Park which is right next to the house and open to the public and it has a beautiful lake with my two boys loved looking for fish and spotting ducks. We played a game of hide and seek and tag before starting to feel the wintery chill set in. As we had saved money on bringing food with us we had enough to get the boys a little babychinno each from the very cute and quaint coffeeshop. As it was starting to get late in the afternoon we decided to head back home while both boys ended up falling asleep in the back which was probably down to it being such a smooth ride home. Check out our vlog to see what we got up too and I will be sharing our Sunday adventure with you soon.

Thanks to Ford for inviting us to try out the new KA+