I spent £20 on a day out in Manchester with my son including cinema, food and a museum

Any parent will tell you that the school holidays are expensive.

If you go away, you're spending money; if you stay at home, you're spending money. And with the weather we've had so far this summer, families are forking out more than usual as they head to indoor attractions to escape the rain.

But days out don't always have to leave you skint - it's all about knowing where to go and when to go.

To prove just how much you can cram into a day out on the cheap, I took my son to Manchester and managed to pack in a visit to the cinema, a trip to the museum and go for a bite to eat for under £20 - for BOTH of us.

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Our first stop was the Vue cinema inside the Printworks.

During weekends and in the school holidays it has Mini Mornings screenings, which cost £2.49 a ticket if you book online, or £3.49 on the day.

The film we watched was Super Mario, but it changes each week and is always a family-friendly movie. All of the seats are now recliners at the venue too, so you're watching in comfort.

After all that relaxing we were ready for a bite to eat, so headed to Yard and Coop, in Edge Street, which is only a five minute walk away in the Northern Quarter and opens daily at 12pm.

Famous for its buttermilk fried chicken, it offers a kids eat free deal in the school holidays.

My son only just qualified - as it goes up to the age of 12 - but the Chicken Nugz and fries was plenty big enough, despite him being as 'starvin' as ever. The other choices were vegan fried chicken or chicken mayo burger and all come with fries.

It does say on the menu they can swap fries for mac n cheese, but that's no longer the case, however they do get ice cream for dessert too.

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