A day at the beach usually begins well.
There’s the careful packing, the excitement during the drive, that first glimpse of blue ocean and lots of squealing with delight (the kids and me) as we walk through the sand seeking out the perfect spot.
Leaving isn’t nearly as much fun. There’s the whinging, the packing of wet and sand-encrusted swimmers, walking back to the car in the heat.
Then there was the time I lost one of my son’s shoes.
It must have fallen out of the top of one of the many overfilled bags I was carrying. I didn’t even have the decency to lose both so we had one sandal taunting us the entire trip home.
Giovanni, my son, wasn’t impressed. He has several pairs of shoes but had become attached to the blue sandals and wore them most days. As a result of my misdemeanour he went shoeless for two days until I bought him a new pair that was almost exactly the same as the one we had lost.
Summer can be costly which is why BIG W is our go-to for affordable summer essentials. They have everything we need for guaranteed family fun, and all for under $10.
Here are some items we recently picked up:
Zogg Goggles $5
Goggles are one of those items (along with single shoes) that tend to get left behind at beaches or public pools so we are constantly having to replace them. At just $5 a pair it’s not as traumatic an event as when we we’re buying them at the kid’s swimming school for $25 each – and they’re just as good.
Top Comments
I'd like to see products labeled to indicate the standard of the manufacturers' working conditions and environmental impact. Companies a who do the right thing deserve the credit and other companies can be encouraged to do better. I'd be massively impressed with a department store doing this for its customers.
We recently acquired a Big W in our town and I'm surprised by how many well-priced items I find there. Better quality than I expected too.
That's what you get when you use (exploit) factories in developing countries. Good value for us....huge cost/toll on others.
Have you asked the workers in these countries what they think? Doesn't look like such a good deal from our perspective but our alternative to low paid factory work is the dole - theirs is back breaking work in the fields, begging or prostitution. Privileged people in rich countries trying to take this choice away from the poorest people in the world leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And of course if you feel strongly about it you can always choose to pay quite a lot more and buy things only made in first world countries.