I have just got back from Nottingham Video Games Expo. It was a last minute thing where I grabbed a Sunday family ticket about a week before. It was under £20 for 2 adults and two kids. We had hardly any money, but we still had a lovely time. Stalls had small pieces for sale for example, I picked up a fine Final Fantasy IIV coaster for £3. We got 4 cakes for £10. We did the tombola for £2 and one of us one a jigsaw! For those who haven't been keeping count that totalled £35. For a family of 4 that is value for money. Of course if you have more to spend there are plenty of great rare and collectable games and merch. However, the real reason I wanted to post about this is that you don't need to spend a lot, as so much is included in the ticket price. 

Talks, chatting to the indie game developers, playing games on all sorts of hardware. The other thing is, you can get stuff you see there later online. Especially the games. You can find them on Itch when you get home, which is exactly what I am doing right now. It's all there waiting at the game expo so, even if you are broke you can still spend a good afternoon at one.