The following is a regular feature by Kyle of Rather-Be-Shopping. If you like this post, consider visiting Kyle’s blog or subscribing to his RSS feed.
Summer is in full swing here in northern California with temperatures hovering near triple digits this past week. Having 3 kids and living on a tight budget, my wife and I have to come up with some affordable ways to get out of the house during the summertime and have some fun as a family. So here are some tips that we have came up with, or were given by friends. All of these tips are either free or cost very little to do. Have fun!
1- Barnes and Noble Storytime. Our local B&N has a free storytime every Saturday morning and evening. Typically a very engaging person reads a story to the kids, often with a guitar or some other instruments and the kids love it. Totally free. Once the story is over let your child pick out some books and find a quiet corner to read to them or let them try and read. Always fun.
2- Local Parks. We are lucky that the town we live in has some very nice parks, often shady, where the kids can run around and play. Great way to let them burn off some energy and meet some new friends. One of the parks in our town, called Kids Kingdom, even has a water spouting volcano and a bunch of fun ways to get wet and cool off. Again, totally free.
3- Chuck E. Cheese. Now I know many of you are probably saying, “come on Kyle, that ain’t frugal”. But I would argue that last summer I was able to take two kids and eat and play for a couple hours for $20. Secret was a coupon for the family. Not bad for a special occasion during the summer. Gosh their pizza is horrible, but the kids don’t seem to care.
4- Bike Rides. I have recently gotten into mountain biking and love going out to Whiskeytown Recreation Area to ride around. So one day last summer I decided I would pack a lunch, load up all our bikes and take the kids out to Whiskeytown for the afternoon. It was great! I had scouted out some flat bike trails they could do with me and we had a blast. Even had a science lesson when we ran across a rattlesnake (not literally). My son had a million questions about the rattlesnake, some of which I could not answer so we came home and went on the computer and did some research. One of the best days of the summer and it only cost us $5 for a day pass.
5- Golf Driving Range. My 5 year old has been getting into golf because I have been taking him out to the driving range with me and letting him hit a few. He loves it. The driving range has some small clubs he can use for free and he swings away for awhile and then we go over to the putting green and putt around for a while. Most driving ranges have small clubs that can used for free, just ask. Bucket of golf balls only costs a few bucks and it became one of his favorite things to do last summer.
6- Scrapbook. My wife put together an old binder for our 5 year old and 2 year old and loaded it with paper and partitioned it off by letter of the alphabet. The kids then look through old magazines and cut out pictures and then glue them onto the appropriate letter of the alphabet page. They love it. We just used some old binders and paper that we had laying around in the office. They can color their scrapbook, load it with stickers, or whatever. They have spent many fun filled hours on it and it cost very little to set up.
7- Swimming Pool. No, not the $40,000 variety but the $50 variety from Wal-Mart. As much as I would love to put in a swimming pool, that just ain’t going to happen anytime soon. So last May I brought home a 575 gallon ring pool and the kids were in it almost everyday. The best $50 I spent all year. On the really hot days I even climbed in with them! It came with a little filter which I cleaned out and filled with a chlorine tablet once a week. A cool and cheap way to have some fun in the water this summer.
8- Movie Night at Home. To take my family out to the movies and get a snack/drink would cost at a minimum $35-40. So instead, a few times this summer we had a family movie night at home where we let the kids pick out a movie and we popped some popcorn and I served as the waiter and brought them whatever they wanted. I think they had more fun than if they were at the theater. Plus they could use and abuse their waiter! Total cost, $10. Another fun twist on this is a family game night. Also, check to see if your local movie theater has a ’summer kids day’ where tickets and popcorn are only $1.
9- Use Somebody Else’s Pool. My in-laws have a pool and we were in it quite a bit last summer. Several of our neighbors also have pools and fortunately we have become good friends with them. When all else fails, just turn on the sprinklers and let the kids go at it. Throw in a few water balloons and your afternoon is set.
10- Local Library. We have a new library here in our town and last summer my wife took the kids a few times to let them check out their own books with their very own library cards. They thought they were pretty cool, and better yet, it was totally free. It really sparked some good summer reading and made the kids feel special.
Please share your own tip so we can all benefit and enjoy a frugal summer this year. Now in keeping with tradition here are some of the best online coupon codes on my website right now. Hope they can help you save some money on purchases you may be making.
Abe Books.com
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Expiration: 6/03/09
See All: Abe Books Coupons
Domestications.com
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Expiration: 5/31/09
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Famous Footwear.com
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Coupon Code: None Needed
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Kmart.com
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Lands End.com
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Lord & Taylor.com
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Snapfish.com
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Tractor Supply Company.com
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Expiration: 5/30/09
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Photo by kamshots.
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Great list! We do most of these. With four kids– movie night at home is one of our favorites!
Story time at B&N could be a punishment for our kids . . . aged 9-13. Just kidding!
DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com’s last blog post..The 550th Post: Top 10 Most Popular Posts
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Wow – great ideas. We go to the local park and play in the creek alot.
Denise’s last blog post..Quiznos Q Club
I highly recommend bicycling! Here in the Portland, OR area we have some pretty good bicycle lanes on the roads that make road biking mores safe and enjoyable. So far, I have not done any mountain biking, so I will have to look into that.
Thanks,
Nate
Nate @ Debt-free Scholar’s last blog post..Why Every Student Should Join Twitter Immediately!
Kyle, I agree on the Chuck E. Cheese thing. It’s the coupon that really makes it a good deal. And when you are stuck in an apartment like we are, taking our boy to an air conditioned place where he can run around like a maniac while we sit and watch is great lol. Plus, we can play skeeball together and Hubby and our boy can enjoy video games outside the house.
We’re also lucky enough to have a pool in our complex, so that’s where I take our son during the summer weeks when we start to get a little stir crazy. New venue with no gas wasted!
Amiyrah’s last blog post..Stockpile Double Agent series- jarred spaghetti sauce
I haven’t done the Chuck E. Cheese thing yet but I keep thinking that I need to. Around here, Nashville, there is usually a coupon if you buy 60 tokens you get 40 free. 100 tokens would last us a long time. Something one of my friends does, they eat dinner then head to Chuck E. Cheese & purchase a dessert pizza for about $4.
Lorie’s last blog post..Army Crawl
Get our in nature! I like to put food and recreation in the same outing – and luckily here in the Pacific NW that is easy to do.
For $6.50 I can buy a shellfish harvest license and go clamming/mussels/crabbing for the whole year. Kids under 14 are free. The grandkids enjoy getting wet and digging in the dirt. I Luv fresh clams!
For a fishing license and a pole from a garage sale and some time spent digging sand shrimp, I can fish the bay and river banks all year long. Kids under 14 are free again. I Luv fresh fish!
If you know the good ones from the bad, go on a nature walk and gather fresh mushrooms. They dry and freeze (sauteed first) very well.
During berry season, we’ll be out gathering all kinds of berries for jams, jellies, drying, freezing, syrups, and fruit leathers.
And for a $10 permit, I can go cut 2 cords of wood here over a 3 week period. And have a nice picnic lunch on the tailgate in the woods afterwards.
All of the above are good exercise, and either bring in food or firewood for the house also. Plus, we usually take a picnic lunch and snacks and enjoy a picnic. It’s the Best!!!
These are great tips. I never considered that I might be able to get a pool that cheaply. My kids would love that.
There are also the Build and Grow free projects for kids that Lowe’s sponsors. They do one or two a month but you have to register ahead of time. The kids get to actually build a project they get to keep, along with a cute little Lowe’s apron and safety glasses.
FunFrugalMom’s last blog post..Free Crafts For Kids
We started washing our hands in cold water to save water and the energy to heat it up. When running the hot water to wash hands, it would take a while for the warm water to make it to the sink, and we usually finished washing our hands before the water got really warm so we ended up wasting water as well as energy to make hot water that we weren’t even benefiting from!
annie’s last blog post..I Will Survive
As far as the popcorn goes, we buy a 50 lb bag of popcorn at Sam’s Club (we just had to get a new one and it was $16.18. The bag lasted us more than a year, and we eat a lot of popcorn). We bought popcorn oil there too ($9.68 a bottle; we used 3 bottles for the 50 lb bag), and salt (4lbs for .87). We bought a stovetop popper at Target for $20. It’s a lot less money than microwave popcorn, and it pops bigger, too. We really like it.
It’s usually 115º+ here in the summer, so in the summer, we tend to stay indoors (kind of the opposite of cold, snowy areas, because in the winter is a great time to play outside here). We homeschool through the summer and take off for the days when I can. My children are small. On the days when I can, they enjoy playing dress up, playing with clay, dancing, painting with watercolors, and playing board games.
If you want to take the children to a park here–even one that squirts water, you’ll find that the parks are empty during the day, as the play equipment is too hot (you’ll get burned on it). After 8 pm, though, the parks are full. The sun has gone down and it’s cooled to 105º.
We do play in the sprinklers in the early evening.
There’s absolutely no reason not to use coupons. I’ve become very fond of them, especially lately with prices in the grocery skyrocketing. Why wouldn’t you use coupons, its like free money!