We will be gone all day today (and I should be getting ready as I type this) so I won't be posting any of my ideas today. However here's a GREAT Family Fun Friday post I found over at Mom's The Word.
Phoebe from "Cents To Get Debt Free" is hosting Finding Freedom Friday again and the topic is frugal family fun!
It is amazing how much fun a family can have and spend little or no money. There are free concerts in the park, free plays, the library has all sorts of free events that we used to take our children to (puppet shows, magic acts, fun science experiments, storybook readings, etc.).
Sometimes you can find certain museums and other special places that are free once a month. Other places have certain days where they are heavily discounted. All you need to do is do a little research or ask around.
Making crafts can be a great source of family fun and the library is full of books that you can borrow for free. Or you can find a mini play for you and your family to do for friends, neighbors or other family members. Sometimes a local church or theater will have a family-friendly production in which familes are urged to try out for a part and participate together.
The newspaper is often a wonderful source of information about all the free or nearly free entertainment that is happening that weekend.
Another weekend favorite, when the kids were little, were yard sales. I would give them some money and would take them with me when I went. They enjoyed shopping around and being able to buy something and I enjoyed teaching them the art of being frugal! (Not to mention the great math lesson for them of counting out exact change when possible).
We also enjoyed several camping trips. We would camp with our families and siblings, or with our friends (sometimes both!). The kids loved the campfire and all the family or friends around.
Go down to the water (if you live near it) and take a walk along the beach. Or go to a local park and play. During the summer, especially, there are lots of people there.
Many times we would take a walk around our neighborhood (sometimes with other neighbors and their kids) and our children would ride their bikes. Sometimes we all would ride our bikes.
Sometimes we would go over to the local school and play basketball, baseball, or let the kids play on the toys. Sometimes we would pack up their bikes and go to a bike trail and let the kids ride while we walked (or rode).
You can save money at the movie theater by going to a matinee instead of an evening show. You can save more money by not going at all and waiting for it to come out on dvd or, better yet, wait for it to come out on t.v.
We also would borrow movies from the library (or from a friend), pop pocorn and have a movie night. We enjoyed having a game night too and managed to add all sorts of fun games to our collection. We still enjoy watching movies or playing games together.
Another thing we like to do to have fun together is to invite a family (or families) over. You can invite them over for hamburgers or just have a potluck meal where everyone brings something. For that matter, you can skip the meal and invite them over for dessert (or popcorn!).
I know the subject is family frugal fun, but you're not going to have any fun if you're not intentional. Years slip by, kids grow up, and before you know it they're off to college.
You can have all the wonderful ideas in the world but they don't mean a thing if you don't put them into action. So have some fun with your family this weekend! To see more posts on this topic please go here!
POSTED BY MOMSTHEWORD AT 12:01 AM
LABELS: CHILDREN, FRUGAL
