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As I mentioned earlier, having 3 kids and living on a tight budget, you 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 my wife and I either came up with, or were given to us by friends. All of these tips are either free or cost very little to do.

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 as you see in my Chuck E. Cheese post 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.

4- Bike Rides. I have recently gotten into mountain biking and love going out to Whiskeytown Recreation Area to ride around. So one day this 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 balls only costs a few bucks and it has become one of his favorite things to do this 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 then can color in it or do whatever. They have spent many fun filled hours on it and it cost very little to set up.

7- Pool. No, not the $35,000 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 back in May I brought home this 575 gallon ring pool and the kids were in it almost everyday this summer. 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. Fun, cheap, way to have some fun in the water.

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 then if they were at the theater and they used and abused me! Total cost, $10. Another fun twist on this is a family game night.

9- Use Someone Elses Pool. My in-laws have a pool and we were in it a lot this summer. 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 Redding and my wife took the kids a couple times to let them check out their own books with their very own library cards. They thought they were pretty cool and it was totally free. It really sparked some good summer reading and made the kids feel special.

Have Fun!

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Tags:   Frugal Living7 Comments