by Jim
Kids + Summer = Budget Blown?
This is a question I am asking myself. How do I keep summer activities from blowing up my budget? We have found some cheap ways and some not so cheap ways to enjoy our summer instead of taking a vacation which would really blow our budget out of the sky.
For the last two years since my son was born we have forgone vacation to try to do stay-cations. But the thing is we live in the middle of nowhere, there isn’t much for anyone to in my county. Every Skook (what people call another from our county) jokes that there is just as many bars as there are churches. It is half joke, half reality, unless you want to go to a bar every night there is nothing to do.
I want my kids to enjoy their summer, but I know I have to be mindful about what we are spending, how we are spending it, and the benefit of the activity.
Here are some ways we have managed to do, plan on doing, or want to do. Each will hopefully give us some fond and everlasting moments.
1. Swimming – There are three possible places that we can swim all have their pros and cons.
Community pool – This is by far the whole family’s favorite out of the three. It is a walk in pool that is split of into two sections. The one we stay in goes up to 4 1/2 ft. I believe. It has activities in the shallow end that include 2 teeter totter that shoot water at each other, a umbrella that mists at the end, a giraffe that also shots water, and buckets that dump water. My wife and I can basically relax knowing the kids will have a good time and it is less stressful. The con is that it is $15 a day for our family. We are contemplating on getting a season pass that would cost $120, but will we go there eight more times before the end of the summer? We have gone twice this past month. So far the cost has been $30, with I am not sure how much.
My mother’s house – I am not partial of going here not because of the company, but the pool. It is a walk in – in ground pool, but it immediately goes to one foot and continues out to 8 feet. After the flood a few years ago, they have yet to get the safety up to par. This makes my wife and I a little hesitant to go often. The only cost however is the gas it takes to get to my mom’s, which I estimate at around $7.50. We have yet to go swimming here.
Local Lakes – There are two local lakes that allow swimming in the national park. They even have a little beach front. They are free to get in, and you can even reserve a pavilion that includes picnic tables and a grill to cook on. When we go here we make a whole day out of it. I would estimate our cost to drive there to be around $5.00. So what’s wrong about this? The lake isn’t that clear and my wife really can’t stand swimming there. So far we have gone once here.
2. Movies – Every Tuesday the movie theater has a family movie for only $1 per person. This also includes a kid’s activity and lunch at the conclusion. This is amazing, and we can’t wait to take the kids to these. We also plan to do the local drive-in once this summer. On car load night, it will only cost us $14 to fit as many people in our Grand Caravan.
3. Festivals, Fairs, and Block Parties – By far probably my favorite part of the summer. I love all the music festivals that pop up during this great season as well as all different other festivals. A few I have went to over the last few years include a Pow-Wow, Folk Festival, Jazz Festival, Pepper Festival, and Craft Fairs. Most of the time these are dirt cheap, we spend the day, and have lots of fun.
4. Hiking – The whole family don’t get to do this much, because of my wife’s medical conditions. But I do try to go at least once a year to my favorite place in the world (a hiking trail that includes waterfalls.) Earlier this month my daughter and I were able to share this place with both my wife and son for the first time. As well as her brother and his family.
5. Zoo – This is a must in our family. Our kids just simply love this experience (we go at least six times a year.) Only thing is, this is yearly expense as we buy a membership and it is coming up on our renewal. I actually plan to upgrade the membership this year to be able to do a few additional things while we are there. Last year, I estimated the cost that it would pay itself back after the second time. This year, it probably will be closer to four times. But it will be well worth it.
6. Home Improvement Workshops – All the major Home Improvement Stores hold a monthly free workshop for kids. This is great for my daughter, as she gets to learn to build cool things and have fun doing it. This month she will be building a Bug House at Home Depot and a Turbo snail with a motor and a TurboTaco Truck at Lowes.
7. Museums & Factories – We haven’t really gone to many of these yet as the kids are a little too young to understand, but I think we might start to implement them this year. We have gone to some cool places that I wouldn’t technically consider a museum but more of a factory… Such as HersheyPark Chocolate World and the Crayola Factory. One cost money, the other was free.
How about you? How are you trying to enjoy the summer?
