Savings Sunday - Activities

One thing that can really take a financial beating is our entertainment and activities.  Dates cost money, theatres cost money, going to the zoo, museums, theme parks, restaurants, movie rentals, games, swimming... they all cost money.  But really, who wants to stay home and do nothing?  Especially when you have kids!  Going out is so much fun, and experiencing what our local areas have to offer can be such an eye opener.

So... try to find free activities (or mostly free).

Not all, but some of our lovely parks and zoos and museums offer 'free days'.  If you wish, you can put in a donation, which I recommend by the way.  However, you don't need to pay full price to get in, and you can still experience a bit of what is there.  For example, we were lucky enough to be in the area of St Paul/Minneapolis Children's Museum during their free weekend!  They have one free weekend per month.  We gave a donation, and got to experience the awesome museum for a fraction of the price!  The kids had a great time, too!  And even though we couldn't spend the whole day there, we still got 'our money's worth' as it were.  Note- it is usually busier at this time, so these are the times to try out new things to see if you wish to spend more money to go later on in the year.

Our local area has a splash park that is free to use at certain times of each day.  Afterwards, people need to leave and the gate is closed from free access, but those two hours are great!  I went for the first time ever with the kids, and they couldn't stop talking about it.  I'm thinking this should be a weekly thing.  Fun thing to do as well is to pack a picnic lunch (to avoid spending too much later on restaurant food, since it closes at 11am... when the tumblies begin their rumblies).

Parks in general are a great free activity.  Bringing picnics, a few toys, and meeting with friends always makes for a fun time!  Remember to do your part and clean up your trash before you leave!  Why not help the grounds and clean up anything else you come upon as well?  Good teaching experience for the kiddos, too!

Movies don't have to be expensive.  Netflix is a great option (I prefer it to satellite, and I think I'd rather not have satellite and just pay for Netflix...$8/month is a great price).  Watching something you already own is cheap too, right?  And I prefer to watch in my own home, with our own popcorn and pizza.  But if you just really need to get out of the house (I don't blame you!), going to a cheap theatre is an option.  And sometimes if you are lucky you can find boxes of cereal with free tickets, or other coupons elsewhere for a date night.  Costco has packages you can purchase as well.  I've never done so myself, but it may be a cheaper option overall.

Going for walks or bike rides are great activities, and joining the church softball team might be just the thing to get your muscles working too.  There are a surprising number of activities we can take part in that cost next to nothing!  Please, feel free to comment about the sorts of fun free (or close-to-free) things that you like to do as a family!