Entertain Your Family Cheaply With Parks

Tip #282 - Entertain Your Family Cheaply With Parks. Every summer and winter break I hear about my friends' visits to Disney World, Great Wolf Lodge (an indoor waterpark resort), local amusement parks, arcades, make-your own pottery places, professional theatre, and similar costly activities. All of these places are entertaining for children, are impressive to adults, and cost a fair amount of money. And if you have the money to do these types of activities every day of winter break or every week during the summer, then you don't have to worry about how your money is being spent. But if the idea of spending $60 per child per day for an amusement park or blowing $30 for an afternoon at an arcade doesn't appeal to you, look to parks for cheap entertainment.

No matter where you live, there are parks nearby, I am sure. They may be local playgrounds, county parks, state parks, wildlife areas, nature trails, or national parks. What they all share is that they all can provide low-cost entertainment and educational activities for you and your family. If you have young children, you probably know every local playground within a 5-mile radius of your house. And after a while, it might not seem like a big treat to go to the same playground over and over again. But what if you go outside your community and plan an outing to a playground in the next town? Look online for a town or city's website, and they will often describe the parks that are contained within their limits. A new place with different equipment can have a huge impact for entertainment purposes. Try to find reviews of playgrounds or talk to people who live nearby about which are the best parks around. I have found that most towns and cities have many average-type playgrounds, but there is often one playground that is a showcase of their town. It might include the latest play equipment, zip lines, water sprays, and other fancy features. Here is a town near my parents that has an amazing playground with a kids' castle in it. No admission required. My children would LOVE to spend the day here.

If you want to go somewhere for the afternoon beyond a playground, check out state or county parks in your area. Features at these types of parks may include hiking trails, water activities, and beaches. Even if you are not the outdoorsy type or if it is winter, some of them may have indoor educational buildings to explore. Just doing a quick search of state parks in my area (Northern Virginia), I came up with a wide variety of parks within an hour or two of my home: State Parks of Virginia.

Talk to people at the state or town/city parks to find out if there are any other consortium of parks in your area such as by the region. Around here there is a Northern Virginia Park Authority which is a group of parks in multiple nearby counties. These also happen to be the parks our family use the most. These parks are so varied that you don't feel like you are doing a typical hiking trail in the woods. The parks included swimming pools and waterparks for low-cost, historic homes, miniature golf, gardens, in addition to the typical playgrounds and hiking trails. Going to just one park a week from this group of parks would take us half a year!

Of course, we all know about National Parks and how great some of them are - such as the Grand Canyon or the Smoky Mountains. But even if you don't live near a well-known national treasure, there may be some smaller parks, beaches, battlefields, historic buildings, or wilderness areas near where you live that are run by the National Park Service. The best thing to do is go to the National Park Service website and choose your location to find out what is offered. When I choose my state, I see such varied locations as the Shenandoah Mountains (probably the most well-known around here) to civil war battlefields to historic homes to beaches to colonial farms to waterfalls. Even if I am not an outdoor wilderness, hiking-type person, there is so much to see through the National Park Service. What I like most about these options is two-fold:
1. most of them have indoor interpretive centers which are wonderful and educational on colder days, and
2. admission is usually by the carload - either $5 or $10. For a day's worth of entertainment, it's hard to beat that!

In Real Life (IRL) - My family and I just spent about 10 days in Florida visiting our parents. While we would have loved to have been handed a vacation package to spend a week at Disney's parks free of charge, we were not. And we wanted to keep costs down on the entertainment portion of our trip. What we did instead was look at the parks surrounding the area where our folks live. We spent under $50 to entertain all 5 us for 10 days! And we had so much fun! Most of the activities we did were the types that I mentioned above - parks of various types. We were in the Palm Beach County area of Florida. And as a quick example to show how cheap you can entertain a family using natural resources, here is what we did for 10 days and their cost:

Day 1: Visited Jupiter Lighthouse and beach - we did not climb the lighthouse because we did not have time as this was part of our drive down. This would have cost money. Cost: Free
Day 2: Went to City of Boca Raton's Patch Reef park. This park had brand new playground equipment and a splash pad with cannons and spraying palm trees. Cost: Free
Day 3: Went to City of Deerfield Beach's beach. Spent all day in the sand and ocean. Cost: Free
Day 4: Went to City Of Boca Raton's Sugar Sand Park. Spent time in the indoor science explorium and outside in their oversized, amazing maze playground. Cost: $10 for the science explorium (donation).
Day 5: Spent the day at an indoor flea market. Cost: $5 in fresh fruit purchase
Day 6: Went to Boca Children's Museum and a farmer's market. Cost: $9 for museum (with coupons - would have been $15) and $9 for fruit and jam purchase.
Day 7: Swimming in my parent's condominium pool and playing at a City of Delray Beach's playground. Cost: Free
Day 8: Went to the beach and playground on Miami Beach. Spent the day walking around South Beach and playing on the beachside playground and the sand. Cost: $1.25 to park (person leaving parking spot still had time on meter so this would have been $4).
Day 9: Went to Arthur Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge taking a hike and spending time in the interpretive center. We saw alligators and turtles in their natural habitat! Cost: $5 per carload.
Day 10: Went to Palm Beach County's Wakodahatchee Wetlands. We saw lots of wildlife! Cost: Free

The total cost of our activities including purchases was: $34.25 for 5 people for 10 days! My husband and I, along with our 3 children saw alligators, turtles, and birds, picked fruit, shopped, swam, built sand castles, climbed playground equipment, sprayed water at each other, played pretend in a children's size boat, supermarket, and bank, took a hike, ran around, learned about Florida wildlife and flora, and enjoyed fresh air, exercise, and sunshine for less than $5 per day. Take that, Disney!

Now that we are home, we plan to look into more of the local, state, and national parks in our area to find some more inexpensive, educational, close-to-home fun. What parks are near you that you can enjoy for low cost? For other low-cost ideas, check out Frugal Fridays.

Hold A Party At Home

Tip #206 - Hold A Party At Home. One of the main ways to keep costs down on anything is to do it yourself. But there are some things you really want to consult an expert for. Heart surgery? Probably want an experienced surgeon to do that. Rebuild a transmission on your car? Probably want an expert for that too. But how about cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, painting a room, cooking meals, or running a party? All of these things are activities that a reasonably fit, active person could do. It may take some time to do them. And there may be a bit of a learning curve, but it can be done by YOU for much less than the professionals. This is one area that most frugal people will agree – the more you do yourself the more you save money, especially if you have more time than money.

One thing you may do a lot of, especially if you have several children is hold birthday parties. And once you have thrown one party, you have thrown them all. They all follow the same general game plan. Once you have a theme, make an itinerary: a game(s) or activity, a craft, and food – either a meal or cake and ice cream. Then when you have the general layout for the party, you can plan the details.

The nice thing about giving lots of parties is the more you give them, the less cost each one entails because items can be used over and over again. Instead of a one-time use plastic tablecloth, buy a nice flannel-backed one that can be reused. Plates in general colors can be used for multiple parties – so buy a bulk package. Leftover craft supplies and party favors can be used for future parties. Games can be played more than once.

So, let’s talk about some examples. If your youngest daughter wants a Dora party, you may do an activity like a treasure hunt that Dora goes on. A craft might be one with a Mexican theme. And a piñata may round out the party. Serve some cake and ice cream on brightly colored paper goods and the party is done. Suppose your next party is for your oldest daughter and is a princess party – mix in some red paper plates from the Dora party with some pink ones. Red and pink make a very pretty, feminine combination. Use the same tablecloth from the previous child’s party. Some favors from the previous party’s goody bag might translate well into game prizes for a few of the children. Cups that are clear that were bought in bulk for the previous party can be used again. Suppose you son wants a Spiderman party for his birthday, red paper plates from the same package can still be used, along with the same tablecloth. Mix it in with some Spiderman-themed decorations, and guests are none the wiser. Use the same moonbounce for all three parties, and the cost per use is suddenly quite small. Cook food yourself in advance, make decorations on your own, and shop all year for small party favors, and you can do a party yourself quite cheaply. Best of all, parties you hold yourself are unique. Kids will enjoy going to a party that hasn’t been done over and over again. You will enjoy having more money in your pocket.

In Real Life (IRL) – We held my oldest daughter’s 8th birthday yesterday. We had 16 children at our house including my two daughters and kept our party cost to $125. Now that may sound like a lot of money. And yes, I could have done it cheaper – much cheaper, but I chose to buy pizza from a favorite, local, NY-style pizza place, and my daughter wanted a store-bought ice-cream cake, which often costs more than regular cakes, and especially more than baking one yourself. Had I done away with feeding the kids dinner and made the cake myself, the whole party would have cost about $50!

In the past few years, my daughter has been invited to several Chuck-E-Cheese parties, many Build-A-Bear parties, too-many-to-count gymnastics parties and the a few bowling and swim parties mixed in. Frankly, these parties are expensive. I know; I’ve looked into them. $250 for a gymnastics party for up to 20 children is the norm. That does not include cake or party favors. When all is said and done, a birthday party could end up costing well over $300. That’s not what I want to spend on a child’s birthday party – especially when I have three children. And if I were to spend that much, I’d want it to be unique – not a party that everyone else has.

Our carnival party was different than most other parties we’ve been to. And even though we have been to a couple of carnival-themed parties, we were able to make ours unique because we planned it ourselves, using our creativity and materials that we had on hand. We didn’t rely on a chain store, mass-produced idea. So what did we do for $125? I’ll break it down:

$0 – Invitations (I sent these electronically for the first time, saving about $7 in stamps plus the cost of the invitation)
$48 - Pizza Dinner From Local Pizza Place (could have easily been cut out if I wanted to)
$23 - Ice Cream Cake from Supermarket (could have been cheaper by baking a cake)
$1 – Plates (only needed some dinner plates; used leftover cake plates, cups, and napkins from previous parties)
$3 – Neon Poster Board for signs (bought with coupons at Michael’s)
$2 – Popcorn bags (bought with coupons at Michael’s)
$1.75 – Popped popcorn (using kernals and butter we had; cost estimated)
$0 – Goody Bags (left over from previous party)
$18 – Prizes for each of the games that became the party favors (bought throughout the year on clearance and at thrift stores. For slightly more than $1 per person, each child received a Duncan Yo-Yo, a tin box, a fancy pencil, a sheet of stickers, and some fun carnival candy buttons and Pixie Sticks
$12.50 – Bead craft (bought with coupons at Michael’s, with plenty left over to use at a future party)
$.25 – Tickets for the kids to use for each game (bought at yard sale)
$1 – Moonbounce (original cost years ago was $25 at a thrift store – been used well over two dozen times that the cost per use is now under $1)
$0 – 5 Carnival Games (Three were kids' toys we had in the house – a bowling set, a Whack-the-Mole Game and a ring-toss game. The other two were handmade – penny pitch into cut out milk cartons, and a bean-bag toss into a foam board clown with holes, made for a previous party and reused)
$3 – Tattoos
$2.50 – Face Paints
$10 – help for two hours from the teenage girl across the street

Total cost for entertaining and feeding 16 children for 3 hours - $126 or less than $8 per child. Again, I could have easily cut the cost down by not serving dinner or serving homemade food for much less, but it’s not something I wanted to do. But as you can see, food was the biggest part of our budget so it would easily be cheaper without some of it.

Parties really are much less expensive to do at home. It does take a fair amount of work along with some creativity, but as I mentioned earlier, once you do one party, you just have to change a few details to do the rest of them, and it becomes quite easy to handle. Why not try to plan one yourself? (Or you can always call Chuck-E-Cheese and spend twice as much. :-))

Set Limits

Saving Money Tip #178 - Set Limits. Most of us like to do fun things. Most of us like to spend money. Most of us like to eat out, go on vacations, and do other things that we enjoy. And most of us can do what we want to do - as long as we set limits. If we enjoy collecting mystery books for example, there can be a place in your budget to buy some books. But collecting mystery books doesn’t mean that you need to buy every new mystery book that comes out each year. Set your limit at one mystery book per week or one per month and you can still have fun with your hobby without breaking the bank.

Same thing for eating out. If you like to eat out, put it in your budget. You can eat out once per week or only once per month if that’s all you can afford or even only for special occasions if money is really tight. It doesn’t mean you need to eat out every night just because you want to or would enjoy doing so. Set some limits and you can enjoy the things you like to do.

Without these limits, people tend to overspend. They go to the record store (are they still called record stores these days?) and buy as many CDs as they want. When instead, they should have a preset limit of how much they can spend. Then they should buy accordingly within that limit. If you go to the store not knowing how much you “can” spend, what will stop you from spending more than your budget allows? Nothing. Instead, go to the store with a plan in mind. Or go to the wine-tasting event with a set dollar amount that you have left in your entertainment budget for the month. Or pick the cheaper restaurant over the more expensive one unless you want to go over your dining out limit for the month. Activities can still be enjoyed. Hobbies can still be done, and life can still be lived. You don’t need to “go all out” to have fun.

In Real Life – We went to a county fair this past weekend with our three children. We were fortunate because my husband’s company insures the event, so the person in charge had given him free tickets for ten rides. Otherwise, we probably would not have gone as the county fair is not even in the county where we live. When we got there, we ran into one of my husband’s good friends, who happens to live in that county. It was great to run into friends – especially ones who have two children the same ages as ours. When we got there, I told my girls they could go on four rides each and that was it. And I figured I would put the baby (our 2-year old) on two rides. I figured that would make for a nice day without having to spend any money of our own.

Ride tickets were not cheap for this event. Each ride was between three and five tickets with each ticket costing $1, although you could buy 24 for $20, making each ride cost slightly less. Our friends had a sheet of the 24 tickets and we proceeded to put our kids on the rides they wanted to go on. As I watched my husband’s friend dole out the tickets, I didn’t hear any kind of limits put on his kids. Neither he nor his wife said their kids could only do four rides each or even eight rides each. Instead, they handed out the tickets as each child chimed in he/she wanted to go on a particular ride. After about six rides, they ran out of tickets and the husband went and bought another sheet of 24 tickets, again handing them out as the children wanted them.

In the middle of going on rides, we passed a few games that of course our children wanted to play. Now I am not against spending a couple dollars here and there for a ride or two or a game or two, but I was aghast at the prices. This particular game our children wanted to do cost $5 each! I was shocked. I told my kids in no uncertain terms that I was not going to pay $5 for them to play a game to win a stuffed animal that would just clutter up our house. My husband's friend surprisingly didn’t say no and handed over a $10 bill for both of his kids to play, and for each one to win a small stuffed animal.

It is easy for me to be judgmental about the situation after what I observed. But in reality, I didn’t have any idea if this fair was in their “budget” or not. This fair was in their neck of the woods after all. So maybe it is something they look forward to year after year and budget $100 for the event. I know we go to a fair in our Town every year, and we set a budget for it, so this very well could have been the case for them, too. (This fair was an “extra” for us, though, which is why I didn’t feel the need to spend anything there.) However, just when it started to pour down rain and we were parting company, my husband’s friend turned to him and said, “Wow, I just spent $60 there!” He seemed pretty surprised by it, according to my husband. When my husband told me this later, it confirmed my suspicions – that they hadn’t set limits on what they were going to spend there.

I think our kids had a fine time at the fair even with the limited number of rides we allowed them to do. It might not make me the most popular mom, but hopefully the kids will thank us later (probably not!) because we have enough money to put them through college due to limits we put on other things. What does everyone think? Does anyone else do this?

Beware The Hidden Costs of Cruising

Saving Money Tip #175 - Beware The Hidden Costs of Cruising. Taking a cruise can be a fabulous vacation. It may even be an economical vacation. But when you plan one, make sure you figure in ALL costs related to the cruise, not just the $299 special that the ads throw at you. There are specials for cruises going on all of the time – especially right before a ship sales you can get some good deals. Remember, however, to add in port charges and fees, insurance if you want it, tips, transportation to the port, tolls and parking if you drive, extras while you are on board such as drinks or photos, and any excursions you plan to take once you reach port. These prices can double the cost of the amount you expected to pay.

Cruising might still be a good deal if you are going to spend a lot of money on a vacation anyway – by going out to fancy dinners each night, participating in lots of activities, or by staying at a fancy resort hotel. It would not be a good deal, if your idea of a dinner out on vacation would usually be a Shoney’s or a fried chicken joint. It probably won’t be economical for you if you normally just lie at a pool or a beach when you travel, and it probably won’t be comparatively cheap if your idea of vacation is driving to a destination and sightseeing.

On a cruise, you are paying for all-you-can eat food, activities ‘round the clock, entertainment in the form of nightly shows, pampering in the form of twice-daily makeup of your rooms, and service with a smile. If those are normally things you pay for on vacation, a cruise could very well make sense for you from a financial standpoint. If you don’t regularly do these things on vacation, then you will be paying for a lot of things that you don’t normally like or do.

Overall, I think you need to seriously consider whether the costs involved in a cruise vacation are right for you. I know many people who swear by cruising, and I can completely understand that. On the other hand, I think a lot of people would be wasting their money by taking a cruise.

In Real Life (IRL) – As I mentioned in my post last week, I am new to cruising. However, my parents have been cruising for many years – going on about one cruise each year. They completely feel like they get their money’s worth and that they would pay a lot more for a similar vacation that is not a cruise. And to some degree I agree with them. When my parents offered to take the whole family on vacation, I offered to do the research. I looked into many resorts on the East Coast that we could drive to. These were hotels with meals and some activities included. And when compared to a cruise, they were much more expensive. Once we decided that a cruise would be the most economical yet still fairly luxurious vacation, we researched all of our local options. By eliminating the cost of airfare, we figured we’d cut the price down considerably. In some ways, that was true. However, prices in less busy ports than Fort Lauderdale or Miami have more expensive cruising price tags. Many of the great deals on cruises leave out of Florida. But once you have to factor in flying there, all cost benefits are negated.

We ended up considering Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York as our departure port. And because of timing constraints, the only cruise that really fit our bill was a 5-day cruise out of New York to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada. As I mentioned my father footed the bill (Thanks, Dad!) for most of the cruise. It was up to us to pay for our transportation, tipping, and drinks or incidentals on board, and any excursions we did. Our “free” cruise ended up costing us over $500! And frankly, the cost of the cruise wasn’t all that cheap either. Our staterooms cost about $700 per person for the first two people plus about $100 each for port charges and fees. Fortunately, the $9 per day per person fuel charge was dropped from the initial estimate. Third and fourth people in the room were about $500 including fees. So for a family of 4, it cost about $2600 for the basic cruise. But once you factor in parking at the New York port ($150), tips (suggested at $10 per day per person for a total of $200), an excursion to Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia ($150), a couple of family photos on board ($30), and gas and tolls from Washington, DC ($50), you can see how the hidden costs really add up. That’s over $3,000 for a 5-day cruise for 4 people (we actually have 5 people in our family, and my dad paid for a second stateroom, since it ended up being only about $600 more, but I thought a family of 4 was a more generic example). Furthermore, we cruised on Carnival Cruise line, which is generally considered to be one of the less expensive cruise lines. In fact, when we did our research, the only other cruise that fit our criteria was a Royal Caribbean cruise, and it was much costlier.

For me, I think I would have been disappointed if I paid that much money for what we got – only because a lot of what comes with the cruise is wasted on me. I don’t care for fine dining. I’m a vegetarian, so there was only one option per meal in the dining room. I’m not a huge fan of evening entertainment. While I enjoyed the magician and other show I saw, it’s not something I would normally do or pay for on a vacation. Two of my children (2 and 4 years old) were too young to enjoy many of the activities on board, yet we paid the same price for them as if they were adults. There was a camp available, but both of them cried when we put them in. I mostly enjoyed visiting the port locations and had we done a driving vacation to those places, I’m sure our cost would be half of what the cruise cost us, err cost my dad.

So all in all, I think a cruise could be a good deal for a certain type of vacationer. But for my family, I felt like we didn’t get to utilize all that was offered on it, and when we factored in all of the extra expenses, it wasn’t worth the total cost.

Take Advantage Of Local Parks

Saving Money Tip #171 - Take Advantage of Local Parks. Did you ever notice that if you go away for the day that it sometimes feels like you went on vacation even though you were less than hour from your home? Going to local sites and bringing a picnic lunch is a wonderful and cheap way to spend summer day. Do a Google search for local parks in your area. You may be surprised at how many there are near where you live. In Northern Virginia where I live there are county-run parks, state parks, regional parks and even a few National Parks nearby. Some have greater amenities than others, but each one has its own traits and amenities. We could probably go to a different park all summer long and not cover all of them in the DC metro area.

The nice thing about parks is the entrance fees are often very low or often free. Compared to going to commercial entertainment venues, they are a great bargain. Why pretend you are navigating your way through the water playing a video game when you can rent a rowboat at a park and do it for real? Why climb in a plastic play area at the mall when you go do real climbing in the woods? Parks are often underutilized, when in fact they provide great entertainment and educational value for very little money. And often after spending the day at one of them, it fees like you were on a vacation in a faraway place. You would be surprised at all of the fun things parks can offer:

--hiking and walking trails
--waterfalls
--scenic vistas
--playgrounds
--sporting fields
--lakes
--boating
--swimming
--biking trails
--ranger-led talks
--picnic areas
--cabins and campsites
--and many others

Find a park near you that offers amenities that you like. Pack a lunch or dinner and go spend an afternoon or evening there. One day at the park often won’t even be enough to cover everything they offer. You may find yourself going back again and again or maybe inspired to check out other parks in your area when you realize what a great value they are.

In Real Life – We spent the day at a local park yesterday. We had been there twice before – once to check it out and play on their playground and once to go swimming at their waterpark. The park itself is huge and offers hiking trails, a shooting center, a waterpark, camping, cabins, sporting fields, equestrian fields, and playgrounds among other things. We could have spent several days at the park and not have done it all. But we were there to do a mini camping getaway and to take advantage of some of the park’s amenities.

Entrance to the park was free since we live within its jurisdiction. Even if we hadn’t, it would have cost a mere $7 for the whole carload. The first thing we did when we got there was participated in a ranger-led event that was both educational and fun. It included a talk by a naturalist about water critters and a walk along a pond with nets trying to catch crawfish and other water creatures. My daughter loved it (even though she didn’t catch anything). After that talk we grilled dinner of hamburgers, hotdogs, and chicken that we brought from home. The park also provided a scavenger hunt game for kids that my children played. A simple brown paper bag with a list of items written on a piece of paper stapled to it that the children should find. And if they found them all, they would get a small prize (we didn’t find everything, unfortunately). Still it was a fun activity for kids. There was also a large playground with updated equipment much different than the typical swings and monkey bars that many playgrounds offers that my children enjoyed playing at. At night there was another nature walk and talk led by a park ranger. We learned about nocturnal animals and their mating calls. We even got to hear their calls and see such animals as owls, toads, and frogs up close. We rented a campsite for $23 for the night. And toasted marshmallows and made s’mores before going to sleep.

In the morning we planned to go to the waterpark for the day. Campers get discounted rates, so for a family of four, it would only cost $16. Unfortunately, we awoke to fairly heavy rain, so we ditched the waterpark and headed home. If the rain had not gotten in the way of our plans, we would have spent a total of about $40 plus the cost of our food to spend two full days at a local park less than 30 minutes from our home. Even if we did not want to camp, we could have easily spent the day and spent absolutely nothing but the cost of our food, or we could have gone to the waterpark and spent under $30 total. Every member of our family, as well as our friends who went to the park with us, had a great time. We enjoyed it so much that we are planning to do it again in a few weeks at another local park. Besides the entertainment, we got exercise and learned a few new things, as well. And each time we go, I wonder why we don’t use our parks more often. They are a great, cheap resource to take advantage of.

Have A Fun Summer With Children On A Budget

Tip #162 - Have A Fun Summer With Children On A Budget – Since we are in the midst of summer, I have been evaluating the choices I have made so far for activities for my children. Some were expensive and some were cheap or free. However, the most important thing I did to keep our summer costs down was to set a summer budget. Cost for activities in the summer can skyrocket if you don’t pay attention. Choices for summer activities include camps, pool memberships, concerts, movies, day trips, water parks, and many other things. Costs can be as high as $4,000 per child for an 8-week summer camp or as low as free if you get very creative with community events, playgrounds, and stay-at-home activities.

Working parents don’t usually have much of a choice – they are limited to either summer camps or some other type of full-time care for their children. But stay-at-home parents have many more options and can occupy every minute of their child’s time or do very little, and it can span the range of prices.

If you haven’t already put summer activities on your budget, why not take a minute to estimate the costs associated with entertaining your children while they are out of school? Vacation is usually a separate budget line item, so that can remain separate. But estimate what it will cost to sign your children up for classes, pool memberships, camps, and miscellaneous activities for the rest of the summer (or for the whole summer and prorate it). You might find that you need to work more free activities into your schedule to keep costs down for the rest of the summer. Or maybe you have been taking advantage of several cheap community activities, and you have extra money to send your child to a camp for a week at the end of the summer. Whatever it is that you determine, make sure you make summer activities a part of your budget. It will give you freedom to know that you can afford the extra swim lessons or whether you need to save money and teach your child to swim yourself.

In Real Life (IRL) – When I made up my yearly budget, I included a line item on there for summer camps. I also included classes that we would be taking in the summer. My goal for this summer was to spend $1,000 for all three of my children’s activities excluding two vacations we have planned. $1,000 may not sound like a lot to occupy three children all summer long, but with some creative planning it can be done. One option was to join the local swim club for $600 for the summer. For that price, it doesn’t sound like a bad deal, and it’s not if you take advantage of it. Since I am not a huge fan of swimming or hanging out at the pool all summer, I chose to seek other activities. Putting all three kids in camp for the summer would have been cost prohibitive. Also, my youngest who is barely 2 doesn’t really need it. My 4-year old doesn’t really like it, which leaves me with my 7-year old who was the only one dying to go to camp.

Armed with that information, I decided to take advantage of the a-la-carte menu of summer activities. Again, my goal was to keep in under $1,000. We basically had 11 weeks total to occupy. Two of those weeks will be taken up with vacations, leaving us with 9 weeks. I tried to scatter our structured activities in with our free time so were not “bored” for too long of periods at a time. Here is how our costs played out:

--I enrolled my oldest in the camp she was “dying” to go to. She is doing a two-week session for a cost of about $325.
--She is going to two weeks of Girl Scout Camp for a cost of $145.
--She is taking one month of piano lessons for $60.
--My middle child is doing one week of “camp” at the local community center for $125.
--She is also doing two mini-weeks at the same place for $75.
--She is taking 6 weeks of gymnastics lessons at the same community center for $30.
--My 2-year old is doing 8 weeks of a “run around and get your energy out” class for $50.

The total cost of our structured activities is $810. That leaves us with $190 to play around with for water parks, ice cream or eating out, and other activities with a fee. These will be alternated into the roation of camps and classes.

In between we have been walking to the library for many story times, puppet shows, and presentations. We have ridden our bikes around town and visited playgrounds. And we have had play dates with friends. I have found that my interweaving the costly structured activities with the less-costly (or free) ones, we can keep our summer costs to a minimum and still have a lot of fun all summer long.

How to Live Cheaply in an Expensive City – Part 3

Saving Money Tip #157 - How to Live Cheaply in an Expensive City – Part 3. In Parts 1 and 2 in this series, we discussed how to live cheaply in an expensive city with regards to housing, food, and transportation. In this last part of the series, we will discuss entertaining yourself cheaply in a big city.

Along with the big costs of a city often comes expensive nightlife as well. Clubs that charge $5 cover in the suburbs are $10 or $15 in the city. Dinners out and drinks are also often two to three times the price as well. But entertainment isn’t all about eating out or going to bars. The advantages the city has over other places is that there is abundance of things going on at all hours of the day and night. For anyone who has grown up or raised children in the suburbs or in rural areas, the refrain, “there’s nothing to do” is not unfamiliar with you. I cannot imagine a child (or an adult) in the city saying the same thing. Theatre, shows, concerts, stores, eateries, parks, special events, and historical sites are just a sample of places one could go to when living in the city. The best part about these places is that they don’t have to cost a lot of money, if any at all.

People visiting a big city such as New York or Washington, DC pay big money to stay at hotels to see sites that are everyday scenery for people living there. In DC you can take advantage of free museums through the Smithsonian Institution at any time. There are free concerts at the Kennedy Center, cathedrals, a world-renowned zoo, and special events such as fireworks and parades, miles of park trails and acres of green space. The cost? Zero! People living outside of the city cannot take advantage of such culture or entertainment without a lot of planning, costs of transportation, and lodging to experience the same things.

In New York, while world-renowned restaurants are very pricey, there are so many local mom and pop pizzerias and ethnic joints that are reasonably priced. One can take advantage of cheap Broadway shows that tourists from outside the city would need careful planning and time to do. At any time of the year there are special events going on someplace in the city. For the cost of a subway ride or by walking for free, you can experience arts, music, and culture at practically the snap of your fingers. A person on a farm in the rural Midwest would likely never get to experience something similar where he lives. In New York, a walk to an ethnic neighborhood is an experience that is entertainment itself. Participating in fairs, parades, and other events in these neighborhoods are not only entertaining, but educational as well. Then of course there is the chance to play tourist in your own city. By knowing the lay of the land, you can take advantage of cheap and little-known secrets that few tourists know – the best place to see the city lights, cheap ferry rides, and hidden gems. And then of course, there is one of the best-known city parks in the world. The cost to enter? Free.

In cities all over the world, there are similar cultural, ethnic, theatrical, and natural events available similar to those found in New York and Washington, DC. Each, of course, has its own special attractions, but none are without cheap or free entertaining activities. While it is tempting to give in to the pricier events available in a city, why not seek out the free or cheaper ones that you will miss when you move away? Most cities have local newspapers or magazines highlighting events around the city. Take note of the low-cost ones and take advantage of them.

In Real Life (IRL) – I don’t live in the city but about 10 miles outside of DC. However, I worked in the city for 9 years. And since I had to pay the Metro to get into the city anyway, I often took advantage of activities that were available to me while I was there. Each spring I took a walk along the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. Many afternoons after work, I would walk to the National Archives and do genealogical work on my family. At lunchtime I would visit exhibit after exhibit at every Smithsonian within walking distance from my office. I walked in Chinatown, took a tour of the White House, the Capitol, and the FBI – all for free! I’ve seen concerts on the mall, fireworks on Independence Day, and attended a Presidential Inauguration and I didn’t spend a dime other than the Metro fare to get there.

Now that I live outside the city I don’t go in as often, but I still can take advantage of much that it has to offer that people who live farther away cannot. I take my kids to the free zoo, we check out the National Cathedral, and admire the city decorated for the holidays. On any given day, we can find a list of event that are family friendly and cost very little money, if any at all. And while living outside a major metropolitan area certainly costs much more than living in rural Nebraska, the entertainment possibilities are endless. Does it cost a lot of money to live near or in a big city? Of course it does, but there’s no reason that you cannot keep your costs down by taking advantage of all the great free and cheap events that the city has to offer.

Pick Your Own

Saving Money Tip #141 - Pick Your Own. One of the best things about spring and summer weather is all of the delicious local fruits and vegetables that are available. In addition to the least impact on the environment from buying local fruits and veggies, the taste cannot be compared. It’s like comparing homemade macaroni and cheese to that in a box. The tastes just dance on your tongue. Having said all that, some supermarkets carry local fruits and vegetables and will often have them labeled as such. There are also often farmer’s markets in the area where you can buy them. Some people belong to a co-op, getting fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis.

You can do all of the above and enjoy the summer eating. But unless you have a large garden or farm yourself, nothing beats going to a farm and picking pounds and pounds of fresh fruit yourself. Depending on where you live, there may be a plethora of Pick-Your-Own farms nearby or there may be very few. But even if they are far away, it is worth it to go at least once per season to experience the joy of picking your own fruit. Besides a day of fun in the sunshine, a bit of exercise, and the final product you get to take home, it is an educational experience for both children and adults alike.

It’s especially important to teach children that strawberries grow low on the ground, apples and peaches high in the trees, and berries in bushes. Many children probably have no concept of where fruit comes from or how it gets to the grocery store. What a fun way for them to learn. And now the fun part – finding a Pick-Your-Own Farm near your home that you can spend a few hours or a full day at. Check out this list of farms for one near you. They keep it pretty up-to-date, but it always makes sense to call the farm or check out their website ahead of time: Pick Your Own .

In Real Life (IRL) – I’ve mentioned Pick Your Own Farms in the past as a valuable and inexpensive activity to do with children. But I don’t think I went into detail of our experiences. The first time I did a Pick-Your-Own was before I had children. My husband and I picked strawberries in a nearby farm. The cost was comparable or perhaps a bit less than the supermarket’s summer prices, but the taste was so much better. In addition, we had a fun day. When our children were old enough, we included them in the experience. We have picked strawberries, blackberries, apples, peaches, and blueberries.

Our day at the farm never fails to entertain our children. We’ve been to several different ones – each with different amenities. Some are elaborate with their own farm stores. Some offer hayrides and apple cider. Others are simple with nothing but some ladders and buckets to pick. But each time we come away feeling closer to nature. And my children learn a bit about the growing cycle and where fruits come from. They enjoy eating, literally, the fruits of their labor. And the pies and crisps that come from our stash aren’t too bad either. And as far as saving money? We often freeze the extras that we pick to be eaten in the winter when prices of summer fruits are sky-high. Check out a pick your own farm near you. If your experience is like ours, you won’t be disappointed. For other food ideas check out Tasty Tuesday.

Check Out The Library

Tip #140 - Check Out The Library. We all know that the library is great for checking out books. You can save hundreds if not thousands of dollars by borrowing books from the library rather than buying them from a bookstore. But the library has become so much more than a place for borrowing books.

--It is a place where you can borrow movies - Most libraries have an extensive DVD or VHS collection, potentially saving you quite a bit of money on rental fees or movie subscriptions.

--It is a place for lectures – At least twice a month there are talks at our library ranging from gardening, to travel, to actual books. The topics are varied and would attract a wide range of people.

--It is a place of book clubs – There are adult book clubs and children’s book clubs. Once a month the group gathers to discuss a book that they have all read. And then they choose another book for the following month.

--It is a place for kids’ story times – About once per week there is a story time in the library for young children. The librarian reads a few books to them and then they often do a related craft afterwards.

--It is a place for entertainment – In addition to story times; there are puppet shows, musical performances, and magicians for kids’ to do about once per month at the library. Sometimes there are even adult entertainment events.

--It is a place for meeting space – Have a Moms’ Club, garden club, investment club or something similar. You can sign up for space at the library and meet there.

--It is a place for using the computer – Libraries often have computers on the floor for use by patrons. There may be one or two or there may be dozens. Usually, there is a set amount of time you can use the computer but sometimes if no one is available you can use it for longer. It usually has Internet connection. Also, many computers offer WiFi if you have a laptop and want wireless connection.

--It is a place for summer reading programs – Most libraries have a summer reading program to encourage children outside of school. Many have a set number of books a child is to read, and when he is done he gets a coupon book for free ice cream, pizza, watermarks or many other local activities or products that businesses have been generous to donate.

--It is a place for learning – Surely all the research you want to do is available at the library – whether it’s from books, microfiche, microfilm, the Internet or other sources, you can learn a lot from the library.

You are already paying taxes to keep your libraries afloat. Why not take advantage of all that they have to offer? While there is a cost associated with libraries, it is through taxes and contributions so most events and resources are offered to the community at no cost. Instead of paying to go to a concert, why not check out the one at the library? Instead of taking your child to an expensive class, why not check out the library’s weekly story times? Instead of browsing Barnes & Noble, why not browse the library instead? There are a great number of activities to keep you and your family entertained at no additional cost to you. Check it out.

In Real Life (IRL) – I’ve always been a big fan of libraries even when it wasn’t cool. I think it’s cool now that we’re in a recession. I don’t know. Either way, I love libraries. I love to read and enjoy the quiet and the atmosphere of the library. I spent lots of time there – alone or with my children. If I added up the amount of benefits I got from that place, I would probably be amazed. We used to go once a week for story time or an entertainment event of some sort. Now that my children are older and in school (except for my youngest who won’t sit still for story time), we usually go once a week to look at books and check some out.

Last week my older child went with a friend and her mom for a lecture about backyard birds. It was held in the evening and included a nature walk on the libraries beautiful grounds. They have also done PJ’s and books evenings where they wear pajamas and listen to bedtime stories. They’ve had PJs and movie nights also. When my oldest turns 9 she is eligible to join the children’s book club – what a great group to get involved in! My children always do the summer reading programs and often enjoy the fruits of their labor all summer long – free ice cream, discounts at the water park, a free book, etc.

But the one activity that blows me away that my library system offers is a Murder Mystery Night Series. About 4 times per year, librarian staff offer a Murder Mystery Night where they come in costume and in character from a Murder Mystery Play. The attendees mingle with the actors (librarians) trying to figure out clues to solve the mystery. There are two rounds to the evening, along with time to get with your team to try to solve the mystery. Refreshments are served and decorations in the story’s theme adorn the library. The evening lasts 3 hours. Cost for the show to guests? $O! The cost is covered by Friends of the Library. The program is so much fun and is a great evening out for this Stay-At-Home Mom. I love mysteries and enjoy spending time with fellow mystery lovers as well as a friend or two.

Now I know that not every library offers this event or every event listed here, but there usually are a plethora of educational and entertaining events available at most libraries. Check out the schedule for the next month or two and see what fun things you can find. These events fit into everyone’s budget!

Go To The Theatre For Cheap

Saving Money Tip #113 - Go To The Theatre For Cheap. If you like Broadway shows, but don’t like the average $100 price per ticket, then there are many alternatives to see plays and musicals for very little cost. Besides professional theatres, there is, of course, community theatre, which will often have tickets well less than half the cost of professional theatre. Tickets at community theatre may be as low as $20 each. And the caliber at community theatre should not be questioned. Participants are often trained actors and actresses who just may not have made it into the big time or who only do theatre on the side.

If the cost of community is even too steep for you, check out your local colleges and high schools. You may be surprised at what a great job these student actors do. For approximately $5-$15 per ticket, you can get a nice night out on the town and see an enjoyable show for about the cost of a movie. With artistic students pitching in for the scenery and the musical students participating for the the score, you will see and hear talent displayed by young members of your community, while supporting them as well.

If you want to pay even less or have children that you would like to take to the theatre, then check out the middle schools and elementary schools in your area. They, too, put on plays and musicals often for under $5 per ticket and sometimes for free. The price certainly cannot be beat. You will probably be impressed at the level of professionalism that even 5th and 6th graders can have. And for the young child, it is a great introduction to live theatre at a low cost.

Suppose you go to your local schools’ shows and your community theatre, but you still want to go to a professional theatre such as Broadway? Did you know that you can buy tickets for sometimes as much as half off? In Times Square there is a TKTS booth that sells discounted Broadway tickets for the day of the show. Many hotels sell “twofers” tickets - two for the price of one, also for the day of the show. Costco sells limited tickets for Broadway shows and other professional shows outside of New York at a discount. Your local Entertainment Book offers tickets at a discount for many local professional theatres. And for some larger cities there is a site called Goldstar that sells premium theatre tickets at a deep discount. There may be similar sites for your locality that sell discounted tickets. Before you buy, do a search on the Internet for discounted tickets along with the name of the show or the theatre and you may be surprised to find cheaper tickets for sale.

In Real Life (IRL) – I love musicals. They’re fun, entertaining, and just in general a nice evening out. Having said that I can count on one finger the number of shows I have seen on Broadway – Annie - when I was 9 years old (as an aside, Sarah Jessica Parker played one of the orphans in the show I saw). Broadway theatre is generally not in my budget, and I don’t live near enough to go often anyway. Besides that show, I have seen a few professional shows in Philadelphia where I used to live. I remember getting half-price tickets to a show on Easter (we are Jewish so we weren’t celebrating anyway). I have seen professional shows in DC where I live now. One great site I have bought discounted tickets from in DC is from the Cultural Alliance Organization. I have also seen shows at the university level that students put on. And I have taken in many live productions at several different community theatres.

Recently, I just started taking my daughters to see some shows put on at our local schools. I live in a very populated area so I can get probably 20 different high schools within a half hour of my home. I took my oldest daughter to the Wizard of Oz at a local high school a few years ago. For the price of $10 or $12, my daughter was mesmerized and was thrilled beyond belief to get the actors’ autographs. Try that on Broadway! Since then I have taken them to see Annie and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the local elementary schools. These plays were put on by 5th and 6th graders and were extremely well done. It seems, in general, that schools put on their big shows in the spring. I am picking out one or two to take my children to in the next couple of months. Here is a list of local school shows in my county as well as in a neighboring county. A great selection and a great price!

So if you like live theatre, do not be put off by the high price of tickets. You are sure to find discounted or cheaper alternatives where you live.

Prioritize Your Wants

Tip #107 - Prioritize Your Wants. When you are trying to save money, it’s easy to try not to spend money on fun things and then look at someone who is eating at fancy restaurants or going on big vacations and judge them for not being responsible with their money. But looks can be deceiving. When trying to save money, you do not want to deprive yourself of all things you like to do. But you cannot do it all. Therefore, you need to prioritize. What is most important to you? What is least? What is your budget for these fun activities?

If you have $100 per month to spend on what you want, you can buy a cup of coffee every day at a fancy coffee shop, and do nothing else. If you love fancy coffee and you enjoy drinking it at a café, then who am I to say that you are wasting your money? On the other hand, it would be downright wasteful to drink it out every day if you don’t even enjoy it that much. Your money can be spent better on something you do enjoy. So maybe a relaxing massage is more important to you than an everyday cup of coffee, so you spend $80 on that per month, while only drinking a cup of coffee at a café once per week. Or maybe you prefer fancy dinners so you spend your $100 to eat out at a fancy restaurant once a month. Or maybe travel is more important to you, so you save up the $100 per month and take a big vacation once per year with that money.

The point is, you can be responsible with your money and still do things you like. I think it’s important to write down how much money you have to “play” with for fun. Then prioritize your wants, and figure out much money you want to put toward each activity. You can use your money all on one purchase or activity or several small ones, based on your priorities. And then if someone gives you a look when he sees you eating out at the fancy French restaurant in town, you will know inside that you are there because you can afford to be there based on your priorities.

In Real Life – After all of our household expenses, kids’ expenses, and our savings, we have about $300 left per month that we can use for ourselves. Three hundred dollars per month sounds like a lot – this includes entertainment, vacations, dinners out and anything else that is not in our budget. If I were another person, I suppose I could easily spend $300 going to fancy restaurants and nights on the town each month. Or I could eat out more often at middle-of-the-road restaurants and get my hair done at a fancy salon. But I am neither of those people. While I do like a break from cooking, take-out burritos or Chinese food for relatively little money usually satisfies that need. What I do like to do, however, is travel. Without travel, I would not be as happy as I am. I love to experience different places, different cultures, and different geographic locations. And frankly, I love to just get away from it all. Oh, and I also like a break from the cold each year. So from our $300 per month, we put $200 of that toward travel. We generally take a trip to Florida each winter and to the beach each summer. And in between we often do a few weekend trips. The remaining $100 per month goes toward eating, entertainment, and any other miscellaneous activities.

For me, my priority for my leisure time and my discretionary money is travel. So that gets first dibs on our extra funds. Getting a break from cooking is probably secondary, and going out is probably last in my book. I am sometimes almost apologetic when I tell people we are going away yet again. But I shouldn’t be because I skip those Moms’ night outs and expensive restaurants to enjoy the activities that are important to me. You should prioritize your wants, too.

Find A Hobby That Pays

Saving Money Tip #106 - Find A Hobby That Pays. With our country’s economic crisis, I have been hearing a lot about being frugal. Cutting down on eating expenses, clothing expenses, doing things yourself, etc. Being frugal does not mean that you cannot still do fun things. Besides free parks and museums, you can still take up a hobby and be frugal. Yes, hobbies can be expensive. Collecting old cars can cost a fortune. However, if you are passionate about it, then there is more than monetary worth to your hobby. But even better, it may even pay to have a hobby you enjoy.

If you love old cars and enjoy buying them and spending hours, days, or months tinkering with them and fixing them, then your hobby may turn into a small side business. Buying a car for $2,000 and enjoying your time working on it, while fixing it for $500 worth of parts and turning around and selling the car for $4,000 can be a hobby that pays.

Of course not everyone wants hobbies on that great of scale. Suppose you enjoy scrapbooking? Most of us know how expensive that hobby can be. But how about if you use what you create as gifts that you would have bought anyway? Then the hobby isn’t so expensive. Or, even better, what if you sell your creations on eBay or at a flea market? You can often make back what you have put into your hobby, all the while enjoying your time with it.

If you are passionate about an activity or subject, then you can do more than just “collect” the item by throwing high dollars into that pursuit. Many hobbies can be taken to the next step. Becoming knowledgeable about a subject so that you can seize opportunities to collect your item at low prices – and then fix them, create them, or just hold on to them – and then turn around and sell them for a profit. Or the hobby can just pay for itself by what you get out of it. There are many hobbies that this would be true. Gardening is a hobby that pays for itself in the bountiful produce that keeps down your food bill. Sewing as a hobby can keep down your tailoring costs, as well as possibly turn into a small money maker if you sew for others.

By selling some baseball cards that you buy in lots at a garage sale while adding those that you do need to your collection is an example of a hobby that may pay for itself. Buying old furniture and fixing it up may be a passion that makes some money for you. I could go on and on and list hundreds of examples of these types of hobbies.

Yes, hobbies can cost a lot of money. If you only buy your collection at retail stores and then turn around and hold on to every item you buy, the costs will add up. But pursuing an activity you like does not have to cost a lot of money. Find ways to collect your item for cheap and fix, paint, or create the item of your desire and sell it for money or find a hobby that provides benefits for you and your family above its cost. And you will be able to be frugal and enjoy your hobbies, too.

In Real Life (IRL) – I have an American Girl doll collection. It is probably worth about $1,000 if I sold it on eBay today. People come in my house and are always surprised to see all of these dolls on display. And I suppose some of them think that they could never afford so many expensive dolls. But guess what? I paid probably about $100 for all of those dolls, clothes, and furniture. When I see people on Craigslist selling a big lot of American Girl dolls, I try hard to be the first person to buy it. By buying in lots, I can usually get a good deal. When I have this lot, I pick out what I want to add to my collection and sell the rest on eBay, often paying for the lot itself just by what I sold, and mostly making a small profit, all the while keeping some of the items for my collection. By collecting American Girls this way, I am able to build up my collection without having to spend a lot of money. Now if I wanted a collection of dolls and just ordered everything I want from the American Girl store, I would have spent a mint to build up my collection. Then it would not be a frugal hobby.

Another hobby I enjoy is writing calligraphy. Neat handwriting is just an interest of mine. Many years ago I bought a calligraphy pen and started practicing writing. I never took a course in it, so I’m not even sure I write “true” calligraphy, but the final product looks nice. Calligraphy pens and ink aren’t terribly expensive, but like everything else, the costs add up. But by pursuing this hobby that I enjoy, I have saved money in many ways. I wrote out all of the envelopes for my wedding invitations rather than pay someone to do it. I have also done it for my sister's wedding and my brother’s wedding, as well as their children’s Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. I have saved hundreds of dollars over time by doing this. I also did invitations for a few of my friends as gifts when they got married, again saving me – and them – money.

So think about what you enjoy doing and figure out if you can make that hobby pay for you – in more ways than emotional satisfaction – by providing your family with items or service you need or by selling off some of your collections or hard work for a profit. Hobbies do not have to cost a lot. Make them pay for you. For other frugal living tips, visit Life as Mom.

The Best Time To Save Is When You're Young

Tip #88 - The Best Time To Save Is When You're Young. Being in my early 40's with three children, I tend to focus on what to do to save money at my stage of life. However, the best time to start good saving habits is when you are young when you first graduate college. Of course, actually learning good savings and spending habits start earlier. But we'll discuss young graduates with their first jobs out of school.

Being that it wasn't sooo long ago that I was a new college graduate, I've been trying to recall things that I did to start my savings early.

--Keep your living costs low. If you cannot live with mom and dad, then get roommates. Nothing will cut your biggest expenses more than sharing rent and utilities with friends. A three-bedroom apartment split three ways is often cheaper than a two-bedroom apartment split two ways.

--Cut down on bad social habits. Drinking alcohol costs a lot of money. Besides not being good for you (and I won't get into that here), drinking is a very expensive habit, especially if you are drinking in bars or restaurants. Smoking cigarettes is a no-no, too. Again, health risks aside, it is very costly to be a smoker.

--Learn to cook. When you are young it's very easy to get into the habit of going out to eat all of the time or ordering in. And I see nothing wrong with that on a limited basis. But learning to cook is a skill that will pay for itself over and over again, even if you need to take a basic cooking class. And along those lines, bring your lunch to work, at least a few days per week. Lunches out add up quickly.

--Buy a used car that works well. Just because you have a new job doesn't mean you need a new, fancy car. If you are trying to impress someone of the opposite sex, then you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of buying gifts or buying the best to keep another person happy. If you meet someone with a used car, then at least you know the person likes you and not your car. If you are in a city, don't buy a car at all, take public transportation to work.

--Take advantage of discounts at your work or your apartment complex. Many apartment complexes geared to young people have workout rooms, swimming pools, and tennis courts. If these are activities you like, then take advantage of them where you live - no need to join a gym or pay for a swim club. Some workplaces offer a gym as well or a discount to join one. Take advantage of it.

--Start contributing to your retirement at work. If your work offers a 401(k) or a 403(b), start putting money into it the day you become eligible. At the very minimum, put in up to the company match. Ideally, put the maximum allowed into it. Yes, retirement seems like a very long time away. But think about how fast four years of college went. Trust me, time will go fast. You might as well be saving all along the way rather than wake up one day when you are 40 with a mortgage, a couple of kids and nothing saved for retirement. The money comes out of your paycheck before you see it. You will not miss it - I promise.

--If you can spare additional money, open up a Roth IRA. This is also for retirement. Again, when you are older you won't regret doing this. In fact the old you will thank the young you for not squandering this extra money. Remember, the earlier you save, the less you need to save.

--Use your credit cards wisely. That is, pay them off each month. If you cannot afford something, do not buy it. Period. A credit card is an advance for 30 days and that is it. It's helpful to have because you don't have to carry large sums of cash. It may give you insurance on some of your purchases and even some rewards. It is not there as unlimited money for you. You still need to pay for what you spend on it. Don't spend on it more than you can afford when the bill is due.

--Take advantage of free or low-cost activities. If you moved to a big city after college for a job, then take advantage of the city. Cities are filled with museums, concerts, shows, parks, libraries, bookstores, and cafes. Many activities are free or low-cost and if you work downtown you are already there so there is no additional transportation cost. Have fun with them while you are still free from other responsibilities - like coming home right after work to be with your spouse and family. Plus you never know how long you will live and/or work in the city.

--Get an education. If your work pays for you to take classes in your field, then go for it. Again, it is much easier to do now than when you are laden with responsibilities of a spouse and children.

--Above all, live below your means. If you make $30,000, then try to live on $20,000. You don't need to spend all of your money. Save some for retirement, an emergency, and maybe a vacation or car down the road. Start yourself on good saving/spending habits. They will stick with you for life.

In Real Life (IRL) - When I graduated college, I moved to a new city (Washington, DC) with a friend of mine. I have always loved travel and wanted to live somewhere new. After a month, my friend moved back home and got married. I stayed and met up with some other friends from college and we got an apartment together. There were three of us in a 3-bedroom place. My apartment rent was under $300 for my portion. Utilities were split three ways, and it was fun having friends around.

Because I worked in the city and lived in the suburbs, I would have had hefty commuting costs. But I was fortunate because our housing complex offered a bus that would take us to the Metro (subway) in the morning for free. The bus's route was that it went to a downtown apartment complex after the Metro. So the bus driver actually drove us there and dropped us off. It was about 10-15 blocks from my office, so I walked the rest of the way. Sure it took me longer, but I had no morning commuting costs! In the afternoon, I took the metro and a bus home. While I did have a car, I had very little gas expenses for the 9 years that I worked downtown.

I took advantage of working in a great city - I have visited the Smithsonian dozens and dozens of times after work or during lunch. I have seen the inside of the White House and the Capitol, I have eaten lunch in front of the cherry blossoms and played softball in the shadow of the Washington Monument. I am 41 now with three children. Those are things I won't be doing again on a regular basis.

I started my 401(k) as soon as I became eligible and an IRA soon after. I now look back and am so thankful that I had wise advisers to tell me to do so. I already have a hefty retirement account built up that I can pull back on savings now if I need to.

I never had credit card debt - ever. If I couldn't afford something I didn't buy it. These were habits I learned from my parents when I was young. But I did not go crazy when I got my first job and had real money. Honestly, the thought never crossed my mind to spend money I didn't have. I still went out with friends and had fun, but it was always within my means.

I never took up smoking or drinking (other than the occasional beer or glass of wine). Again, those were habits I probably learned from my parents. Neither of them smokes and my mom doesn't drink at all. My dad has a beer or a mixed drink probably a few times a year. I never saw the appeal of either of those habits. And I'm glad.

I will say that I did eat out and go out a fair amount and I wasn't such a great cook - I didn't really start working on that until I got married. But I did it reasonably. I didn't go to fancy restaurants or expensive clubs. That just wasn't me. I did travel out west and to Mexico and other places. But again, I shared expenses with friends which kept costs down.

I went to graduate school on my employer's dime - mostly. This benefit was offered to employees who wanted to further themselves in their field. The yearly limit was low so I only took one class per semester. Five (long) years later, I got my Master's degree. I only had to pay for 2 or 3 classes out of pocket.

In general, I took advantage of things that were offered to me. And looking back, I realize the wisdom of that. I didn't realize how much freedom I had at that point in my life. Staying late after work to go out was no big deal. Going to graduate school and for little cost was easy to do in that stage. Even saving for retirement was pretty simple - I didn't have too many other expenses at that point in my life. Start your good habits early - live within your means and put money away from each paycheck, and you will be rewarded later on in life.

Create Your Own Summer Camp

Saving Money Tip #87 - Create Your Own Summer Camp. It’s March, and now is the time for camp sign-ups for this summer. Camp prices vary greatly from very expensive private camps at about $400 per week to cheaper, county playground camps at about $100 per week. However, even cheaper than any of these camps is doing one yourself.

Of course one would have to factor in different costs based on your personal situation to find out if it’s worth it to you. But if you are a stay-at-home mom who is looking to put your child into camp for a week or two this summer, consider creating one yourself with a few friends. It’s remarkably easy and incredibly cheap. Here are some ways to set up a camp:

Suppose you find four friends who are also interested in sending their child to camp for a week? How about each of you, instead, take one day from the week to hold camp at your house? Or alternatively, you can do camp one day per week for the whole summer. So for example, camp would be every Monday and each mom would alternate holding camp at her house on Monday.

All you need is a little creativity, a little bit of money, and a few friends, and your child will attend camp for a week for very little money. Each mom would think of a theme for her day of camp. It could be cowgirl/ranch camp, beach camp, sleepover/pajama camp, cooking camp, nature camp, patriotic camp, water fun camp, camping camp. The ideas are endless.

On your day of camp, you would provide a few fun activities, a snack, a craft or two, some stories, some songs, and some free playtime. That is essentially camp. And on the other days you would drop off your child at your friends’ homes for their camp days.

In Real Life (IRL) – For the past three years my friends and I have held summer camp in our homes. I organized the idea in my moms’ club three years ago. There were 8 of us who participated that first year. We held camp every Wednesday from 1 PM to 4 PM for 8 weeks. Each mom held camp in their home one time and assisted in another mom’s home one time. The other 6 Wednesdays, she dropped her child off. The moms were so creative and the girls had a blast. I have sent my daughter to private camps, Girl Scout camps, and county camps also, and to this day, my daughter says she had the most fun at the camps we made up. As some real life examples, we had cooking camp, nature camp, carnival camp (mine – I’ll go in more detail), pajama party camp, beach camp, around the world camp, on the farm camp, and Aloha camp.

In general, first we had structured activities, then snack, then a craft, and then some free time. For carnival camp, first we played carnival games – toss beanbags in a cut out clown, ducks in a pond, and bowling. The kids loved getting the prizes. Then we had fairground-type snacks - cotton candy, chips, Popsicles, watermelon, and juice boxes. I also had lemonade and water out on the table throughout the day in case they got thirsty in the heat. Next we did face painting and tattoos.

In between, the kids played on the moon bounce (bought at Goodwill for $25 years earlier) and on our swing set. Afterwards, we went inside and did a mosaic clown face craft. I offered a second craft, but most of them were not interested in doing another one. The last 45 minutes were free play. Some played inside and others played outside. The total cost of my activities, crafts and food was well less than $20.

I assisted at Around The World Camp. The mom made up passports and the children visited 4 countries. At each country they learned a few words from the language and either a song or dance or heard a story about that country. They got their passports stamped for each country they visited. Snack was an exotic treat.

For cooking camp, the girls made and ate nachos and also decorated cookies. For nature camp, they all went outside and looked to identify birds. For sleepover camp, they made dream catchers and wore pajamas and played sleepover-type games.

As a mom, it was nice knowing that the girls were in good hands – those of a mom – rather than a teenager. And it was nice to know the other girls whom they were with. As a bonus, the bond among the girls (my friends’ children) grew stronger.

In subsequent years, we have whittled camp down to five of us. In these cases we just had one mom hold camp with no assistant. Two years ago, camp lasted one day per week for 10 weeks, with each mom holding camp twice at her home. Last year as the girls got older and busier; we found it best to do just one continuous week of camp with each of us taking a different day. And as moms had other children, we made the “rules” more relaxed – allowing for more free time and fewer structured activities.

That is the nice thing about doing camp yourself, you can suit it to your needs. Once a week, for two weeks straight, many structured activities or few; it’s up to you and your friends. And you can’t beat the price.

Kids' Activities - Less is Less

Tip #84 – Regarding Kids’ Activities, Less Is Less. We’ve all heard or know first-hand about the trend in our society of kids being overbooked – they take gymnastics classes, play soccer games, and participate in dance competitions. Oftentimes these activities come at a steep price - not to mention the wear and tear it puts on the driver (ahem, mom) and car from carting these kids around. Now, don’t get me wrong I am all for children learning new skills and participating in social activities. But less is more. Or in this case, less is less; that is fewer activities equals less money. We all know that; don’t we? But why do so many of us insist on signing up our children for an activity every day? Is it because we think our child might become the next Mia Hamm? Or is it because we want our child to try out every activity to see which one he or she likes best? Or is it because we hope our son will get a baseball scholarship to college? Or is it because we want our daughter to be popular among her classmates? Whatever the reason, the same goals can be met with fewer activities.

Sit down with your child and ask him or her what one or two activities he or she wants to do during the school year. And then make your child stick with just those activities. If he ends up not liking something he chose, he can always substitute a different activity the following year. By keeping a reasonable limit on the number of activities your child participates in, you will not only keep your activities fees down, but the extras that go along with activities – recital fees, dance costumes, travel expenses – will also go down. And the car expenses and craziness in your family life will also be reduced.

Your child may find she loves soccer and want to continue every season and ever year or she may decide she’d rather pursue ice skating the following year. Within a few years she’ll know what it is she likes to do and you’ll be happy you didn’t pay for five simultaneous classes to find out.

In Real Life – I need to take my own advice. Really, I do. I swore I would never be one of those mothers who signs her child up for numerous activities. I told myself that two was the limit. In fact when I spoke with a friend of mine who has older children, she advised me that her children are allowed to do two activities – an instrument (or something artistic) and a sport (or something active). And I really liked that idea. I definitely want my child to learn a musical instrument, but I’d also like for them to play a sport or do something similar.

My oldest daughter who is in first grade showed some interest in the piano this year, so we signed her up for lessons once a week at the start of the school year. And for a sport, she wanted to do dance. But then Girl Scouts was offered at her school, and I really like the scouts and have fond memories of when I was one. And then there is Hebrew School on Sundays, which doesn’t really count as an activity even though it does cost money and time. So she’s in 4 things. And her younger sister does dance as well, but of course it is on a different day than her older sister’s dance class, so that’s five activities we drive around to.

And as far as costs go, dropping Hebrew School wasn’t an option so that’s a fixed cost in my book that really falls under religious education. We found an inexpensive piano teacher ($15 per week for lessons at a cost of about $600 for the year) and a reasonably priced dance teacher ($25 per month for lessons plus about $100 in costume and recital fees for a total of $300 for the year) and Brownies is pretty inexpensive ($50 for the year plus the cost of miscellaneous activities for a total of about $100 per year). But it still adds up to $1,000 per year plus a lot of running around, and, well, all you moms know the routine. That’s a lot of money in our budget for after-school activities. I cannot imagine what that budget would include if she did even more or if we went to the expensive dance school and piano teacher in town.

So next year, we’ll do the same thing – our daughter can again pick one sport – whether it be soccer, ice skating, or dance, I do not care. But I am insisting she stick with piano for now. I don’t expect that she’ll become a great concert pianist, but who knows? And then of course, she can do Girl Scouts. How many activities do your children participate in?

Learn About Your Hobby Online

Saving Money Tip #79 - Learn About Your Hobby Online – Many of us have hobbies that we are passionate about – collecting teaspoons, fixing antique cars, baking bread, etc. And back in the day when I, and probably most of you, was growing up, we were lucky if we knew another person in real life who had the same passions. Today, with the advent of the computer, we are fortunate because on a daily basis we can “talk to” other people who have the same interests as we do. And the best part is, it often doesn’t cost us any money. Granted, finding a kindred soul in real life who likes the same things as we do is much better than “meeting” someone on the computer. But what are the chances of finding someone who also collect Russian nesting dolls in your small town? Pretty nil. And that’s when the World Wide Web becomes a very useful tool.

So if you have a topic that interests you, go to Google or a similar search site (I’ve actually been using Swagbucks to search lately so I can collect points to redeem for Amazon credit, but that’s a post for another day) and type in your hobby. Let’s say you are passionate about 1960’s Fisher Price toys. Do a search of “Fisher Price Toys collectors” and right away a site comes up for collectors of these vintage toys. You can view pictures of the toys, meet the owners who have them, and learn about the ins and outs of these vintage playthings.

There are literally thousands of collectors clubs or hobby groups online from quilting groups to train enthusiasts to clubs whose members are passionate about old highways. In fact, there is even an association for collecting clubs. Of course, the more obscure your hobby, the less likely you will be to find an online group, but you might find a forum whose interests are at least similar to your own. And even if you don’t, you can always start your own online group. By joining an online hobby or collectors' group you will find like-minded individuals who share the same passion as you. You can discuss methods of collecting or how to improve your skills in your hobby. You may be able to trade or buy things for your collection. And sometimes you can attend a real life meeting or at the very least you may find a member who lives near you!

In Real Life (IRL) – I am a pretty social person in real life. However, there are certain hobbies that I enjoy, but I have few friends who like the same things. Because I sell things on eBay, one activity I like to do is frequent yard sales. Almost every weekend in the spring and summer I can be found scouring the yard sales in my town. And while I have met a few people while I am out at sales and have a couple friends who enjoy yardsaling once in a while, I don’t know anyone personally who likes going every weekend. Fortunately a couple of years ago I found an online forum called yardsalequeen.com where I have found other like-minded individuals. On an almost daily basis I can talk about my finds at yardsales and hear about others’ scores. We can discuss how to hunt down the best sales or which ones to avoid. We share tips about selling on eBay and even discuss topics unrelated to sales. It’s a fun hobby, it helps my small business of selling, and I enjoy “meeting” others like me who have similar interests.

My daughter and I have an American Girl doll collection and I also sell them pretty frequently online. While trying to learn more about the dolls, I found an American Girl Doll Collectors Site. By joining the group I am privy to important doll collecting information. I find out about coupon codes for buying the dolls and have learned how to spot a fake. While my passion is nowhere near the level of other members (did you know some dolls have their own blogs? Seriously!), I still like checking in there once in a while to see what is new in the world of American Girl Dolls.

One last in real life scenario. Recently, I have been doing a lot of cooking and baking and one of the foods I am determined to master is the homemade pizza. I have made a lot of them over the past year but frankly, all of the pizza recipes I have tried taste very Midwestern (no offense to you folks from the heartland, but there is no pizza like a New York pizza). Guess what I found a few days ago? An online pizzamaking group! With a whole section devoted to how to make a New York pizza. You wouldn't believe the passion for pizza by some of these members. I tried a recipe out last night on my family and it was a huge improvement over the other pies I had been making.

There is so much information out there on the Internet. And once you find a group who is passionate about a topic, you can learn a lot from them. People are very generous with sharing their knowledge online. So if you have a topic that interests you, check for a forum online. You may learn some new information, find some new friends, or improve your skill. Finding an online group can provide you with many benefits. Why not check one out?