How to Have Family Fun Cheap

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Not everyone has enough money to visit places suggested as perfect for family outings. There are a lot of things people want nowadays, but with a family you have got to be budget-conscious to have fun. Here are soome ideas for how you can have family fun on a budget.

Steps

Figure out what matters most to you. Is it:
- your home?
- your family?
- your food?
Prioritize the things that matter. All of these are important of course, but what do you enjoy the most? If it is all of them, you'll need to consider how you can juggle between them, to stretch your dollar as far as possible.
Think about the sorts of things you like to do. It may be learning; outdoors activities; eating out; movies or other ideas. Once you have thought about these things, the next step is to consider the ways that you can do these things without it costing too much, or perhaps even for free.
Look at the following activities and suggested "low-cost" or "free" alternatives. See which ones appeal to you and come up with more of your own alternatives as well:
- Learning activities: Visit the library. Libraries offer several resources that can be of great benefit for free or for a very low joining fee. You can borrow books (fiction, non-fiction, craft, art, hobbies, language, math, science etc.), music and reading CDs, DVDs and videos and even games and toys at some libraries. Save by not buying these things but borrowing them for the whole family; take the whole family to the library for regular visits, so that everyone can make their own choices. Libraries also offer a lot of activities such as "meet-the-author" sessions, book reading evenings and children's clubs. All of these are a great way to meet others and to have an enjoyable time.
- Rent movies and stop cable TV subscriptions: Get rid of cable TV costs through regular movie borrowing or cheap rental from DVD stores. Initially there will be withdrawal symptoms but soon you'll discover that between the movies you can borrow for free or rent for low prices and the free-to-air choices, you'll have plenty to watch. All the extra time you gain to spend together as a family is an enormous bonus!
- Increase your knowledge: You can learn a lot of new things from reading books (the ones you've borrowed from the library). A great way of learning is to base the learning on a famous novel. For instance, after reading a novel like Little House on the Prairie, your family could follow up the reading by borrowing books on farming during different periods of history. Learn together the different ways people have done things and how they are done today.
- Take up craft or homesteading activities: Try craft books, "free fun" books, homesteading books (old-fashioned knowledge and tips), games books and science books (kids love the experiments). You could have a fair in your house - make up the games and have events like balloon dart-throwing.
Make the most of city life. Cities offer a lot of free events - hit every free event imaginable with your family and enjoy them. These include parades, outdoor concerts, national day celebrations, marathons, charity runs, food promotional fairs, art displays, children's events and more. Keep an eye on the newspaper or internet for upcoming freebies to attend. Many museums and galleries have "free days" where you can visit for nothing at all. Don't forget to take a packed lunch or meal and plenty of water. Saves queueing as well as money!
Visit garage sales. What other people no longer want, you might get for a song. make it a day's event to trawl around garage sales in your area. Even the haggling can be fun and you never know what you might find.
Take a "field trip" downtown. Many cities, towns and villages have amazing buildings in their central district. Pack a great lunch (sandwiches, drinks etc) and catch the bus in to go "sight-seeing" as a tourist might. You can glimpse animals outside the zoo on the way, ride the elevator to the top of the biggest building to look out the windows and if you and the kids look presentable and well mannered and you ask the receptionist at the top office nicely to look out the window they'll probably say yes. Learn all that you can about the buildings from plaques on the walls, signs or a library book on the history of your area. If you become really knowledgeable, you might even end up telling tourists in the area more about what they're looking at!
Shop wisely. Visit the bulk buying area at the grocery store and save money on the things you need (don't buy things you don't use just because they're cheap - it's still a waste of money if you won't use it.)
Have a "junk food party" at home. Save on restaurants or fast food places by letting the kids enjoy the fast food at home. When shopping, buy the "junk food" items and store them at home for special days. Another way to make junk food stretch is to only buy some of the junk food (like a burger each) and then cook the rest at home (store brand or homemade fries/soda pop, for instance). It'll taste a lot better and it goes a lot further. If you do want to eat out, buy the burgers and split the fries, take your own drinks and extra food items with you and eat it all in the park instead of inside the restaurant. (Take the picnic gear and it'll feel 100% better than staying in the restaurant!) Do the same with take-out - only order some of it (e.g., the pizza) and make the rest at home (e.g., the salad, the rice, the wings, the sauces etc.)
Be home savvy. Learn some enormously useful skills that 'll save you a lot in the long run. For instance, learn to sew and use your hot glue gun. Visit the dollar stores for bargains and also visit used (secondhand) stores and thrift stores, which have a lot of goodies that people don't want anymore but are still in terrific condition. Learn to dress up old stuff! Finding a bargain can in itself become a real addiction and as you learn more, you'll find more bargains.

Tips

Try this fun home fair game: use an old fridge box, cut out holes for your heads (box laying sideways) and take turns being the "groundhog" sticking your heads out with the rest of the family shooting at the heads with squirt guns and even the hose! See if the "groundhog" can duck back in fast enough.
When you shop, plan an 'at home restaurant type meal'; it'll still be cheaper to make it at home. Buy a bag of shrimp or a fancy fish. Don't buy the stuff and still go out to eat. If you stick to it and make the out-of-the-ordinary meal at home, it will be cheaper than going out.
Another good at-home meal is making burgers and hot dogs but make all of the fixin's: Cut up tomatoes and cook bacon, heat up some hot dog sauce n' sauerkraut. Have it all out to make your own ultimate burger or hot dog.
When reupholstering, you can use a scrap fabric that's "close to", if not perfectly what you want, and staple gun the thing to the underside of the chair or other item that you're doing up.
Curtains are a three step process, anyone who can use scissors and a sewing machine can do it.
To get your hands on a sewing machine: If you think hard, you probably know someone who has one. They could show you how to thread it, if you can do this you can work it. Another place to try is thrift stores; leave you name and phone number with a request for the next one that comes in.
Swags are just flowers you like and that match your home, arranged on anything you can bend into a swag shape (hanger, a stick): Just hot glue them until they look good. It's a great past time to pull apart old arrangements and "refresh" them by giving them a rinsing and gluing them like this.

Warnings

Don't go to a federal or government building asking to look around unless you know in advance that they allow tours. They will only say "no" and they may not be polite about it either.

Related wikiHows

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Penny Pincher's Popcicles and Homemade Frozen Desserts

Cut your summer treat budget in half (at least) with these money-saving recipes. These are not your usual "freeze a cup of juice and put a stick in it" ideas, though even those are great once in a while. Sometimes you want something a bit more fancy and a box of frozen treats can be close to five bucks a piece! if the box had like twenty treats OK, but my kids can polish a box of 6 in one sitting. (I won't mention how many I eat.)

Frozen fruit kabobs
Pineapple chunks
Cherries
Grapes
Banana chunks

Dip in melted chocolate chips for an extra sugary treat. Place on a skewer and on a cookie sheet in freezer. You can put in a freezer bag for storage when frozen.

Make ice cream sandwiches
Chocolate graham crackers broken into the perforated squares
Cool Whip (any flavor) (or use vanilla, chocolate and strawberry to make a Neapolitan)
spread a nice thick layer of Cool Whip (about an inch) on crackers and freeze.
place in freezer bags when frozen

Super easy snacks using prepackaged goodies:
Take any pudding cup or the small yogurt cups and stick a Popsicle stick through the foil lid and freeze
Or just use the yogurt in tubes like Go-Gurts and put in the freezer for a freezer pop.

Frozen peanut butter cups
1 (8 oz.) Container Cool Whip
1/3 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup Chocolate Syrup

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Mix the peanut butter and Cool Whip. Spoon into cups and top with syrup.
Freeze and serve with a spoon.

Watermelon Pops
Slice water melon into small triangles (the size of an average Popsicle)
Soak in sugar water for an hour or two.
Stick Popsicle sticks in and freeze.

Fourth of July Pop

Blue Raspberry Kool-aid
Mystery Flavor Kool-aid (white)
Cherry Kool-aid

Use the small paper cups (like for the bathroom)
Pour a small layer of Blue Kool-aid in each cup.
Top with tin foil and carefully place a Popsicle stick through he foil into the Kool-aid.
Freeze for an hour or until just slushy.
Pour next layer (white) and freeze again until slush.
Finish with the Blue and freeze until frozen.
Peel of cup and serve!

These treats are sure to be a hit this summer and won't break the bank every time your kids' friends are over!

I Found A New Place to Make Money

Tutorialtub. You submit "how tos" and they googlize it and split the profits with you.
I know, you have your own google adsense why use them? Publicity! Let them advertise you! You have to get your name and site name out there to up hits to your site. This is a great way to do it. They are so new that there are so many topics not written on yet. I'm loving it. Click HERE to join. (I'm not sur if there are also affiliate bonuses).

Just for fun .... Click here to learn HOW TO MAKE A PINATA FROM A CEREAL BOX.

ARE YOU FREECYCLEING, I AM! The place to get a real helping hand.

Are you looking for help finding some basic household needs? Well if you are reading this you have a goldmine of genuine "Helpers" at your fingertips.

Freecycle. You NEED to join your local freecycle group. You need to.

I cannot believe out here in the real world how many people are not taking advantage of, or not even aware of this resource.

It's like signing up for a million friends with extra stuff to give away. No it is just that.

I have seen vehicles given away!

I got a refridgerator a couple of months back of of my freecycle group.

Not only is it a list of "I have....to give away", but you can ask for what you need.

"Ask and you shall recieve" Well this has never been so easy.

You do have to be patient. You may have to re-post your request, but you most likely can find the item you need on your freecycle group. It is free. It is easy and you will recieve emails alerting you every say of what is being offered in your group.

Now think about it. do you know someone without a computer who needs something? Do you belong to a church group and get requests for items familys need? Post for them you may be their saving grace! Do it over and over for area needy people and you can be an angel.

To join Freecyle click HERE. There is no referal program for freecycle.

I Can't Afford Prom! Charities Can Help or Maybe Just Some Tips on Saving.

Prom is way too important for your teen to miss. Every child should have the oppourtunity to go. I have some tips on saving money for the dress or tux rental and where to shop or even apply for help if you really don't have the money.

Tell your son or daughter to go through all of their clothes and "toys" and have a garage sale to raise the money for the tux or dress and tickets. You could also help out bygoing through your own goods!

Have them start clling relatives to do errands for pay to raise the money. They can offer to mow or weed landscaping. Babysit or clean. They could even organize a much needed garage for a neighbor. Don't limit their customers just to relatives.

Check ALL of your used stores, open your phone book to find the nearest. Often there are plenty of dresses to choose from for under $20.00. Alterations may only run a few dollars if you just need a hem up or if you are creative, you and your daughter may just have fun sprucing up a less than perfect dress.

Next check out the stores. Inform your child that they have X amount of dollars to spend and that is THAT. This way you both won't have to feel bad when you see the prices. You can find a dress for $30.00-$40.00 fairly easy in the stores' clearance. Don't forget how to use accesories to spice up a plain gown. The used stores are almost never out of jewelery. Use several long chain necklaces to form a belt on a plain black dress. Buy some arm length gloves or short lacey ones if they look great. These are fairly cheap accessories.

Look in your phone book or call all of the tux rental stores to see if there are any coupons available. Or see if a discount is available for groups and get your son's friends together to all go in on the same day for rentals.

There are several charities for prom gowns and tux rentals all over the states and even in Canada. I have included links to the lists of them. If you feel you may qualify for any of them plaese click over and check these out.

Remember to go over prom safty with your teens. Each year as I am sure you are aware, many die involved in alcohol and drug related issues. Also remember to find out with who and where your child will be. Let them know you will pick hem up if they get into trouble and to just call you. Most of all enjoy one of your most precious memories of your child's life!

http://wy.essortment.com/waysfindreal_tuln.htm
5 ways to find a cheap dress

Sharon Stone's Charity to help the needy. They offer help to poor students in need of prom gowns and tuxedos.
General Information
Planet Hope is a non-profit 501 c3.
1-800-314-HOPE

Here is a list of state by state individuals willing to help and programs in these states.
http://www.glassslipperproject.org/yostate.htm

An even more extensive list for wikipedia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charitable_Prom_Organizations

FRUGAL LIVING Garbage Picking Guide I LOVE BIG GARBAGE DAY!

With spring cleaning comes great big garbage piles chock full of finds. I love to garbage pick. This is the time I find every thing from toys to income potential.

There are so many possibilities when you're treasure hunting, but the three reoccuring finds are usually toys, furniture and stuff to sell.

TOYS: I look for big out door toys, ride-ons and furniture. Be sure they things you can thouroughly wash and disinfect. Also look for things that are sturdy still and not broken beyond repair. People are wastfull and lazy. You'd be suprised what you will find. My finds include a "Step 2" shopping cart, a handmade wooden kitchen hutch (children's) a "Little Tykes" picnic table, the list is really long so I'll stop now. But I am proud of my 6 yr. old son, this weekend he found a "Little Tykes" play yard set for his little sister. It is a slide with a small hid out and platform!
Cleaning is usually the biggest job with all of these finds. Some good spray cleaner or diluted bleach accompanied by a ruff plastic scrubbie and hose usually do the trick. I have gone as far as painting these plastic toys. The picnic bench and table for example. I covered the table with minnie mouse contact paper (shoving the ends down in the toy's seems. the rest of the table and benches were painted pink to match the contact paper.
I stay away from stuffed and cloth items. Too hard to be sure it's clean enough.

FURNITURE: I love to redecorate my home. I am always on the look out for furniture in the garbage. Often like finding toys, furniture is in pretty good condition. I am always leary of cloth and stuffed furniture. (it may smell or have gross stuff in it)

Shelves, dressers, bed frames, desks, lamps, pretty much you name it I have found it. Some items take more work to get into presentable condition, but they are free. Paint, nails, staple gun, hot glue gun are some things you should try to keep around for these jobs. Be creative and open minded. You need to look at finds as potentially finished products, and not nessicarily used for what they are intended. Think "Design on a Dime". Don't be afraid to use say a step ladder as a plant shelf. Or a bunch of miss-matched wood chairs in your kitchen (you could pick some coordinating colors and paint your chairs to match). Decopage is also a great great way to spruce up dressers, tables and even frames on mirrors and pictures. Or just keep the frames to ugly pictures in the trash too. They are always handy.

a beautiful key rack from an old rake head

HERE ARE SOME RESOURCES:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/lv_budget_decorating/article/0,2041,DIY_14102_2268740,00.htmlthis is a cute way to utilize some finds such as a garden rake with no handle as a coat rack.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_lnb_gutter/text/0,1783,HGTV_3938_5182,FF.htmla listing of projects to make outta trash
MONEY MAKERS: This could probably be a whole article in it's self, so I'll keep it brief. Well to start all of the above will get you money if you sold these "refurbished" items in garage sales or craig's list or ebay.

Scrap metaling is also a great option. I have not tried this YET. After my research for you guys, I will this season. Look for : copper, aluminum, brass, lead and iron. You can find these in airconditioners, piping, old door knobs, car batteries, gutters, storm and screen doors, soda cans, lawn furniture, catalitic converters (the big part of a muffler) anything metal.
Check homes that have been remodeling, esspecially rewiring, the wires are often copper.
Take the scrap to your local scrap yard or recycling center. They pay you on the spot. Do a local search online and call them first. Many people make a living doing this you can surely make some money too!

HERE ARE SOME RESOURCES:
http://www.xomba.com/how_to_make_money_recycling_scrap_metal detailed description of metals and where they can be found and how to process it and approximate pricing info.

Do a local search to get the dates of big garbage pick up in your's and surrounding areas.
Good luck and have fun treasure hunting.