No & Low Cost Summer Fun Ideas

 

When times were tough (meaning I didn't make that much money) I was always on the lookout for no and low cost ways for me and my family to have fun, especially when I was saving for something important like when I adopted my daughters or when I took my children to Disneyland.  During those times day trips and camping were low cost ways for us to go out and have fun, get away and still enjoy some vacation time without blowing the budget.  I would get tickets on Free Museum Day and we’d go to the old penitentiary or the historical museum.

 

Bike rides, picnics, hiking and nature paths, as well as going to the park and just playing on the swings were common things we did.  Our city offers self guided PDF brochures I can print off and use for walking tours through various parts of town.  I’m one of those weird history buffs who loves to visit old cemeteries.  Ghost towns and a packed picnic lunch were also on the list of fun things to do and there was always an old cemetery to visit.  Our city also offers free events like car shows, arts & crafts fairs, live music and tons of other types of entertainment.

 

With my friends we’ve enjoyed a handful of Happy Hours at area restaurants and bars.  This saves us quite a bit of money on food and drinks when we want to get together and go out to eat.  We are also taking turns hosting get-togethers at each other’s homes to cut costs further.  We still have a low budget movie theater too and “tightwad Tuesday” allows me to go to the movies for only $2.00.  I’m getting reacquainted with my DVD collection and searching for free streaming movie options.  Whenever we find a good one we let each other know.

 

With the price of fuel so high right now my luxury item this summer will definitely be gasoline.  Who would’ve thought that fueling our automobiles would be a luxury for many of us?  I want to still go camping and take some daytrips, but with the cost of fuel so high it adds to the price of each adventure considerably, even with a fuel efficient vehicle.  Needless to say the majority of my Fun & Leisure budget will be going toward supplementing my monthly fuel budget in order to make things happen.

 

Additionally, I plan to make and enjoy a lot more food from home and over the summer to cut down quite a bit on eating out, even Happy Hours.  If I decide to hit the town during the daytime I’ll most likely get an all day bus pass to go wherever I need to go.  Our bus system offers a $27 cash card for $20 and I can use that to buy my bus passes.  If I use the bus once a week to run around or do some errands that cash card would last me two and a half months and a lot of money on fuel as well as wear and tear on my vehicles.

 

So that is the plan anyway.  What are some of the things you’ve got planned for the summer?  How are you cutting costs on these activities?  Please share so we can all learn from each other and get new ideas.