Frugal Friday....

As summer vacation winds down here (only 2 weeks left until school starts!) and vacation budgets have been spent, I am always looking for some fun, frugal ideas to keep Little Miss busy and entertained. After racking my brain (well, it wasn't that bad) I have come up with some ideas to keep the peace for the next 2 weeks.

  • I have printed out a few of our summer pictures, brought out the colored paper (scraps) and will help LM work on her very own Summer of 2009 scrapbook. Most of us have tons of construction paper, scrapbook paper scraps, markers, stickers, crayons, etc that are just dying to be used so this is the perfect way to 'use what you have' while keeping your kids busy as well as doing something productive. Even the littlest of kids can get in on this one with help from mom or an older sibling.
  • Another 'crafty' idea is to take your summer magazines and let the kids tear them up & make a collage about their summer vacation. Take pictures of them with the finished collages and send them, along w/ a note from the kids, to grandparents who may not have been able to spend the vacation with you.
  • If you have read my blog for any amount of time you know that it is blazing hot here in the summer (it was 119 yesterday-really- & we are expecting 115 today) so I am always looking for cool activities to do - using someone else's A/C. The first stop should be your local library. Most have wonderful kids' areas & they are kept very cool (I guess technically we pay for this w/ our taxes). Our library has puppets and a little puppet 'stage', computers, lots and lots of books, tables with puzzles, a comfy couch (too comfy on some days). Even when an organized story time is not in session LM can stay in there for hours. I can sit and read while she reads or plays in the cool.
  • Another cool place is a McDonald's or Burger King 'play place'. Again, it's cool. And if you go after you eat lunch at home you won't have to buy food - more frugal that way.
  • The 3rd cool trip for us is our local grocery store which has a play area with an attendant. You will truly be multitasking if you do your grocery shopping after you drop the kids off. While I like to have LM help with grocery shopping it is nice to have that time to myself on occasion & I probably spend less without my helper. Our 'cub house' as it is called has lots of toys and a craft everyday. They even provide a calendar of the crafts each month.
  • Don't forget the tried and true play date. Invite a couple of friends over to play either before or after lunch to keep with the frugal idea - this way you don't have to serve lunch. Or have a pot luck lunch with moms and kids.
  • Make a fun time out of figuring out what you need to buy for back to school. It's not so frugal to buy a bunch of things you don't need so have a summer fashion show with your kids. Pull out the things they need to try on making each part of the show a theme: Jeans, jackets, shorts and tops, etc. Figure out together what to do with the stuff that no one can wear. If you choose to donate some items, take your kids with you to the Goodwill to drop things off.

I am hoping these things will help me make it through the next couple of weeks without blowing the budget.

Go visit Life as Mom for more Frugal Friday ideas.

Comments

Unknown said…
A grocery store with a play area?? SCORE for you! That is FANTASTIC.
July 17, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Corrie at "Cents"able Momma said…
Wow...that's awesome to have a grocery store with a play area! I had never heard of that before we got our IKEA with the play area.
July 19, 2009 at 6:05 PM
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