Summer on a Shoestring Budget

Summer around here is always lots of fun.  After-all, we live in a beautiful place, I get to have the kids home and we get to make our own schedule.  But, just because it’s summertime and I want to go lots of places and do lots of things with the kiddos, doesn’t mean that the budget suddenly expands.  Having all this time off to pursue fun things can be really expensive.  So, every summer, I search and brainstorm to find the things to do with the kids that will keep us busy, be lots of fun and are either really cheap or absolutely free! Luckily for me (and the kids), living in San Diego means there are lots and lots of things that fit my requirements. 

Yesterday, we spent several hours out and about and having a great time and it cost me…….$5! Yep, $5. I knew I had to share the fun stuff we did and the great thriftiness with which we did it!

First stop-Sammy’s. There were 6 of us and we used 2 coupons for free Messy Sundaes.  I ordered iced tea ($2.25) and left a tip as if we had paid for the sundaes. 

Then we walked downstairs and enjoyed some sun and the shooting water play at the Highlands, which doesn’t cost anything. I had packed lunch (which they weren’t interested in until about an hour after eating the sundaes) and I enjoyed sitting in the sun and watching the kids play. 

We then changed out of anything wet and enjoyed walking through the Highlands shopping center.

The kids spent about 1/2 an hour exploring this pet store.  They had some great fish tanks set up and the kids were wowed by the choices available of doggie cakes, cookies and treats. They thought we should surely return when we are ready to celebrate Lilly’s birthday (FYI-Lilly is our dog). The people working in the shop were attentive to the kids and happy to show off the store “pet” which was a fat monitor lizard.

Last stop-Barnes and Noble for some stories.  We spent a long time enjoying the books here.  JJ read several stories to the kids and Tristan was happy to be on his own to enjoy books he was hoping I’d buy.  His birthday is approaching, so he may see some of them soon!

So there you have it. An entire day of fun for only $5!

Send me your thrifty summertime ideas! There’s always room for trying the things I haven’t thought of!

Have a great day~

This entry was posted on July 21, 2009 at 10:19 am and is filed under children, ideas, kids, mom, summer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.