Start saving now for summer fun
April 4, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Seasonal Savings, save-money
If you’re going to have kiddos home all summer then you know how much fun can cost – zoo trips, the local (not free) swimming pool membership, ice pops, camping gear, and pizza – it all adds up. If you haven’t started saving up yet, it’s time to get going.
Use these tips to save enough for some summer fun outing with the kids.
- Plan a successful garage sale for late spring / early summer.
- Collect cans and other pay-in-cash recyclables and turn them in.
- See if you can spend 1/2 of what you normally spend on Easter (yup it’s coming) and add that saved money to the summer fun pot.
- Look at your budget and see if you can cut something out now. The extra coffees on the go, cable (kids don’t need so many channels), chips from the grocery list. Make small adjustments now that will pay off in summer fun cash.
- Talk to your kids now. Discuss that trips are in but little souvenirs are out. Make sure that if they want items from destinations that they save birthday money or allowance money for those items.
- Start making a calender of free and low-cost events and destinations. Find out the free days at local museums, look into free concert series at parks, and more. You can check with your local community center for more low-cost ideas – most plan their schedules well ahead of time.
- Start buying summer gear now, when you see it on sale. I.e. stock up on bubble wands or snag a small pool before demand and prices go up.
- Hook up with other at-home-in-summer families. Not that this will make you money, but sometimes even a small group of 15-20 can get a group discount at local museums and other fun place which will save you cash.
- Prep for summer eating on the go. Start collecting reusable lunch sacks and water bottles now. Make it a goal to always take food with you this summer vs. buying where you go.
What do you do to prep for summer fun and savings?
[image via stock.xchng]
I just went through our bookshelves and sold $89 of books to Cash 4 Books and these were things we were never going to look at again. That will help for summer!