Inexpensive Entertainment (Original Post 5/4/2009)

How do I entertain the family on a budget? I think everyone has asked that question at least once. Spending quality time with the family is sometimes hard, and you don't want to spend all your hard earned money on one day trip. I have a few ideas that my family enjoys doing together, and they don't cost much.

Some free family entertainment is watching your local little league games. We are lucky enough to be within walking distance of two fields. These games are a lot of fun to watch and it is great support for our local teams. Another free idea is to take a walk or bike ride around the neighborhood. What a wonderful way to meet your neighbors and get some exercise. You can also pack a lunch and go to the park. On a nice day, this is also great exercise and a fun way to bond with the kids.

A favorite of my family is to have a family game night. We choose a game (usually Monopoly) have some snacks and just enjoy the fun, and each other. Another favorite of ours is movie night. We pick out a couple of movies, pop some popcorn and enjoy our favorite movies. You can all cook together. Make some fun of it. Pick a theme and pretend to be in a restaurant. Let the kids be the servers and the cooks. They can make a menu, take your order and serve the food.

Now, all those suggestions are things that you can do for free. Here are a few that can be low cost. Pick a local attraction in your area and visit it. Pretend to be a tourist. A lot of people live in an area and never get the chance to really explore where they live. Take a drive. I love getting in the car and taking an "adventure". We get in the car and drive. We don't have a particular destination, we just explore. Try a new restaurant. If you find some local coupons, use them. My family has found some great hidden gems, by using coupons at restaurants, that we probably wouldn't have gone to.

This last tip isn't very inexpensive up front, but throughout the year it is good to have. If you live near a museum, zoo or theme park, buy season or yearly passes. If your family has a day together, you take advantage of those passes and have an awesome family outing.

Mother's Day Gifts (Original Post 5/03/2009)

Mother's Day gifts. I always get questions on what to do for inexpensive gifts. Everyone wants to save money, but are out of ideas of what to do. These are some gift ideas for Mother's Day, but will also work other occasions.

My number one tip, is to make something. You are never too old to make your own gifts. Even if you are not very artistic, grab the crayons and paper and make your own card. As a mother, believe it or not, you never get tired of the homemade gifts. It means so much more that you took the time to create something special.

Another thing you can do is make a special meal. It could be breakfast, lunch or dinner. It doesn't matter. Let Mom have a day off from cooking without worrying about battling the crowds in a restaurant.

Plan a special day for Mom. Get her favorite movies and pop her some popcorn. Let her have a relaxing movie day. You can also treat her to a homemade spa day. Give her a mani/pedi, do her hair and make up. Just pamper her.

Some other wonderful things you can do is clean the house, wash her car, find that list of things that she needs done and do them. The most important thing is to make her feel special. She's your mom and this is her day, she deserves it.

I hope these have helped you and have sparked some ideas of your own. You don't have to spend a lot of money to make your mom feel like a queen.

What's Going On?

I've been a little tired and unmotivated this past week, also, my back has been killing me.  It's hard to concentrate on writing when I'm in pain.  I feel like the posts are rushed I never like how they turn out.  I decided instead of writing new blogs, I'm going to move some more of my old posts to this new blog.  I was looking at my old blogs and forgot about some of the great tips that I had written.  I thought it was a good idea to re-introduce everyone to them.  


I have some great new topics for you, and will also return to some of my regular posts.  Until then, I hope you enjoy the re-posts.  

Happy 4th Of July!

I took the weekend off for my birthday, but I wanted to wish you all a happy 4th.  A little late, but it's the thought that counts right?  

It's The First Of The Month

Today is the first of the month.  That means Experiments #1&2 are starting today.  Very excited to see these in effect.  I really hope I can save as much money as I wanted.  I also can't wait to clean out the freezer and get rid of all the food inside before it goes bad.

Weekend Plans~My Birthday/4th of July

This weekend is my birthday weekend.  Yay!  It is also 4th of July weekend.  You would think I have definite plans, I thought I did too.


Saturday~My birthday.  I'm not really sure what we're going to do.  As of right now, I'm still unsure if my husband has to work.  In the morning, Home Depot has their kids workshop.  They will be making coasters. This is from 9am to 12pm.  I wanted to go to the San Diego Fair, but I don't think that is going to happen.  I would also like to go to the San Diego Zoo.  That is up in the air.  We will probably  just go to the drive in.  Transformers 3 and Super 8 are playing together.




Sunday~We are going to have a BBQ. We will be grilling up some of the meat we have in the freezer (experiment #2).  We'll be celebrating my husband's and my birthday and the 4th of July.  Just a nice family get together.


Monday~Just hang out with the family.  No plans.


What are your holiday plans?

What was one good thing that happened today? 6/30/2011

Hmmm, what was one good thing that happened today? Today was kind of a crap day. Most of this week has been crap days. Today, I got some quiet time to myself. It was nice. I just sat in my room, played some games on the computer and listened to music. Music calms me. I sing all me frustrations out. What was your good thing of the day?