10 Things to do this Summer

10 Things to do this summer that are cost friendly.  My version of cost friendly, about $10.00 or less.  Free is always my top choice though.

1. Movie:

Let the kids pick their favorite movie, make some popcorn, turn down the lights and have a movie party.  You can even take it a step further, have them invite some friends, make homemade tickets, grab some sleeping bags and make a night of it!

2. Water play:

1, Tarp with hose ~ Grab that tarp, grab the hose and let the kiddos go!
2. Kiddie pool
3. Buckets of water and squishy water balls ~ Let them have their own water fight in the backyard.

3. Outside Scavenger Hunt

Check out this great site.  Treasure.run.  You can also check out my review here.

4. Parks

Every town or city has a park.  Try out different parks, take a day and plan a new park adventure.  You'll be amazed at how just changing up a park can be fun for the kids.

5. Picnic

Grab that picnic basket (or anything you have to hold your food), a blanket and some yummy food and go for a picnic.  You don't even need to go far, your backyard or the local park works well.

6. Bike ride

You're never too old or young for a bike ride.  My Baby Girl is just getting into riding a bike, but before that she could ride a trike just well.  We might not have been able to go far, but we could still ride as a family.

7. Start a small garden veggie or plants. 

Get your kiddos to help plant, water and maintain the plants.  They love helping and most kids love getting dirty too so it's a win win! 

8. Walk with a friend(s)

For 4 years now a friend and I have walked almost every day in the summer together.  4 years and not only is this a great thing to do in the summer, but we've really grown in our friendship because of it!   Now that we both have kids the walking is a little different; however, we have a routine to walk every morning and for 1 hour in the morning we are occupied.

9. Make homemade popsicles

You can make these however you please, here are a few different recipes that I've tried

10. Check out your local library

The library is always having something.  Check out your local library to see what's happening.  This one can also be carried through for fall/winter for any of you who stay at home.  Again there's always something happending at the library.

This post includes affiliate links, which means if you click on the link I get a portion of any sales at NO COST to you.  See my disclosure page for more details. 

Garage Sales, Rummage Sales etc.

Garage Sales, Rummage Sales, or whatever you may refer to them as are a great money saver.  Some of my favorite items in our house are from garage sales and I didn't pay much for them at all.

Here are just a few:

1. I bought this a few years ago and it is probably my favorite garage sale purchase.  My husband thinks it's ugly, but I love it.  I'm not even sure what it is I love about it, but it's definately my favorite. Best part we got this puppy for only $3.00!

2. Great little computer for my baby girl.  We paid $1.00 for this, can you believe it?

3. We also got this awesome doll house with accessories for only $10.00!

I love finding great buys at a garage sale.  I have a few rules though to help me not go overboard.

My Garage Sale Rules: 

1. I limit my spending; this may differ from each time, but before I go I only take a designated amount.  This keeps me grounded and not overspending.
2. If I buy it, I have to have a place to put it.  It's so easy to see something for a good deal and want to buy it, but then get home and realize you have no place to put it.  Now that $4.00 purchase doesn't seem so little anymore.  So before I buy I mentally find a space for it in my house.
3. I always find a basket to buy (this is an exception to my 2nd rule).  First of all, I always can find a spot for a basket and if I don't have a spot right away, they're small enough to store away.  2nd, I like to buy something at each place I stop, it just seems curtious to me and baskets seem to be at almost every garage sale, plus they usually cost less than $1.00.  This rule also keeps me from stopping at EVERY sale I see.

Library

A couple weeks back our town library had their annual book sale, which they host during National Library week every year. This is such a great way to buy books without spending much. I was able to get all of the books below for only $2.20!!  

Most libraries host a book sale at least once a year. It's a great way for them to rotate out books, and for people to buy books for fairly cheap.  

Now, they aren't the newest books, they're typically the ones that have been in the library for some time. But, the library has the new books as well for you to check out. And guess what, you can check out the books for free!  

The Library has 100's of free books! Which is something I think a lot of us take for granted. Seriously, next time you see a book you really want, check to see if your local library has it first. It will save you money and trying to find a spot for that new book in your home. Plus if they don't have the book, libraries have this awesome thing called inter-library loan. They can check the book out for you through another library (depending on where you live there may be a postage fee for this).  

Libraries also have movies, TV Shows & some even have games, that again you can check out for free!

Not to mention libraries are always having some program or activity going on, that again, you guessed it, is free! Talk about some great family fun for and I can't stress this enough, free! 

So next time you're wanting a new book, TV show, movie or even game check out your library first. They may be able to save you that $20-$40 you were going to spend.