This is one of a series of blog posts highlighting personal finance stories on how to save money. We hope these ideas inspire you, whether you are repairing your credit – or preparing for a major purchase. Today’s post about a family staycation comes from HomeSpace blogger Stacey Boothe Snelling.
One summer, when my children were young, we decided to take a vacation to Hawaii. Money was tight, but we found a way to go there without boarding a plane - or staying at an expensive hotel. Our passport was, quite simply, our imaginations.
We called it our “staycation,” and this was long before the term became popularly known as a travel alternative to save money in tight economic times. Instead of packing our bags (I have to say – I didn’t miss this part at in the least!), we started our travels by visiting our local library to research the ‘destination’ we had chosen. To bring the aloha spirit into our home, we bought (from the dollar store) some leis, a few ‘margarita’ glasses, and trays that make ice cubes in the shape of fruit. We donned our swimsuits, lay down on some beach towels, and placed a fan nearby to gently blow air across us to create a ‘breeze.’
During our staycation, we applied copious amounts of suntan lotion - not because we needed it, but because the smell does wonders for making you feel as if you are actually there. I even brought a shallow kiddie pool into the kitchen so the kids could wade about or snorkel while we were on our tropical vacations, and I added some sea shells for them to ‘find.’ We even went surfing – sort of; we pretended we were surfing on my ironing board (flattened, of course!!). The kids loved it when I acted as if a huge wave crashed into me making me fall off my ‘surfboard’ and land in the ‘ocean.’
Here are some other ideas of how to stay cool, save money and have fun with the kids this summer:
· Go to free local theater shows sponsored by your city’s recreational department. Take along juice boxes and some small bags of chips or candy for an almost-free, entertainment-filled event.
· Allow the kids to run through the sprinkler or squirt them with the hose. If you limit the activity to say, 20 minutes, it will be less expensive (in terms of water consumption) than filling and refilling a kids’ pool - plus you’ll have the added bonus of watering your lawn at the same time!
· Reserve treats from the ice cream man to once or twice in the summer (it makes the activity much more special!). Instead, save money by buying a snow cone maker or make your own frozen ice treats. The one-time cost of the snow cone maker or ice pop molds (or both) will be quite a bit less than purchasing the store-bought variety over and over again.
-By Stacey Boothe Snelling for LendingTree/Tree.com
Photo credit: Public Domain
Feel free to share your own ideas of how to save money and stay cool during the summer:
