A Few Cheap Things to Do with the Kids This Summer!

Visit Local Landmarks
Visit Local Parks
Family Bike Rides
Craft with Grandma
Sprinkler
Swim at the Local Pool
Swim Lessons at the Local Pool
Give Them Each a Squirt Bottle and Send Out Back
Make Popsicles
Make Fudgesicles
Make Ice Cream Sandwiches
Make Necklaces of Macaroni or Fruit Loops
Bake Bread-Each Child Makes Own Small Loaf
Color & Draw
Make Paper Airplanes
Movies-Harkins Does Really Cheap Ones Where I Live
Visit Relatives
Have Sleepovers with Cousins
Make Treasure Boxes
Go to the Zoo (Early in the Day if it's Hot)
Go to a Lake or River; Ocean if You're Lucky!
Head to the Mountains
Summer Reading Programs at Major Bookstores or Library
Library! Take Advantage of All the FREE Stuff!

A Couple Costco Favorites

My husband loves Costco, so we do a lot of our shopping there. Here are a couple of my favorites. Really good and fairly healthy. The pasta sauce tastes really good with parmesan and the soup I use as a base and add rice and veggies.

Cheap, Quick Cookies

I made these cookies the other night when I needed a treat to take somewhere but was pressed for time. I always try to keep a couple bags of these for just such emergencies. The Betty Crocker Oatmeal Chocolate Chip are my favorite. They really do taste (almost) homemade. When I remember, I add extra Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Chips (Can get a big bag of Ghirardelli chips at Sam's Club). They have coupons for these cookies all the time. I rarely pay over a dollar for the bag of cookie mix. Yummy and fast! (Overcooked these cookies a bit!)

TV Dinners

I need my life to be easier ... and I need to lose some weight! Here's an easy solution. I made up a bunch of healthy and cheap TV Dinners. I put cooked beans and brown rice in half (my favorite) and cooked chicken and rice in the other half. You need to lay them somewhat flat while freezing. I put them in baggies and then use kitchen scissors to cut them open. Then I put the ice clump of food covered in the microwave for a couple minutes. Great when you are hungry and tempted to eat something you shouldn't and need food fast! Obviously you can do this with all sorts of food. When I was single and poor I used to do this for my lunches to take to work. I'd take frozen taco meat and a tortilla, potato soup, etc.

Dumpster Diving!

I'm always amazed at what great things you can get if you're not proud about it. I found this leather couch and a chair sitting outside on the curb in our neighborhood for trash pickup. A serious shame if the owners were really intending them to go to the dump. I assume they expected someone to pick them up. Anyway, I asked the neighbor next door if the people getting rid of the couch and chair were fairly clean, she said yes, so I loaded them into the truck. I know some college students who needed something to sit on and after cleaning and sanitizing the furniture, (a plus you can do with leather) they now have free furniture to get them through school.

Love these Glad Bags

I love these Glad bags! My mother-in-law told me about them. They are much cheaper per bag than a gallon-sized ziplock bag. They are good for bagging a smaller loaf of bread, a bunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a picnic, etc. I got mine at Walmart.

The Abundant Life!

Yummy tomatoes, fresh basil ... it just feels so abundant to watch your little fruits and veggies grow in your own garden. Over the past couple years I've started dabbling in gardening. I don't really know what I'm doing, but am slowly learning a thing here or there. At first the whole project wasn't a huge savings on food because I bought pots (I'm doing container gardening), soil and seeds. It was still rewarding and just so fun. Now it's getting cheaper. I just need fertilizer (which I plan to eventually get from composting) and seeds or small plants you can buy at the nursery. I would like to encourage everyone to at least get a tomato plant in a pot this summer. It just feels good to watch something grow!