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7 Free Summer Activities We’ve Enjoyed This Year

July 13, 2023 | Leave a Comment

Beautiful, empty beach

Now that our kids are teens, they are less satisfied with having a low-spend summer, unfortunately. While we have spent money doing fun things with their friends, we try to even out the spending with activities that cost nothing (or close to nothing). We have a list of free summer activities we’ve enjoyed this year and plan to continue next summer.

7 Free Summer Activities We’ve Enjoyed This Year

We find our free summer activities through Facebook and Google searches. Sometimes friends will also tell us about free events.

Shakespeare in the Park

A local park hosts two different Shakespeare plays. Each play runs for three weeks and is free. Bring your lawn chair or a blanket and enjoy the play. We went to watch Measure for Measure last week, and in a few weeks, we’ll return to watch Romeo and Juliet.

Patrons ranged from young children to retirees. People brought snacks, and one older couple even enjoyed the wine they brought while watching the play.

Kids Bowl Free

Okay, this one isn’t completely free. My kids can bowl for free through the Kids Bowl Free program, but I paid $16 for them to get bowling shoe passes. Our total expenditure was $32, and so far, we’ve bowled six times, with many more bowling days in our future before summer ends.

If we bowl ten times before the end of summer, each trip for two games of bowling for two kids plus shoes for each will cost us $3.20 per visit, which makes this a cheap outing.

Niagara Falls

Since Niagara Falls is in our backyard, we visited the sights. Seeing the Falls was free; we only had to pay $5 for parking.

Park Days

My kids meet with some friends at the park to chat, play, create chalk drawings, etc. We’ve done this at least four times this summer. My kids are happy anytime they can meet their friends to hang out and talk.

Art Gallery

Our local art gallery had a free day when they reopened after significant renovations. We met up with friends and spent a few hours touring the new gallery. I’m not going to lie; we stopped at some paintings, trying to figure out the images! But other paintings were gorgeous, and we saw quite a few by artists like Picasso, Rembrandt, and Kahlo.

Beach Days

We’ve had several beach days with other families with teens. The kids swim, metal detect, and bury themselves in the sand. They enjoy their time at the beach and hanging out with friends. We, parents, love that it’s a free, memorable summer activity.

Home Movie Nights

One family in our group enjoys hosting events. Their favorite activity is having everyone over to watch a movie they project onto their garage. People come a few hours before dusk, talk, hang out, and roast marshmallows. Then, we all watch the movie together at sunset.

Final Thoughts

Entertaining teens is more expensive than entertaining younger children. However, we’ve found many free summer activities to enjoy this summer, which helps offset the price of the expensive activities that the kids want to do.

Read More

7 Free Activities to Do with Toddlers This Summer

Should Your Teen File a Tax Return for a Summer Job?

Cheap, Fun Ways to Stay Cool This Summer

Melissa Batai
Melissa Batai

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in Arizona where she dislikes the summer heat but loves the natural beauty of the area.

Filed Under: Frugal living Tagged With: free activities, Summer Activities, Summertime Fun, teens

Top Maintenance Tip Every Homeowner Needs To Know

June 1, 2023 | Leave a Comment

Your family home is the most important thing you own. For most of us, it is also the most expensive thing we own. If you want your home to serve you and your family well, you need to do what you can to maintain it.

Maintenance protects the money you invested in buying your home. It can also help you ensure a safe home for your family. Following the right maintenance strategies can also save money when it comes to repairing and replacing things around the house.

Frequent Home Cleaning

Proper home cleaning is the most basic component of maintaining your home. To start, a clean home is a healthy home. Beyond that, keeping a clean house can make it easier to stay on track with home maintenance. When your home is messy, it is easy to miss small maintenance issues or let them slide for a little while longer.

Try to do all the small jobs that keep your home clean every day. Put things away after using them. Develop a weekly cleaning schedule for things you do once a week. Consider tasks like cleaning floors, dusting, and cleaning the bathrooms. You should also consider tasks for monthly and annual deep cleaning.

Get the Basic Tools

You won’t be able to do much home maintenance if you don’t have the basic tools. To start, every home should have a hammer and a set of screwdrivers. A set of wrenches and an adjustable wrench will also come in handy. You should also have pliers, a utility knife and a flashlight. Depending on how much home maintenance you plan to do yourself, you might want to get some power tools. A cordless drill can do a lot to expand your capabilities for home maintenance.

Remember Fire Safety

Homeowners need to consider more than just the basic maintenance. Keeping your home safe from fires should be a top priority. Most importantly, fire safety is vital for protecting you and your family in the event of a fire. Along with that, it can also protect the home and limit damage if a fire occurs.

The simplest but most important tip is remembering to check your smoke detectors. You should test the alarms every month. You should also check the batteries regularly and change them as needed. You should also keep a fire extinguisher in the home.

Change the Furnace Filter

You want to maintain a comfortable house for you and your family. You should also protect your HVAC system to prevent repairs. One of the simplest steps to do that is to check and change the filter on your furnace. A clogged filter can restrict airflow and make the system work harder. You should check to see if it needs changing about once a month. However, the frequency with which it needs to be changed will depend on usage.

Yard Maintenance

The work outside the house is also important for maintenance. With a little work, you can have a yard that looks nicer. Along with that, adequate yard maintenance can protect the home and property. That means homeowners should create a yard maintenance plan and stick to it.

The most basic step is cutting the grass once a week. You might even want to consider fertilizing and aerating your lawn for healthier grass. You should also trim bushes and hedges to keep them from getting overgrown. Pruning tree branches can also prevent them from falling during windy or stormy weather.

Watch Out for Pest Infestations

Pests can be a significant home maintenance concern. Some can make the home less healthy. Others can cause damage to the home. Termites can be particularly destructive. Many infestations can also get worse and harder to remove the longer they are in the home. Keep your eyes open for signs of pest infestation. If you see any signs, you may need to contact a pest control service.

Consider a Home Warranty

Most homeowners will have a hard time keeping up with all of their home maintenance. Beyond that, there is the worry of the costs that come with major repairs or replacing things like appliances. One way to mitigate these issues is by paying for a home warranty. With a small monthly fee, you can get protection for much of your home.

When asking one of the home warranty companies in Raleigh, NC, they said, “A home warranty can be a good way to simplify home maintenance. The policy can cover repair and replacement for various home appliances and systems. Some warranties also come with maintenance services to keep the covered items in good condition.”

As a final tip, remember to have a checklist for annual maintenance. There is a lot of stuff you only need to do once a year. These are things like cleaning the gutters, inspecting the roof, checking the foundation and cleaning your air conditioner. You could even set reminders on your phone for when these tasks need to be done.

Filed Under: Frugal living, Parenting Tagged With: DIY

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