Parenting: How Can My Family Have Fun On A Budget?

It’s not only easy to have fun on a budget — it’s a good way to emphasize values that teach your children that money isn’t everything: being a family unit and pulling together is important and fun because of who you are — not what you spend.

Here are some great budget ideas for family fun:

*Bowling. All ages — including grandma and grandpa — can have a lot of fun with a night of bowling. If there are young children or novice bowlers, ask the bowling lane manager to put “bumpers” on your lane to keep the ball from hitting the gutter, and giving everyone a leg up.

*Hiking. All weather, all terrain, all family members! Take a monthly hike in a beautiful park. Culminate with a picnic. Don’t make the hiking too rigorous so that it excludes family members who aren’t as fit as others. This activity is cheap, healthful, and it facilitates talking to each other.

*Swap houses. Swap houses with another family for a weekend or a week. You can end up with a novelty time or even a really great vacation, depending on who you swap with. What would normally cost several hundred to several thousand dollars in hotel fees is free. Consider swapping cars, too, if your swapping partners are family or good friends.

*Pot luck house party. Chances are you don’t know ALL of your neighbors, so have your entire family host a pot luck dinner at your house, and assign jobs to everyone in the family. Bonding together to make the party work, and then, literally, partying together, can be great fun.