Making Memories with Little or No Money

Since our recent move our budget has become extremely tight.  It is easy to look at this and forget to take your nose off the grindstone and laugh a little bit.  It is difficult to do sometimes and it takes a great deal of work.  Having fun will help to relieve the stress and make you look at life a little more optimistically, but sometimes getting past the stress to take a look is the hardest task of all.  

I think sometimes this is harder for my husband than it is for me.  He grew up on a farm where everyone did their share of the work.  this has given him a strong work ethic.  He works hard to provide for the financial needs of his family.  I applaud him for this.  He tries very hard to make the ends meet, but sometimes they just don't and he feels like he in some ways he has failed.  One aspect that he has struggled with is planning things for the kids.  He often feels like he wants to take them someplace special or do something with them but can't because of a lack of funds.  

On the other hand I grew up in a different kind of home.  We moved a lot and did not have a lot of money.  We managed but there was seldom extra. My parents always trued to find things to do with us that were within our budget though and I have many memories of activities with my siblings and friends.  I guess we were no so worried about what every one else was doing we just enjoyed life.

I was thinking about this weekend with my children and was just being thankful for the fun we had with very little money.  We started off Friday night by attending a school picnic.  We had spent the afternoon, after our homeschooling, making homemade costumes out of cardboard, paper bags, aluminum foil and a lot of creativity.  They were so excited just in the making and wearing of the costumes.  The picnic was at the school where I work part-time. They got to play some inside games and eat lots of food and run around in costumes and had a blast.  

To follow that we came home for our Friday night family sleepover.  This is something they wait for all evening.  We turned our television off a few weeks ago and have eliminated all TV and DVD's from our weekly family life.  The one exception is that on Friday nights we let the kids get there mats and all make pallets in the living room floor for a family sleepover. They get to watch one movie that we all watch as a family.  They were all so tired that they fell asleep before the movie was over.

This morning we took all of he kids to a local home improvement store for a monthly building project.  They do this for free every month.  My kids love going every month.  they have an apron that they wear that they get to keep and bring with them each month.  This month they made Mother's Day gifts.  They were all so happy to have made me something.  The cost of this whole weekend was some gas in the vehicle, a dessert to carry to the picnic and a little soap and water to clean them up.  In return I have a very happy bunch of kids who had a really cool weekend.  

Keys to having fun without breaking the back:

1. Look for free activities and craft sessions for your kids at local home improvement store, craft supply stores, libraries.

2. Mark the events on a calendar so you won't forget and will schedule them in.  This also lets the kids know something fun is coming up.

3. Be creative and think of ways to make everyday activities more fun.  It takes some work but it is worth it in the reward and memories for your children. 

4. Find ways, (even though it takes more time) to let your children help you cook, put groceries away, check out at the grocery store etc.  I have four under 7 and they have always done all of these activities with me.

Feel free to post your ideas below for others to read.  Have fun and take time to laugh with your family.