Cutting Your Family Budget

What’s going on everyone? Many families have to cut back on their budgets these days. Entertainment spending is often seen as expendable, so it may be the first place to be cut. However, just because you’re spending less on entertainment does not mean you are doomed to spend all your down time twiddling your thumbs. There are still plenty of ways to be entertained for little or no money. Here are a few ideas.

Movies at home

For a small monthly fee, you can sign up for an online streaming service and have a movie night at your own home periodically. Instead of ordering out, make your own pizza and pop your own popcorn. It’s a cheap and fun way to spend the evening together as a family whether you have children or not.

Make a list

The next thing that you should do is make a list. The family can get together and brainstorm about what they enjoy doing. Stick with inexpensive activities and just write them down. Post the list where everyone can see it, and when the need for entertainment comes up, refer to the list. Maybe you can alternate as to whose favorite activity you do. You can do your wife’s favorite activity this week and then one of the kid’s activities the next one.

Hiking

These days, there it is a lot of emphasis on getting in shape and becoming fit, especially as a family. Why not combine entertainment with family fitness? Going on a hike together or bike riding is both something entertaining to do. They are both inexpensive too. Being outside can also be therapeutic. You will feel better afterward.

Local stuff

Check your local newspapers, radio stations, and so forth to find out what is going on in your community. You might be pleasantly surprised to see that there are charity walks, rummage sales, fairs, festivals, nature walks, and all kinds of interesting things going on. If you can’t find anything, consider organizing a community event for other families who are in a similar situation. I go to local events a lot during the spring and the summer. Something is going on every weekend where I live at. I love it.

Televised sports

Have everyone over for the Super Bowl and see if your guests will bring a food item (one person can bring wings, another can bring pizza, etc.). This works for family fun too. Buying snacks for an evening around the television is a lot cheaper than buying dinners and a movie out. Besides the Super Bowl, other big sporting events are The NBA All-Star Game, The NCAA Football Championship, The Final Four and Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Board games

To some people, this one may sound boring, but it’s not. Playing board games is the final thing on my list. There are all kinds of board games for families and groups that are really fun. There are the older, classic board games, like Monopoly, that may bring back fun memories. There are also new board games that appeal to various ages. One of my personal favorite games is Scrabble. If you like words, then that game is for you. Buying a board game is a one-time purchase, and you can use it over and over. You can also add to your collection of board games for not much money.

 

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