How to have FUN on a Budget

I wrote a post last week about "My Calendar is FULL", and some of you were understandably concerned about the financial side of things.  It may have appeared that if we were going to be having so much FUN over the course of the next month, that we were therefore intending to spend a lot of MONEY in order to do all that is on our calendar.



After reading the blog post, and the response of the concerned reader, my mom wrote me an email.  I'll just share a little bit of her insider understanding of how things actually work when our family decides to have fun, while sticking to a pretty tight budget.

"I laughed all the way through your explanations (in the comment section).  Free tickets to the Puyallup Fair, take your own food, and you sleep at Gregg and Kayla's home.  I bet the kids spend their own hard-earned money for rides and souvenirs, their choice.  Once you are inside, there are zillions of tents, buildings, and animals to see for free.  Can't get much cheaper than that!  Of course I can visualize the fair . . .  The driver drops off everybody at the entrance to the fair, parks for free miles away, and walks back.  The critics could spend $100s at the fair, but we don't.  :)

I've been wondering which beach with Jim . . . The critics would envision Hawaii with a bill of $500 per night at a fancy hotel, but you two probably don't consume the multiple alcoholic drinks that the critics take for granted.  Maybe Mexico with cheap hotel, given the exchange rate. Any hotel room with a hot water pot for free coffee can produce, within the hotel room, dehydrated meals from instant oatmeal to backpacking casseroles.  Bring your own bowl and spoon . . . Any small motel-fridge will hold cheese and deli meat from a grocery store.  I raised you on cheap travel ideas!

Your response to the critic was well-written.  As I said, I laughed throughout.  I know how I've always saved money while traveling, and I've observed how others spend money wildly without thinking of cheaper alternatives . . . Free restaurant water in a glass is always cheaper than any other drink - unless you are in Mexico and avoiding certain diseases.  Then bottled fruit juice is cheaper than alcohol.  

Enjoy the coming weeks!

Love,

Mom

Yes.  I was definitely raised to travel on a budget.  And, if we didn't know how to travel on a budget, we wouldn't be able to travel.  Period.

So, let me tell you about all of the inexpensive FUN we have planned for the coming month.

2 days away  *  with Hosanna at a Hotel to celebrate her 16th Birthday

                     Hotel  *  splurge (but with cheap tickets bought on the internet)
                     Restaurant Dinner  *  splurge (with 1/2 our meals brought home for leftovers)
                     Hotel Breakfast  *  free
                     "Back to School" Shopping  *  Outlet Mall, Consignment Store, Clearance Racks

2 days away  *  with Jim & the Kids to go to The Fair with Gregg & Kayla

                     Camping Trailer in their driveway  *  free
                      BBQ Dinner  *  regular groceries
                      Fair Tickets  *  free student tickets and 1 free adult ticket for homeschoolers
                      Snacks  *  brought in a backpack from home
                      Rides  *  no.  we don't even go to the ride section of the fair.
                      Souvenirs  *  no.  no desire to spend money on that stuff.
                      Lunch  *  splurge (but sharing 4 meals for 6 people and supporting Young Life with our $$)
                             Dinner  *  leftovers from BBQ at Gregg & Kayla's house

3 days away  *  with a Friend to Scrapbook

                      Retreat  *  splurge (a once or twice per year "treat" for Mama, and documenting Family Heritage)

3 days away  *  with Sarah, Josiah, & Elijah and a Blog Friend & her kids at the Beach

                     Beach House  *  friend's brother's house for free
                     Food  *  regular groceries

2 days away  *  with the Church Ladies to Scrapbook

                     Retreat  *  free at the church
                     Food  *  $10 or $20

8 days away  *  with my Sweet Husband to Sunshine & Beaches

Airfare  *  "use it or lose it" airplane tickets that we had from a trip that was cancelled a year ago.  They were non-refundable, so we couldn't get our money back.  But, we could plan another trip.  Definitely God's Blessing to give us a trip to celebrate our 30th Anniversary.

We waited and watched and waited and watched for discount tickets to any place that had Sunshine & Beaches, and the Lord Blessed us beyond our wildest dreams.

Hotel  *  while our plane tickets could have gotten us to multiple destinations with Sunshine & Beaches, we chose a place that also had very inexpensive hotels.  We are traveling to a place we have never even thought of vacationing, but was chosen solely on the fact that it would be the least expensive place to stay once our "use it or lose it" plane tickets got us there.

Food  *  there will be grocery stores at our destination.  (smile)  but I'm sure we will also splurge for a celebratory Anniversary Dinner.

Yes.  We have a LOT of FUN planned this next month.  But, we really aren't being extravagant at all.

With the unknowns of Jim's job situation, we are very careful with our money, and we say "no" to a LOT of things.  However, we also don't want to be so miserly that we don't allow ourselves or our children to have any fun.

It's always a balancing act.  We would say "no" to most of the above activities, if our bank account was nearing zero.  But, at what point can we allow ourselves to "have fun", to "spend a bit", to not "count every penny"?  After working 70-80 hours per week for the past 6-8 weeks, shouldn't Jim be allowed to spend a bit of that on just. plain. fun.?

Do we need 1 month's expenses in the bank before we allow ourselves to have fun?  Maybe you think we should have 3 months or 6 months expenses in the bank before we "spend foolishly".

On the flip side, if we are over-the-top worried about how we will pay our bills in 6 months, haven't we forgotten about the "trust" side of things?  Have we forgotten that the Lord has promised that He will provide?  Have we forgotten that the Lord has continued to provide work for Jim for the past 21 months of unemployment and temporary jobs?  

Yes.  It is a balancing act.  We are always asking ourselves these questions . . . always weighing our answers carefully and prayerfully.

For us . . .

. . .  visiting Gregg, Kayla, & Noah is a priority.  

       Yes.  Gas is expensive.  But, it is a priority.

. . .  having Mother/Daughter Time with Hosanna 

       and celebrating her 16th Birthday is a priority.

. . .  Scrapbooking is a priority.  Not only does it give me a little "Mama Time", 

       but more importantly it gives us Family Heritage Albums that are irreplaceable.  

      Neither Jim nor I grew up in homes that had family photo albums.  So, we 

      decided many years ago that pictures, and albums, and memories, 

       and stories are just. plain. a. priority.

. . .  Friends are a priority.  When my sweet Bloggy Friend invited the kids and I 

       to join her at the beach, you bet we said, "Yes!"  For us, building friendships 

       is more than worth the cost of a tank of gas.

. . .  a Vacation for Papa & Mama is a priority.  Yes.  We will spend a bit of money 

      on a hotel for a week.  But, it has been 4 years since we have been away for more 

      than 2 days . . . and the most challenging 4 years of our lives.  We NEED to get away.  

      We NEED Sunshine & Beaches.  We NEED to relax and enjoy each other.  

      We were BLESSED with plane tickets, and we are making it 

      a priority to use them for our very best vacation ever.

Don't worry about us.  Jim is working hard.  We are paying our bills.  We are putting money away for the winter (if unemployment rears its ugly head again).  But . . . we are also having FUN . . . which for us is a PRIORITY.