Now that I am staying home with my daughter I have a lot more time to do fun things with her but not a lot of money to do them with. Here are some things I have found that do not cost a ton.
1. The park – living where I do it is very family oriented and there are a lot of cool parks, many of which I have yet to discover.
2. Story time at either the library or Barnes and Noble. I love books and want to instill that love in her too. My downfall could be that I can not walk into a childrens book section and not want to buy everything I see!
3. Lunch with daddy. There are many inexpensive places we can go, but if money is really tight I can bring lunch and we can have a picnic.
4. The zoo – we have an annual pass which wasn’t too expensive. Usually we will only go for a few hours in the morning and the most I will spend is about $10. $3 for the carousel and the rest for snacks and drinks.
5. Play area at the mall. Eva love’s going to the mall and playing in the little area they have there. She also LOVES going into the Disney store so that can be dangerous for my wallet.
6. Play date at a friends house. Cost = $0 Time for mommy to chit chat with an adult = Priceless.
Since we just had a brand new mall open up down the street I spend most of my time shopping there. It is an outdoor mall so kinda hot in the summer but at night after the sun goes down is a nice time to go plus they have misters and a water play area for the kids. It’s a great place to go and hang out when you are tight on money because you can just walk around and the kids can play for free. Right next to the play area is all the kids stores like childrens place, gymboree, pumpkin patch, build a bear, and the disney store. Of course this is great marketing but it is really convienent too since those are pretty much the only stores I frequent since becoming a mom!
For Grocery Stores I love going to the new Fresh and Easy that is very close by. It is so convienent. Do you have one by you? It is a new chain here in the U.S. from Great Britain. They have pre-prepared foods and lot’s of fresh fruits and vegatables. It is a very small store and is fast and easy to check out and get on your way.
