Frugal Mommy Friday ~ Dating on the cheap

Sometimes we all need a night out, whether it be a girls night, or a romantic evening with the significant other in our lives. But, date nights can be expensive and are not always in the budget. Here is a list of creative, fun, and budget friendly date ideas. So now there is no excuse. Go out, and have some fun!

Fort for a night ~ Remember building forts with blankets, pillows, couch cushions, and chairs? Well it's time to turn back the clock... build an amazing blanket fort in the living room or bedroom, and have a "camp out" spend the entire night hiding within the walls of the fort built by you.

The adventures of the invisible man ~ a silly adventure which creates a fun story. Grab a camera, and a pair of shoes. Drive around town having fun with the invisible man making sure to take pictures along the way. Use the pictures to write a documentary all about your date with the invisible man and keep it to read again later when you need a laugh.

Test drive five ~ Although you may not be able to buy a car, there is no harm in test driving one (or five) - go to various dealerships which offer free test drives, and drive various vehicles the more expensive and outrageous the better.

Coupon Date ~ check the news paper, internet, and magazines. Find coupons for all sorts of great things, get creative, and have fun. The only rule for the night is you must have a coupon for everything you do. For example discount movie tickets, restaurant coupons, etc.

B is for Broke... The broke date ~ B stands for broke, and budget but there are lots of great things B can stand for as well. on this broke (budget) date do only things which start with B.
For example Burgers for dinner, Blow bubbles, play Bingo, Bumper cars, Bad movies, etc.

Let's go fly a kite ~ Go out and buy a cheap kite (or 2) head to your local park, and spend the afternoon flying kites. Make it more interesting with a kite race. Loser owes the winner a backrub

Night as kids ~ Fast food (junk food) dinner followed by playing in the park, and finish off the evening by catching cheesy kiddy movies and cartoons - the sillier the better.

Garage Sale scavenger hunt ~  Together make a list of things to search for, the list can be as serious, silly, or totally extravagant as you would like. After your list is made, head out on a hunt. Check out local garage sales, resale shops, flee markets, and try to buy as many of the items on your list for the least amount possible.

The dollar description ~ Each person is given $3.00 and has to choose three dollar store items they feel somehow describes the other person.

Crazy dinner ~ Each person has $10.00 to spend on only food items at the grocery store, buy whatever items looks tasty to you without knowing what the other person is purchasing. Come home, and prepare a meal created only of the items the two of you bought on your shopping trip.


Are there any creative and budget minded dating ideas you would like to add? Come on, let your creativity flow

Frugal Mommy Friday ~ Stretching pennies

Being on a budget, means making your pennies stretch. However, sometimes saving money seems nearly impossible, especially when you are living paycheck to paycheck.  This post will show you some simple and painless way to cut your budget, and make those pennies stretch even further than you thought possible.

*Of course these days, I believe everyone is looking for ways to stretch their pennies, and make their budget go further, so while there may be a few ideas here which are "old news" We hope that you are able to find some new and useful information as well *

 

 Turn out those lights - turning off a light when exiting a room can save you as much as $2 a week. Also changing your light bulbs to longer lasting LED light bulbs can save you an additional $1 -$2 each week.  While this does not seem like much, this is a savings of approximately $208 a year

* In our house we use the lights out policy - when leaving a room turn the light off, also by 10pm (kids bedtime) all lights are out, it never hurt anyone to sit in the dark, especially since I am usually the only one up anyway.

 

Wash your clothing in cold water, this will not only cut costs, but it also cut down the wear on your clothing, thus giving your clothing a longer life. Also line dry your clothing whenever possible. Doing both with cut your energy bill by approximately $30 a month.

 

Cut down on luxuries  * for example in our home, we have only one car, we do not have cable, we have only a basic cell phone package, and we do not go out to eat. Even something as simple as cutting out one meal out a week, can lower your budget by as much as $50 weekly.

 

Shop smart, use the cost per unit method when shopping. * for example when buying trash bags. You can buy either a 10 bag package for $2.99 or a 6 bag package for $2.50 - to figure out the price per unit to divide the cost of the product by the items in the package ($2.99 divided by 10 = .30ea bag) so in this scenario the 10 bag package is your best deal. However many times you will find that buying several smaller bags of an item is more cost effective then buying one large package, as the cost per item is often smaller.

 

Take advantage of free activities - find activities within your community such as free museum tours, parades, parks, live concerts and take advantage of them.

 

Use the borrow/trade method - when there is a product or service your family wants or needs, but it is simply not in the budget, first try borrowing. You may be surprised at the items friends are willing to let you borrow. However, if you are unable to borrow perhaps you can trade for the product or service your family needs. * for example, we borrow our elderly neighbors lawn mower in exchange for mowing her lawn for her. We also trade babysitting services with friends.

 

 

Of course this is only a small beginning to the many things you can do in order to stretch your pennies, and your budget. We will be posting another Frugal post every Friday, so keep checking back to see even more Frugal tips. In the meantime, what are some frugal things you do in order to help stretch your family's budget.