Do the summer months stress you out financially? Do you find it hard to stay ahead of the game? With the kids out of school for almost three months, longer days, family vacations and with extra trips to get ice cream, it can be a challenge.
The summer months are fun, fun in the sun… but, they can be a little stressful, too. I try to plan activities with the kids that are fun, but also inexpensive… 

Some of these ideas include:

  • Free Parks (playgrounds, water play, fishing, hiking and trail walking, feeding the ducks, geocaching)
  • Free Days/Hours at select museums/gardens, etc. Recently we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens on Wednesday, because they let St. Louis City & County residents in for free until noon every Wednesday. The St. Louis Zoo lets you in free all the time and most of their activities are free the first hour (childrens zoo, carousel, train, etc.)
  • Setting up a pool in our backyard – it may be a pop up pool and not a cool in ground pool, but we don’t need to spend money on a pool pass and my kids can swim everyday if they want in the luxury of our own home
  • Eating lunch out only once a week as a treat. Same with ice cream/sno-cones.
  • Playdates – sometimes a friend can get us into a community pool for free or offer us free passes that they have extras of… or, just going over to each others homes can be a change of scenery!
  • Six Flags Reading Free Pass – my kids can earn these free during the school year by reading a certain amount of books
  • Library Reading Club – earn rewards to eat free at places and to visit places for free. Last year the kids got to paint a ceramic tile for free at a pottery place, a free Magic House admission and got free lunch at Chipotles and PennStation! 
  • Concerts in the park
  • Picnics
  • A day at their Grandparents, my kids go over to theirs once a week and Mommy gets a break (one of the only ways I keep up with this blog during the summer! lol!) and they get a chance of scenery!
  • Kids Free Bowling


Sometimes when you save on the little things… you can then splurge on bigger things, like a family vacation. Family vacations aren’t cheap, but its one of the few weeks during the summer when I don’t mind splurging a bit. On our recent family vacation, my son wanted to ride on these crazy bike cars (not even sure what the name of them are?) and we decided to splurge and go on a ride. We still talk about this bike ride, weeks later! It was so worth splurging on!
I try to keep my kids active during the summer and this summer my daughter has been taking gymnastics and my son is in karate. The gym that my daughter goes to has an open gym time and I let my son go in with her during this time. The other day, he went up the rope climb… all the way to the top, which is 2 stories? and rang the bell. Last summer he made it half-way up, so this was a huge surprise. I worried a bit (ok, a lot) when he climbed almost to the top, hesitated and then climbed all the way to the top. 
Sometimes as parents we worry a little at times or a lot about our kids safety. Sometimes the unexpected happens and you may land up with a bill you weren’t expecting. An unexpected bill can really throw a wrench in your plans.


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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

I also wanted to share that my friend Cacey just finished her THIRD book. You can buy all three books on Amazon for only $5 right now by clicking HERE. And, HERE is the direct link to Final Redemption.

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Here is a little synopsis of the latest book:
A storm is brewing on the horizon…
Six months have passed since Kit Hawthorn last faced her family’s mortal enemy in the wilds of the Amazon. V’s threat to bring the Hawthorn family to an end last winter has not fallen on deaf ears. As a result, Kit and her family have gone into hiding, living under the radar in New York City. But when another beloved family member goes missing, she has no choice but to stand and fight one last time against the man who will stop at nothing to tear her friends and family apart. 
In a last-ditch effort to stop V once and for all, Kit and her two best friends, Jason and Alexa, will find themselves going back to where the story with V first began, searching for the one person who could possibly turn the tide. But when things don’t go according to plan, and betrayal lurks on every corner, Kit and her friends soon learn that to survive this trip they can trust no one but each other. 
Racing through the streets of Moscow, and then to the bustling city of Hong Kong, Kit and her team will do everything they can to bring V down. This time, with the stakes even higher than before, it is up to Kit to stop V from carrying out his most deadly assault yet.
                                  
When the storm finally hits, not everyone will be left standing in its wake, and everything Kit has learned and endured in the past year will finally prove its worth. Only then will she realize, once and for all, just what her future holds and if Halcyon is where she truly belongs. 

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