Take Advantage of the Great Outdoors

Family activities can be exciting for your children, and quite the entertainment expense for you. A matinee movie, a round or two of miniature golf, or a day at the zoo are fun, but can cost $20 to $50 on average for a family of four, not to mention the cost of food and souvenirs. Save yourself the cost of a normal family outing and take advantage of the great outdoors. You can have the same amount of family togetherness and entertainment, but get it for pennies or for free and be able to put everything you would have spent in your cash reserve.

A matinee movie may be less expensive than the regular priced movies, but you can still save by spending an afternoon at the park throwing a frisbee, playing soccer, or playing on the playground with your little ones. The average price of a matinee is $5.50 a ticket, so for a family of four it would cost $22 for the tickets, plus what you would spend on popcorn and drinks. The price of a regular frisbee averages about $3, but even if you want to get the Ultimate Frisbee for $15, you'll still save $7 over an afternoon at the movies and get days of entertainment rather than just one afternoon. Then every time you go out and play with your Ultimate Frisbee Disc rather than go to the movies, you can put at least $20 in your cash reserve. A soccer ball costs about the same as the Ultimate Frisbee Disc. You get the same entertainment value as an afternoon watching a matinee, but you get to put at least $20 in your cash reserve. An afternoon playing on the playground is free, whereas an afternoon at the movies still costs you around $20 for a family of four. Put $20 in your cash reserve every time you take a turn on the slide rather than see a movie at the theater.

A round of miniature golf averages around $10 a person. Investing in hiking boots and water bottles for the family will cost less in the long run than a round of mini-golf once a month, and you'll get to put the money you save in your cash reserve and spend time enjoying nature. The average cost of a good pair of adult hiking boots is $100, while kids hiking footwear averages at about $50 a pair. To outfit a family of four for several hiking seasons, it would cost around $200. One round of miniature golf once a month for one year costs $480, so even if you were hiking every other month rather than mini-golfing, you could put at least $80 in your cash reserve. If you hike more often, you save even more. Your initial $200 investment could last for years and you can put money in your cash reserve every time you hike rather than golf.

A day at the zoo for a family of four on average costs $40 plus the cost of lunch and souvenirs. A day at a free outdoor attraction, like a historic park rather than the zoo costs much less. Historic parks are generally free admission, or charge enough to upkeep the park which generally is around $3 per person. A family of four can go to a historic park for anywhere for free up to $12, giving you a savings of at least $38 over the zoo, which you can turn around and put in your cash reserve. If you go to the zoo twice in the summer and go to a historic park two times rather than the zoo, you can save $72 in a summer. Find ways to take advantage of the great outdoors in replacement of the family activities that cost you quite a bit to do. Every time you take advantage of the great outdoors, put the money you save over doing another activity in your cash reserve.