Rising temperatures means rising costs, both for electric costs, water and kid costs! If you’re not planning to send your kid to a sports or fat camp this summer, you need to plan for some higher costs. When your children are home, you tend to spend more money on food items, paper items and cold drinks. If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of kids, you could end up with quite a few kids spending a lot of time at your house, making these costs even higher.
In today’s economic times, you need to find a way to provide food, drinks and entertainment in affordable ways.
Food & Snacks
Gone are the days where you can sneak that expensive bag of cookies in the cart to keep for yourself. Now that the kids are home, you need to stock up on bulk food items that are affordable and healthy. This can be tough, but I have a few ideas for you.
I bought a microwave popcorn maker so that I could use less expensive kernels rather than prepared microwave bags. This way, I get to control the flavoring as well. Instead of tons of butter, I use cheese powder, seasoning salt or even pepper flakes for the older kids. It’s a nice, spicy snack that is low in calories yet filling.
I make a lot of jello jigglers in the summer. They are really easy and inexpensive. A nice cool treat! Bulk popsicle are great too, but they can get messy on hot days, so plan accordingly.
One of my children went to one of the well known weight loss camps for kids a couple years ago and brought home some good suggestions for quick and easy snacks that aren’t too unhealthy. As far as more nutritious items, you can buy carrots and celery and keep “dipping” cups of peanut butter. I also use left-over ranch dips that come home with carry out food or salads to serve with veggies. Just keep them right in your veggie drawer and your kids might be more inclined to reach for a healthier snack. For lunches, we have a “kids go home for lunch” policy in our neighborhood so that none of us are stuck with feeding the whole crew every day.
Cold Drinks
Water, water, water! It’s pretty cheap unless you have to purchase bottled water. I’ve saved so much money by making one purchase. We bought an RO (reverse osmosis) system to filter our kitchen sink water. It was amazing how much money I was spending on bottled water, and all those plastic bottles weren’t doing the environment any favors.
This summer, I’ll just keep pitchers of ice cold water in the refrigerator and refill everybody’s reusable water bottles all day. When my kids go to the neighbor’s house, I send their reusable bottles with as well.
For really active or really hot days, sports drinks can be helpful to keep kids hydrated. Buy the big gallons instead of the little bottles to save money.
Things to Do
Eventually, cheap activities like running in the sprinkler will become boring for your children. You may start thinking about taking them to movies or an amusement park, but there are other options. Summer camps for kids may seem expensive until you add up all of the above costs. Check out the various summer camps for kids such as athletic, academic, creative or fitness camps. You’ll probably save money and your sanity!
{ 0 comments… add one now }