the matthew Z project

We all know how to have fun without having to spend money!  It’s like riding a bike. Sounds easy enough right?  Well why don’t we do it often enough to have it make a difference on our wallet?  I think it’s because we’ve become too complacent with instant reactions and outcomes (elevators, Internet speeds, drive thru lines, etc) .  We have forgotten that when we were growing up, things took a little time.  But now if we’re hungry, we’d rather drive our car to an ATM, then sit in a drive-thru line for 5 minutes to receive a sadly inferior (to homemade) meal, and then drive all the way back home to eat it.  What we could have done is head to the local market and bought a pound of ground beef, some buns, a 2-litre soda, and a 5 pound bag of spuds for less than $10.00.  From here we could have cut and cleaned the potatoes and made good ole home fries.  Made our burger patties and fried them up. Butter the buns and toast them for a minute.  So now lets do the math.  A large value meal from a fast food place, we’ll say $4.90 + 6.0% sales tax equals $5.19.  One meal.  Now lets look at the market version.  1 pound ground chuck, $2.24.  2 liter of soda, $1.19 + $.10 deposit.  5-lb bag of potatoes, $1.49.  Buns, $1.29 (for 8!).  For a grand total of $6.31.  This would essentially (depending on size of burgers) feed a family of 4 easily.  And it would probably only take a few minutes longer to cook yourself.  And it could be more fun! This is just one of so many examples. But with this train of thought, let’s move toward having fun for less money. Work smarter people, not harder.

Sliders of the storm...

The Park – This is a no-brainer.  Go to a park.  Most parks are equipped with pavilions for shade and areas to have a homemade picnic.  The quality of swing-sets and other playground toys is vastly superior to most backyards I’ve seen.  They have great walking paths.  And an added bonus for kids is there are usually MORE kids there.  Watching kids interact with other kids is a great way to pass the time.  They enjoy it and so do you.  Total price spent, basically the cost of gas to get there, unless it’s within walking distance.

Sand castle building 101

Zoos - Zoos are a great way to have fun and learn about animals and plants.  Curious kids will flourish at a Zoo.   Adults will enjoy it too!  Most zoos are fairly affordable and may even offer group/family rates.  Plan to go with friends and family.  Our recent trip to St. Louis Zoo was a bonus.  Admission to the zoo is free.  All the donations and sales of merchandise, food, and “extras” allow this wonderful place to offer free admission.  Our trip to Cleveland the year before landed us at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Here adults are $10/each and children (2-11) are only $7/each.  Well worth it!

Festivals - Festivals are usually a great way to experience many different types of entertainment and they are usually cheap or better yet, free!  Take Fair St. Louis 2008.  Celebrate summer at Fair Saint Louis and LIVE on the Levee, the free summer festival on the Mississippi River levee under the spectacular Gateway Arch. It’s a month long festival that peaks each weekend.  It offers events that include huge headlining bands, art fairs, HUGE FIREWORKS, and just about anything you can imagine.  We traveled by train for 11 hours to get there, and it was worth it!

fair St. Louis

Alright.  Now you have enough for at least a couple weeks of fun, with a price tag that will help you keep most of your greenbacks.  Next week I’ll be posting a great collection of awesome Michigan spots you should definitely visit, given the chance.  I hope you’ll enjoy.

A simple list of ways to make summer days fun and enjoyable while keeping in the boundaries of money.

• Picnics – fun on so many levels
• Walk the mall (on rainy days)
• Fly a kite (literally)
• Randomly visit a small nearby town to see what it has to offer
• Walk downtown
• Visit a flea market
• Go fishing
• Visit a museum

I hope you will try some of these.  You’ll be happy you did.  Until anon, matthew Z