Tag Archives: summer

Summer Scrapbooking Fun With Sandals or Flip Flops

Summer means hot days, popsicles, pools and sprinklers, shorts and t-shirts and hopefully a brand new pair of flip flops or sandals. What in the world does this have to do with scrapbooking? Let me show you how to create a fun piece to use on your layouts, as a card, as an album cover or as anything else you choose to use it for! Step 1: Grab a pair of flip flops and trace around them or search the web until you find a pattern for a flip flop (I found this one). You can either enlarge it or … Continue reading →

Frugal Burgers

The pleasant weather outside brings lots of great spring and summer food, especially food cooked on the grill. One of the favorite types of grill food is the hamburger. It used to be that hamburger in itself was frugal, but that is no longer the case. Exotic ingredients and fixings, preformed burgers that have less actual meat in them and the rising cost of beef have all made having a burger almost a luxury these days. Here are some ideas on how to make your burgers frugal, and eat them frugally, too. Avoid the preformed burgers, especially the ones that … Continue reading →

Frugal Activities in the Park

Now that the nice spring weather is here, we have been somewhat taking advantage of our local parks. There are so many fun and free or frugal activities to do there. Here are just a few. If your park has a paved path: Bike (My son just learned to ride his bike on the park’s paved path, and my two little ones love using their tricycles and ride on toys on the path.) Walk (Whether you like to walk in the morning, in the afternoon or in the evening, the park is always open at least until dusk.) Run sprint … Continue reading →

Build a Pool-Side Cabana

One of the coolest things that our neighbors have is a little pool-side cabana. It is great for entertaining. The family and their guests can spend hours by the pool without any need to ever go inside the house. Not only does this add to the fun, but it keeps their house nice and tidy, free from dripping water. A pool-side cabana can be large or small. It can act as a simple changing area, or a complete kitchen stocked with food, drinks and even a kitchen sink. You can also build a cabana that functions somewhere in between, such … Continue reading →

Creative Camp Ideas

Camping can be a great experience for kids, but it is usually far from frugal. Now is the time to take a look at camps, since many of them fill up quickly. But how can you fit the camp experience into a frugal budget? Here are some ideas. Church Camps Our local church offers a few different daytime summer camps for kids. Fees range in price from free to $65 for the week (and that includes sports equipment and a t-shirt). There is the traditional bible camp, but there is also a basketball camp, a soccer camp, a cheerleading camp, … Continue reading →

Planning Your Frugal Summer Travel

I know that we just reached spring, but summer won’t be far behind. And now is a perfect time to start planning your summer vacation. With the economy the way it is, many people will be choosing to stay home this year. That is great for you, because being frugal, you’ll still be able to “afford” a nice summer vacation, and everything will be less crowded. Here are some tips to help you plan your frugal summer travel. Try your hand at home sharing. You basically trade homes with another family. Each of you gets free lodging in a new … Continue reading →

Create a Nostalgic Summertime Look

Do you miss the thought of lazy afternoons with gauzy curtains gently blowing in the breeze and neighbors stopping by for lemonade? Even though it is fall now, you can still create a nostalgic summertime look that will bring all of the romance of a sweet long ago summer right into your home. Fall really is one of my favorite seasons. You might not believe me, though, since I keep talking about decorating with a summer theme, such as in the earlier article, Simple Design Ideas to Bring Home the Beach. I think I love the idea of summer type … Continue reading →

Have A Frugal Picnic

Does anyone have any nice plans for labor day? If not, why not have a picnic? Picnics can be very frugal, especially if you follow some of the following ideas. To reduce food waste, why not pack individual lunches for each person, selecting things you know they will eat. Pack it all up in individual plastic beach pails. These can be found for pennies right now as stores are trying to get rid of their summer inventory. This way, dad can have his beloved cold fried chicken, while the kids can cart their own sandwiches, grapes, etc. Use the pails … Continue reading →

Two Frugal Summer Uses for Baking Soda

Baking soda is one of those miracle products that can be used for some many things. I am constantly discovering new uses for baking soda. Fortunately, baking soda is very frugal, costing just pennies per use. I am still holding on to summer here. I know that back to school is coming up (or may have already passed for some of you), but summer doesn’t officially end until mid September. So, I thought I would share two nice frugal summer uses for baking soda. Of course, you can always apply these uses at other times of the year, but they … Continue reading →

The Portent of a Summer Rain

We have been in a reluctant limbo–the four of us here in our little family. We are clinging to summer and yet, in just a matter of days or a couple weeks, we know that another school year will start up and Fall will be showing her colorful face. We’ve been this way before, we’re old hats, we know how it goes. This morning, I woke to the sound of rain and a rare, gray, rainy, mid-August day. It just isn’t normal for us to have rain this time of year and I cannot help but acknowledge that it is … Continue reading →