Trifter

  With the economy making all of us stretch a dollar until it screams many people are not traveling this  summer.  Here are some great free and cheap resources to keep you busy for little of no money. Set a goal to do one special activity a week and make this summer the best one yet! 

• Picnics – When was the last time you went on a picnic?   Let the kids help make sandwiches grab a freesbie or ball and head out to your local park, back yard, rooftop or living room floor (just be sure to turn off the TV!)!
• Parks – Speaking of parks, the government is waiving the admission fee for the National Parks three weekends this summer. Click the link at the bottom for more info. ; If you don’t live near a National Park any one will do you can bring a journal and camera and document your outing.  Take notes on the birds, flowers, animals, and insects or just lay on a blanket and enjoy all that mother natures offers.  BTW if you live near the Ocean forget the park go to the Beach!  (I lived in NJ for awhile half an hour from the Beach and my parents only took me twice!)

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• Museums - Some Museums are free year round and most have a freeday or discount day.  Go to there website or call and ask or just google “Free Museum with your city or state”. With a Bank of America ATM/Debit or Credit card they offer free admission to certain museums once a month.  See link below.
• Library-Of Course!  You can go any where in the world just by opening a book! Most communities offer free membership.  Not into books?  They also offer CD’s, DVD Movies, magazines, newspapers, audio books.  We like to go home and turn all the lights off and read by candlelight or flashlight.  (Makes the experience much more interesting for those with attention problems.)  Plus many libraries have online facilities.  I personally go online order my books and wait for my email that they are in then I just swing by and pick them up on the way home from work.  You can also download audio books straight to your computer and some you can burn to CD’s to listen on your drive to work/school wherever.  (Me and my kids listened to the entire Harry Potter book 7 on the way to Florida and back all 17 CD’s.  We had just pulled into the parking spot at Walt Disney World and they were like “Mom can we sit here and listen for a while? This is a good part.”  It brought tears to my eyes!  So we sat and listened some more and I was thinking we could have stayed HOME!)  BTW Walt Disney is offering free pass on your birthday this year!

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• Swimming - No pool no problem.  Most cities have community pools for a small fee or a local aquatics center.  Also some hotels open up use of their pools for the locals usually it is a nominal fee you would need to call and ask.  Or just go out and hose each other down in the yard.
• Games – Games are a wonderful way to bring the family together.  Need help with math?  Play yahtzee or Monopoly.  Spelling? Scrabble or boggle.  We just started playing Cranium it is so much fun and involves a different assortment of skills (most of which I am lacking) Or just a plain deck of cards will do.  More computer savvy?  Play against your family online.  I prefer pogo (they offer free accounts) but yahoo and google also have good game sites along with a zillion others.  My kids are very good at Canasta and GIN.
• Shows – I homeschool so we are always looking for discounted things to do.  A great site to check frequently is travelzoo.  Most of tickets are half price or more.  I got King Tut tickets there for $12.  Reg $35.  Our local symphony has a free show once a year and many communities have free concerts you just have to show up!  Don’t forget the fourth of July!  Not only do we get free entertainment but also a brilliant reminder of what it means to be free. 

  The whole purpose of a vacation is to spend time with your family and RELAX!  So take a long hot bath and go make a pizza from the box they are cheap and great fun for kids, pop some popcorn and pop in a movie from your collection or the library.

• http://www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm  National Park Services
• http://museums.bankofamerica.com/    FREE MUSEUMS for BOA Customers