I was raised by very frugal parents. They took me to Disneyland twice (when I was 4 and when I was 16.) My only souvenirs were ears and lots of pictures. I know that going to Disneyland was a major splurge for my parents.
I don't feel like I had a deprived childhood at all. In fact it's the other trips we took that I remember. One of my favorites was when we would take day trips to Carmel, hit the white sand beaches to fly kites and then browse through the art galleries.
I think sometimes the best thing for kids is to allow them creative freedom (supervised though.) I remember making up all sorts of fun activities with the neighborhood "gang". We'd have parades or pretend we were in Hawaii (put on our swimsuits and use a towel as a "boat".) We'd also make a "Bedouin" tent in the living room using chairs and a blanket and pretend we were Nomads. Camping in the backyard was fun too. I think lack of video games and no cable helped with this, but I'm sure todays kids still have imaginations.
I don't believe that you'll scar your children by limiting or forgoing the amusement park vacations.
I'm facing a summer full of nothing for my elementary school aged kids. Normally, they would have a long road trip to see their cousins and two weeks of day camp. This isn't in the budget this year. My kids tend to fight if parked in front of "the idiot box" and that drives me crazy since I telecommute. I can't plan enough play dates.
Splash pools are useful even for older small kids - just to get wet. I have a friend that has a larger temporary pool with a pump that she uses every year. An 8 YO can get some swimming in that. The cost was maybe $200 in initial investment and this is her third year.
I am planning a library day each week because my kids do well with schedules. Libraries do have good free programs for kids in the summer. They also have air conditioning. There will be a grocery day. There's air conditioning at the store too. I'll probably drag those visits out a little (math games? scavenger hunts?). Also, I will have to invest energy in finding the free museum days, though I have difficulty in crowds.
This past Saturday was National Parks Day and we visited one about an hour from our house and it was SPECTACULAR! I love National Parks and their junior ranger programs are fun and informative. Also, they are pretty much everywhere. Even when they require a fee, you can bring a lunch and carpool with friends and it's still affordable.
I'm also thinking of getting my kids in the garden. Their teachers have set them up for that real well and even though we live in the desert there's lots of stuff to tend. Plus we can watch the lizards scurry. This is only good early mornings and evenings.
All this requires a lot of time and energy that, frankly, I'm not sure I have. So, coming to my original statement, I would love to see more posts (and comments) on just this sort of thing. Thanks!
I think that we forget what fun can be had in the backyard or in neighborhood parks. Kids should be able to run and make their own fun. When I was little we were let lose to run around the neighborhood.
Trips to Disney are not in our kid's future. Thee are way better ways to have fun and travel without paying homage to Mickey and Minnie. Sounds like torture to me.
I think that one way for teenagers to find some meaning in a job--even though it is a menial one--is for them to believe that they are making a contribution to their family's welfare. During the Depression, my father picked fruit in the summers to help pay for college. His family was poor and his parents appreciated his effort; especially since their friends came to them to tell them they were stupid to send him to college when he could be earning a job right now working at the cleaners or as a gardener (the types of jobs open to adults in his community.)
Nowadays, teenagers, in many cases, still must help out with the high cost of college. Even looking for scholarships if the child can't work would be helpful to the whole family.
Even though those around are slacking off, the teenager who sees the larger purpose of his/her effort should be able to find a temporary job meaningful.
My sister worked at a food stand at Sea World last summer, so we took advantage of it and my sister got my daughter, my wife and I and 6 of her siblings in for a day with food and parking for a grand total of $5. That was money well spent!
By the way, Sea World and Busch Gardens have free admission for military personnel.
So i filed my own indepednent income taxes but i am a student who receieves the taxes i paid in all back do i still get the rebate? i made like 20000 but i got all the fed income i paid in back already?
Mom bought a state parks pass every year when I was young. We would go to the beach almost every day, it was great. And yes - definitely enroll the kids in swimming lessons!
Thanks for the link! Always nice to have free stuff!
I'm just going to throw out a caution for everyone - they can stop offering this for free at any time, and then you may have to pay to get any files back.
I won't go in to the gory details of MediaMax, but as of April 25 they deleted all of their free accounts. Holders of these accounts had 6 days to get their stuff off or upgrade to a paid account to avoid losing files.
I've only had my File Dropper acocunt a few hours, but as Paul points out, I LOVE the simplicity and ease of use!
The site is getting insane traffic from digg, reddit, technorati and a bunch of other blogs (including this one). The free signup should be back tomorrow, and you will still have until May 15th to get your account. This unusually high traffic is also responsible for the slow upload/download times. When it returns to normal, it will be a great asset.
How sad that "guest" thinks the only way to please kids is to buybuybuy. Can't wait to see the outcome of *that* (okay I'll turn off my sarcasm now!)
My family plans trips to a regional amusement park for once a month during the summer. We live way too far to consider trips to DIsney and it is way beyond consideration in our budget at this point. Besides- our youngest two kids are 1 and 3 respectively- does it make sense to spend thousands on airfare and hotels for them on something they will not remember? NO.
We instead go to Knoebel's Grove AMusement Park in Elysburg, PA. And yes- I am advertising-- the park is amazing at the low costs/high value they offer! A bit of a drive for us- but no cost to get in the park. Most amusement parks charge you to park and even get in the park at all- not Knoebel's. They have all day wristbands you can buy- or packs of tickets. We usually buy wrist bands for the kids (but not the one year old!) and ticket packs for adults- since we know we won't be riding that much anyways. We stop at Mickey D's for lunch on the way in and maybe Wendy's on the way home for dinner. Kids ride as much as they want and often ride their favorites several times. We find we don't end up needing to consider going to field days or carnivals-- just once an month to Knoebel's is enough. After dinner, kids get in pajamas and sleep all the way home. We have introduced many other families to Knoebels and they have all been pleased- and go again. It is also a half way point between us and other family- we have met my sister and her family for kids to have a day with their cousin.
Otherwise, my kids have swimming lessons free from the city every week day- with free swim afterwards for fun. We live across the street from a playground; we give liberal permission for friends to come over and play in the backyard. The sprinkler is frequently on for cooling off. We make popsicles for snacks everyday. My eldest is going away to summer camp for 3 weeks- we will pay for one week of church camp, she got a grant from our church for the second week of church camp (she has gone before and really loved it)-- and one week of girl scout camp was earned by her high volume cookie sales. Next eldest is not quite ready for sleep away camp, but he wants to go to day camp- we will pay for 2 weeks of this-- very inexpensive thru city school program available to us.
Nora, that was great. At 5a.m. this kind of reflection on times that were harmonious is a sweet way to start the day. Thank you. Oh, golf, a handful of friends, good wine & conversation, experiencing the Pacific Northwest, and being exhausted by the end of the day....those are the 5 themes working for me. All the best.
Perhaps Ebay? You can get pictures of valuable items that exist in lots of places and "sell" them on Ebay (like expensive Leica cameras which can come to a few thousand $$$ easily). With a different account (opened and only used from a different machine, preferably in a different part of the country - try using proxys), you bid for the item and make a massive bid that beats everyone else. Then, you print out the Ebay winning page and receipt for your records and deposit the money in the bank saying that the buyer "collected in person and paid in cash".
Remember to post realistic communication between the buyer and your seller account ("Hey dude, I'll be in your area next Monday to pick up the item. Check okay?" "No, cash only with personal pickup" "ok dude, I'll be there with cash")
Of course, the buyer account doesn't have a reliable address. If the account is busted, open a new one.
Send a relevant postcard with a few thoughts of what you've done that day to yourself. Kind of like a travel journal you mail to yourself a page at a time.
I am still dealing with trying to find someone to authorize my electronic account, but the Treasury did tell me that you can get paper bonds by postal mail as follows:
--------------------------
If you are wanting a paper bond and you are unable to find a bank in your area that sells them, you may order them by mail from your servicing Federal Reserve Bank.
You would first need to order the purchase forms by mail (they can't be downloaded because they are in triplicate). This can be done at our website below:
Click on "Savings Bond Forms" under Forms for Individual/Personal Use and then click "Purchase Forms" under the Form Categories heading. You will need a PD F 5263 for Series EE bonds or a PD F 5374 for Series I bonds.
Once you have the forms, fill them out and mail them along with your check to your servicing Federal Reserve Bank. You can find out the address at the link below:
One time I was more or less forced by my friends to go to Disneyland with them and oh, man, that hurt my wallet. It was pretty fun, actually, but to save money I ended up ordering 5 hamburgers with no french fries because this was the cheapest possible meal I could find in the whole park. You've really got to buckle down to stay frugal in these places.
This is my list of what I think will work best, in order of best to worst
--------------------------------------------------------
1. Good commercial disk repairer: read reviews on amazon.com - not cheap, but may be worth it if you have 50 - 100+ cd's to fix.
2. plastic polish: probably your best bet of all cheap solutions. Includes brands such as Novus, Displex (which can come in varying grit for different sratch depth), followed by automotive products such as Meguiars and TurtleWax.
3. car finish polish: similar to plastic polish
4. very high grit sandpaper: be careful to use the right grit. probably in varying grits
5. toothpaste: mixed results. would not recommend
6. metal polish, brasso: probably does not do as well as plastic polish for a few reasons. some report swirl marks
7. oil, furniture polish, peanut butter, gum:
very mixed results. not worth the effort with better options.
8. car wax: temporary fix as it mostly fills in cracks.
9. heating over flame, then boiling:
risky. last resort
10. bananas: only if your name is king kong
others that I did not have enough information: applesauce,
I was raised by very frugal parents. They took me to Disneyland twice (when I was 4 and when I was 16.) My only souvenirs were ears and lots of pictures. I know that going to Disneyland was a major splurge for my parents.
I don't feel like I had a deprived childhood at all. In fact it's the other trips we took that I remember. One of my favorites was when we would take day trips to Carmel, hit the white sand beaches to fly kites and then browse through the art galleries.
I think sometimes the best thing for kids is to allow them creative freedom (supervised though.) I remember making up all sorts of fun activities with the neighborhood "gang". We'd have parades or pretend we were in Hawaii (put on our swimsuits and use a towel as a "boat".) We'd also make a "Bedouin" tent in the living room using chairs and a blanket and pretend we were Nomads. Camping in the backyard was fun too. I think lack of video games and no cable helped with this, but I'm sure todays kids still have imaginations.
I don't believe that you'll scar your children by limiting or forgoing the amusement park vacations.
I'm facing a summer full of nothing for my elementary school aged kids. Normally, they would have a long road trip to see their cousins and two weeks of day camp. This isn't in the budget this year. My kids tend to fight if parked in front of "the idiot box" and that drives me crazy since I telecommute. I can't plan enough play dates.
Splash pools are useful even for older small kids - just to get wet. I have a friend that has a larger temporary pool with a pump that she uses every year. An 8 YO can get some swimming in that. The cost was maybe $200 in initial investment and this is her third year.
I am planning a library day each week because my kids do well with schedules. Libraries do have good free programs for kids in the summer. They also have air conditioning. There will be a grocery day. There's air conditioning at the store too. I'll probably drag those visits out a little (math games? scavenger hunts?). Also, I will have to invest energy in finding the free museum days, though I have difficulty in crowds.
This past Saturday was National Parks Day and we visited one about an hour from our house and it was SPECTACULAR! I love National Parks and their junior ranger programs are fun and informative. Also, they are pretty much everywhere. Even when they require a fee, you can bring a lunch and carpool with friends and it's still affordable.
I'm also thinking of getting my kids in the garden. Their teachers have set them up for that real well and even though we live in the desert there's lots of stuff to tend. Plus we can watch the lizards scurry. This is only good early mornings and evenings.
All this requires a lot of time and energy that, frankly, I'm not sure I have. So, coming to my original statement, I would love to see more posts (and comments) on just this sort of thing. Thanks!
I think that we forget what fun can be had in the backyard or in neighborhood parks. Kids should be able to run and make their own fun. When I was little we were let lose to run around the neighborhood.
Trips to Disney are not in our kid's future. Thee are way better ways to have fun and travel without paying homage to Mickey and Minnie. Sounds like torture to me.
I think that one way for teenagers to find some meaning in a job--even though it is a menial one--is for them to believe that they are making a contribution to their family's welfare. During the Depression, my father picked fruit in the summers to help pay for college. His family was poor and his parents appreciated his effort; especially since their friends came to them to tell them they were stupid to send him to college when he could be earning a job right now working at the cleaners or as a gardener (the types of jobs open to adults in his community.)
Nowadays, teenagers, in many cases, still must help out with the high cost of college. Even looking for scholarships if the child can't work would be helpful to the whole family.
Even though those around are slacking off, the teenager who sees the larger purpose of his/her effort should be able to find a temporary job meaningful.
As long as you're not claimed as a dependant (such as on your parent's return), I think you qualify for at least some cash.
There's a calculator here, if you want to estimate the amount:
http://www.irs.gov/app/espc/
My sister worked at a food stand at Sea World last summer, so we took advantage of it and my sister got my daughter, my wife and I and 6 of her siblings in for a day with food and parking for a grand total of $5. That was money well spent!
By the way, Sea World and Busch Gardens have free admission for military personnel.
So i filed my own indepednent income taxes but i am a student who receieves the taxes i paid in all back do i still get the rebate? i made like 20000 but i got all the fed income i paid in back already?
Mom bought a state parks pass every year when I was young. We would go to the beach almost every day, it was great. And yes - definitely enroll the kids in swimming lessons!
Thanks for the link! Always nice to have free stuff!
I'm just going to throw out a caution for everyone - they can stop offering this for free at any time, and then you may have to pay to get any files back.
I won't go in to the gory details of MediaMax, but as of April 25 they deleted all of their free accounts. Holders of these accounts had 6 days to get their stuff off or upgrade to a paid account to avoid losing files.
I've only had my File Dropper acocunt a few hours, but as Paul points out, I LOVE the simplicity and ease of use!
The site is getting insane traffic from digg, reddit, technorati and a bunch of other blogs (including this one). The free signup should be back tomorrow, and you will still have until May 15th to get your account. This unusually high traffic is also responsible for the slow upload/download times. When it returns to normal, it will be a great asset.
How sad that "guest" thinks the only way to please kids is to buybuybuy. Can't wait to see the outcome of *that* (okay I'll turn off my sarcasm now!)
My family plans trips to a regional amusement park for once a month during the summer. We live way too far to consider trips to DIsney and it is way beyond consideration in our budget at this point. Besides- our youngest two kids are 1 and 3 respectively- does it make sense to spend thousands on airfare and hotels for them on something they will not remember? NO.
We instead go to Knoebel's Grove AMusement Park in Elysburg, PA. And yes- I am advertising-- the park is amazing at the low costs/high value they offer! A bit of a drive for us- but no cost to get in the park. Most amusement parks charge you to park and even get in the park at all- not Knoebel's. They have all day wristbands you can buy- or packs of tickets. We usually buy wrist bands for the kids (but not the one year old!) and ticket packs for adults- since we know we won't be riding that much anyways. We stop at Mickey D's for lunch on the way in and maybe Wendy's on the way home for dinner. Kids ride as much as they want and often ride their favorites several times. We find we don't end up needing to consider going to field days or carnivals-- just once an month to Knoebel's is enough. After dinner, kids get in pajamas and sleep all the way home. We have introduced many other families to Knoebels and they have all been pleased- and go again. It is also a half way point between us and other family- we have met my sister and her family for kids to have a day with their cousin.
Otherwise, my kids have swimming lessons free from the city every week day- with free swim afterwards for fun. We live across the street from a playground; we give liberal permission for friends to come over and play in the backyard. The sprinkler is frequently on for cooling off. We make popsicles for snacks everyday. My eldest is going away to summer camp for 3 weeks- we will pay for one week of church camp, she got a grant from our church for the second week of church camp (she has gone before and really loved it)-- and one week of girl scout camp was earned by her high volume cookie sales. Next eldest is not quite ready for sleep away camp, but he wants to go to day camp- we will pay for 2 weeks of this-- very inexpensive thru city school program available to us.
Wow! Am I glad I am not your kid. They must have no fun at all!
This post is barely readable. Yikes.
Nope, no deal now.
Looks like its not free afterall :(
i've been trying to up a 2.5 gig file.... but it simply won't work at all. pretty frustrating...
Thanks for this tip! I have been using box.net but I'm going to give this one a try!
Ben
Nora, that was great. At 5a.m. this kind of reflection on times that were harmonious is a sweet way to start the day. Thank you. Oh, golf, a handful of friends, good wine & conversation, experiencing the Pacific Northwest, and being exhausted by the end of the day....those are the 5 themes working for me. All the best.
Perhaps Ebay? You can get pictures of valuable items that exist in lots of places and "sell" them on Ebay (like expensive Leica cameras which can come to a few thousand $$$ easily). With a different account (opened and only used from a different machine, preferably in a different part of the country - try using proxys), you bid for the item and make a massive bid that beats everyone else. Then, you print out the Ebay winning page and receipt for your records and deposit the money in the bank saying that the buyer "collected in person and paid in cash".
Remember to post realistic communication between the buyer and your seller account ("Hey dude, I'll be in your area next Monday to pick up the item. Check okay?" "No, cash only with personal pickup" "ok dude, I'll be there with cash")
Of course, the buyer account doesn't have a reliable address. If the account is busted, open a new one.
Send a relevant postcard with a few thoughts of what you've done that day to yourself. Kind of like a travel journal you mail to yourself a page at a time.
I am still dealing with trying to find someone to authorize my electronic account, but the Treasury did tell me that you can get paper bonds by postal mail as follows:
--------------------------
If you are wanting a paper bond and you are unable to find a bank in your area that sells them, you may order them by mail from your servicing Federal Reserve Bank.
You would first need to order the purchase forms by mail (they can't be downloaded because they are in triplicate). This can be done at our website below:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/forms.htm
Click on "Savings Bond Forms" under Forms for Individual/Personal Use and then click "Purchase Forms" under the Form Categories heading. You will need a PD F 5263 for Series EE bonds or a PD F 5374 for Series I bonds.
Once you have the forms, fill them out and mail them along with your check to your servicing Federal Reserve Bank. You can find out the address at the link below:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/FC/FCGateway?site=indiv&app=sav
Enter your zip code and click on "Locate."
One time I was more or less forced by my friends to go to Disneyland with them and oh, man, that hurt my wallet. It was pretty fun, actually, but to save money I ended up ordering 5 hamburgers with no french fries because this was the cheapest possible meal I could find in the whole park. You've really got to buckle down to stay frugal in these places.
This is a great find, thanks for sharing.
This is my list of what I think will work best, in order of best to worst
--------------------------------------------------------
1. Good commercial disk repairer: read reviews on amazon.com - not cheap, but may be worth it if you have 50 - 100+ cd's to fix.
2. plastic polish: probably your best bet of all cheap solutions. Includes brands such as Novus, Displex (which can come in varying grit for different sratch depth), followed by automotive products such as Meguiars and TurtleWax.
3. car finish polish: similar to plastic polish
4. very high grit sandpaper: be careful to use the right grit. probably in varying grits
5. toothpaste: mixed results. would not recommend
6. metal polish, brasso: probably does not do as well as plastic polish for a few reasons. some report swirl marks
7. oil, furniture polish, peanut butter, gum:
very mixed results. not worth the effort with better options.
8. car wax: temporary fix as it mostly fills in cracks.
9. heating over flame, then boiling:
risky. last resort
10. bananas: only if your name is king kong
others that I did not have enough information: applesauce,
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