
Quitting your job is terrifying, FYI. For new readers, our family has decided to opt out of the typical fast-paced dual income lives that many young families find themselves in.
I am a major money nerd and thus had planned every detail I could possibly think of. The plan that we came up with was nothing earth-shattering: we aimed to reduce our expenses as much as reasonably possible. Reasonable is the key word. Although I admire the extremely frugal, we’re more of a middle path type of family in most things. We slowly made lifestyle adjustments and choices that made sense for us. This type of long-range approach worked well for us. Here’s one example of how we save money every week.
Free Family Fun!
Find free or cheap activities! We budget $100/week for “family fun” but most of that doesn’t get spent because we love to do things that are free (or nearly so!) Here’s a list of things we love to do on a weekly basis:
Typical WSF Activities:
- The library…need I say more? Cost: FREE
- Bike/walk around town Cost: FREE
- Hiking Cost: Gas/Parking…less than $5 (maybe $10 :))
- Board Game Night: FREE
- Woods walk/nature walk: FREE
- Baking cookies or other treats: less than $5
- Stay home! Play in the yard, chase the chickens (maybe that’s just me?) or build a pillow fort. Cost: FREE
- Camp out in the backyard (or living room) Cost: FREE
- Go to church. Cost: FREE
- Visit family/friends locally. Bring them some of the cookies you baked earlier! Cost: FREE
- Teddy bear picnic. Bring all the fluffies out, get into your Sunday best and set up an epic tea party. Cost: FREE or close to it!