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By Fern Frugal
Hello! It’s Fern Frugal again, here to share a way to save money and increase your family time.
Our adventures can be so exciting that you would think we wouldn’t need any additional entertainment. But sometimes Frank and I would rather just spend time with our kids (Frannie and Freddie) instead of treasure hunting. So we invested in board games to play together.
As you know, growing children can become restless and bored. So instead of spending hundreds of dollars on entertainment for a family of four on our journeys, we minimize the cost by playing inexpensive games such as Chess, Checkers or Monopoly. There are also games like charades or hangman that are absolutely free–just get a pencil and paper!
Video games, online internet games, and even phone games are great and tech savvy, but they’re not always cost-effective. Would you rather play a $100 video game that can be violent and disruptive or a $10 board game like Scrabble, which can be educational and fun?
Just one night a week can strengthen the bond within your family and save you money. And during these times of recession, family time is priceless.
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I agree that board games can be more cost effective than electronic games. I also like them for their educational value as a teacher.
That is great to hear Jessica,
With two kids myself, I do feel it is important to make sure they know that while video games can be entertaining, learning while playing games is more beneficial.
I also like to spend a free entertainment evening playing cards with my family. But it is still difficult not to want to run to the video store or the movies to spend money for entertainment. I just have to find a little more discipline and continue to enjoy the free games with family and friends.
Jessica, you are right, our generation has become accustom to renting a DVD or going to the movies. But what you will find, just after a month of playing games that are a little to no cost to you, is the money you will be saving.
its st. nick time soon and i’ll remember not to waste money
its the thought that counts right?
Yes Susan you are correct, it is the thought that counts and me and my Frugal family will be providing great ways to save during the holidays. Those tips will be coming soon!
Fern forgot to mention card games. We used to sit around and play a card game my grandmother called “twenty-one”. Later (much later) I learned a similar game called “Blackjack”. The point is we’d laugh an entire night away playing for pennies (and by that I literally mean we played for pennies) and it didn’t cost us a thing. To this day I treasure those memories.
You are so right Bruce, my favorite card games were “Fish” and “War”. We played these games for hours and hours! Card games are a great way to pass the time and you can take them anywhere.
I find the public library to be a great resource- most of them offer movie and music DVDs, and they’re free to rent so it’s a great way to find entertainment without spending any money!
That is a great idea Nate! Using our local library as a resource of entertainment as it use to be done before the invention of television. Great way to have quiet time with your family as well!
When my children were very young, we had a “running” game of Monopoly. It lasted for weeks, with our family cleaning up the kitchen as quickly as we could so that we could go to the game table to continue our game from the evening before. Besides teaching the children about handling money, we also offered the advantage of being together as a family and having a togetherness that we might not have achieved with sitting in front of a television set.
I love this! Way to save money, build family relationships, and teach valuable financial skills, all at the same time.
monopoly huh?
that would be the ideal family on tv;/
When my children were young, I would get some local history books from the library and make up flash cards with the answers on them; then I would get a large map of our area and draw squares on it. Each person would get a chance to “capture” a square by answering a question. If the person got the question correct they would put their sellected color piece of paper (previously cut) on the square. If the person gave an incorrect answer they would loose their turn. The person with the most color squares on the map would win the game.
This was a great way for ALL of us to learn our local history. As the kids got older, the map got bigger and the questions got harder. My husband and I still play the game once in a while and I still let him win :)