Embracing a frugal lifestyle is a big change, especially for children. I don't want to constantly tell my children that I can't afford to buy them the things they want. They are too young to have to worry about Mom and Dad's financial state. Instead, I've made an effort to maintain the level of fun at our house without spending a fortune. My daughters are 3 and 5 and they are just growing into these ideas so I'm sure they will be great for older children, too.
The Public Library - Now that my oldest daughter can read, we make weekly trips to the public library as a family. (The bonus here is that my husband and I have re-discovered our love of reading, too.) We allow Katie to get one or two books to keep for the week. Our younger daughter, Abbie, can check out a video of a kids movie. We have also borrowed children's computer games. In addition, the library has a play area for younger children that Abbie loves, and a puzzle area that has become Katie's favorite place.
Our library has a magazine exchange, too. People can bring in their old magazine to put in a big box and other people can take them for free. My husband usually takes Time and Newsweek and puts them back in the exchange the next week. I take some of the other magazines (women's magazines and general interest) for the girls to use in craft projects. Katie likes to make theme collages with pictures she cuts from the magazines (all animals or babies or smiling people). Abbie and I use them for educational purposes. We are working on her letter recognition, so her "homework" is to look through these magazines and circle all of a particular letter she can find. (She's got down A, B, K and O so far.)
The kids really look forward to these weekly family outing and they feel like they've each gotten a present when we bring home a new book and movie. It gives us some family time, is educational for the girls and, best of all, it is free.
The Great Outdoors - Even before we moved to the country and began our frugal lifestyle, our kids enjoyed the Great Outdoors. When we were city dwellers, we would walk to the local park for picnic dinners after work. Now that we live in the country, our options are even greater. We camped several times last summer. We would just pack up the tent and sleeping bags and load up the cooler with whatever food we already had that we
