Friday, April 04, 2008

Spring Break on a budget!

Well.........Today is the first day of spring break for the girls! This is great for them and the momma goes......."oh boy." =)

And spring break is even more fun when you are on a budget like crazy!!! We attempted to get the girly's into a charter school this year.....didn't happen. So now we will have two with tuition!! AHHH!!! This meant ALL of our tax returns had to go to pay some things off and then in the bank to cover Hope's tuition in the fall. We've barely made it with Taylor's so we knew there would be no way we could do both of them with payments!! Normally we do something very fun with Tax returns.......not this year.

And spring break is even MORE fun when you have three kids in three different stages of life!

And spring breaks is the MOST fun when the momma looks on weather.com and it's supposed to rain almost every day!!!

So......spring break, three girly's, no money, tiny house....what are we going to do?

Throughout my bible study that I taught, there was a common theme.......God first, plan second. So, yes, God is first every day.......but we need a plan!!

This is hard because Taylor and Hope are ready to start doing big kid stuff like going camping, and going to Carrowinds and ice-skating and roller skating, going to the movies.....fun stuff! But the Kennyboo is still to little for that stuff, except the camping we may be giving that one a shot!

So here is the plan with a budget (under $100):

1. Went to Target last night and in their dollar section they have a whole bunch of different things kids can plant and start their own garden! So for about $10, I got the girls a ton of stuff to plant outside and start their own "mini" garden! Whatever day is nice outside, this will be the day this gets done! I will post pics.

2. On Wednesdays at Monkey Joes, they have half price day! So for about $12 all three girly's will be able to play there all morning! Anyone want to join?

3. A visit to the Library! This is FREEEE!!

4. Chuck E Cheese.......I got some coupons out of the paper on Sunday and for around $25 the girl's can play and have pizza and drinks for the morning! Taylor is just about "over" the whole Chuck E Cheese deal.....but Hope and Kennedy still enjoy it! So, I will be meeting a friend who has a girly Taylor's age for this!

5. A trip to the dollar store for an art project! budget ($10) This one:

http://life.familyeducation.com/outdoor-games/spring/29494.html?detoured=1

6. Camping! I'm still not sure when we are going to attempt this......we are checking out the weather and Kris's schedule but I'm only estimating around $50 for an overnight trip. This would only include gas and the camp fees. Obviously the food we would bring would come out of our budget for the week! We have all the gear so hopefully we won't have to buy anything else! But just an idea.....if you don't have the gear, ask around! Most people wouldn't mind lending you their tent and equipment, as long as you take care of it!! =)

Total cost: $107! I think that's pretty good!

I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear your ideas fora very cheap and easy spring break if you're not going away! I know $100 may sound like a lot......but unless you're just going to stay at home each day and do nothing......it's virtually impossible to have fun and not spend a penny!

Obviously the most important thing is for me to remember that these are memories I'm making with my girl's. And that if I spend each day getting frustrated with their messes and fighting, we are all going to be miserable! So......ok, well one day at least has to be a cleaning day.....and that would be today. Yuck......but it's got to get done! Have a great weekend and please leave your ideas in the comments!!

12 comments:

Sharon Brumfield said...

I think 100 sounds great!
I think you have been very creative and the girls and you will have fun.
It is hard to stay in the house for a week with nothing planned.
Although unplanned days can be fun too.
I love the camping idea. We have a state park in our area and many people go there to hang out for the day or to camp.
We went for a drive in the beach area and found a free art and crafts festival. They had a lot of free give aways so it was nice.
We did not do much this year--I was just to physically and emotionally tired. So Julia got to stay up to all hours--she loves doing this--and got to sleep in the morning till all hours.

Speaking Thru Me Ministries said...

or you could come see Leigh!! hee hee - and i know that would be way more than $100 in gas, but memories are free!! I could take you to our zoo - oops we don't have one. I could take you to our play gym - oops we don't have one. I could take you to Chuckee's - oops we don't have one. hmmmmmmmm - do you have any indication what our Spring Break was like 2 weeks ago??? School is such a good thing!! ha ha!

Jenny said...

We baked some treats one Spring break and took them to the nursing home. (We stopped by the dollar tree and picked up some shampoo, lotion etc and gave it out.)

JenB said...

Picnic at a park, on a nice day of course.
Hey, you have a lot of creative idea! I think you'd make a great homeschooler. ;)

Heather said...

Hope you have a great spring break!

Did you see we are having a GIRL???! You are so going to have to give me some pointers!

Mulchy Mama said...

I am ON for Monkey Joe's!!!! I had already told the kids we would go one day, and I had no idea that Wed. was half price!! So, the Eller crew will be there too! :)

Kim said...

We are blessed to have a child that begs to stay at home so that is exactly what we are doing. Todd and I are painting our bedroom and bathroom (hopefully) but that involves me stripping wall paper - YUCK!

I think that I am going to paint it a dark tan - don't know yet - we have had tartan plaid (golf motif) wall paper up in there for 10 years so it is TIME to remove it.

I despise working in bathrooms due to space issues - but it will feel so much cleaner when it is done. Total cost of Spring Break - 2 gallons of paint, some DIF and a lot of sweat equity....

Enjoy your time with the girls!

Kim

ThreeGirlyGirls said...

Yay Amy!! We'll see you there! Kennyboo will have someone to bounce around with!! =)

Melissa said...

Hey Nicki!
Love the new look! Being techy is hard when you don't have a techy brain! I DO know!! Great ideas! You are thinking there girlfriend! Glad you Bible study went well... I knew it would! Have a fun spring break! :)

Stephanie said...

Hey Nicki,

Matthews 10 has $.50 movies on Monday as long as you have 3 or more people. They also have popcorn and kid drink for $2.50. We went on our spring break and 10 of us in for $5.00. We had a blast. Go early because they always have a long line. I think it is $1.00 all day on Tuesdays too! Have a great spring break!

She Rose Up said...

Very industrious of you, Nicki! Sounds awesome! I pray you have lots of happy memories.

xoxo,
Maria

concerned parent said...

I too like your new look and we played outside with chalk on break, cheap and tiring for bedtime :)