Savvy Moms Save: Thinking Ahead can mean Big Fun for your Family

I have to admit that I am NOT the best at "thinking ahead" . But the more I "think" about it, the more it makes sense to think about and plan the activities you will do as a family. Not only will it save you money, but it will keep you from feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of a full or half day doing a family activity.

Last night, we all came up with ideas for what we wanted to do as a family on our Family Fun Night. We came up with about 18 different things we wanted to do. I was pretty impressed with my 3 year old's ideas, you would have thought she has already done this before...perhaps with a different family.

Check out Frugal Family Fun Blog- for some great simple ideas for free things to do as a family...like indoor ice skating in your living room!

BetterBudgeting. com has a great list of things to do in your area for free.

I will put these ideas in a jar, and every time we have a family night, we will pick for the following week....so I can PLAN in advance.

There are also great events that take place all over that you can do with your children on weekends. Take a look in your local newspaper, do some searches online for festivals, children's puppet shows, library events, or even cheap or free museum or theme park entry tickets.

Many blogs online give you advance notice on upcoming deals for major family events. Some blogs that I like are:

The Happy Housewife- She lets military families know about great deals for family activities. She also has several posts about how to have a Disney vacation for really cheap...good stuff.

Frugal NJ- has posted a great deal on how to get 3 Free round trip tickets through Spirit Airlines.

If we commit to planning ahead, we can commit to providing meaningful memories for our children and family. Children often get more excited about events that you post on a calendar..involve your children. Show them what is coming up on the calendar and they will want to talk about it as the days grow closer.

With a little planning, your family will definitely be going places...