Posted on 05/19/2011 8:24:38 AM PDT by wbill
How do you explain to your kid that he can't have a summer vacation because of inflation? Instead, my family and I looked for meaningful ways to save on our summer activities. By doing some of the work ourselves, looking at money more rationally, and committing to stuff, not fluff, we plan to save $12,975 in summer 2011.
Summer entertaining
Garden parties, barbecues, and family reunions make summer special. To keep our menus rich while saving money, my sister and I agreed to serve ground beef instead of steak at all 10 of our family get-togethers. In this way, we plan to spend $1.50 per person on meat instead of $15, for total savings of $1,350 this summer.
Summer vacation
To save on airfare and rising fuel prices, we searched the Internet for a local venue that would make a good vacation site. We chose Mount Baker, located 30 minutes from our home. We plan to pitch a tent, camp for a week, fish, hike, play guitar, and listen to audio books by the campfire. Instead of our usual $5,000 vacation allowance, we plan to spend $400, thus saving $4,600.
Painting the house
Every year we hire student painters to refresh the exterior paint to keep our home looking pristine and to protect the wood siding. Our neighbors, on the other hand, paint their homes every five years. To save money this summer, we've decided to paint the trim around the windows and doors only and to do the work ourselves. That will save us $1,500 this summer.
Garden landscaping (snip....but the rest of the article is in the same vein)
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
“Cutting family get-togethers from 10 a summer down to 2, cut our planned funeral expenses by $18.457.02! Not to mention the cost of ammuntion!”
And then there’s always the required rounds of clays before dessert.
I don't make that joke too much anymore.
Made that crack to a buddy of mine. He replied, "Let me tell you about my brother's wedding, where the bride was charged with aggravated assault (and a few other things) and hauled away from the reception in handcuffs."
Must've been a heck of a wedding. :-)
*************
We have decided to make a huge sacrifice,
And have rented a little house-boat for the week.
It does sleep up to 18 - so anyone who would like to join us,
Com'mon in! The water is perfect!
And just think of all the money we will save!
(And there is a huge BBQ grill on deck, so lambs would be welcome!)
ping
There you go yorkie - all it needs is a little imagination to save huge bucks. I like your summer runabout but I will settle for the slower pace of the houseboat - after all it is a vacation and we need to recharge not exhaust ourselves visiting the Mediterraean or the Canary Islands. :)
We have potlucks. Everybody brings something. Turns out great and less work for everyone.
Here's the author's website. http://www.talboldo.com/ It's not a long stretch to imagine her writing this piece, athough she supposedly likes "Ayn Rand".
The really sad thing is Tal Baldo is getting paid to write this crap! Making even more money off her summer plans.
Wow the author’s Web site is even kookier than the article. You might be right!
We can be rich this summer PING!
Just whip out your guitar and we’ll sing us some campfire songs and roast marshmallows by the fire. That will save us tons of cash.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.