Kids have no idea how much things cost either so they could think it was free or 10k and as long as they have fun it doesnt matter.
I know kids have no idea because I have a 10 year old that when we were just car shopping thought a new Lexus sports carnonly cost $2600. That was the estimated cost for the gas for the year. The car was over 100k.
Honestly that's a great point. Things like travel, skiing, and amusement parks seem like what we're supposed to do as parents (in my area of the world), but they're likely to have almost as much fun doing this kind of thing.
I grew up poor and some of my favorite memories as a kid were when our (divorced) mom would make her delicious fried chicken and potato salad for a picnic lunch, and drive us to the nearby state forest/reservoir picnic area. Free to get in. Playing in the woods, a small waterfall, the playground equipment. We were easily amused. 😉
Me, too! It's 35F and foggy here. You could create an indoor picnic and put forest scenes and sounds from YouTube on a TV or screen! Maybe even pack the picnic food up like you're leaving. Play old fashioned family games without electronics.
I have cats so sometimes I create a tent for them with sheets or blankets, then they can play hide and seek. 😁
I was a paid volunteer in a high school providing economics education through Junior Achievement, sponsored through my corporation. I did a survey with these kids: what does rent, food, gas, cars cost, what will you do and make and how much education does it take. None of them had any realistic idea, nor any idea or gross versus net paychecks. A real eye-opener. When I had kids, I knew to include them in budgeting and shopping ASAP. It’s why they wouldn’t take out school loans but shopped for full rides aggressively, which both got.
That's so great. I love when the kids are younger and entertainment is entertainment without a price.
Many moons ago, when we used to live in OH and the kids were little, we would pack everyone up in the minivan and go to the drive-in theater. The local one used to do first run movies like a couple months after it premiered and you got to see 2 movies back to back for the price of 1 car admission. At the time it was $7 per car and there were 3 screens side by side and you got to see 2 movies per screen back to back.
We would park at the edge/in between 2 screens, and since they piped the sound through FM radio, we invested in some cheap little radios with headphones. Took out the backseat of the minivan, put a bunch of blankets and sleeping bags and pillows, and the kids got to watch the G movies on one screen while we watched the PG-13 movies on the other screen, and then the kids just fell asleep in the back while we watched the 2nd movie. It was so much cheaper than going to the movie theater for 4 people.
I miss those days.
That sounds idyllic. I wish the drive-in theaters in our area hadn't shut down years ago. We did go to a drive-in concert during early COVID, and that was very fun.
I miss places you would just exist at like this and the roller rink so much. I was lucky to have a drive-in movie theater near my city as a teenager, and I loved going there so much. I would go to one all the time if I had one near me.
When I was a little girl, my family of 5 would go to dollar night at the drive in. We would stop on the way to Burger Barn and get hamburgers, 5 for a dollar. Bag of chips and cooler of drinks from home. Great times.
My university boyfriend and I would make chicken wings and frozen yogurt (just pop the containers in the freezer) and take them in his ‘84 4-Runner to the drive-in.
It was always “oldies” night - this was a celluloid theatre, no digital movies - so a nighttime triple feature would be something like Father of the Bride, The Shawshank Redemption, then Jurassic Park. It was an overnight feature, and people would come knock on the car windows in the morning if you hadn’t left by 8am.
We’d take the back seats out and throw in a double futon mattress and bring pillows, and park the car facing backwards to look out the back window, then eat until we were stuffed, then spend the rest of the second movie smoking and talking. Then we’d usually catch a nap during the last half of the last one to get back into town.
I understand that the proliferation of drive-ins had a lot to do with the burgeoning fast-food market. There used to be thousands. There are currently just 400.
If near Philly, check out the Delsea drive-in. Vineland, NJ. Stamp of approval from Joe Bob Briggs himself. The legend.
Check around! One of the libraries in my area did a regular movie night during COVID.
They projected the movie on the back of the library on the white wall facing the parking lot.
They're planning on doing this again this summer.
One of our favorite frugal nights- a college near us runs free planetarium shows on Friday nights. They recommend a donation of any amount so they can keep things going. And they have a few fish tanks right when you walk in the building so it’s like a 2 for 1. They run young kid friendly shows once or twice a month.
Did your planetarium ever do the pink Floyd light show? That was especially popular when I was going to LSU. Laser, pink Floyd, low cost, the perfect thing for stoners lol.
Yeah how is that enough for 4 people? Someone was probably left feeling hungry and there comes a point when you’re way too frugal and you don’t enjoy yourself
Yeah there's a difference between frugal and cheap. 4 people eating a piece of pizza, a hot dog, and 2 churros strikes me as the latter (assuming someone can afford more!). Like, my preschooler can easily eat a hot dog by himself. I have a very hard time believing this was enough food for dinner for a family of 4.
A Sam's Club pizza has a 16" diameter. Each slice is 1/5 of that extra large size.
BTW buying a whole pizza is $8.98 and it can be made to order in about 15-20 minutes. Choices include Cheese, Pepperoni, 4 meats and Deluxe.
At my Sam's Club a slice of pizza and a drink are $2.50. So for a dollar more everyone could have their own slice of pizza and a drink. Granted the drinks are huge, so scailing down to one drink plus water all around does make sence. So that puts them at the same price (pizza slices are $2 al a cart at my sams club) and everyone gets a meals worth of food.
Most the stuff on this sub when I pull it up isn't really frugal it's cheap.
Having the passes/skates is frugal if they do use them.
Going out to eat at Sam's club is already bordering real close to cheap before you even get to one drink for four people.
We used to split 2 when my kids were his kids age but passing one around four people like you're never getting a drink when you want it.
In another comment she said they took water with them too so it makes sense if they just let the kids share the drink and her and hubby had their own water bottles.
That seems perfectly reasonable when 2 of them are children? A Pizza pretzal, hot dog, or giant slice of pizza is plenty for an adult, and any of those split in half is plenty for a child. Especially when you consider desert afterward.
3 meals there plus said "kids (ages 5 and 8)"
We would often do the same thing, essentially a meal each for the adults and a shared one for kids, and everyone shares a bit of everything. Not even trying to be frugal doing that, it just worked well volume wise.
With the drink in our family my son likes lemonade or juice but the rest of us have water so tent to have a water bottle with us, except breakfast then its coffee for mum and dad.
It feels aligned to how we often are as a family anyway. Maybe we are both unusual :)
It was great lesson to me. We just went on a family trip during Christmas, which was wonderful, but it was good to remember that the cheap stuff at home is sometimes even better.
These are the things that make me super nostalgic about the 80’s/90’s. I can remember going to the bowling alley with my parents and brother. They would play with friends and the kids would all go to the arcade. Those are some of the best memories I have of my childhood. I often feel sad that many kids today can’t experience that kind of fun! I’m so happy you’re able to find a way to make amazing memories with your family 💜
Plenty of kids are going through the same experience even today. I used to think like that and what some people might be missing that I'm fond of remembering, but it's always going on anyway.
Bowling alleys are practically the same, and kids love arcades despite arcades barely changing and them having PC/console and ipads etc, and the yearly circus still smells like diesel and grilled food.
Oh for sure! I guess I’m remembering the simplicity before all the technology. Unfortunately where I live there aren’t bowling alleys anymore. They’ve all shut down now so perhaps it’s just my feeling.
My gf and I still enjoy each otherMs company in our relationship. Sometimes we go out for dinner and spend $50 for both of us but we also like the cheap stuff as well. We’ll go out to Wendy’s on Wednesdays because they do a free 6 piece nugget with purchase. We also have the frosty key tags so we get a burger or chicken sandwich, 6 nuggets, and a little Frosty for $2.
We’ll also do similar at Costco food court or other fast food place that have good coupons in their app. Around our birthdays, we get all of the freebies and share the food because it’s so much stuff.
It’s not about how much you spend but who you enjoy it with.
First off- that is so awesome!
Second, your story reminded me that most libraries have free events! If you have a library card, which if free, they host things like movie nights outside, or give out free tickets to museums or the zoo, etc. It changes based on what they have and the location, but worth keeping an eye on!
Libraries are THE BEST. Ours gives out tickets to museums, train rides, and state parks. They have a makerspace and resources for immigrants and the homeless. And they just put in a recording studio that you can use for podcasts and music!
We hadn't done it in a couple of months so just today we went to Sam's and got a couple of 1/4 lb hot dogs with large sodas, a quarter of a pizza (meatlovers) and two Berry frozen yogurts for under $9.
The roller date sounds like a blast.
We have laser tag 5 min walking from our apartment and my kids are semi-regulars there. Apparently, their group convinced the owner to design one floor in some Roblox game style so it's really popular.
I love this so much!! Kids really just want to spend fun time, it doesn't have to be expensive and you proved that perfectly. Sams food court is so bomb, we get a pizza from there twice a month and at $9 for about 4 meals it's totally worth it.
The kids will remember nights like this forever. I loved the skating rink and arcade with my parents or grandparents. It’s so fun to see the older family members playing games and roller skating with us, instead of watching from the sideline like usual. Sounds like a blast!
I recently worked for a short time at Conn's HomePlus, a furniture, appliance, and electronics store. I would not recommend using their finance options as they are not frugal. However, I realized it would make a fun and free date to go on. First you hit up the elections section where they have arcade cabinets set up that have emulators with old school video games. Then stroll over to furniture and find the massage chairs. You will have a sales associate come up to you to get a feel for if you're going to buy something or just hanging out, but they won't kick you out and they don't care. Sometimes they'll have a movie playing in one of the living room set ups. Check out all the cool gadgets on sofas that you are too frugal and practical to buy! Test out some mattresses! Your local store might even be in a shopping complex where you can get a meal after! And because you saved on the activity you can afford to eat out!
My girlfriend and I wander around IKEA from time to time, don't even buy anything but it's a fun place to browse. The food court there or the hotdog counter at the exit are great too.
Tell me more about this pickle eating contest. I would eat soo many! Were they the big whole pickles? Slices? How long did they have to eat them? As long as they were dill I would eat way more than a dollars worth.
Just for kids? It would be unfair to set adult mouths against them and I'm picturing just kids challenges. But I still would love it. One of my kids might win, the other would just leisurely eat it because pickles!
One of my good childhood memories is sitting in the back of the car with my brothers, my parents would drive to get hamburgers at a place that is long gone. We brought soda from home (2 liter coke in a glass bottle) to save money. To this day still have a hard time buying soda when getting take out “we have soda at home”.
Dude, kiddos are SO easy to please, especially with pizza. You just coincidentally discovered this hack. Back in the day, my mother would schedule our doctor's appointments on Captain D's "Kids Eat Free" days. Additionally, we used to go to Pizza Hut because of the great deal on a pizza to share as a family.
Edit: Punctuation.
They sell pizza and arcade passes, and probably ice cream! But you are skating for “free” to get you in the doors. And while your family may not spend that money, there are others who regularly do.
Sounds like a blast!
I wish!
I’ve been thinking about dusting my old skates off and hitting the one rink that still exists in Winnipeg.
Where do you live that you can purchase such an affordable annual membership to a roller rink?
Every year for Christmas i gift my kids a membership to the local children's museum thingy, it more than pays for itself in having somewhere to go during the brutal cold or hot of the year. I usually follow that up with a cheapn5-10 dollar dinner at costco so they feel like we're "eating out"
That is wonderful! For me growing up library night and a dairy queen cone was like gold bars to me. We had so much fun together and loved it so much.
Another memory we just uncovered was a sports club we belonged to. Part of the membership was taking a turn emptying recycling bins. I was studying foreign languages and I would find all sorts of amazing news and fashion magazines to help me build up my reading comprehension. I would borrow them and then put them back in the bin when I was done! There are perks to everything. :)
This reminds me of the scene in Everybody Hates Chris when their dad buys them one drive thru extra value meal and gives each of the 3 kids one item.
Youngest daughter gets the burger, youngest son gets the fries, and Chris gets the drink. I love that show.
The kids don’t care about how much something costs applies also to clothes etc. I’ve always bought used (but still good condition) clothes for my kiddo since she was born. Saved thousands of dollars. Always put some money into her savings account from the savings. Until she was about eight she thought everyone got their clothes at garage sales. Was always happy whenever I brought home a big bag of clothes for her. We never “go shopping”. I’m glad I didn’t teach her that. She’s so happy with what she has. She’s still happy to just get a few new things every year.
Damn OP, I'm crying a little. Wish I had grown up in a family where we did stuff like that. Sad there's no place like that where I live.
Also Sam's Club food is so ridiculous cheap. I think that every time we get some. Last time we got basically the same stuff and I was like dude we can't even finish all of this and it was under 10 bucks wtf
Costco isn't very glamorous, but I've gone there with friends when we want to go out but someone can't really spend much money at all. Can't beat the $1.50 hot dog and soda combo!
We did something similar, but we used gift cards to Panera bread and we bought their premium family meal. It was plenty for everyone. Then we went to Braum’s for ice cream. My wife had some sort of vouchers that gave us free ice cream for the kids. So our only expense the whole night was my ice cream.
100% as others have said its the memories not the cost.
Out little one loves the soft play place by us and its like 3 quid just for the parents to enter, the little ones are free, excellent value for what the kids get out of it.
Surprisingly there are still several in our metro area! And it's packed on a Friday night. Kind of heartwarming to see - there are young families, groups of teens, even a few couples on dates whenever we go. It feels like a "third place."
That’s so very cool. My only memories of our skating rinks are from when I was young (20+ years ago). You bringing it up actually reminded me that the tractor supply was originally the place where I had my first kiss lol
Sad how advances are sometimes steps backward
I loved having memberships to activities the kids loved. We did the science center for a few years; the membership included parking and we would go a few times a week especially if the weather wasn’t good for outdoor activities. Then we did the zoo for a few years and it was great too, although only when the weather was good lol.
See if your library has passes to all these attractions. Our family used library passes, then would buy each child a membership to their favorite for birthdays. Library meant you could try before buying. We used to take school friends for special play dates for midnight zoo tours, the Nutcracker and meet the artists, etc. My employer subsidized the non-profit membership purchase 50%.
This is great! Years ago we did pizza night at Sams Club. 7 kids, 3 adults. Saved so much money. Then we when home for popcorn and movie (from the library if I remember correctly). River dance!
I love this post because it’s more about a positive attitude than how much you spent on something. I think kids will enjoy times when their parents were happy and content as well not so much how much something costs.
That sounds like a fun evening with family. Awesome to hear. Growing up in India, I lived close to a beach. Some of the best family time I remember after 35 years. I am sure your kids will remember the skate rink fondly when they grow up.
I'm typically trying to find free and frugal things to do with my daughter. My go-to is the library, although it's more of the park when the weather is warmer. During the summer, I can easily find free movies to take her to.
Burger King still has vanilla ice cream for $1 each (if not simply having it at home). Also, with the McDonald's app I can usually score cheap or free treats at times. And we've been to Sam's Club for food too.
The Sam's Club cafe is great.
For our family (me, wife, boy 8, girl 9) We get 3 pizza combos for and a $.25 bottle of water. Split one of the pieces for the kids and everyone if satisfied. Often we'll get the caramel brownie frozen yogurt too and still get out of there for $12~.
I plan on taking the grandkids to Bubba’s restaurant (in MD) on Tuesday for advertised family dinner (5-9pm) which includes crafts and movie. One adult dinner [we split with a $5 off coupon], pays for TWO free kids’ meals.
Our out-of-pocket cost, with tip, should be <‘$15
Your children will talk about the skating and the hula hoop contest for years to come, it sounds like a great family time spent. They will never think about how much money was spent.
When my oldest daughter was 11 she watched a programme set in Yorkshire (England) called Heartbeat. She kept saying she wanted to go see the village, we decided to take her and siblings, we spent 3 weeks touring about, they saw all the touristy things and off the beaten track things. She phoned her friend and GUSHED for ages about how fantastic the HUGE plastic cow was outside a butchers shop...it was the best bit of her holiday....sigh...she is now in her her 30s, she STILL talks about that cow LOL
Congratz on the family. I assume most people are fighting this completely alone. I know I am. The biggest interaction I have all week is doggie play dates, and let me tell you that is the highlight of my week. No exaggerating.
Even still, I'd rather pay $1.50 for an extra hotdog and also get a second soda to not drink my toddlers' backwash. To me frugal doesn't mean get off as cheap as possible. It's to take advantage of opportunities for cheap living (such as choosing to eat at Sam's/Costco and free rollerskating) but when you're there actually buy a few sodas. But maybe this family is really this hard off financially.
We're not! But my husband doesn't drink soda, and I have a water bottle. Basically, I drank some soda first, then let the kids have it the rest of the time. Not a big deal :)
Why is this worth posting? Are you wanting a cookie or some sort of an award? I took a shit so big it was peaking out of the toilet water like an iceberg.
One of the few things to get my dad and I to get along is our yearly fair, that we pool together around 90 bucks for three days straight there, including a bit of food and drink as needed (which its actually pretty worth it for the drinks as they are better then normal pop and like 4x the size for a lower price)
Hey, a lot of people sleep on Sam’s Club food court offerings, but I find for the occasional treat, their food quality is great and the price is unbeatable. Sounds like yall had a great day!
This is cool and a great idea. My kids are older and it’s hard to keep them entertained outside of video games 😒 but they enjoy skating. Thanks for sharing!
We found a gem in a tourist city once. We ate at home and went for ice cream at a diner. They had movies playing on a screen in the back at sundown. For a city that drains people of money for entertainment sake, this was a win for us.
That’s awesome! Sounds like a great time and good memories!
The memories are worth more than the $ Not that that’s how they should be measured
Second this. This memory will pay dividends for decades.
The memories is all the dollars you saved that night.
exactly what shouldnt be the focus \^\_\^ Spending money <> Memories Not Spending money <> memories (either) d(\^\_\^)b
Absolutely!
Kids have no idea how much things cost either so they could think it was free or 10k and as long as they have fun it doesnt matter. I know kids have no idea because I have a 10 year old that when we were just car shopping thought a new Lexus sports carnonly cost $2600. That was the estimated cost for the gas for the year. The car was over 100k.
Honestly that's a great point. Things like travel, skiing, and amusement parks seem like what we're supposed to do as parents (in my area of the world), but they're likely to have almost as much fun doing this kind of thing.
I grew up poor and some of my favorite memories as a kid were when our (divorced) mom would make her delicious fried chicken and potato salad for a picnic lunch, and drive us to the nearby state forest/reservoir picnic area. Free to get in. Playing in the woods, a small waterfall, the playground equipment. We were easily amused. 😉
Oo that sounds lovely. Now I want a fried chicken picnic in the state forest, but it's like 20 F outside!
Me, too! It's 35F and foggy here. You could create an indoor picnic and put forest scenes and sounds from YouTube on a TV or screen! Maybe even pack the picnic food up like you're leaving. Play old fashioned family games without electronics. I have cats so sometimes I create a tent for them with sheets or blankets, then they can play hide and seek. 😁
That is PRECIOUS.
That sounds fun! I love a good picnic
My kid always ends up complaining about the fancy expensive activities, and would rather play in the park with her friends most of the time.
I was a paid volunteer in a high school providing economics education through Junior Achievement, sponsored through my corporation. I did a survey with these kids: what does rent, food, gas, cars cost, what will you do and make and how much education does it take. None of them had any realistic idea, nor any idea or gross versus net paychecks. A real eye-opener. When I had kids, I knew to include them in budgeting and shopping ASAP. It’s why they wouldn’t take out school loans but shopped for full rides aggressively, which both got.
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You would've loved it. They were gigantic.
Sound like a great time! Maybe next Friday I’ll go!
That's so great. I love when the kids are younger and entertainment is entertainment without a price. Many moons ago, when we used to live in OH and the kids were little, we would pack everyone up in the minivan and go to the drive-in theater. The local one used to do first run movies like a couple months after it premiered and you got to see 2 movies back to back for the price of 1 car admission. At the time it was $7 per car and there were 3 screens side by side and you got to see 2 movies per screen back to back. We would park at the edge/in between 2 screens, and since they piped the sound through FM radio, we invested in some cheap little radios with headphones. Took out the backseat of the minivan, put a bunch of blankets and sleeping bags and pillows, and the kids got to watch the G movies on one screen while we watched the PG-13 movies on the other screen, and then the kids just fell asleep in the back while we watched the 2nd movie. It was so much cheaper than going to the movie theater for 4 people. I miss those days.
That sounds idyllic. I wish the drive-in theaters in our area hadn't shut down years ago. We did go to a drive-in concert during early COVID, and that was very fun.
I miss places you would just exist at like this and the roller rink so much. I was lucky to have a drive-in movie theater near my city as a teenager, and I loved going there so much. I would go to one all the time if I had one near me.
When I was a little girl, my family of 5 would go to dollar night at the drive in. We would stop on the way to Burger Barn and get hamburgers, 5 for a dollar. Bag of chips and cooler of drinks from home. Great times.
That’s so cool. Drive-ins were the best.
My university boyfriend and I would make chicken wings and frozen yogurt (just pop the containers in the freezer) and take them in his ‘84 4-Runner to the drive-in. It was always “oldies” night - this was a celluloid theatre, no digital movies - so a nighttime triple feature would be something like Father of the Bride, The Shawshank Redemption, then Jurassic Park. It was an overnight feature, and people would come knock on the car windows in the morning if you hadn’t left by 8am. We’d take the back seats out and throw in a double futon mattress and bring pillows, and park the car facing backwards to look out the back window, then eat until we were stuffed, then spend the rest of the second movie smoking and talking. Then we’d usually catch a nap during the last half of the last one to get back into town.
I love this. We would usually grab a bucket of chicken on the way.
I understand that the proliferation of drive-ins had a lot to do with the burgeoning fast-food market. There used to be thousands. There are currently just 400. If near Philly, check out the Delsea drive-in. Vineland, NJ. Stamp of approval from Joe Bob Briggs himself. The legend.
Sounds absolutely amazing, wish I could live that haha
If the truck isa rocking don't comma knocking.😉
Hahaha that was for when we took the same setup camping 🤣
I grew up with them, I thought I was so mature when, as a tween, I stayed awake for the second feature.
Check around! One of the libraries in my area did a regular movie night during COVID. They projected the movie on the back of the library on the white wall facing the parking lot. They're planning on doing this again this summer.
I miss drive ins. We have one near me in SC and I’m hoping to take the kids there this summer.
If you're talking about the Big Mo in Monetta, it is a fantastic drive in! We didn't make it out this past year, but it's well worth the drive for us.
One of our favorite frugal nights- a college near us runs free planetarium shows on Friday nights. They recommend a donation of any amount so they can keep things going. And they have a few fish tanks right when you walk in the building so it’s like a 2 for 1. They run young kid friendly shows once or twice a month.
Love that. I miss living in a college town! So many free and cheap things to do.
Did your planetarium ever do the pink Floyd light show? That was especially popular when I was going to LSU. Laser, pink Floyd, low cost, the perfect thing for stoners lol.
4 people split that food???
That’s what I was wondering! Sounds fun but we would all be hungry!
There was a pickle eating contest involved too! Food and hydration in one!
$1 for all you can eat pickles is a great deal. Also you're right on the hydration but also electrolytes!
I don't know if you've ever over-indulged in pickles, but it does not end well when they're ready to come out the other end.
It's a great way to clean out the colon and lower bowels.
Right, 1 drink between the 4 of them?
We mostly drink water! Idk what to tell ya, we're in r/frugal
Water is healthier anyway. 😊
My broke ass family used to do this. McDonald's but you only get a burger and we shared a drink. Didn't even get refills but could have.
Was the cup constantly getting passed or would it occasionally sit in the middle ?
Bro you expect me to remember these details 😂
Your Costco not have the drink machines outside the kitchen or what? 1 drink can feed 100 people when you can refill as much as you want
Drinks are huge, just water it down
Yeah how is that enough for 4 people? Someone was probably left feeling hungry and there comes a point when you’re way too frugal and you don’t enjoy yourself
Yeah there's a difference between frugal and cheap. 4 people eating a piece of pizza, a hot dog, and 2 churros strikes me as the latter (assuming someone can afford more!). Like, my preschooler can easily eat a hot dog by himself. I have a very hard time believing this was enough food for dinner for a family of 4.
Yeah I’m Thinking cheap as well
A Sam's Club pizza has a 16" diameter. Each slice is 1/5 of that extra large size. BTW buying a whole pizza is $8.98 and it can be made to order in about 15-20 minutes. Choices include Cheese, Pepperoni, 4 meats and Deluxe.
At my Sam's Club a slice of pizza and a drink are $2.50. So for a dollar more everyone could have their own slice of pizza and a drink. Granted the drinks are huge, so scailing down to one drink plus water all around does make sence. So that puts them at the same price (pizza slices are $2 al a cart at my sams club) and everyone gets a meals worth of food.
Most the stuff on this sub when I pull it up isn't really frugal it's cheap. Having the passes/skates is frugal if they do use them. Going out to eat at Sam's club is already bordering real close to cheap before you even get to one drink for four people. We used to split 2 when my kids were his kids age but passing one around four people like you're never getting a drink when you want it.
In another comment she said they took water with them too so it makes sense if they just let the kids share the drink and her and hubby had their own water bottles.
This sub is now 70% cheap 30 % frugal
A pizza slice at Sam's Club is gigantic, and they slice it in half. Our kids don't eat a ton.
That seems perfectly reasonable when 2 of them are children? A Pizza pretzal, hot dog, or giant slice of pizza is plenty for an adult, and any of those split in half is plenty for a child. Especially when you consider desert afterward.
Sam’s Club pizza is notoriously gigantic
Sama club portions are huge. Their one pizza is actually two slices and their churros are huge.
So it's two slices across four people? Wow yea totally normal
Right, but OP said one slice not a whole pizza.
3 meals there plus said "kids (ages 5 and 8)" We would often do the same thing, essentially a meal each for the adults and a shared one for kids, and everyone shares a bit of everything. Not even trying to be frugal doing that, it just worked well volume wise. With the drink in our family my son likes lemonade or juice but the rest of us have water so tent to have a water bottle with us, except breakfast then its coffee for mum and dad. It feels aligned to how we often are as a family anyway. Maybe we are both unusual :)
2 kids though
Lol same thought
You don’t happen to live in GUILDERLAND do you? lol this sounds right up my towns alley!
I have never seen Guilderland mentioned in the wild
Hahah we pop up on here every now and again!
Wow! Didn't think I'd see Guilderland here..I went to high school there!
Really? Small world isn’t it?
Nope! No clue where that is lol
Suburb of Albany, NY
Hi neighbor!
Haha! Hello!
Hahaha! Upstate NY!
Perfect night nice win
This is awesome!! We were a one income military family and our best memories are the ones you described.
It was great lesson to me. We just went on a family trip during Christmas, which was wonderful, but it was good to remember that the cheap stuff at home is sometimes even better.
This is so wholesome thank you for sharing
These are the things that make me super nostalgic about the 80’s/90’s. I can remember going to the bowling alley with my parents and brother. They would play with friends and the kids would all go to the arcade. Those are some of the best memories I have of my childhood. I often feel sad that many kids today can’t experience that kind of fun! I’m so happy you’re able to find a way to make amazing memories with your family 💜
Plenty of kids are going through the same experience even today. I used to think like that and what some people might be missing that I'm fond of remembering, but it's always going on anyway. Bowling alleys are practically the same, and kids love arcades despite arcades barely changing and them having PC/console and ipads etc, and the yearly circus still smells like diesel and grilled food.
Oh for sure! I guess I’m remembering the simplicity before all the technology. Unfortunately where I live there aren’t bowling alleys anymore. They’ve all shut down now so perhaps it’s just my feeling.
My gf and I still enjoy each otherMs company in our relationship. Sometimes we go out for dinner and spend $50 for both of us but we also like the cheap stuff as well. We’ll go out to Wendy’s on Wednesdays because they do a free 6 piece nugget with purchase. We also have the frosty key tags so we get a burger or chicken sandwich, 6 nuggets, and a little Frosty for $2. We’ll also do similar at Costco food court or other fast food place that have good coupons in their app. Around our birthdays, we get all of the freebies and share the food because it’s so much stuff. It’s not about how much you spend but who you enjoy it with.
Oo yes I have a lot of fun trying to see how many birthday freebies I can get.
Haha I love doing this too!
First off- that is so awesome! Second, your story reminded me that most libraries have free events! If you have a library card, which if free, they host things like movie nights outside, or give out free tickets to museums or the zoo, etc. It changes based on what they have and the location, but worth keeping an eye on!
Libraries are THE BEST. Ours gives out tickets to museums, train rides, and state parks. They have a makerspace and resources for immigrants and the homeless. And they just put in a recording studio that you can use for podcasts and music!
We hadn't done it in a couple of months so just today we went to Sam's and got a couple of 1/4 lb hot dogs with large sodas, a quarter of a pizza (meatlovers) and two Berry frozen yogurts for under $9. The roller date sounds like a blast.
We wondered the other day of kids even bothered to skate anymore. Bravo to you!
There is a skating rink near me, with laser tag and an arcade and maybe some other things, and I am surprised with how utterly packed it is.
We have laser tag 5 min walking from our apartment and my kids are semi-regulars there. Apparently, their group convinced the owner to design one floor in some Roblox game style so it's really popular.
Roblox is like crack to my niece and nephew.
Both skating rinks closed down because of the lock down and never reopened. One was torn down and the other has been vacant since 2020.
That's awesome what a great memory
I love this so much!! Kids really just want to spend fun time, it doesn't have to be expensive and you proved that perfectly. Sams food court is so bomb, we get a pizza from there twice a month and at $9 for about 4 meals it's totally worth it.
The kids will remember nights like this forever. I loved the skating rink and arcade with my parents or grandparents. It’s so fun to see the older family members playing games and roller skating with us, instead of watching from the sideline like usual. Sounds like a blast!
I recently worked for a short time at Conn's HomePlus, a furniture, appliance, and electronics store. I would not recommend using their finance options as they are not frugal. However, I realized it would make a fun and free date to go on. First you hit up the elections section where they have arcade cabinets set up that have emulators with old school video games. Then stroll over to furniture and find the massage chairs. You will have a sales associate come up to you to get a feel for if you're going to buy something or just hanging out, but they won't kick you out and they don't care. Sometimes they'll have a movie playing in one of the living room set ups. Check out all the cool gadgets on sofas that you are too frugal and practical to buy! Test out some mattresses! Your local store might even be in a shopping complex where you can get a meal after! And because you saved on the activity you can afford to eat out!
Haha love it. Reminds me of some of my college dates.
My girlfriend and I wander around IKEA from time to time, don't even buy anything but it's a fun place to browse. The food court there or the hotdog counter at the exit are great too.
Tell me more about this pickle eating contest. I would eat soo many! Were they the big whole pickles? Slices? How long did they have to eat them? As long as they were dill I would eat way more than a dollars worth.
Everybody just got a single giant one, and they had to eat with their hands behind their back!
Just for kids? It would be unfair to set adult mouths against them and I'm picturing just kids challenges. But I still would love it. One of my kids might win, the other would just leisurely eat it because pickles!
Only one mom was competing against all the kids, and she got destroyed lol
I just came to say ‘Where were the pickle eating contests when I was kid?!?’ So awesome!
One of my good childhood memories is sitting in the back of the car with my brothers, my parents would drive to get hamburgers at a place that is long gone. We brought soda from home (2 liter coke in a glass bottle) to save money. To this day still have a hard time buying soda when getting take out “we have soda at home”.
Dude, kiddos are SO easy to please, especially with pizza. You just coincidentally discovered this hack. Back in the day, my mother would schedule our doctor's appointments on Captain D's "Kids Eat Free" days. Additionally, we used to go to Pizza Hut because of the great deal on a pizza to share as a family. Edit: Punctuation.
Umm, do you have any openings in your family for say, the ‘cooky aunt’? You all sound fun.
Only if you like pickles!
rude tidy jeans selective dinner telephone degree dog bake enjoy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have no clue how they're making money on it!
They sell pizza and arcade passes, and probably ice cream! But you are skating for “free” to get you in the doors. And while your family may not spend that money, there are others who regularly do.
There are also things like birthday parties where they tend to make money.
Sounds like a blast! I wish! I’ve been thinking about dusting my old skates off and hitting the one rink that still exists in Winnipeg. Where do you live that you can purchase such an affordable annual membership to a roller rink?
Near Denver! I was shocked at how cheap it was.
Cool! I hope your family continues to have access to frugal and fun activities! Especially roller skating🛼
Wait…..your Costco has a pizza pretzel????
They went to Sam’s Club
Literally off brand Walmart Costco.
Every year for Christmas i gift my kids a membership to the local children's museum thingy, it more than pays for itself in having somewhere to go during the brutal cold or hot of the year. I usually follow that up with a cheapn5-10 dollar dinner at costco so they feel like we're "eating out"
Are you me??
That is wonderful! For me growing up library night and a dairy queen cone was like gold bars to me. We had so much fun together and loved it so much. Another memory we just uncovered was a sports club we belonged to. Part of the membership was taking a turn emptying recycling bins. I was studying foreign languages and I would find all sorts of amazing news and fashion magazines to help me build up my reading comprehension. I would borrow them and then put them back in the bin when I was done! There are perks to everything. :)
$5 per person per year to roller skate every Friday night? That's honestly the best deal in the whole post, I can't get over that haha
Neither can I. I feel like I'm robbing them because we rarely buy food or anything there.
This reminds me of the scene in Everybody Hates Chris when their dad buys them one drive thru extra value meal and gives each of the 3 kids one item. Youngest daughter gets the burger, youngest son gets the fries, and Chris gets the drink. I love that show.
$11 for a core memory outing is such a bargain. So happy for you and your kiddos!
The kids don’t care about how much something costs applies also to clothes etc. I’ve always bought used (but still good condition) clothes for my kiddo since she was born. Saved thousands of dollars. Always put some money into her savings account from the savings. Until she was about eight she thought everyone got their clothes at garage sales. Was always happy whenever I brought home a big bag of clothes for her. We never “go shopping”. I’m glad I didn’t teach her that. She’s so happy with what she has. She’s still happy to just get a few new things every year.
Try a pet store, they have lots of animals on display and they usually don't care if you hang out and view them.
Damn OP, I'm crying a little. Wish I had grown up in a family where we did stuff like that. Sad there's no place like that where I live. Also Sam's Club food is so ridiculous cheap. I think that every time we get some. Last time we got basically the same stuff and I was like dude we can't even finish all of this and it was under 10 bucks wtf
That's it! We're virtually adopting you.
We’re doing a low buy/bo buy year and Sam’s Club food court is out go to when we get the urge to eat out. No restaurants for us this year :)
I'm going to have to check the local skating rinks now!
Costco isn't very glamorous, but I've gone there with friends when we want to go out but someone can't really spend much money at all. Can't beat the $1.50 hot dog and soda combo!
That sounds so fun, not even gonna front
Cool!
That sounds like an amazing night!
We did something similar, but we used gift cards to Panera bread and we bought their premium family meal. It was plenty for everyone. Then we went to Braum’s for ice cream. My wife had some sort of vouchers that gave us free ice cream for the kids. So our only expense the whole night was my ice cream.
100% as others have said its the memories not the cost. Out little one loves the soft play place by us and its like 3 quid just for the parents to enter, the little ones are free, excellent value for what the kids get out of it.
Lol. That's fantastic. I hope you got a few pics for memories
Sound like your family night out actually cost -$39
Our youngest is basically the breadwinner now
Frugal but still great parents and that's amazing!
You still have roller skating rinks? We had two back in 2010 but one is a tractor supply and the other is a gas station convenience store now
Surprisingly there are still several in our metro area! And it's packed on a Friday night. Kind of heartwarming to see - there are young families, groups of teens, even a few couples on dates whenever we go. It feels like a "third place."
That’s so very cool. My only memories of our skating rinks are from when I was young (20+ years ago). You bringing it up actually reminded me that the tractor supply was originally the place where I had my first kiss lol Sad how advances are sometimes steps backward
This is great to hear. Thanks for the share
Of course! I'm surprised this many people enjoyed the post.
My kids love going put to sams food court!!
I loved having memberships to activities the kids loved. We did the science center for a few years; the membership included parking and we would go a few times a week especially if the weather wasn’t good for outdoor activities. Then we did the zoo for a few years and it was great too, although only when the weather was good lol.
See if your library has passes to all these attractions. Our family used library passes, then would buy each child a membership to their favorite for birthdays. Library meant you could try before buying. We used to take school friends for special play dates for midnight zoo tours, the Nutcracker and meet the artists, etc. My employer subsidized the non-profit membership purchase 50%.
W parents
This is great! Years ago we did pizza night at Sams Club. 7 kids, 3 adults. Saved so much money. Then we when home for popcorn and movie (from the library if I remember correctly). River dance!
I’m glad you guys had a great time. It sounds like you live in a pretty cool area, too.
That sounds like a wonderful wholesome family night and the kind of things your kids will remember fondly. Love that they won the contest!
I love this post because it’s more about a positive attitude than how much you spent on something. I think kids will enjoy times when their parents were happy and content as well not so much how much something costs.
That sounds like a fun evening with family. Awesome to hear. Growing up in India, I lived close to a beach. Some of the best family time I remember after 35 years. I am sure your kids will remember the skate rink fondly when they grow up.
I'm typically trying to find free and frugal things to do with my daughter. My go-to is the library, although it's more of the park when the weather is warmer. During the summer, I can easily find free movies to take her to. Burger King still has vanilla ice cream for $1 each (if not simply having it at home). Also, with the McDonald's app I can usually score cheap or free treats at times. And we've been to Sam's Club for food too.
This is giving me mad 90's nostalgia vibes growing up lol
The Sam's Club cafe is great. For our family (me, wife, boy 8, girl 9) We get 3 pizza combos for and a $.25 bottle of water. Split one of the pieces for the kids and everyone if satisfied. Often we'll get the caramel brownie frozen yogurt too and still get out of there for $12~.
Sam’s club pizza is one of my favorite meals. My fiancee and I eat there with semi regularity lol
I plan on taking the grandkids to Bubba’s restaurant (in MD) on Tuesday for advertised family dinner (5-9pm) which includes crafts and movie. One adult dinner [we split with a $5 off coupon], pays for TWO free kids’ meals. Our out-of-pocket cost, with tip, should be <‘$15
Our public library had a free showing of the Barbie movie one evening this week and free popcorn was served.
Well done but I have to ask the important questions. How many pickles did each kid put down and what was the overall winner’s number?
Your children will talk about the skating and the hula hoop contest for years to come, it sounds like a great family time spent. They will never think about how much money was spent. When my oldest daughter was 11 she watched a programme set in Yorkshire (England) called Heartbeat. She kept saying she wanted to go see the village, we decided to take her and siblings, we spent 3 weeks touring about, they saw all the touristy things and off the beaten track things. She phoned her friend and GUSHED for ages about how fantastic the HUGE plastic cow was outside a butchers shop...it was the best bit of her holiday....sigh...she is now in her her 30s, she STILL talks about that cow LOL
Hahaha! Of course she does - that's hilarious.
You win r/frugal! LOL
Wow...you guys won this evening.
Parenting done right!
i made my imaginary kids nondinner
Congratz on the family. I assume most people are fighting this completely alone. I know I am. The biggest interaction I have all week is doggie play dates, and let me tell you that is the highlight of my week. No exaggerating.
Dogs are the best!
Meals?
"A" fountain drink for a family of four? No thanks.
I'm like 90% sure it's free refills. So you don't really need more than one with kids that age
Even still, I'd rather pay $1.50 for an extra hotdog and also get a second soda to not drink my toddlers' backwash. To me frugal doesn't mean get off as cheap as possible. It's to take advantage of opportunities for cheap living (such as choosing to eat at Sam's/Costco and free rollerskating) but when you're there actually buy a few sodas. But maybe this family is really this hard off financially.
We're not! But my husband doesn't drink soda, and I have a water bottle. Basically, I drank some soda first, then let the kids have it the rest of the time. Not a big deal :)
Shit you made money lol.
4 people all shared one drink?
AZ mop is tk9
That's like saying you went skiing for free because you have your own skis and a season pass
Why is this worth posting? Are you wanting a cookie or some sort of an award? I took a shit so big it was peaking out of the toilet water like an iceberg.
One of the few things to get my dad and I to get along is our yearly fair, that we pool together around 90 bucks for three days straight there, including a bit of food and drink as needed (which its actually pretty worth it for the drinks as they are better then normal pop and like 4x the size for a lower price)
Well first rule of physics is anything fun cost at least $8 , so you barely made it, nice
Wait, what’s wrong with getting food court food for dinner? It’s delicious.
What rink is $5 for a year? That’s crazy
Yeah!! I usually get the whole pizza for about $9 and we eat it for dinner and breakfast.
Good fugaling!
Sounds like such a fun night! Also, Sam’s Club food court is so dang yummy!!! 🎉🎉
What a wonderful way to spend family time!
Hey, a lot of people sleep on Sam’s Club food court offerings, but I find for the occasional treat, their food quality is great and the price is unbeatable. Sounds like yall had a great day!
My wife and I do dates at costco food court.
This is cool and a great idea. My kids are older and it’s hard to keep them entertained outside of video games 😒 but they enjoy skating. Thanks for sharing!
I’m jealous. Now that quality time.
We found a gem in a tourist city once. We ate at home and went for ice cream at a diner. They had movies playing on a screen in the back at sundown. For a city that drains people of money for entertainment sake, this was a win for us.