It is no secret that I believe in saving money and managing your money with intention, but there is one thing that I believe you should always spend your money on. I do not believe in spending your hard-earned money on junk, or items that will need to be replaced in a few months. I do not believe in debt and believe in having a fully funded emergency fund, but I do believe that you should always make room in the budget for experiences.
What you should spend your money on instead of blowing it on the next latest and greatest iPhone, is on an amazing experience instead, but when the budget is tight what do you do? These three things will give you some ideas on how to make experiences a part of your life even on a tight budget.
Go Big or Go Home
My hubs is like this, he believes that experiences are meant to be these grand adventures or overseas trips at all-inclusive resorts. However, many of my most memorable experiences have been ones that did not cost that much.
Growing up, my family’s vacation of choice was camping and my favorite thing to do on a boring Saturday was to pile in the car and ride through my daddy’s old stomping grounds in Smyrna, Georgia. I loved hearing all my daddy’s stories from his childhood and teenage years. On more of our expensive adventures, my parents would take us to The Dillard House way up in North Georgia for an amazing lunch followed by a quick trip up to the Highlands on the border of North Carolina and Georgia.
These were some of the best experiences that I had as a child and the best part is they did not break my parents’ budget. As an adult, I have learned that finding ways to make experiences happen are not always easy on a tight budget, but it is possible. For example, last weekend my hubs took our oldest son to visit our neighbor’s son’s auto garage where they were hosting a burnout competition. It was the best day for Conner because he was able to watch “race cars” go “phast” and the best part was, it was free.
Avoid falling into the trap of thinking that experiences have to be big and grand. The most memorable experiences are usually the ones that did not cost very much.
Plan
Some experiences do require money and if the experience you are wanting to go on does require money, the best thing you can do is to plan. Planning early will help you to save the money required for the experience and will help you avoid unnecessary expenses. For example, we will be heading up to the mountains of North Carolina this weekend for a little family getaway. Since the area we will be going to is remote there are not a lot of places to grocery shop there. Therefore, we will be doing all the grocery shopping here before we leave in order to save us from spending more at the grocery store by the cabin.
Take the time to plan out your experience and look for ways to save – can you travel with someone and split the cost? Are there any deals on Groupon or do you know anyone that has done this experience before and can offer some suggestions on ways to save? Plan it out so you can keep from wrecking your budget.
Look and You Shall Find
There are dozens of experiences waiting to be had all around you. Unfortunately, since social media has taken over our lives we tend to only think in terms of “shareable” experiences – experiences we can share online with our online friends and family instead of experiences we can experience right now with the people around us. Start looking around as you drive through town for potential experiences. Most cities have special events during the summer months that are free and many libraries offer free events. Even businesses will offer free events in order to get their brand out there.
Once you start looking, it becomes easier and easier to spot experiences. If you live near a lake or river, you could load up the whole family to go on a nature walk or canoe trip. If you live in a more urban area, you can walk and play “I Spy” and play a fun game to figure out where you will eat lunch. Look and you will find experiences all around you.
Experiences were meant to be lived. Avoid falling into the trap that experiences must cost an arm and a leg and make sure you plan your more expensive experiences well enough in advance that you will not wreck your budget. As you drive around, look for experiences that do not cost a whole lot and make the most out of the time you have.
What is your most memorable experience?
Linked Up To: The Thrifty Couple
Lately we have been geocaching. It’s free and we have so much fun and build family memories.
What is this geocaching? I will have to look into that! That sounds so awesome! 🙂
Geocaching is when you hunt or search for a hidden object by using GPS coordinates posted on a website or app. Often it’s a small tuperware or bottle. You can sign your name to the list of people that have found it. Sometimes the containers have small trinkets in them. You can take one if you leave something else. Like take a marble, but leave a friendship bracelet. My son loves it!
Oh that is awesome! My kids will love that!
We enjoy geocaching like mentioned above, too! However, our most favorite, least expensive experience of all is going to the mountains. Even in my extremely tight single mama days, we made TIME to go to Smoky Mountain National Park where we could bring our own picnic and hike for no charge. We have so many memories of skipping rocks, locating tracks, spotting wildlife, hiking, falling, laughing, napping, being together. It has been one the the great blessings of our life and a memory that I hope will mark the childhood thoughts for each of my children.
I LOVE the Smoky Mountain National Park! 🙂
Just this afternoon, my daughter said to me, “Can we start a tradition of reading two books together, every afternoon?” I love that, and thanks to the library, the cost is minimal
That is so awesome Amy! 🙂
Both of my parents were teachers, so we would have extended vacations during the summer. Either time at the grandparents cabin or piling in the van for a roadtrip. We didn’t spend the night in fancy resorts or hotels and we often camped. So they weren’t fancy trips. We were able to see so much more by driving around the country. It was such a blessing to have vacations that were not limited to just a week due to my dad’s job. The extended time created SO many memories!
Enjoy your getaway!
That’s awesome and sounds like the perfect childhood to me! 🙂
Before we met, my husband spent 8 years backpacking around the world. I often look at that time with envy, and wish I could’ve had the same experiences he did. Sometimes we talk about retiring early to travel the world, but I know it will never happen. As my husband says, “It gets boring after a while. You need something meaningful.”
Studies show that travel or other experiences bring more happiness than material possessions, so treasure the memories but leave the souvenir t-shirt in the shop. As individuals, as a couple before we had children, and now as a family, travel is an important part of our lives. We will go without new clothes, better cars, and home renovations to be able to take the kids overseas every year. But without that “something meaningful” to come home to, it would cease to matter.
I say this as someone who has just come back from what was a truly magnificent holiday: we played in Fiji before flying to the US to visit LA and Disneyland before taking a road trip up through Oregon. You really can’t beat Disneyland and the South Pacific. But there is always that wonderful moment of homecoming – Driving up to the empty house in the middle of the night, watching its hulking shadow emerge through the darkness, strong and ready and waiting for us, carrying the children up and tucking them into the safety and familiar comfort of their own beds, cuddling next to my husband in our own cold bed, waiting for it to warm up – and through the hazy jetlag I think: This. This is what my soul needs, most of all. This family, this security of home, knowing that we will both return to jobs that are stressful at times, but add real value to their communities, knowing that the children will both return to schools, where they will be surrounded by teachers who care about them and want them to succeed and by fellow students who are (mostly) their friends . . . This is my ‘meaningful.’
We carry the experiences and the lessons of our travel through to our daily life. We have learned compassion, resilience, tolerance, on our forays abroad; the experiences and the lessons we learn overseas are important, they are meaningful – but (how do I put this?) they are only meaningful because we can take them with us into more meaningful situations. Those experiences have become a familiar shorthand when we are facing challenges as a family – they have given us new ideas for resolving stressful situations at work or school – but without that foundation of our real life, our meaningful life, they would be pointless: “It gets boring after a while. You need something meaningful.”
I love it Becca! So true – I love coming home after being gone. It’s so wonderful and I swear even our neighborhood looks different once we come home and can view our surroundings through fresh eyes.