Free to Cheap Summer Activities

School is out and the kids are home.... now what? My kids have been out of school for about 2 weeks now and even though they have yet to drive me crazy I know that is coming. Don't get me wrong I love spending extra time with my kids but I know they are bored and want to go here and there just to fill their day with stuff. But the bank book doesn’t like all the added activities that seem to cost an arm in a leg during the summer. So I am coming up with some free to inexpensive activities we can do that the kids will like and fill our day/weeks with activities.  These are some things I am doing with my kids, so please forgive me if the program or activity isn’t available in your area. If you comment below with where you live I can see if I can find some fun stuff for you to do.

The older monkeys like to read so we go to the Library twice a week. I know it isn’t a big activity but it is fun to get out of the house, plus reading during the week gives the kids an escape from boredom. Our library offers a fun summer reading program, complete with prizes and awards. I remember as a kid our library did this and for so many pages you read you received a Pizza Hut coupon for a personal pan pizza. I know some libraries offer a ready night or story time, this may be a fun alternative if you have little ones who would sit still and enjoy story time.

Home Depot offers a free building workshop for kids (ages 5 to 12 years old). These workshops are held once a month, usually the 1^st Saturday of the month, but I suggest calling your local store to find out the details. This isn’t a summer only thing, so the kids get to enjoy these projects all year-round. I believe Lowe’s offers the same sort of kids building workshop, but maybe twice a month. Home Depot is closer to us though so we haven’t attended a Lowe’s workshop.

During the summer there are free movie nights at the local elementary school. They inflate a large screen and we just sit on a blanket and watch a movie, it is usually a new DVD release movie. You can bring your own picnic or buy concession stand food. Most of the time we bring out own food and buy the kids one fun snack from the concession stand. The money goes back to the school district and you get out of the house for an evening.

Just like the movie at the elementary school the local parks and recreations have free live concerts in the park during the summer.  Again you sit picnic style on the grass or bring your own chairs, bring your own food or buy from vendors. Sometimes the music isn’t great but getting out of the house and meeting your neighbors and letting the kids run around more than makes up for not so great music.

Some museums offer free admissions during the summer months, but you need to check with your individual museum. We are lucky enough to live close to Washington DC where most of the museums are free all year. Plus we can have lunch from a local street vendor for about $15 for the whole family. Another really cool resource for FREE admission to different museums is if you have a Bank of America account or credit card. They have a summer promotion that allows you access to many different museums. Visit http://museums.bankofamerica.com/ for more details. Check with your bank to see if they have a similar promotion.

Our local bowling alley does free bowling – two free games every day for the kids. The catch is you have to rent the shoes (not all places do this though, call to find out). You can go to www.kidsbowlfree.com or https://freebowling.amf.com/ to see what bowling alleys in your area participate.

Several movie theaters offer free movies or super cheap (like $1 to $2) movies during the summer. We go to the Regal Summer Movie Express and see previously released movies for $1. Yes, my kids have seen most of these movies before and we probably own one or two of them on DVD but getting out of the house and having fun is what we are after. We will have a late breakfast before we head to the theater and we will get one large popcorn and one large drink to share. I know it isn’t free, but it sure beats the normal $10 a movie ticket price. I know Regal is nationwide but check with your local movie theater to see if they are doing something like it. I know we have a small no name theater that is doing a program just like this and the tickets are free.

If previously released movies are not your thing check with your local bulk warehouse store (we use Costco) to see if they have movie tickets. I spend $17 on two Regal movie tickets that can be used at any time and normally with no added cost. The only time we have had to pay an extra $3 is if we wanted to see a movie in 3D and we rarely do that. It is nice having these tickets on hand because we don’t have to worry about trying to get to the theater for the matinée showing (less expensive tickets in general). If you wanted to buy a large bulk of these tickets to have on hand you can do that as well. Just go to the Regal website and buy tickets online. You have to buy a minimum of 50 tickets to get the $8.50 cost.

If you are military don’t forget to flash your military ID to get a discount if offered. Most restaurants, museums, theaters, aquariums and zoos offer discounts. My favorite military discount is offered by the Ripley’s museums.  They offer 75% off for military members – and when they have pretty inexpensive tickets to begin with it is nice. Last summer we went to the Ripley’s aquarium in Myrtle Beach, SC and got in for about $3 a person.  So do not be shy when you are out and about and ask about military discounts, you may be surprised to find your favorite place has been offering 10% (or more) off for ages.

Other activities are your local parks and check to see if you have a national park too. Rivers and lakes are super fun. If you happen to have a beach nearby take advantage of it. I could go on and on with free to cheap activities (and it looks like I have already). But it comes down to your local area. Do a simple Google search of “(your city) free summer activities” and see what pops up.

Comic Book Floor - My take on the Brown Paper Bag Floor method

My son’s carpet NEEDED to be changed. The carpet was older than he is and was installed in the house when it was built in 2000. Even though it looked pretty good the carpet smelled, had a filmy feel too it and just was all around gross. We have plans to change all the flooring in the house later this year but his room really needed to be done now due to his allergies and asthma issues.  I just wasn’t sure what we would be doing or if we could do anything other than waiting.  This is when Google came to the rescue, a simple search for “inexpensive floor”,” floors on a budget”, and “DIY flooring” really came into play. Several times I was sent back to the blog by An Oregon Cottage An Oregon Cottage and the blog by Lovely Crafty Home. Lovely Crafty Home Even though I loved the look it just didn’t feel right, I wanted this floor to be awesome, suddenly an idea popped into my head. COMIC BOOKS…… do my son’s floors in comic book pages. But can it be done? All I found was information on brown paper bags; would comic books be the same? I did find a simple blog called Lazy Cozy Lazy Cozy where she did something similar in her bathroom, but with heavy craft paper instead of brown paper.

So I had an idea, sorta-kinda instructions, a room that needed new floors, and a whole week to complete the project. My husband said worse case if it looks horrible we can put down a cheap throw rug and the oldest monkey could wait until the rest of the house has floors installed to get a new one. But we both agreed the carpet had to go.  Plus it would be an awesome surprise for my son.

For anyone who likes the idea of inexpensive floors but not the brown paper bag idea take head of this blog. I will walk you step-by-step of what I did from start to finish (complete with pictures), and I will let you know what I would have done differently. This tutorial is what worked for me in my home. I can’t guarantee it will work for you or turn out the same. You can go to the wood section of your home goods store and get a panel of wood and try it on that, or do like me – just jump right in and pray it worked out.

SUPPLIES I USED (and the cost)

1.)    1 gallon tub of Elmer’s Glue All. I purchased this as the art store with a ½ off coupon. Cost was $9. Best part is I have more than enough to use for the next room.

2.)    Paint Brush – didn’t use anything special, got this at the art store too, $5

3.)    White Craft Paper – Got at the art store for $12.

4.)    Polyurethane – I got this at the Home Depot, but I am sure any home good store carries the same thing, or even a painting store. Make sure you get water based polyurethane and the one that is safe for floors.  This was about $49 for a gallon, don’t go cheap or you will have cheap results.  I ended up needing a second gallon of this, so that was an additional $49. You may or may not need a second can; I suggest using the first gallon and seeing if you like the results first. I could have finished after the first gallon, but I wanted more layers. In hindsight I think it was overkill.

5.)    Comic Books – I could have gotten a great deal if I planned better and purchased in bulk online, but I didn’t. I got 40 comic books at $2 each for a total of $80.

6.)    New floor vent cover thingy. The old one had some rust on it so I opted to replace instead of refinish. $7 at Home Depot.

7.)    Floor Transition – you will need this for a smooth transition between the new floor and your old flooring in the hallway.  $5 

Total Cost of project: $216. The room is approx. 250 square feet so the cost comes out to about $0.86 a square foot.

All of the tutorials talk about how you can do this floor for about $0.50 a sq ft.  I can see that is you stuck with the original Brown Paper Bag flooring. 

PREPERATION

STEP ONE: Clear out the room. I used this time to pack up everything in my son’s room and throw away old pieces of paper, purge his toy box and just do a general clean of everything.  I also cleaned the baseboards with soap and water, something I hadn’t done in a while.

STEP TWO:  Pull up the carpet. Did I mention this one my first every DIY project? I had no idea how to pull up carpet or what I was going to find under the carpet and boy was I scared. Just in case you wanted to know how - go to the corner with a pair of pliers and just grab ahold of the carpet and start pulling. The carpet will start popping off the tack nails and a carpet pad will be revealed.  I suggest that you roll the carpet as you pull it up; this makes it easier to dispose of when you are finished. You will need a box cutter or something you can use to cut the carpet at the doorway.

STEP THREE: When the carpet and the padding are removed you will see these strips of wood down the sides of the walls with little nails sticking up. This is how the carpet was being held to your floor. You will also notice staples that held down the carpet pad, you will need to remove those as well. It wasn’t has horrible as I thought it would be, I just used a hammer and screw driver to remove the wood and the staples. You may have a better tool to do this though. I saw whatever works for you feel free to use.

STEP FOUR: Sweep and clean the floor. I used my regular broom and dustpan and then finished with my vacuum cleaner. I have read on some tutorials you could mop the floor up and let dry, but I skipped that step and it was just fine. 

Now you have a nice and clean subfloor that is ready for your new flooring. Remember this is what worked for me and there are a few steps listed below that I wouldn’t do if I did the floor again, but you can see the list of things I would do differently at the end.

FLOORING

STEP ONE: Lay down the white craft paper. Prepare the Elmer’s Glue by mixing approx. 1 cup of glue to 2 cups of water.  This is just what I did and you can have a better mix ratio, just make sure it isn’t too watery.  I brushed the glue on one side of the paper and placed on the floor. After it was down I brushed on the glue mixture over the top. Repeat this step on the whole floor. The comic pages will be going on top of this paper. If you have any vent holes just cut the paper to go around the vent hole.  Let the whole floor dry, takes about 12 to 18 hours.

 

STEP TWO: Take the comic book pages and place on the floor. This step I used double sided tape to hold each page down. I decided to do it this way to save time and I was afraid that the extra glue would just be too much on the comic book pages.

STEP THREE: When all the comic book pages are down you can start using the polyurethane. Just open the can and dump your brush in. I used a roller brush, but I have seen others use a regular paint brush. I did a medium coat of polyurethane on the whole floor; I didn’t want it too thin but didn’t want it to thick either. The polyurethane goes on sort of blue but dries clear; it was super easy to use.  I didn’t sand in between coats like the directions on the can said. Remember when you are laying down the polyurethane to leave a path to the door. I just filled that area in as I was heading to the door.  It takes about 3 to 4 hours for the polyurethane to dry, make sure the previous layer is dried before you brush on the new coat.  I did a total of 7 layers of polyurethane and the floor looks amazing and is super easy to walk on.

 

 

 

 

FINISHED FLOOR

 

WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENT

I would not have put down the white craft paper first. I would have just glued the comic book to the subfloor directly, and maybe just added a second layer of comics if it was needed. There isn’t anything wrong with the white craft paper, it was just an unnecessary step that added time to the project.

I would have been more patient and not used the second can of polyurethane. Yes, it worked out and the floor feels great and smooth but this was an added expense and time that wasn’t needed. I truly feel I would have gotten the same results if I only did 4 coats of polyurethane that the first gallon gave me.

As I mentioned before I should have purchased the comic books in bulk for less than the local store gave them to me for. Don’t get me wrong I still got a great deal, but I know I could have gotten it for less if I was patient.

When the oldest monkey got home from camp he was super happy to see his floor. In all honesty his room is one of my favorite rooms in the house. I can't wait to repeat this process with my daughter's room. I am coming up with all kinds of ideas for her floor, I am thinking pink, purple, and maybe zebra print. One thing I learned from this project is to not be afraid of a DIY project. Just jump right in and have a plan B. Wonder what other typed of projects I can do around the house.

FREE Credit Report and why you should look

Today’s post is very important and one that you really should take interest in and follow. I will be talking about credit reports, what’s on your credit report, and how things could affect you in the long run. I am not one to judge or say I am prefect or that my credit is perfect. I have had issues in the past, ran from creditors, and pretended bills that I couldn’t pay didn’t exist. Of course this wouldn’t be a budget post if I didn’t tell you how to get your credit report for FREE…….

The law states that everyone should have access to their credit report and what is on it. You can go to www.annualcreditreport.com and get your credit report from the three major credit bureaus for FREE once a year. You should also look at your Chex Systems and Telecheck reports. These two places handle all of your banking reports, such as who you have banked with in the past and if you have any accounts that are in negative status, or if you have ever written a bad check, things like that. You can get those reports by going directly to their websites.

Chexsystems is https://www.consumerdebit.com/consumerinfo/us/en/chexsystems/report/index.htm 

Telechecks is http://www.firstdata.com/telecheck/telecheck-request-file-report.htm

Why does this matter? Well your credit information is attached to your social security number. Your credit report is a good indication if you have been a victim of identity theft. The information shared on your report can keep you from getting a job, credit from a merchant, insurance, or a place to live. Making sure you have a good credit number can save hassle and heartache later on if you need to buy a new car, or a house, or whatever reason you may need a good credit score.

Did you know the collection companies have laws that they are supposed to follow when they report information or when they contact you about a debt? The Fair Debt Collection Protection Act was created to keep collection companies from harassing you or using deceptive means to collect a debt. Sadly many people do not know they have rights and bill collectors know this so they just ignore the law. I suggest becoming familiar with this law and how it can help you if you are dealing with bill collectors.

You are also allowed to have access to your credit report free of charge if you are denied credit or a job because of what is on your report. Below are links to the three bureaus to request those reports.

If you do not like what is on your report or disagree with it, or just want to know more about credit reports and how to build and maintain good credit I suggest an amazing website (also FREE to use) called CreditBoards. You can find the site at http://creditboards.com/forums/

EXPERIAN: http://www.experian.com/credit-advice/topic-get-credit-report.html
EQUIFAX: https://aa.econsumer.equifax.com/aad/landing.ehtml
TRANSUNION: https://disclosure.transunion.com