Budget and family-friendly ideas for every season

I get asked a lot, "What do you do on your days off as a family?"

As some of you know, my husband is in medical school (in his last year, can I get a whoop whoop!) and I don't go to a job every morning. So, I often get asked how we stay on our budget and what we do for "fun" since traveling and grand things are out of the question. (I'm currently working on a post that will detail how we minimize our student loan burden as a family of 5 and still survive! Most medical students take out $100-$200K all by themselves and we have only taken out $40k so far! Be on the look out for that!)We've had to get quite creative because we don't have a lot of resources at our disposal. I should also mention that we don't live in the best area; I can't even go on walks without feeling like I need mace or something even more effective. Most places are a drive away and that can be a little annoying right now as our baby currently hates the car and just screams forever.

So, if you're the family that doesn't have the finances to hop on a plane and go to Disney or even take your kids to all these events around town and vacations, then hop on our bandwagon! Hope these few ideas bring your family a bunch of fun!

1. Hide and seek in the dark - go to the Dollar Store and grab yourself some glow sticks! Turn off all the lights and play! Build forts, play hide and go seek, and make believe. It's always fun. Just make sure all the "dangerous" spots like the edges of tables are either off limits or covered :)
2. All the outdoor things - make a list of all the fun parks, splash pads, and hiking trails that you think your kids would love and start checking them off your summer list! I tell the kids we're going on a adventure to a new place and they always get SO excited.
3. Bass Pro, Costco, or Petco - I'm not kidding when I say these! We have spent countless days doing one of these things ha! Sometimes in the summer, when it's way too hot outside to be in the sun, or its too cold in the winter but you don't want to be stuck in your house AGAIN, then head to one of these places.
   1. Bass Pro has a ton of fish, the best fudge, and tents set up for the kids to look in. They can sit on the 4 wheelers and even play the shooting game if you're in to that. Ride the elevator and check out all the dead animal heads haha :) I have boys so...you know...it's cool :)
   2. Costco hot dogs are super cheap and loved by all my boys, and they think getting samples and saying hi to everyone is super fun. Although Costco is not my favorite thing to do, the boys LOVE going with their dad, which means some alone time for mama!
   3. Petco is essentially a mini aquarium/petting zoo with free entry. Since little kids have an attention span of a few minutes, it's nice going somewhere free :) Browse the fishes, birds, and hamsters. And there's always someone there with a dog that your kid can pet and poke in the eye. You can even splurge and buy a fish for 50 cents. Now you just gave your kid a fun hour plus a pet. You rule. :)

We have a lot of random ideas as a family that we've had to come up with, but my husband said some of them aren't worth posting about haha :) So feel free to find me on IG here or message me and we can talk budget-friendly ideas! I'm always looking for more ideas anyways, so comment below with yours!