This summer our large family of ten has one car that seats eight! Guess what we are saving money for? Yep, a used second vehicle. But we don't want to take out a loan, so we need quite a bit. Here are a few of my frugal tips to try this summer.

Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you make a purchase.

Frugal Tips To Try This Summer

 

One VERY Inexpensive Vacation

Because my oldest child is now 25, I know how fast kids grow up. I want to make memories with them now. So we try to do ONE family summer vacation a year and make it as frugal as possible. We often rent a timeshare, which we have done in the past. In this way, we are able to stay in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath suite that includes 10 water park wristbands daily.

I will talk about a trip we have done so you can have an example. Our timeshare suite had a kitchen so we brought our own food (I brought my huge portable slow cooker). The timeshare we stayed at had an indoor dry play area with climbing tunnels and slides as well.

When the younger children were tired, I stayed in the room with them as the younger ones would nap and the non-nappers watched children's DVDs and played board games with me that the timeshare company offered on loan for free overnight or the games we brought, while my husband and the older kids enjoyed the big water-slides, played pool on a pool table near the arcade, or walked around.

We gave each child a little money for the arcade and if they wanted more, they had to use their own money that they had previously earned. Boarding the dogs was an expensive part of the vacation because, even though we took the least expensive option available, we could not find an inexpensive way to care for three dogs.

There is a local antique store and trading post that we visited and gave the kids each a small amount of souvenir money. With all that we paid (including: gas, room, water park, dog boarding, food, souvenirs, arcade and one Dominoes pizza night), in 2019 we were able to stay for less than $300 per night. Nowadays, it is more like $450, but that's a great deal considering how much wristbands are for a waterpark without a place to stay!

 

Watching the Thermostat

I need to watch pennies everywhere. In the past we have spent a lot in the summer to pay for the air conditioning bill. I don't want to do that this summer. The windows are being opened in the morning and evening when it is cooler, the drapes are closed when it is very sunny to keep the interior cool, and I am changing the thermostat that came with the house quite often. I can also program the thermostat to change on it's own.

 

Homemade Cleaning Supplies

Instead of spending money buying cleaning supplies, why not make your own? Here are some homemade cleaning recipes to make your own laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, toilet cleaner, HE washing machine cleaner, and all purpose or glass cleaner.

 

Buying Less Convenience Foods

One thing I do not need is boxed pancake mix, biscuit mix, muffin mix, cookie mix, and cake mix. Yet I love the convenience of not having to put in all the ingredients and hope the baby doesn't get fussy and I lose count of what I put in! So I have come up with a solution to this problem. I call it the Master Mix. It is like a base recipe that includes flour, baking powder, salt, and other ingredients. I keep it in my refrigerator in a big batch. When I need to make something, I have a cheat sheet of how many cups of the master mix I need and what ingredients to add to it as well as temperature and time, etc. to make what I want. This saves me both money and time!

 

I hope you have enjoyed reading these frugal tips to try this summer. I would love to hear some of yours in the comments.

More From NeededInTheHome

Product Reviews

Get Our Books

Etsy Shop

TPT Store

eBay Store

Linktree

My Faith Testimony

Subscribe so you never miss a post.

If you find my tips useful, feel free to buy me a coffee. Thank you in advance!

---

 

Want to remember this? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest Board!