Being frugal means many things to many people. It could mean saving money for a big cause like an annual vacation. Or it could mean saving one dollar for every dollar earned. Being frugal could also mean doing without. Different meanings, same word.
So, how can you be frugal when it comes to celebrating like the rest of them and like the best of them this Memorial Day? Here are a few tips:
Pack it Up
If you’re heading to the beach, you don’t have to spend a fortune on concession stand food that, let’s face it, is terrible for you anyway. Pack up your own lunch and cooler and off you go. Making your own sandwiches, bringing your own fruit and filling up your own personal water bottles is not only frugal, it saves the environment of unnecessary additional plastic water bottles.
Be a Day-Tripper
Have you ever sat home on a Memorial Day weekend feeling less than everybody else because everyone else got to go away? Well, you can still go away, but you just don’t have to stay away.
Take a day trip to a local festival. Go to a winery just on the outskirts of your town. There are craft fairs, food festivals and music events all over you can enjoy. It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing gig. Remember, pack your own food and beverage and save money while enjoying yourself.
Park It
National Parks throughout the country are celebrating National Parks Week – get in for free and pick the park of your dreams. This could be “the” year you travel to places you’d never expected, like Alaska for example. Tons of parks to visit with even more activities than you could ever imagine.
If you’re not heading that way this Memorial Day weekend, why not put a plan down on paper. What better way to celebrate a long weekend than to put a plan down on paper, figure out how you’re going to save to get there and then go for it:
• Katmai National Park
• Glacier Bay National Park
• Denali National Park
• Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
• Lake Clark National Park
• Gates of Arctic National Park
• Kobuk Valley National Park
• Exit Glacier
Some state throughout the United States, can make claim to boasting one big National Park, but Alaska has so many to savor.
Rough It
If you’ve never been camping before, Memorial Day weekend is a great time to get your feet wet and to claim stakes so to speak. Do some research, find the best spot for you and try your hand at camping.
While it might be a little bit of work in the beginning, once you get the hang of it, you might find yourself in the middle of one of those Alaskan parks camping and roughing it with very little supplies and only nature as your backdrop.
For more frugal ways to enjoy this Memorial Day weekend, check out this article HERE