Riding a bike is a fun summer activity that is FREE![/caption]
1. Take a Bike Ride
Now that the weather is warm it’s time to make use of that bike that has been collecting dust in your garage. JFK once said, “Nothing compares with the simple pleasure of a bike ride.” If you are looking for a trail or bike path in your local town www.traillink.com is a great resource. To make things fun you can pick a location and see how you can get there via your bike. Cruise over to Google Maps enter the address, and choose the bike option to get turn by turn directions. [caption id="attachment_603" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Hiking is a cheap way to get exercise this summer[/caption]
2. Go Take a Hike
Yes literally! Grab some water, and head over to your nearest trail head. Hiking can be a very enjoyable experience. You’re out with nature and getting exercise. Also the cell reception is probably poor, so you don’t have to worry about anyone interrupting your adventure. Best of all most trails are free, or require a small fee to hike. American Trails has a great state by state trail locator. While you are out take lots of pictures of all the cool things you find along your journey.3. Take a Stroll Through Your Neighborhood
Sometimes the best things to do are right under your nose. Go out and go walking through your neighborhood to see what you can find. If it’s a warm day go walk to your nearest ice cream shop and get an ice cream cone. If it’s too hot wait till the end of the day and go walking once the sun goes down.4.Visit a Museum
Take in some culture by visiting a museum. Museums are relatively inexpensive, and can be a great way to spend time on a hot summer day. Most museums offer free preview days to encourage more people check them out. To get a list of museums in your area check out www.museumstuff.com/. Also couponsforfun.com/ is a great resource that I like to use to see if museums are offering special promotions.5. Long car ride
Go explore your town. Make a CD, or playlist and go driving up the freeway Make a game out of it. What I used to do was when we got to an intersection we would flip a coin to decide direction. Make note of all the interesting spots for a future outing. If you get lost you can always use the GPS on your phone to help you get back home. If you don’t have a smart phone, and a poor sense of direction make sure you bring along a smart phone.6. Go to the Movies
If movies are your thing and you’re thrown off by the expensive price you have a few options that will save you money. Usually the matinee, or early showings are pretty cheap. Just a few weeks ago I was able to see This is the End for $5 by going to the matinee and saved $7. That nets out to a $28 savings for a family of four. If you are a movie fan and would like more flexibility on when go, buy bulk tickets at Costco. The cost is usually around the matinee price, and you can go at your leisure.7. Geocaching
If you are a fan of scavenger hunts you should spend an afternoon geocaching. All you need is your GPS enabled smartphone, a location, and you are good to go. Geocaching.com is my favorite site to look up local caches. The site is free to join, and I have not been disappointed with the number of caches that are available. If I’m in a caching mood I would pick a location that I want to explore, then I would search the site to find some caches in that area and bookmark them. The site offers a number of ways to navigate to the cache. I personally use their geocaching app that provides a lot of tools. The app is $9, and if you plan on going quite often I highly recommend it over using the site on your phone. They do offer a lite version that is free if you just want to kick the tires.8. Picnic in the park
Pack yourself and a loved one a nice snack and head out to your local park and enjoy each other’s company. Bring along some cards, or your favorite board game for hours of fun. Better yet while your are there try your hand at geocaching.9. Go to a coffee shop and read a book
Grab that book that you have been dying to finish, head out to your local coffee shop, order your favorite beverage, and make yourself at home. I don’t know about you, but there is something about reading a book in at a coffee shop that makes the experience a bit more enjoyable than reading at home.10. Celebrate a Wacky Holiday
There are so many wacky holidays like Talk Like a Pirate Day, or Free Slurpee Day. Pick one that interests you and celebrate with your loved ones. Hope these helped sparked some inspiration on ways that you enjoy summer without spending a lot of cash. If you try any of these of have some others to add to the list leave a comment and let me know what you think! Image credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net