Regular readers know I've bragged, er, written about my ninja-like skills when it comes to finding a deal. I pride myself on finding ways to enjoy a first-class lifestyle on a coach-class budget. I may be frugal, but never at the expense of lifestyle, style, or quality.
Well, today I'm admitting I make mistakes too. Case in point, last weekend. My "free" family activity ended up costing me fifty dollars!
As a stay-at-home mom, most of the planning of social activities fall under my control. My husband works hard, but Saturdays are all about family time. I put a lot of energy into planning fun for us every weekend. So I have a basic check list when I'm looking for activities. It includes:
I'm feeling quite pleased with myself as we set out for our day. We're heading into the city of San Francisco to check out the Walt Disney Family Museum, participate in the Big Draw event, which includes drawing and animation lessons. We'll have lunch and then check out the Blue Angels. Great day, right?
The museum is located in a park called, "The Presidio." When we arrive, I'm delighted to discover parking is plentiful and inexpensive. More smugness on my part.
As we walk toward the museum we enjoy samples of ice tea and take time to contribute to community art projects. Once inside the beautiful museum, we immediately add our name to the list of people who want to try their hand at animation. Next we head back upstairs and as we start to walk into the museum, we're stopped. Price of admission is $20-35 per person. WHAT??? Turns out free admission was available for first 120 visitors. Its a popular museum and I'm guessing they hit that threshold in the first hour.
We were still able to get free admission for our kiddo, but both the hubby and I needed tickets. We paid and went on to enjoy the museum. We stayed to contribute to the animated film being created. After a few hours and as our stomachs were grumbling, we started looking for food options. I dug through the bottom of my bag and found my trusty bag of almonds and one protein bar. That bought us an hour. After adjusting our lunch time plans we decided to stay and eat in the museum's on-site cafe. The food was delicious, but its expensive. Honestly, I keep forgetting how expensive San Francisco is. Our simple lunch of sandwiches for three + a bag of chips to share was $30 (no drinks). There you have it. That's how my free day at a museum costs $50 (not including gas) just like that!
Full Disclosure: We had a great day. The museum is fascinating and boasts incredible views of Golden Gate bridge and city of San Francisco. Also, totally unbeknownst to us, we'd actually found prime viewing area for the Blue Angels air show, which was scheduled for later that day. Once we figured that out we decided to stay put, scrounge up a picnic lunch, and wait for the show. We figured it was a better use of our time and funds than trying to find a restaurant in the city. Not to mention paying for parking in a second, more expensive location.
Readers: Comment below and share your family fun day failures.
Well, today I'm admitting I make mistakes too. Case in point, last weekend. My "free" family activity ended up costing me fifty dollars!
As a stay-at-home mom, most of the planning of social activities fall under my control. My husband works hard, but Saturdays are all about family time. I put a lot of energy into planning fun for us every weekend. So I have a basic check list when I'm looking for activities. It includes:
- Educational?
- Fun?
- Something or somewhere someone in the family has asked to do or see?
- Easy location and parking?
- BONUS if its free or frugal
I'm feeling quite pleased with myself as we set out for our day. We're heading into the city of San Francisco to check out the Walt Disney Family Museum, participate in the Big Draw event, which includes drawing and animation lessons. We'll have lunch and then check out the Blue Angels. Great day, right?
The museum is located in a park called, "The Presidio." When we arrive, I'm delighted to discover parking is plentiful and inexpensive. More smugness on my part.
As we walk toward the museum we enjoy samples of ice tea and take time to contribute to community art projects. Once inside the beautiful museum, we immediately add our name to the list of people who want to try their hand at animation. Next we head back upstairs and as we start to walk into the museum, we're stopped. Price of admission is $20-35 per person. WHAT??? Turns out free admission was available for first 120 visitors. Its a popular museum and I'm guessing they hit that threshold in the first hour.
We were still able to get free admission for our kiddo, but both the hubby and I needed tickets. We paid and went on to enjoy the museum. We stayed to contribute to the animated film being created. After a few hours and as our stomachs were grumbling, we started looking for food options. I dug through the bottom of my bag and found my trusty bag of almonds and one protein bar. That bought us an hour. After adjusting our lunch time plans we decided to stay and eat in the museum's on-site cafe. The food was delicious, but its expensive. Honestly, I keep forgetting how expensive San Francisco is. Our simple lunch of sandwiches for three + a bag of chips to share was $30 (no drinks). There you have it. That's how my free day at a museum costs $50 (not including gas) just like that!
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| The kid learning how to animate. |
Full Disclosure: We had a great day. The museum is fascinating and boasts incredible views of Golden Gate bridge and city of San Francisco. Also, totally unbeknownst to us, we'd actually found prime viewing area for the Blue Angels air show, which was scheduled for later that day. Once we figured that out we decided to stay put, scrounge up a picnic lunch, and wait for the show. We figured it was a better use of our time and funds than trying to find a restaurant in the city. Not to mention paying for parking in a second, more expensive location.
Readers: Comment below and share your family fun day failures.
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