Parents are looking for ways to entertain kids during the summer months without breaking the bank. Day camps offer the scheduled atmosphere and also provide a number of unexpected benefits for the parents and the kids. With a few simple guidelines you can use day camps to save you money.

Tips for Saving Money with Day Camps

1. Use tax credits and deductions. The IRS provides for parents that need to work with child deductions. Many times the fees that you pay for day camps could be eligible for these deductions.

2. Become a volunteer. Parents with a little extra time or some particular skills can often volunteer for positions in day camps and get discounted or free attendance for children (some may even be able to wrangle a pay check out of the deal as well).

3. Partner with other parents. Share responsibilities for taking the kids and picking up the kids. You will save money on gas and you will have extra time to complete the tasks that you need to do during the day.

4. Find free camps. Almost every church in your area will offer a vacation bible school. Kids learn songs, do crafts and play games. It’s a great (and inexpensive way) to schedule fun for your kids during the summer.

5. Look for other free programs. Some movie theaters offer discounted movies (or free movies), libraries offer reading programs and some other public and private entities may have specials that your kids can enjoy.

There is no reason for summer time blues these days. There is always something that the kids can do and many of them can save you money in the long run.

Steps to Planning and Saving for a Party

1. Start cooking ahead of time. Having appetizers or parts of the meal prepared and frozen will take a great deal of stress off of your planning. You will also be able to save more money by making your own food.

2. Think outside the box – or maybe in a box. The last gathering we had we asked a local restaurant to make boxed lunches for the event. The food was made and placed in little to-go boxes and delivered right to the event for just $6 per person. It was easy to do (because we didn’t really have to do anything) and even easier to clean up.

3. Buy food that is on sale to use for your event. With a little online research you can make great dishes out of any ingredient. All that you need to do is type in the ingredient name along with “recipe” into your search engine and then start sorting through the options.

4. Use crock pots to cook your dishes. You know the food will stay warm as long as you like, cooking in crock pots takes no time at all and you can cook just about anything (including dessert) in a crock pot.

5. Limit the guest list. You may want to invite everyone you have ever known so that no one gets offended, but that is no way to save money. Cutting back on the guest list will help cut down on expenses AND it will give you and your guests time to visit. Too many guests can be overwhelming to everyone.

6. Skip the alcohol. Offer a mix of tea, water, sodas, lemonade or other punches but avoid anything alcoholic. You will save a lot of money but you will also avoid any liability if a party-goer runs into problems after they drive away from your home.

Be creative when planning your next party and you can save time, stress and money along the way.