Budget friendly things to do this summer

Summary

Life Kit Episode Summary: "Budget Friendly Things to Do This Summer"

Released: June 10, 2025
Host: Marielle Segarra
Description: Exploring affordable ways to inject fun and creativity into your summer, this episode of NPR's Life Kit offers a plethora of ideas to help you enjoy the season without breaking the bank. From outdoor adventures to creative arts and culinary experiments, discover how to make the most of your summer with minimal expenses.

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1. Embracing the Outdoors

Public Parks and Beaches
The episode kicks off with an emphasis on utilizing public parks and beaches as prime venues for affordable summer fun. Activities such as flying kites, riding bikes, and having picnics are highlighted as simple yet enjoyable ways to spend time outdoors.

Margaret Serino, Life Kit producer, shares her personal approach:

"You can go there and fly a kite or ride a bike, have a picnic. I do that a lot in New York." [03:51]

Hammocking and Social Gatherings
Nicole Dow describes her group's tranquil afternoons in the park:

"We'll pack up my little hammock and snacks... make one giant seating area and just be there for literally hours." [04:11]
This includes activities like crafting, reading, and enjoying each other's company in a relaxed setting.

Field Day Games
Emma Tempest encourages organizing classic field day games such as three-legged races, egg-on-a-spoon races, and water balloon tosses. These activities not only foster fun but also strengthen community bonds.

Environmental Engagement
Transforming park cleanups into playful activities is another innovative idea. Simple tools can be repurposed creatively—for example, coat hangers as pirate swords or plastic bags as bandanas—making the cleanup process enjoyable and engaging.

Citizen Science and Birding
Leveraging free smartphone apps, participants can engage in citizen science by identifying and logging various species of birds and insects during walks. This gamifies the experience while contributing to valuable data collection.

"There's like a lot of free apps out there that allow you to unlock these sciencey hobbies... it's helping them collect citizen science data while you're doing it." [05:22]

2. Exploring Neighborhoods: The Penny Date

Concept of a Penny Date
Introduced by Nicole Dow, the penny date is a spontaneous method to explore your neighborhood. By flipping a coin to choose a direction—heads for left, tails for right—you embark on an unplanned adventure, stopping whenever something interesting catches your eye.

"A penny date really kind of gets you out to explore things without an objective." [05:52]
"And that's the game here really is, do your friends know how you think you can also do this with cities or movies or songs or whatever." [11:53]

Farmer's Markets and Parades
Visiting local farmer's markets is recommended not just for fresh produce but also for free entertainment like live music and sample tastings. Additionally, attending local parades can infuse your summer with vibrant community celebrations.

3. Artistic Expressions and Crafts

Creative Gatherings
Emma Tempest highlights the joy of hosting art nights with friends. Using affordable materials such as colorful clay, participants can create mini sculptures or jewelry while enjoying a movie together.

"We'll just get paper and each have a little canvas and just paint for five minutes and then swap. And that's always really fun." [07:24]

Open Mic Nights and Poetry Slams
For those who prefer experiencing art rather than creating it, attending open mic nights and poetry slams at local coffee shops or bars offers a cost-effective cultural experience.

Mystery Movie Screenings
Janet Ujung Lee shares her experience with mystery movie nights, where the film remains a surprise until the viewing begins. This adds an element of excitement and discovery to movie nights, often available for free at local theaters.

"They turned out to be films she wouldn't have seen otherwise." [07:47]

4. Culinary Adventures

Recreating Family Recipes
Delving into family culinary traditions can be both nostalgic and budget-friendly. Trying out recipes passed down through generations fosters a sense of connection and creativity in the kitchen.

"It's your own. Now, if you don't feel like making your food, how about a food challenge or a taste test." [09:12]

Food Challenges and Taste Tests
Engaging in food challenges, such as comparing different brands of the same product (e.g., Canadian vs. regular Kit Kats), adds a fun and competitive twist to eating. These activities can be done with minimal cost and maximum enjoyment.

5. Diverse and Random Activities

Themed Hangouts and Game Nights
Creating themed evenings, such as a French night with French onion soup and the movie Amélie, adds structure and novelty to social gatherings.

"Tonight is the French night. So we'll watch Amélie and make French onion soup." [10:08]

Interactive Games
Games like "True American," a blend of drinking games and Candyland-style structure, exemplify how traditional games can be adapted for adult fun. Similarly, rating games, where participants guess how others perceive certain topics (e.g., animals), encourage communication and laughter.

"The game here really is, do your friends know how you think you can also do this with cities or movies or songs or whatever." [11:53]

Apartment Swaps and Open Houses
Swapping apartments with friends offers a refreshing change of scenery without the cost of traveling. Visiting open houses, even when not in the market for a home, can provide insights into interior design trends and opportunities for social interaction.

6. Additional Creative Ideas

Science Experiments and Time Capsules
Simple home science experiments, such as baking soda and vinegar volcanoes, can be both educational and entertaining. Building time capsules or writing letters to your future self are reflective activities that add depth to your summer experiences.

Hosting Book Clubs and Writer’s Groups
Collaborating with local coffee shops or bookstores to host book clubs or writer’s groups fosters a sense of community and intellectual engagement, all while keeping costs low.

"If you have a coffee shop or a bookstore nearby, especially one that's just starting out, ask them if they'll let you host a book club or writers group once a week because, you know, sometimes you have to make your own fun." [12:26]

Notable Quotes

• Margaret Serino: “Don't let money or time be the thing that decides whether or not you will have fun. You can have fun almost in spite of those things if you really put your mind to it.” [01:24]

• Nicole Dow: "We'll just get paper and each have a little canvas and just paint for five minutes and then swap. And that's always really fun. Cause the art is really wacky and weird." [07:24]

• Darian Woods: "You're either scared of crocodiles or find them incredibly cute and impressive. I'm going to guess 8 out of 10." [11:19]

Conclusion

This episode of Life Kit masterfully curates a range of budget-friendly activities that cater to diverse interests, ensuring that listeners can find enjoyable ways to spend their summer without significant expenses. Whether it's embracing the outdoors, indulging in creative pursuits, or engaging in culinary experiments, the ideas presented are both accessible and inspiring. By emphasizing creativity, community, and resourcefulness, Life Kit empowers listeners to make the most of their summer months with minimal financial strain.

For more tips and ideas, explore other Life Kit episodes on npr.org.

Transcript

[Mariel Segarra]

This message comes from Progressive Insurance and the name your price tool. It helps you find car insurance options in your budget. Try it [e-mail], progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.

[Emma Tempest]

You're listening to Life Kit from npr. Hey everybody, it's Marielle. We're going to start today's episode at the Top of a Hill with Emma Tempest. Back when she was a teacher, she would take her class of 4 and 5 year olds to the park for an end of year celebration.

[Margaret Serino]

And it was at the top of this enormous hill and every year we'd have a rolling down the hill competition and all the adults would join in because you just had, you had that permission to have fun.

[Emma Tempest]

The other part of that celebration was a trip to a mini zoo.

[Margaret Serino]

You'd hear the children saying things like, oh, I wonder what that fish is thinking. And you'd be like, what? I've never thought about that before.

[Emma Tempest]

That spirit of imagination and wonder, you can take that with you anywhere and it costs nothing. Emma is now a positive psychology coach who helps people get unstuck through play. We did an episode on Play what it is, why it's good for you, and how to do more of it. And in the process of reporting that episode, we came up with a whole bunch of ideas for how to play for cheap because you don't have to spend a lot of money to have fun.

[Margaret Serino]

Don't let money or time be the thing that decides whether or not you will have fun. You can have fun almost in spite of those things if you really put your mind to it.

[Emma Tempest]

On this episode of Life Kit, we're going to share those ideas for how to have fun on a budget. Think of these as offerings. Try them out, see what you like and see if they spark any ideas of your own.

[Sylvie Douglas]

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[Mariel Segarra]

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[Sylvie Douglas]

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[Emma Tempest]

This episode up into categories. And since this story started at a park, we'll begin with the outdoors. If you want to have cheap fun outside, public parks and beaches are your best friend. You can go there and fly a kite or ride a bike, have a picnic. Life Kit producer Margaret Serino does that a lot in New York.

[Nicole Dow]

I'll get all my friends and pack up my little hammock and pack up some snacks like strawberries and fresh fruits and crackers and we'll all like lay out our blankets together and make like one giant seating area and then just be there for literally hours. And just like we'll snack and we'll be hammocking and we'll be talking and some of us will be crafting and we all have our little books and it's all just like very cute and wholesome.

[Emma Tempest]

Or you could get a bunch of friends together for a field day. I'm talking about a three legged race. Egg on a spoon, water balloon toss. Use your imagination. Which also comes in handy if you want to do some kind of park cleanup. Picking up trash or fallen tree branches. It's easy to make that a game. Coat hangers can double as pirate swords and plastic bags can be bandanas. Or you could get to know the creatures and plants that live in the park.

[Nicole Dow]

So there's like a lot of free apps out there that allow you to unlock these sciencey hobbies where you're just going on a walk but you're looking for this specific kind of bug or this bird. And then you can log it into these app. It's almost like a game, but it's helping them collect like citizen science like data while you're doing it.

[Emma Tempest]

By the way, Life Kit has an episode on birding and another on how to be a community scientist. Another tip, a lot of parks will have outdoor workout equipment that you can use for body weight exercises. Also, a lot of parks offer free programming. Jazz music, salsa lessons, bingo. If you go to the website of your local park or parks department, they may have an events calendar. Okay. Moving beyond parks, Another outdoors idea which is perfect for exploring a neighborhood or a city is something called a penny date.

[Janet Ujung Lee]

A penny date really kind of gets you out to explore things without an objective.

[Emma Tempest]

This idea comes from Nicole Dow. She's a freelance writer who wrote a piece about how to have cheap fun for a personal finance website called the Penny Hoarder. Here's how penny date works. You take a penny or any other coin really, and pick a direction for heads and tails.

[Janet Ujung Lee]

Heads will be left, tails will be right, or vice versa. And then you flip the coin, see what direction it takes you.

[Emma Tempest]

And that's where you go and you stop when you see something interesting. Maybe you land in front of a building that has really cool architecture and you do an online search about its history. Another idea from Nicole, go to the farmer's market. Make a morning of it. You don't have to buy anything.

[Janet Ujung Lee]

A lot of times farmers markets will offer not just vendors selling things, but they'll have local people singing or playing an instrument. And that's a great form of free entertainment. And there's always free samples out from vendors.

[Emma Tempest]

Oh, and how about a parade? Any of those going on in your city or town could be fun. Lots of merriment. Okay, our next category is arts and crafts. If your idea of play is being creative and making things, the classic move is to get a coloring book and crayons or a paint by number set. Or you could get a little more elaborate. Our producer, Margaret likes to host art nights with friends at her apartment. She'll get some cheap colorful clay at the craft store and they'll make mini sculptures or jewelry while watching a movie.

[Nicole Dow]

Or like a lot of the times we'll just get paper and each have a little canvas and just paint for five minutes and then swap. And that's always really fun. Cause the art is really wacky and weird.

[Emma Tempest]

Sometimes they'll give each other prompts they have to stick to. Like a recent one with some Secrets.

[Nicole Dow]

And we all had to, like, make our art secret themed or, like, something you're not supposed to know, like.

[Emma Tempest]

Shh. If you'd rather go see or hear some art, look at the events calendars for your local coffee shops and bars and restaurants. They could be hosting open mic nights or poetry slams. Janet Ujung Lee is a producer on NPR's education desk. And sometimes she goes to mystery movie screenings at this local theater on Wednesday nights. How it works is that you don't know what movie you're going to be watching until you get there. But it's entirely free. So if I wanted to grab a bite or drink afterwards, I felt less guilty about it. They turned out to be films she wouldn't have seen otherwise. And if you don't have this option in your city, you can do it with friends at your house. One of you picks the movie and then surprises the rest of the group. Another tip from Janet. A lot of museums are free one day a week. And your local library might also offer free museum passes, too. You just have to reserve them ahead of time. Okay, our next category is food. One idea is to recreate a family recipe. Ask your mom for her mom's famous meatloaf recipe, or look online for a meal that your ancestors might have eaten. This is a beautiful practice on your own or with a group. And when you're doing this, don't focus on perfection or an exact recreation. Here's what chef Judy Kalla had to say about that. In another Life Kit episode comparison is like a killer. When you compare things to other people, you lose your confidence. Whatever it might be, it's not your mom's or your grandmother's.

[Mariel Segarra]

It's your own.

[Emma Tempest]

I cook a lot, and I cannot cook my mom's quality food. Ever. Never. Because everybody has their own touch. Now, if you don't feel like making your food, how about a food challenge or a taste test? Life Kit producer Sylvie Douglas likes to do those with her partner. And last time we were in Canada, someone told us that Canadian chocolate is much chocolatier tasting. So we got some Kit Kats to do a taste test with. They like the Canadian ones better. You can do this with different brands of vanilla ice cream, or you could go to your local bodega and, like, try a bunch of different brands of, like, the same flavor chip. Sky's the limit here. All right, our last category is all the random stuff that didn't fit in before. First off, themed hangouts. Margaret likes to do these. You pick a theme, invite people over.

[Nicole Dow]

Okay, tonight is the French night. So we'll watch Amelie and make French onion soup. And that's our night.

[Emma Tempest]

Our supervising editor, Meghan Cain held a rom com movie marathon at her house. It was a full day event with a rundown and a photoshopped invitation and lots of pizza on the list. My best friend's wedding, 10 things I hate about yout and Moonstruck, among others. You can also make up games with your friends. One of my favorite examples of this is on the show New Girl. They play this game called True American. It seems like the rules are always changing. So it's 50% drinking game, 50% life size candyland. Well, it's more like 75 drinking, 20 candy land. And by the way, the floor is molten lava.

[Nicole Dow]

It's actually 90% drinking.

[Emma Tempest]

And it's got a loose Candyland like structure to it, but with steaks. Or you can play those kind of road trip games. You know, the ones you get into on a long car ride or while you're on a hike. Darian woods is a host at the Indicator from Planet Money and he shared a game his friends like. I'm going to simplify it slightly. Basically the group picks a category like let's say animals, and then you pick an animal in this case and decide how you would rate that particular animal 1 to 10.

[Darian Woods]

Tell me what the animal is, but don't tell me the number and I'll try to guess.

[Emma Tempest]

Crocodile.

[Darian Woods]

Hmm. You're either scared of crocodiles or find them incredibly cute and impressive. I'm going to guess 8 out of 10.

[Emma Tempest]

4.

[Darian Woods]

Okay. You're slightly averse to them.

[Emma Tempest]

I'm slightly averse to them. They scare me for sure, because obviously. But I do think they're really fierce, you know, So I have to give them some credit. But I would not want to be around one. So respect. It's going to be. Yeah, respect, but actually judging respect. Yeah, exactly.

[Darian Woods]

That makes a lot of sense. Very good. That's the game.

[Emma Tempest]

The game here really is, do your friends know how you think you can also do this with cities or movies or songs or whatever. Some other cheap fun ideas from Nicole Dowell, the freelance writer. Do a house or apartment swap with a friend, maybe one who lives in your city but a different neighborhood.

[Janet Ujung Lee]

You can get a feel of what they have. Like if they have a pool, you can take a dip in their pool or check out their DVD collection. Just kind of enjoy new surroundings. That's a low cost alternative to taking a full fledged vacation.

[Emma Tempest]

Okay, I really need to get some friends with pools. Also, if they happen to have a gorgeous sibling who stops by the house on a whim and ends up being the love of your life, that is a bonus. You could also go to an open house even if you're not in the market.

[Janet Ujung Lee]

It's a good chance to kind of see what's going on with, like, the latest home decor. You know, sometimes they have fresh baked cookies. You can say, okay, we're going to, like, make up a backstory about, you know, who you are and why you're out here looking for a home.

[Emma Tempest]

More ideas from our grab bag. You could go to the mall or a vintage store with a friend and try on silly or super formal outfits. Do a science experiment at home, like, for example, make a baking soda and vinegar volcano. Build a time capsule. Write your future self a letter and give it to a friend for safekeeping. And here's one from our colleague Lauren Gonzalez. If you have a coffee shop or a bookstore nearby, especially one that's just starting out, ask them if they'll let you host a book club or writers group once a week because, you know, sometimes you have to make your own fun. For more Life Kit, check out our other episodes. There's one about play and another about the power of fun. You can find [e-mail] and if you love Life Kit and want even more, subscribe to our [e-mail] LifeKitnewsletter. Also, have you signed up for Life Kit plus yet? Becoming a subscriber to LifeKit plus means you're supporting the work we do here at NPR. Subscribers also get to listen to the show without any sponsor breaks. To find out more, head over to plus.npr.org lifekit and to everyone who's already subscribed, thank you. This episode of Life Kit was produced by Thomas Lu. Our visuals editor is Beck Harlan, and our digital editor is Malika Garib. Megan Keane is our supervising editor and Beth Donovan is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Taegel, Claire Marie Schneider, Margaret Serino and Sylvie Douglas. Engineering support comes from Valentino Rodriguez Sanchez and Josh Newell. A. Mariel Segarra. Thank you for listening.

[Sylvie Douglas]

This message comes from NPR sponsor Netsuite by Oracle. Netsuite gives you visibility and the control you need to make quick decisions. And with AI embedded throughout, you can automate a lot of everyday tasks, letting your teams stay strategic. NetSuite helps you know what's stuck, what it's costing you, and how to pivot fast. Tame the chaos with NetSuite. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures. Download the free ebook Navigating Global 3 Insights for Leaders at netsuite.com story this.

[Mariel Segarra]

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