Summer fun that doesn't break the budget

Summary

Life Kit – "Summer Fun That Doesn’t Break the Budget"

Host: Marielle Segarra
Date: July 14, 2026
Main Theme:
This episode of Life Kit explores creative, joyful ways to enjoy summer without spending much money. Host Marielle Segarra and guests share activities, mindsets, and hacks that make fun accessible, using imagination, public resources, and a spirit of playfulness.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Value of Imaginative, Low-Cost Fun (00:00–01:19)

• Emma Tempest’s Story: Former teacher and positive psychology coach Emma Tempest recalls organizing “rolling down the hill” competitions and zoo visits for young children, emphasizing that adults are allowed to have fun, too.
  • Quote: “You just have that permission to have fun.” (Emma, 00:20)
• Takeaway: Imagination and wonder cost nothing—bring them everywhere.
  • Quote: “That spirit of imagination and wonder, you can take that with you anywhere and it costs nothing.” (Marielle, 00:44)
• Mindset Shift: Money and time are not barriers to fun; with effort, fun can be had in spite of these (01:08–01:19)

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Outdoor Fun (03:22–06:24)

Parks & Nature

• Picnic Days: Producer Margaret Serino describes hammocking, snacking, crafting, and reading with friends in New York parks.
  • Quote: “We’ll all lay out our blankets together and make one giant seating area and then just be there for literally hours…” (Margaret, 03:48)
• DIY Field Days: Organize classic games like the three-legged race, water balloon toss, or turn cleanup into a playful challenge using everyday objects as props (04:09–04:24).
• Nature as Game: Use free apps for birdwatching and bug tracking, turning walks into citizen science activities.
  • Quote: “It’s almost like a game, but it’s helping them collect like citizen science-like data while you’re doing it.” (Margaret, 04:36)
• Other Free Outdoor Entertainment: Many parks offer free classes or events; local park websites often have event calendars (04:54).

Exploring Your City: Penny Dates (05:24–06:24)

• Penny Date Game: Flip a coin to determine walking direction through your neighborhood, stopping at anything intriguing.
  • Nicole Dow’s Explanation: “Heads will be left, tails will be right… and that’s where you go.” (Nicole, 05:45)
• Farmers Markets: Attend for music, entertainment, and free samples—even without buying.
  • Quote: “And there’s always free samples out from vendors.” (Nicole, 06:09)
• Local Parades: Another free, community-focused activity.

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Arts & Crafts on a Budget (06:24–08:35)

DIY Creativity

• At-Home Art Nights: Paint, sculpt, or make jewelry with friends, swapping canvases for wacky results.
  • Quote: “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.” (Margaret, 06:56)
• Art Prompts: Use themes (like “secrets”) for group creations (07:09–07:14).

Community Arts Access

• Open Mic Nights, Mystery Movie Screenings: Check local cafes, theaters, and bars for free or surprise events.
  • Quote about free movies: “You don’t know what movie you’re going to be watching until you get there, but it’s entirely free.” (Janet Ujung Lee, 07:39)
• Museum Free Days & Library Passes: Many museums offer free entry on certain days; libraries may provide free passes.

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Food: Connecting, Creating, and Playing (08:35–09:40)

Family & Heritage Cooking

• Recreate Family Recipes: Cook with or for loved ones, embracing imperfections.
  • Quote: “Whatever it might be, it’s not your mom’s or your grandmother’s. It’s your own.” (Judy Kala, 08:35)

Food Challenges & Taste Tests

• DIY Tasting Game: Taste different brands or styles of a food (e.g., Canadian vs. American Kit Kats, vanilla ice cream).
  • Quote: “You can do this with different brands of vanilla ice cream…sky’s the limit here.” (Marielle, 09:26)

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Random & Offbeat Fun Ideas (09:40–12:30)

Themed Gatherings

• Theme Nights: Make “French Night” with themed food and movies, or Rom-Com Marathons complete with invitations and pizza.
  • Quote: “Okay, tonight is the French night. So we’ll watch Amelie and make French onion soup. And that’s our night.” (Margaret, 09:40)

Make-Up Games

• Custom Games Inspired by TV (“True American” from New Girl): Blend familiar games/rules for playful gatherings (10:12–10:24).

• Roadtrip/Hiking Guessing Games: Rate and guess each other’s preferences on random topics (e.g., animals).

  • Example Game: Guess how highly a friend rates “crocodile”; “I’m slightly averse to them…respect, but actually judging respect.” (Marielle & Darian, 11:02–11:03)

Swaps & Freebie Adventures

• Home or Apartment Swap: Experience another area without expensive travel; enjoy their local amenities (pool, book/DVD collections).

  • Quote: “That’s a low cost alternative to taking a full fledged vacation.” (Nicole, 11:43)

• Visit Open Houses for Fun: Tour homes for decor inspiration and free cookies, make up personas for extra amusement (12:13–12:30).

• Mall or Thrift Shop Dress-up: Try on silly outfits for photos and laughs.

• Science Experiments at Home: Build baking soda/vinegar volcanoes, make time capsules, or write letters to your future self.

• Start Local Clubs: Ask a coffee shop or bookstore to host a book club or writing group—sometimes you have to make your own fun.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Don’t let money or time be the thing that decides whether or not you will have fun.” (Emma Tempest, 01:08)
• “The spirit of imagination and wonder…costs nothing.” (Marielle, 00:44)
• “It seems like the rules are always changing…So it’s 50% drinking game, 50% life size Candyland…with stakes.” (New Girl ‘True American’ discussion, 10:12–10:24)
• “You can also do this with cities or movies or songs or whatever.” (Marielle, 11:24)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Imagination, Wonder & Play: 00:00–01:19
• Outdoor/Park Activities: 03:22–06:24
• Exploring Cities—Penny Dates: 05:24–06:24
• Arts & Crafts: 06:24–08:35
• Food-Based Fun: 08:35–09:40
• Random Fun Ideas (Themes, Games, Swaps): 09:40–12:30

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Episode Tone

Casual, uplifting, and practical—the hosts and guests maintain a playful and inclusive feel, encouraging experimentation and personal twists.

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In Summary

This Life Kit episode is a toolkit for inexpensive fun—grounded in a sense of play, resourcefulness, and community. Whether you’re outside picnicking, crafting with friends, exploring a city by coin flip, or designing your own quirky games, joy need not come with a price tag. You’re invited to use their suggestions as a jumping-off point, adapting and inventing your own budget-friendly delights.

Transcript

[A]

You're listening to Life Kit from npr. Hey everybody, it's Marielle. We're gonna 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.

[B]

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 have, you had that permission to have fun.

[A]

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

[B]

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.

[A]

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.

[B]

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.

[A]

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.

[C]

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[D]

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[A]

All right, we're breaking 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.

[E]

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 one giant seating area and then just be there for literally hours and just 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.

[A]

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.

[E]

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

[A]

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 bodyweight 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.

[F]

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

[A]

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.

[F]

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

[A]

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.

[F]

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.

[A]

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. And they'll make mini sculptures or jewelry while watching a movie.

[E]

Or 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.

[A]

Sometimes they'll give each other prompts they have to stick to. Like a recent one was secrets, and

[E]

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

[A]

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.

[F]

How it works is that you don't

[A]

know what movie you're going to be watching until you get there, but it's entirely free.

[F]

So if I wanted to grab a

[A]

bite or drink afterwards, like, 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 Kala had to say about that. In Another Life Kit episode comparison is like a killer.

[F]

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. It's your own. I cook a lot, and I cannot cook my mom's quality food. Ever? Never. Because everybody has their own touch.

[A]

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,

[F]

try a bunch of different brands of,

[A]

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.

[E]

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

[A]

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.

[F]

So it's 50% drinking game, 50% life size.

[B]

Candyland.

[A]

Well, it's more like 75 drinking 20 candy land. And by the way, the floor is molten lava. It's actually 90% drinking.

[E]

And it's got a loose Candyland like structure to it.

[A]

Well, with stakes. 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. And he shared a game his friends like. I'm gonna 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. Tell me what the animal is, but don't tell me the number and I'll try to guess. Crocodile. Hmm. You're either scared of crocodiles or find them incredibly cute and impressive. I'm gonna guess eight out of ten. Four.

[E]

Okay.

[A]

You're slightly averse to them. 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 1. It's going to be, yeah, respect, but actually judging respect. Yeah, exactly. That makes a lot of sense. Very good. That's the game. 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 Dow, the freelance writer. Do a house or apartment swap with a friend, maybe one who lives in your city but a different neighborhood.

[F]

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.

[A]

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.

[F]

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.

[A]

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. One last thing, would you consider rating and reviewing Life Kit? It helps spread the word about the show. Here's a review from listener Jack JMKit9 my comfort podcast. I adore this podcast and the episodes are always eerily relevant to my thoughts and curiosities. Yes, JMKit9, that's because I've been reading your mind. Help us spread the word about Life Kit. Leave us a review in your podcast app right now. This episode of Life Kit was produced by Thomas Lu. Our digital editor is Malika Garib, and our visuals editor is CJ Ricolon. Meghan Cain is our senior supervising editor and Lauren Gonzalez is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Taegle, Claire Marie Schneider, Margaret Serino, and Sylvie Douglas. Engineering support comes from Jimmy Keeley and Sina Alafredo. I'm Marielle Segarra. Thanks for listening.

[C]

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