Financial Planning: Leave Room in Your Budget for a Snow Day!

February 02, 2011

It doesn’t snow very often in North Carolina, but when it does, you can hear the children across the playground shouting – SNOW DAY!!!

Snow days are my kid’s greatest day of the week, but for Susan and I, not so much.  I love to watch the snow fall, and fortunately for me, I haven’t had to travel much, so I look forward to playing in the white stuff just as much as the kids do, but when they are ready to play, I’m sitting at my desk – no snow days for me *drat.*

This creates another problem: with no school, what do you do with four kids?  Well, if it were just one snow day, you bundle ‘em up, push ‘em out the door, and let ‘em in five hours later.  But what if snow day turns into snow week, which it did a few weeks ago when snow and ice made traveling to school too treacherous?  Even yours truly gets a little tired of sledding after a while.

Well, here are some simple, fairly economical ways to subdue the troops when the weather outside is frightful:

Roller Skating

I use to love roller skating as a kid, and believe it or not, roller rinks still exist.  A three to five hour session can run from $3 to $5, plus a buck or two for skate rentals.  You kill a few hours, burn a few calories, and the kids tucker out.  They’re happy; we’re happy.

Bowling

Always a good time, and at $3 a game, not too hard on the budget.  There’s something about the sound of pins getting knocked down that takes me back to the good ol’ days.  The best part – you can use the bumpers and say you’re doing it for the kids.

Movies

Matinee pricing is usually reasonable, and if you live if Podunk, NC like me, you’ve got a cheap ticket theatre that shows just released movies for a couple dollars a seat.  Hey, at those prices, I don’t mind buying popcorn.

Chuck E. Cheese

Now who doesn’t like cheap prizes, crappy pizza and the sound of loud, obnoxious video games for a couple of hours?  My five year old has radar for this place.  You can sit and watch the little ones run around, or join in the fun.  Just remind dad to take off his shoes before going into the mouse maze.

Library

Talk about a strange place.  I think the last time I went to a library was when I was in school.  But today’s library has more than dusty old books.  It’s kind of fun just to get lost in the wings of a big building, but don’t make too much noise or they’ll kick you out.  The best part, it doesn’t cost you a dime.

Museum

This one can get a little pricey depending on where you live and where you go.  I like the obscure museums, like the Catawba County Firefighters Museum.  A small donation will usually get you in the door.

I’m sure you can think of a dozen more ways to keep the young’uns busy for the afternoon, so don’t be bashful – leave a suggestion.

Now you might be wondering what this has to do with money.  Does everything have to do with money?  Of course not, but a financial blog should, so here you go: make sure your budget includes a recreation fund.  There!  You happy?  Now go grab a sled and hit the snow hill.

Factoid: In the northeast, a toboggan is a type of sled; in the southeast it is a type of cap.  Weird, huh?