The Fair on a budget

I told the kids we were not going to blow a few hundred bucks at the fair, like we have done in years past. It is amazing how fast the money goes. Getting through the front gates is often the cheapest part of the day. The food, the rides, the souvenirs, and the CRAP that we just have to buy there pulls more bills out of our pocket than we would like to admit.

Anyway….the theme of the day was….CHEAP FAIR VISIT!

The first step was to get the kids on board with the plan. We laid it out for them. The rules of the day were 1-each kid got 10 bucks to blow any way they wanted. Food, games, crap, whatever. And 2- when their money was gone they weren’t allowed to ask for another dime to be spent on their behalf, PERIOD. Consequence of breaking rule number 2 was that the entire family goes home the very first time there is a request or complaint about it.

We got free tickets into the fair and discounted bracelets for the rides, passed out the cash to the kids, and off we went.

Hailey blew $5 on a bull ride right out of the gate…

…and Ky did a $7 thing where they put him in a huge plastic bubble.

When their tummies got hungry and they realized they didn’t have much money left they got smart and pooled it together and shared what they bought. AHA!!!! But let the learning begin. They now realized that an $8 dollar bowl of nachos that only contained 10 chips, split between the 2 of them, didn’t really fill their hungry tummies. It was pretty cute watching the kids notice and comment on what a rip off the cost of the fun and food really is.

All the kids enjoyed meeting up with their cousins there, who happened to have pigs in the fair. They all ran the circuit of rides in total bliss until after Kase hit his 3^rd or 4^th ride and begins to get the pale white face and the deer in the headlights look that only means one thing…..He Was Getting Sick! Poor guy. He began sitting out on rides and finding shady areas to hide and rest. After a while we called his grandpa and asked if he would come pick him up and take him home. Yuck Yuck Yuck. What kind of fun is that? :(

All of the other kids kept playing and riding rides until it was dark. When I went to pick up Kase from Grandma and Grandpa’s house he said,” even though he got sick, and was only there half the day, he had a blast.” Do you know what else Kase had? A full $10 still in his pocket ;)

Well, when it was all said and done….we succeeded in spending less money this year than any year prior. YAHOO. And the kids didn’t have any less of a good time. Well done!!