A Guide to Cheap Memorial Day Activities that Won't Break Your Wallet

Let's face it; with the economy taking a downturn, we don't want to waste a lot of money on the holidays. However, we do want to have some fun with our time off and spend meaningful quality time with our families. I know all of us are on a budget and I'm going to give you a guide on some places that you can take your family to for Memorial Day Activities without breaking your pocket book.

1. I currently live in the Ft. Hood Killeen area. We have a lake called BLORA that we go to. BLORA stands for Belton Lake Outdoor Recreational Area. This lake offers a lot of activities for the family from swimming, skiing, kayaking, and barbecuing. If you are active duty military then the gate entrance fee is free. For the general public the gate entrance fee is $8.00 per carload. Check out the website for BLORA at http://www.hoodmwr.com/lake_activities.htm and go ahead and take your family there for fun.

2. I use to live in the Austin area and my family and I would go to Town Lake. Town Lake has a lovely river where you can take your family kayaking or skiing. The cost is $10.00 an hour and you have to wear a life jacket. It is nice to just relax in the kayak in the warm sun. There is also a lovely nature trail that is about 4 miles long right next to Town Lake. You can take your family walking along the lake and enjoy the sites.

3. If you live near San Marcos, then you can enjoy tubing down the lazy river. You can take your whole family tubing in the lazy river all day long and then find a nice shady area to relax and have a picnic. Although, there is a warning of caution that this is a heavily populated college student area.

4. My husband likes to take us to the Bend National Park. He enjoys going fishing while I'll take the girls on nature walks to look at the scenery or animals like armadillos that they have never seen before. You can spend the night and camp out in a tent or bring your camper and park in assigned areas. We like to camp out in a tent and build our own fire to barbeque on. The girls have fun roasting marshmallows and making smores.

5. If you absolutely just don't want to travel then check out your local parks and call the city to reserve a spot for barbequing. In Copperas Cove, we have City Park. City Park has a pool for the kids a duck pond, and a playground area in each section. All you need to do is reserve a spot and it comes with a picnic table and a grill. Of course, you have to provide everything else.

6. Have a cookout in your own backyard. Invite friends and neighbors and have them bring a side dish and drinks. You provide the meat and the grill to cook on. You can definitely have a good time with the children running around and you socializing at your own home.

As you can see, even in a small town that I live in, there are so many activities that you can do on Memorial Day without overextending your budget. Because I live near a military installation, there are always more activities because it is in appreciation of the soldiers. Where ever you live at, I'm sure that you can find activities for you and your family to do that's within your budget. Just remember that the simple things are fun for the whole family as long as all of you are together.