How I'm Saving $3,000 This Summer, Still Keeping My Kids Entertained

Working from home can be a blessing, but with my kids home in the summertime, it can get expensive. While during the school year I easily avoid spending any extra money during the week, come summertime the kids need to be entertained -- and that can really start to add up.

Here's how I plan to save more than $3,000 this summer and still keep my kids happy and entertained.

Pool membership

We love our local YMCA, but our membership really only gets a workout during the summer months when the outdoor pool is open. While I used to keep our membership going year round, I got tired of shelling out $85 a month (for a family membership) during the winter months when my family never goes.

This year I'm just keeping the Y membership from June through August. While the pool is our focus, I'll be sure to bulk up on any free classes during that time too. Savings: $765

$1 movies.

There may be plenty of kid-friendly movies like "Cars 2," "The Smurfs Movie" and "Spy Kids 4" coming out this summer, but even a daytime movie date for the kids and I can cost about $50.

This summer we'll check out the Regal Cinema's $1 Summer Movie Express Festival. While the movies aren't first run, we'll still get the movie theater experience and a day out of the house. We'll catch the new summer releases later in the season on Pay Per View, when the whole family will be able to watch for $5 total. Savings, based on 2 movies per month over the summer months: $300

Bowling.

My kids love to bowl, but if we went as often as they'd like, we'd go broke. This year that won't be an issue. I'm signing up for the Kids Bowl Free program, which will get my kids two free games of bowling every day all summer long. Savings: $500

Summer Camps.

Because I work from home and can make my own schedule, I don't really need daycare for my kids. But a lot of my stay at home mom friends still send their kids to a week of art camp or a week of sports camp just to keep them busy. A week of day camp can easily run close to $200 a week. Even if I sent my kids to just two weeks of art or sports camp over the summer, it would break the bank.

Instead of doing that, I'm teaming up with an artistic neighbor to coordinate homemade camps for our kids. My artist friend will run a morning art camp one week while I'll run a cooking camp. On the sports front, my husband will coach my kids in basketball over the summer -- for free. Total savings for two kids: $800

Day trips.

This summer we're ditching the costly day trips. While it may be fun to trek to a theme park or the beach for the day, we'll wrap those types of trips into our family vacation. Instead of day trips that cost money, we'll check out our local library's summer programs and go to free museums and petting zoos in the area. Estimated savings: $500

Dining.

It's a treat to go out to lunch with the kids, but even that can add up quickly. Instead of paying full price for a weekly restaurant lunch -- which we used to do -- this year we'll pack a picnic lunch once a week and go to the park. The kids will be able to run and play and we'll still get to have a special lunch together. Savings, based on a $30 lunch once a week: $360

Victoria Leigh Miller is a freelance writer. She has been writing about parenting topics since 2001.