What is Coke Made Of: Activities for Families on a Tight Budget

There are so many great things a family can do when money is tight. This becomes all the more important during difficult economic times. With gas prices the highest they've been in a long time and the housing and mortgage situation screaming for help, it is important to find those quality activities that you can do together as a family. Here are a few suggestions.

Gather around the kitchen table with a bunch of things from the fridge and guess their ingredients. What is coke made of? It's a great question and you can turn it into a terrific game. Offer points for each ingredient guessed correctly. Perhaps grab another cola and offer bonus points to those who can pick out ingredients that exist in one and not the other. Grab a slice of cheese and try to figure out its' contents simply from smell. This will give your family an opportunity to become closer to the foods that make up your diet. You will find that everyone starts taking things like kumquats a little more seriously.

Take a shower together. This one is great on so many levels. It is a great chance for everybody to get closer. Take this opportunity to share feelings that you were not comfortable with before. It's also great for finally cleaning those places that you miss when you are alone. Nobody that cares about you will let you leave with a filthy crevice. More importantly, the geopolitical significance of showering as a family is tremendous. With everyone showering at once, you save water. This is good for the environment. It puts less stress on reserves and the natural water table which in turn guarantees jobs in the field and hence is great for the economy.

Recognizing smells. This one is special. How many time have you come home and wondered 'What is that smell'? Well, here is your chance to find out. Get everyone together in the family room and close all the windows. Take a moment to examine each family member for unusual odours. When one is discovered, enter it on a chart. That way when that smell resurfaces you will able to go 'No worries, that's just Billy.' This is a great chance to get feedback from other family members about smells that have been haunting you. Often, it can become quite disturbing to come in contact with an odour that you can't identify. Take this time to have other family members try and duplicate smells that you otherwise have not been able to figure out. Allow them to use all manner of bodily function, household appliance and food item. This one really brings people together and it costs nothing.

Try and figure out each other's Chinese horoscopes. This one is a lot of fun and again, you don't have to pay a cent. If you already happen to be Chinese, choose another nationality to give yourself a challenge. It is great wondering if you are from the year of the dog, pig or aardvark. Some people find this one a little tricky. I find that by spreading out Chinese food in front of you, it makes all the signals a little easier to pick up on. If this one is really giving you a hard time, start off by just guessing each other's regular horoscope and then integrate Chinese culture. For example, this year will bring you career advancement, a new relationship and completion of your favourite pet project...in China.

Bring home animals that don't usually make good house pets. This is fantastic. Now you really get to work together as a family. What is so great about this kind of activity is that you get to go outside. Usually on a tight budget you might feel inclined to not go outside anymore. This is completely understandable considering the urges you will have to spend money. However, when your focus is on catching raccoons and squirrels, the thought of money will probably never enter your mind. Perhaps bring home a rare kind of water fowl or fish. These are also great if you already have a cat or dog at home. This is because you will probably not be able to return these animals afterwards to their natural habitats. Yay!