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If like most mothers you make a budget every week to be sure that you don't overspend and can keep your household running you might find it hard to believe that you could organize an event that would be fun and memorable for the kids without the need for you spending a lot of money.
Picnics are a great way for you to spend quality time with your family and providing you plan it correctly there is no need to spend extravagant amounts of money. If you are a full time mum you will know that you need to be creative and use your initiative at the best of times.
When you are planning for a picnic is important to think about what you can do to save money. If you don't want to spend petrol driving out to a field or forest to have a picnic then why not do it in your own back garden? Cut down on your carbon footprint and lay out an old table cloth in the middle of your garden for your picnic.
Before you run off to buy stacks of food at the local supermarket first of all look at what you already have at home. Take a rummage through your tin cupboard and see if there is any jelly or tins of fruits that you can make into a trifle for the dessert? Do you have any tins of tuna or other things that you can use to make sandwiches? Of course make sure that if you are going to use these things they are going to be eaten! Don't get carried away and make too many sandwiches. If you want to use ketchup or salad cream you should already be saving the little sachets that get leftover from your trips to McDonalds. Fruit is a great healthy way to feed your kids so keep a look out for when your local market is and pop down before the picnic. Fruit markets are usually a lot cheaper than your local supermarket when it comes to food.
If you are wanting to have the picnic for one of children's birthday parties but don't want the parents of the invited children to bring presents. Why not instead ask your kids to create some unique invites and ask them to bring food instead. It's important that you specify what food to bring so that you don't get too much and it doesn't get wasted. Get your kids involved as much as you can. If you want to have a theme for your picnic then ask them to come up with an idea and dedicate a craft day using the materials you already have to put together your idea. For example you could make fun paper-mache masks using newspaper, flour and water.
If you own any Tupperware ask someone you know that has to borrow it. The advantage of Tupperware is that it's easily cleaned and can't be broken so you don't need to worry about the kids!
You can have a lot of fun in your own back garden with a picnic. Resist the temptation to buy anything new and ask friends to borrow things you know you can return. If you are living on a tight budget it doesn't mean that you can't have fun. You don't need to spend a lot of money, just stick to the basics and you and the kids will have a fantastic time.
Lauren McNeal invites you to take a look at the latest picnic baskets offered at Epicnicbasket.com. Specialists in picnic backpacks, picnic supplies and outdoor gifts, you're sure to find something to your liking.
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