Entertaining With a Small Budget

Visitors, expected or unexpected, can put pressure on a host or hostess to come up with days of entertainment. While finding the options of what could be done usually isn't usually the problem, shelling out the cash to pay for those excursions can be.

Museums' fees can be upwards of $15 dollars per person, parking in a city can be nearly $30 and going to the theatre, a concert or a sports game may easily be a minimum of $40 a person.

Multiply that by three to four guests plus your own family of five and one event can cost a few hundred buckaroos. Add a few meals at a restaurant and, well, start making plans to sell the second car.

Fortunately there are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of that will still provide a way to get out of the house and have a good time while not forcing you to take out a loan.

Parks and Forest Preserves

Parks and forest preserves are a great way to get some exercise and some fresh air. Many have paved walkways for adults or moms with strollers, and the playgrounds are great for the kids to run around in and burn off some energy. Bring a kite, a ball, pack a picnic lunch and you're on your way to a relaxing afternoon free of charge.

Take note that some forest preserves have special attractions like rivers, small waterfalls and cliffs. Checking out the forest preserve website in your area will give you some basic information about what each preserve offers.

Museums

While the fees can be hefty, many offer free or discount days once or twice a week. Take advantage of this. In part, the museums wouldn't charge so much if they didn't have anything worth visiting. Just be careful to avoid special exhibits or other extras that will add charges.

Though they are generally small and won't fill up hours and hours of a day, local historical museums are also an option. They're usually free or only ask a small admission of a dollar or two.

Movies

Movie theatres are getting more and more pricey these days, so taking the clan to a 7 o'clock showing of Prince Caspian might not be an option. However, matinee showings at smaller, local theatres are still usually only a few dollars. Sure you might not get to see last night's new release, but who doesn't like to see a good flick every now and then.

And then there's the good old DVD player-or maybe the movie channel on your HDTV. Make some popcorn, pull out some blankets and give a surprise showing of a family favorite.

Downtown

Any cities or other small downtown areas nearby? It's free to walk the streets of Chicago or browse the little boutiques in a local business district. Cities offer miles and miles of walking and shopping (which leaves the spending up to your guests). Also, increasingly, suburbs are full of half-mile long Main Streets with cute shops, restaurants, art galleries, ice cream parlors, attractive flower pots and convenient benches for eating an ice cream cone.

Fairs and Festivals

Depending on the event, there may be a general admission fee, but many times fairs and festivals are free to walk around at and browse the goods-often there's a craft show or some type of sidewalk sale going on. (It's when the kids start begging to get tickets for the tilt-a-whirl, Ferris Wheel and other carnival rides that the afternoon can get expensive.) If there isn't a fair in your county the weekend of your visitors' stay, do a quick Google search to find one nearby; in the summer months, there are usually a handful to choose from.

Suburbs and cities alike offer a variety of prospects for spending a few days and finding ways to cheaply entertain guests is just a matter of being creative.