Frugal Festivals and Board Games
The Tenth Edition of the Festival of Frugality is up at Boston Gal’s Open Wallet. It’s an impressive selection this week and Boston Gal has done a great job of putting it together.
My favorite from the last week is Jim’s post entitled Play Board Games, Save Money from his Blueprint for Financial Prosperity blog. As Jim explains, for the price of a movie night for two, you can invest in a great board game that’ll provide more hours of enjoyment than the movie, it’s educational and ti’s a great way to spend some quality time with the family.
In fact, we just had a rousing game of Life here on the Humphrey homestead earlier this very evening (I got trounched by my lovely ladies) and it’s such a nicer way to spend an evening as opposed to us staring at a television screen.
Another family activity that we’ve gotten ourselves addicted to recently is puzzles. We picked up one of those mats that allows you to roll up the partially finished puzzle and it allows us to work on them at the kitchen table but not lose the table for other activities. It’s become a bit of time sink for us, but again, it’s a great way to spend some quality time and you can have actual conversations while you do it. I have a feeling we’re going to be scouring the garage and yard sales this coming summer for a stash of used puzzles for next winter’s enjoyment.
So which do you prefer? A night of battling for world domination via Monopoly or Risk or losing yourself for hours in a puzzle?
This week’s Festival of Frugality at Boston Gal’s Open Wallet can be found here.
Jim’s post, Play Board Games, Save Money at Blueprint is to be found here.
UPDATE: Jenn from FrugalUpstate pointed out a handy article from OrganizedChristmas.com that shows how to make your own puzzle mat. You can find it here. Thanks, Jenn!
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POSTED IN: Around the House, General
6 opinions for Frugal Festivals and Board Games
jim
Feb 14, 2006 at 10:22 pm
Thanks for the link Kevin, did you “officially” launch yet?
Blaine Moore (Run to Win)
Feb 15, 2006 at 9:07 am
Risk is a great game; I used to play it a lot as a kid, then didn’t through high school, then started playing a bit again in college for a year or two, and haven’t since. Once I have kids who are old enough to understand the game, though…
Dale Hanks
Feb 15, 2006 at 9:14 am
I just saw that roll up puzzle mat and seriously considered getting it. Thanks for the heads up on the Festival.
Kevin Humphrey
Feb 15, 2006 at 7:23 pm
Blaine - Yeah, Risk is cool. Monopoly is my fav and I like to play my daughter once in awhile when she’s in need of a ‘humility’ lesson. :) Mean, yet effective.
Dale - I’d definitely recommend the roll-up puzzle mat. It’s a worthwhile investment if you and the kids like to puzzle but don’t have the space to leave one out and going.
Thanks, guys.
Jenn
Feb 17, 2006 at 8:54 am
Here is a link to an article on organizedchristmas.com (a spin off from organizedhome.com) on making your own puzzle mat. All you need is some felt, a cardboard tube, and the ability to sew a single seam (which you can probably even do by hand.)
http://organizedchristmas.com/article84.html
Kevin Humphrey
Feb 19, 2006 at 5:54 pm
That’s a great article, Jenn. Thanks for sharing. :)
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