10 unique warm-weather and budget friendly activities

Dear Sweet Friends, 

I don’t know about you, but the warm-weather and longer days invigorate, motivate, and put me in a great mood. This is the time of year I look forward to: summer Fridays (2.5 days weekends, Yay!) and experiencing some warm-weather and budget friendly activities. I am a summer baby, so I also look forward to celebrating my birthday.

At the beginning of the year, my first request for Paid Time Off (“PTO”) is for the week of my birthday, a whole 7 days (including the weekend) to celebrate another year around the sun. That said, I am always looking for ways to maximize my time off, as well as searching for fun activities and adventures I can explore during the warmer weather months.  

In the Northeast United States, the weather tends to get consistently warmer in mid to late May. In addition, we may get a sprinkling of warm weather in the middle of March and April. There is so much to do for warm-weather lovers, and I wanted to share some fun, budget friendly ideas you can do by yourself or with family and friends. 

Planning is Key

So before we get into these warm-weather and budget friendly activities, I suggest you plan ahead. I know I am not the only one who has mindlessly worked through the summer and woken up two weeks before Labor Day, shocked that summer is ending and I did nothing memorable during these warm-weather months. I have been there a few times, my Sweet Friends, and it is not a fun feeling, especially for someone like myself who looks forward to the warm weather.

Planning ahead is great because it helps you stay on budget and alleviates the stress of trying to schedule and coordinate dates and times at the last minute with family and friends. So where do you start?

Start looking into warm-weather and budget friendly activities you would like to do, you can check out some of my suggestions in this post, or maybe you already have a bucket list of things to do and places you would like to visit. 

Block out the dates and times you want to do these activities. Contact family and friends to see who may be interested in joining you in these activities and coordinate a schedule with them. Planning and coordinating with family and friends in advance gives everyone time, space, and flexibility, and therefore your plans are more likely to happen. Last minute, not so much!   

If my activities involve travel, I usually start asking friends and family 6 to 9 months in advance to give everyone time to check their budget, save for the trip, and request time off to lock in those dates. I start requesting time off at the beginning of the year when the work vacation calendar is circulated for late Spring and Summer activities. I noticed that the summer months, especially Mid-June to Mid-August, are popular days because people are scheduling family time and vacation since the kids are out of school.  

So don’t hesitate, Sweet Friends, get those vacation times requested earlier in the year; we all know that plans can change, but it’s best to request the time earlier than wait. Of course, you can always decline those times if they no longer work for you.  

As I mentioned earlier, at the beginning of the year, I requested time off for my birthday and additional days off if any activities required me to use a PTO day. I usually have a standard list of activities I get into locally, such as outdoor brunches on weekends, after-work rooftop venues, local or nearby beaches, or other bodies of water. I am always game to maximize my PTO by coordinating my days off with the weekend and holidays. Check out this article for some suggestions on maximizing your PTO.

Trust me, planning in advance is worth it because we all know that day-to-day life can be all-consuming. So don’t find yourself like I have a few summers in my life, waking up in the middle of August, wondering what happened to the summer?

The “Budget” in Budget Friendly

Another step I take in advance is budgeting for these activities. I always earmark money for fun in a bank account; I coined this my “Fun Money” account. This account holds money I have saved for vacations and things I want to do for fun. If you set aside $140 per month, you will have $1680 of fun money by the end of each year for travel and other fun activities.

That is saving $5 per day each week, Sweet Friends. That is less than the cost of a cup of coffee in some places or buying lunch out each day. I set up an automatic withdrawal for each paycheck so that the money I earmarked for my “Fun Money Account” is automatically transferred to this account. This is an easy and great way to save for warm weather and other fun activities. Try it out! 

Warm-weather and Budget Friendly Activities

Although summer officially starts on or about the 21st of June each year in the Northern Hemisphere, in the U.S., summer activities tend to kick off on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day. Therefore, I would say Memorial Day and Labor Day in the U.S. are the bookend holidays for summer activities. 

Before I get to activities to do during the Months of June through September. One of my favorite activities that occur before the official beginning of summer and can also be considered in category of warm-weather and budget friendly is Cherry Blossom Season. The blooming event usually occurs around late March through about Mid-April. In the U.S., there are several festivals to celebrate these beautiful blooms.

Parks are a great place to visit and see this beautiful display of nature. You can even travel to some places, such as the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., which has one of the largest festivals in the U.S., to enjoy and celebrate these pink blooms. If you have Cherry blossoms in your town or city and love them as much as I do, check out your local park service websites to see their prediction for the perfect weeks of bloom. Lonely Planet has a great article on where to see cherry blossoms in the U.S.

Now, let’s get into other warm-weather and budget friendly, and fun activities you can experience.

1.  Outdoor sports and physical fitness activities- the warm weather is an excellent time for outdoor sports and physical fitness activities. Many of these activities do not require a significant investment in equipment, such as participating in group hikes on local trails, signing up, and training for and running a local 5K. The L.L. Bean outdoor activity calendar, is a great place to find these activities in your state.

2.  Free or inexpensive concerts, films, or plays: Public spaces come alive with free and affordable music, movies, and theater events. Local or even traveling artists take advantage of the warm weather by creating open-air spaces to display their art. Check your local social media community events pages or local city or regional websites for information about free and inexpensive music, movies, and theater events in your city or town.

Another option is to find out if there are any drive-in movie venues in or near your town or city.  Drive-in movies have made a comeback, so check out your area to see if this is offered. So there, if you are a lover of the arts, these are a few things you can explore, so block out time on your calendar, pack a blanket, snacks, and some bug spray, and discover and support these talented artists in their craft while enjoying some fresh air and warm weather.

3.  Explore your town or city- Explore new places and neighborhoods with self-guided walking tours or pay what you wish guides. Here in New York City, you can participate in pay-what-you-wish walking tours and free self-guided walking or biking tours. These tours are guided by pamphlets you can find at visitor centers, audio you can download on your smartphone or some websites offer detail instructions that you can print-out. Park Services also offer free bird-watching tours in parks or other outdoor areas.

4.  Explore gardens, museums, and cultural spaces.  One of my favorite warm-weather and budget friendly activities is visiting gardens and parks, which are in full bloom during the warm weather.  I usually check the website or social media page of local gardens and museums to see if they have any events.  You can sometimes get a discount if you are a resident. For instance, if you are a New York resident with an N.Y. Library card or a New York ID, you can get a discount or free access to many of these venues. So check out whether your city, town or a nearby city and town offer these activities and discounts

5.  Explore thrift stores- Here is an opportunity to create your own “Thrift shop crawl” or Thrift shop hopping.” You can start by researching local thrift shops in your community, map out the ones you are interested in and make a day of going from one shop to the other. Here you get to see new areas of your community, or nearby communities, update your wardrobe without spending a lot and support local thrift shops in your community.

6.  Volunteer: Volunteering is a great activity to meet new people and give back to your community. There are many volunteer opportunities during the warm weather. Local parks, beaches, waterfronts and other public spaces are always looking for volunteers to assist with the maintenance of these areas.  Check out your local park, beach, and waterfront websites to explore and sign up for volunteer opportunities.

7. Outdoor Potluck- A budget-friendly approach to eating out is hosting an outdoor potluck. This is where you locate an outdoor space, send out your invitations and have each guest contribute by bringing a meal, beverage, snack, or games. An outdoor potluck can be held anytime during the day. You can have a breakfast, lunch, brunch, or dinner event.

An outdoor potluck is a great way to bring your social circle together and enjoy their company over good food, drinks, games, and conversations. Some of the best places to hold an outdoor potluck are your backyard, a courtyard (if you live in a multi-unit building), a park, a garden, rooftop space or any public space that allows gathering.

8. Other Events & Attractions.  Most towns have different events and attractions throughout the warm weather months. Street fairs, Craft fairs, fireworks, festivals, etc., are usually inexpensive and can be a lot of fun. Check out your town’s website or Facebook page to see if there’s a listing of upcoming events. Look for your Visitors’ Bureau in larger cities or pick up the local paper and any free papers offered around your town or city.

9.  Mini Road Trips.  Road trip, anyone!?!  In my opinion, the warm-weather months are the best time to take mini-road trips.  You can keep it affordable by bringing your own food and choosing an activity that doesn’t cost much. Activities like baseball games, where you can support your neighborhood or town teams. You can also visit local farms for fruit, vegetable or flower picking. You can make these activities as cheap or as expensive as you’d like.

10.  Going at it alone- Sometimes you just have to do it alone. Many people get very social during the warm weather months, so if you don’t have the social circle to call and plan with, then all is not lost, you have options. There are many social online sites you can check out to find and meet like-minded individuals engaging in warm weather activities. One of my favorite sites is Meetup.com (this is not sponsored). I have gone to movies, wine tours, photography outings, game day and nights and even blog brunches, just to name a few warm-weather and budget friendly activities.  

Have a wonderful day, Sweet Friends!

Sweet Lyfe Daily

Please share any other warm-weather and budget friendly activities that you would recommend.