What are the frugal folk to do when recommending those ideas to the kids elicit, But I'm bored! We've already done that a dozen times! What if you want entertainment but don't want to see all the tourist trap amusement parks in your area? How can you find the off-the-beaten path entertainment that is still enjoyable?



Internet to the rescue! Use websites such as "yellowpages" or "insiderpages". Enter your city and state. Type in keywords such as museum, garden or zoo in to the business name or category box . Then hit search. You'll see any major museums and entertainment venues listed first among the featured listings.

Now scroll further down the page. Here are the smaller venues that haven't paid for ads but are listed in the phone book. Smaller is better; smaller equals cheaper admission and less traveled. We discovered a small children's museum tucked away only a few miles from our house. We found that the major airport near us had an airplane museum open to the public. A jumbo jet that you could actually walk around and see the cockpit is a great thrill for a preschool child.

Another search criterion that can provide a bonanza of opportunity is historical society. You can find information on reenactment groups, old houses open to visitors and "Art Galleries" that cost far less than your downtown museum. There are several advantages of searching over the Internet versus your local yellow pages. The internet searches bring you results for your entire metro area, whereas your local pages may only include your zip code. If you enter Museum in a website, you can see listings for museums, zoos, and even gardens.

If you are looking through a phone book, you would have to look through various categories and still might miss a fun activity. Most importantly, these websites immediately link up to maps and directions. This allows easy comparison of distance time and planning for multiple activities. Don't forget the utterly free and nature friendly entertainment option, the great outdoors. A walk in the park, a run on the shore, a hike through the greenbelt, the only cost is your time and transportation.

The next time the family needs to get out of the house for the summer, you now have a fast and easy way to find something different and frugal to do. Fun doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.