8 activities to help have cheap summer fun

1. Local tourism. Google the name of your city plus the word "tourist." That's the best way to discover all kinds of wonderful things to do right in your own community – many of them free!

2. Get a great hotel deal. Use the Web to research rates, but do not book a room online. In fact, don't even call the hotel's generic toll-free reservation line. Instead, call the local number for the location where you will be staying and ask to speak with the supervisor on duty or the night manager. State your need and the rates you've discovered for nearby competing hotels, and then ask for the very best rate the hotel can offer you. Be kind and you just might land a super deal, because this person is more interested in filling rooms than getting the hotel-published rate that you'd get from the reservation line.

3. Vacation every day. You don't have to actually go away to get away. And you don't need a lot of time, either. In fact, you can take a one-minute vacation every day. It's easy. Let the websites 1 Minute Vacation and OpenRoad.TV be your daily tour guides. Put your head back; close your eyes; and let your mind's eye take you to a place of beauty, peace and serenity.

4. Summer reading program. Get caught up on your reading with free downloads from Project Gutenberg. More than 30,000 free e-books to read on your home computer, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, etc., are available. Its website, www.gutenberg.org, also has audio books.

5. Organized family. Keep track of all your summer activities by using Cozi or Famundo. Their free online calendars, message boards and organizers will keep all of your family information in one place.

6. Vacation eats. The best advice on where to eat in a new city is to ask the locals. If you can't do that, check out what the locals say at www. yelp.com. Reviews include recommendations and comments on where to eat and what to do in cities across the country.

7. Become fluent. Learn another language for free at www.bbc.co.uk/

languages. Video instruction makes learning a new language a lot easier. And hearing native speakers is infinitely better than trying to sound out words on your own.

8. Organize trip photos. If your computer is bursting at the seams with all of your photos, this summer might be a good time to get a handle on that project. Picasa is free software from Google that will help you locate and organize your photos. Go to picasa.google.com.

Mary Hunt is the founder of www.Debt ProofLiving.com and author of 18 books.
Do you have a question for Mary? E-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723.