Happy 4th of July to our US readers! What do frugal people do to celebrate independence day? Why, they run through the streets waving the flag of the frugal weirdo of course. Although, come to think of it, that would be no flag at all since we’re all too frugal to buy an actual frugal weirdo flag…

I'm certainly not a weirdo...
I’m certainly not a weirdo…

But I digress, frugal weirdos just do free stuff like fear for their lives while watching their neighbors and friends set off ill-advised (not to mention expensive) home firecrackers. Frugal weirdos might also enjoy their town’s gratis fireworks display, getting smoking deals on post-4th hot dogs and watermelons, hosting cook-outs, and covering their dog’s ears whilst the world ends (from a dog’s perspective).

Patriotic Hound!
Patriotic Hound!

Or they might bake a carrot cake–not because carrot cake is particularly patriotic or has anything to do with the holiday whatsoever, but because they’re pregnant and have a wicked craving for carrot cake. I’m just saying–these are all mere hypotheticals.

And if you’re a crafty breed of frugal weirdo, you could perform magic with some twigs and glitter glue and create a smashing July 4th all-in-one hand basket/hat/serving platter combo. Being an un-crafty person, my crafts are too horrendous to even make it to the “Pinterest fails” list. More like the “how could you have possibly followed these directions for something so cute and ended up with something so hideous?” list. I wisely leave the crafting to others.

But on a more uplifting note, Mr. Frugalwoods and I are headed out this morning to hike Mt. Eisenhower and Mt. Pierce in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Hey! Hiking! Another perfect frugal way to spend the eve of July 4th! These two 4,000-footers in the Presidential Range are just a ridge walk away from each other, so we can easily peak bag (aka summit aka climb aka hike up) both. I’ll report back next week with photos.

For the record, I did not ask to wear this hat
For the record, I did not ask to wear this hat

Frugal Hound, for her part, is happy to not join us on this epic trek. Not much of a hiker, that one. More of a snoozer. She’ll pass the day in blissful slumber, interrupted only by our very sweet neighbors who are kindly taking her out for a walk. She did request to wear her flag visor in observation of the day and we agreed, since, you know, it’s a special occasion and all. We really are softies when it comes to that dog.

I hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing weekend and that you take a moment to reflect on the blessings in your life and the immense freedoms we enjoy in this country. And since this is Frugalwoods after all–remember, you don’t have to spend in order to celebrate! Despite what the consumer marketing machine would have you believe, holidays are not a requirement or an excuse to drop money. Keep the explosions in the sky, not in your wallet!

How are you celebrating the 4th? Aren’t we nice to let Frugal Hound wear her flag visor?

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58 Comments

  1. Have a wonderful long weekend! Mr PoP is going SCUBA diving today, while I build some fun stuff for our kitchen! Then tomorrow we may end up going to the town’s free 4th of July celebration. The fireworks are nice, but watching the bed race is totally the best part!

  2. Enjoy your hike! We are going to the town fireworks and the beach if the weather cooperates. Love the flag visor!

  3. Have a great hike – sounds like a nice way to celebrate! Thanks for the Pintrest Fails link. That’s soooooo me when it comes to crafts. It made my day.

  4. Be frugal AND considerate and don’t set off fireworks at home! Especially not days before the big holiday. I’m the Grinch of the 4th, I guess. Since having kids, those nearby explosions set me on edge. I’m worried the kids will wake up. I’m worried my house will catch on fire.

    Leave it to the professionals, people. Your neighbors and wallet will thank you!!

  5. Happy independence day! We will also be hiking on the fourth, and swimming in an old quarry. Hopefully, we will see the fireworks from our house in the evening.

    On a crafty note, we used to always make “continental hats” out of newspaper and then burn them in a bonfire on July Fourth.

    1. Continental hats sounds very crafty indeed! Mine would probably just look like a pile of newspaper 😉

  6. Happy 4th! The 4th was one blindingly un-frugal spot in my generally frugal upbringing–Grandpa FP loved to set off home fireworks. I think he used to buy them out of his personal pocket money, but one year he didn’t have any. Instead, he raided his change jar. (How much change? Well, I only saw him raid it twice in all the years I was growing up.) We kids had to help roll it all up and it yielded about seventy dollars, enough for a scaled-down celebration by the standards of the early 90s.

    We will be heading over for the free fireworks. Alas, it is slightly too far to bike hau

  7. Have (free) fun!

    Today we’re going zip lining, boating, maybe tour a castle, and hit the zoo if we aren’t too tired. We’ll probably drop $20 on all of that, but hey, that’s what we saved all this money for, right? 🙂

  8. Happy 4th of July!!! I never grow tired of the various ensembles Frugal Hound wears! We are going to hang out at our neighborhood pool, grill and enjoy the fireworks from a local park. I hope you guys enjoy the weekend!

  9. Oh my goodness, loving the pictures of Frugal Hound! I hope you enjoy your hike & a wonderful 4th of July weekend! My fiance and I will be heading North to spend the day with our family for a BBQ! Looking forward to homemade goods & spending quality time without the money aspect. 🙂

    1. Many thanks! Hope you had a lovely weekend with family–it’s definitely a great holiday to enjoy frugally 🙂

  10. I have no idea! Make some frugal food, hang out at home with the hubby and kids. There are lots of free fireworks to see, plus a parade, etc., but I probably don’t have the energy for any of it.

    1. Hooray for frugal food and hanging out with the fam! Hope you had a great weekend 🙂

  11. As always, I love Frugal Hound’s outfit. we are being lazy and thankful this long weekend. enjoy your hike and your weekend.

    1. Frugal Hound says thank you :). Lazy and thankful sounds like a good combo to me–enjoy!

  12. Have a great day. I will celebrate by watching the DC fireworks on PBS (free over the air TV) and cooking 1.00 a pack chicken hot dogs and making homemade potato salad. I will comfort the cat because some yahhoos around here always set off homemade works or shoot off a gun. Maybe I can see part of the fireworks at the baseball stadium from my balcony. Maybe not.
    On the subject of guns: around here a couple of years ago some a**h**e shot off a gun and the bullets hit and killed a little boy who was out watching fireworks at a public display. They still haven’t found out who did it. SO DON’T GO SHOOTING OFF GUNS ! (Not that I think anyone here would do that)

    1. Oh that’s scary–hopefully no guns this year! Gotta love A Capitol Fourth on PBS 🙂

  13. FWs,

    Enjoy the hike! Sounds like a lot of fun. 🙂

    We won’t be doing much of anything. We don’t own a car, and the buses down here don’t run on the 4th. So we’ll probably just grab a pizza and throw in a DVD. Solidly frugal!

    Have a great 4th.

    Cheers.

  14. Happy 4th! We are in western NY visiting grandparents as every year. To our chagrin, family insists on paying for evrything, even Marge’s yearly haircut, so this is will be a frugal trip. But the weather is perfect, and that means Imma need to buy some ice cream.

    I can’t tell if FrugalHound looks like a dork or a dope 80’s skateboarder.

      1. Sounds like a great fourth–hope you two had a lovely time! I tied that second scarf around her tail, but I realize now it just looked sorta weird. I’m pretty sure she’s a dork 😉

  15. I thought pretty seriously about buying some fireworks. I even had a plan to spend only $10 on them this year (compared to WAY more in some past years). But after thinking it over some more, I’m not going to spend anything on fireworks at all this year. #frugalwin!

  16. We are having vegan cookout party today here in northwest Ohio! Lots of yummy homemade food! Carrot dogs! Jalapeño ice cream! Tostadas! Pickled watermelon rind! And lots more! Happy 4th!

  17. I spent the fourth watching fireworks from my parents yard with some friends. They live across the street from the golf course where they have the show every year. The show was a little disappointing, but the price was right because the parking was free, the show was free, and the time with friends is better than money.

  18. Frugal Hound looks lovely, as always!

    We spent the 4th at my husband’s uncle’s house in NJ. He throws a huge 4th bash every year. I brought rice krispie treats – made with store brand ingredients. 🙂

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