Last week we tried something new. We took a LANTA bus from Allentown to Bethlehem to visit an outdoor arts and crafts show downtown.<\/p>\n
We knew from experience that street parking would be difficult, as well as expensive, and parking lots and garages would be costly, too.<\/p>\n
Also, we don\u2019t like using credit cards in those parking lot machines, but many of the decks and garages do not accept cash.<\/p>\n
So we studied the bus schedules and found three routes that would work for us.<\/p>\n
Best of all, the rides to and from Bethlehem cost us nothing.<\/p>\n
Because of the Pennsylvania lottery, mass transit is free at all times for seniors 65-plus with proper ID.<\/p>\n
And the buses seem to go everywhere in this area, from Slatington to Center Valley and Fogelsville to Easton.<\/p>\n
Those of us who are concerned about the high price of gasoline, and that includes everyone I know, can save money by using public transportation when possible.<\/p>\n
We certainly enjoyed avoiding the traffic jams and not having to spend a dime to reach our destination.<\/p>\n
Walking and bike riding are also viable options for certain destinations.<\/p>\n
We walk to do many errands, saving a few dollars and getting exercise as a bonus.<\/p>\n
A number of older friends who are pinching pennies are looking for low-cost or free entertainment.<\/p>\n
How fortunate we are to have free concerts at West Park and other sites in Allentown and SteelStacks Levitt Pavilion and the Rose Garden in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
Many other area towns, including Coplay, Catasauqua and Emmaus, to mention just a few, offer numerous free concerts from now until fall.<\/p>\n
Outdoor festivals abound, and many, like Mayfair, charge no admission.<\/p>\n
Other free, fun venues include Art in the Park in West Park, Allentown, and the Fiddle Fest in Fleetwood, Berks County.<\/p>\n
The Allentown Art Museum is free to everyone all the time.<\/p>\n
And many towns offer free, current outdoor movies during the warmer months.<\/p>\n
Speaking of movies, local libraries have hundreds of movie and television DVDs available to borrow.<\/p>\n
Board games are also available at most local libraries.<\/p>\n
And the books, of course, are endless.<\/p>\n
What fun to take a great library book to a local park and sit by a stream under a shade tree to read.<\/p>\n
With food prices escalating, I have noticed more people buying vegetable seeds to plant at their homes.<\/p>\n
Gardening is a great way to save money and eat healthy food.<\/p>\n
Even if one has just a patio or small yard, many veggies and herbs can be grown in containers, which is the way I grow my herbs each year.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also a huge advocate of supporting local growers and producers.<\/p>\n
With store prices rising and many foods being shipped from great distances, grocery store prices are often higher than local farm stands.<\/p>\n
Besides, many of us like to know how and where our food is grown.<\/p>\n
I buy local produce, eggs, bread, cheese, honey and maple syrup whenever I can.<\/p>\n
Another way to save on food is to eat out less.<\/p>\n
One friend who used to eat in restaurants or buy takeout about five times a week is cutting back to treating herself to that luxury only once a week now and says she is saving big bucks.<\/p>\n
As I mentioned in this column a few months ago, thrift shops and consignment or resale stores are great places to buy clothes and home accessories when we are trying to spend less.<\/p>\n
I check out these shops whenever I am in the market to add a piece to my wardrobe, and I have found some wonderful buys.<\/p>\n
Vacationing closer to home can help stretch the dollar, too, especially with airlines and cruise ships canceling excursions and stranding passengers recently.<\/p>\n
Yes, the cost of living for those of us on fixed incomes, and for younger folks, too, certainly has risen, but we don\u2019t have to stop living.<\/p>\n
We just have to get creative and find new, less expensive ways to enjoy the good life we all deserve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week we tried something new. We took a LANTA bus from Allentown to Bethlehem to visit an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-199834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}