Family Memberships
We think family memberships are a good investment for our family (museums, cultural institutions, etc). You might see their initial cost, and think - whoa! No, thank you. But ... do you live near museums / cultural institutions / other places that have a high cost per visit? Would you like to frequent that place more if it was "free" (or if you had a membership)? How many times might you go? How many visits would it take to "pay" for the membership?
What places are near you? We live in the Houston area, and the must-have memberships for us are the Houston Zoo, the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS), and the Children's Museum of Houston (CMH). The Houston Zoo, HMNS, and the CMH do offer free days and times, but for these locations at least we like the ability to not be limited to certain days / times (and we like the option to not visit during more crowded free times).
Houston Zoo: Free Tuesday afternoons (select Tuesdays only). Visit the link for more info!
Houston Museum of Natural Science: Permanent exhibitions free on Thursdays from 6 pm - 9 pm.
Children's Museum of Houston: Free on Thursdays from 5 pm - 8 pm.
So if that works for your family and schedule (and you don't mind crowds), maybe you don't need a Membership, but ... another perk to a Membership is you can come and go as you please. You don't feel the pressure to "see everything" or stay for long periods of time (which is especially nice when we go to the Houston Zoo in the summertime. It is so hot!).
More Membership Perks
Those are our main perks listed above (1) worth the cost! (2) visit when we want / come and go as we please! ... but there are definitely additional perks. Another reason why we love memberships is because not only do we see these places as "something to do," but they are definitely hands-on learning opportunities for our kids and great family experiences.
Memberships also come with additional opportunities such as discounts to special exhibitions, Membership mornings / days (less crowds!), and special Membership events to name a few.
We had a fun and mostly free outing this past week which included the Houston Museum of Natural Science. We enjoyed the Houston Museum of Natural Science (The Butterfly Center was free in the AM!), Hermann Park, and an accidental free TUTs performance at Miller Outdoor Theatre. We did use cash and bought three cupcakes from my favorite cupcake spot in Houston - Crave Cupcakes.
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| Houston Museum of Natural Science - The Butterfly Center |
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| Houston Museum of Natural Science - The Butterfly Center |
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| Houston Museum of Natural Science - The Butterfly Center |
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| Houston Museum of Natural Science |
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| Houston Museum of Natural Science |
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| Houston Museum of Natural Science - Activities for World Oceans Day |
Travel / Day Gear
Also on our outing we tried out some new travel gear. We mentioned in a recent blog on travel shoes that we are trying out travel gear over the next year in preparation for FIRE (financial independence retire early). We already have one Tortuga Backpack - Setout Backpack. We also bought two more Tortuga Setout Packable Daypack for the kids (if all works out well, we plan to buy two more for the adults).
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| Tortuga Setout Packable Daypack |
It worked out great for our day outing! It is light weight, breathable in the Houston heat, and it folds up into the backpack's own front pocket!
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| Tortuga Setout Packable Daypack |
Memberships: The Math
Okay, that sounds fun and all ... but are those membership prices REALLY worth it? Let's look at that math (the math is based on our family size - 2 adults, 2 children).
(All prices listed below were based on what was available on their websites June 2019.)
Houston Zoo:
Family Membership (Regular Level): 2 adults, 3 children
$149
Regular Adult Admission (Listed as Summer Value Pass): $24.95
Regular Child Admission (Listed as Summer Value Pass): $22.95
2 Adults = $49.90
2 Children = $45.90
Total for 1 Visit = $95.80
Total for 2 Visits = $191.60
Less than 2 regular visits pays for the Family Membership!
Houston Museum of Natural Science:
Family Membership (Regular Level): 2 adults, 4 children
$115
Regular Adult Admission: $25
Regular Child Admission (ages 3 - 11): $16
2 Adults = $50
2 Children = $32 (ages 3 - 11)
Total for 1 Visit = $82.00
Total for 2 Visits = $164.00
Less than 2 regular visits pays for the Family Membership also!
Children's Museum of Houston:
Achiever Membership (Lowest Level): 3 adults (same household), children
$135
Regular Adult Admission: $12
Regular Child Admission: $12
2 Adults = $24
2 Children = $24
Total for 1 Visit = $48
Total for 3 Visits = $144
Less than 3 regular visits pays for the Achiever Membership.
Other Memberships?
My favorite places to visit are art museums. But the good news is most of them in Houston are free (The Menil Collection, Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston), and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is free (all day!) on Thursdays which we definitely take advantage of in the summertime (and they offer free family activities on Thursdays in the summer). Not summer? We've also taken advantage of the free admission for Bank of America cardholders on the first full weekend of every month. That's another good point ... if you don't think a membership makes sense for you / your family, look into what discounts or other opportunities museums / places might have that apply to you.
Do you have any memberships? Where to? Do you have any favorite day trip travel gear?
-Tara
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