This is a guest post. The Frugal Diva loves culture and she loves the word free. By combining these two concepts, the divas of the world can soak up masterpieces without their spending getting soaked.
Most museums have a free day. It may be once a week, once a month, a late night but they believe that everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy great works of art, science exhibits, and natural history. Check the local museum websites for venues in your area. The free day can usually be found under a heading or section called visitor’s information.
In Los Angeles, the California Science Center is free every day for all permanent exhibits including the space shuttle Endeavour. The Guggenheim Museum in NYC has free or "pay what you wish" on upcoming Saturdays, and the Philadelphia Museum has free Wednesday nights (you can even run up the steps and stand near the Rocky statue).
Since many of you will be traveling this spring or summer here is a great site for finding free museums in your city and at your destination. Museum Free Days provides a list for many cities and links to the respective website.
In the fall, tickets for over 1400 museums across the country are available through Smithsonian Free Day and can be downloaded from the site for you and a guest. They will be updating in the spring with the 2013 list. If you are in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Museums are our national museums and are free every day.
If there there is no free day or it doesn't work for your schedule, always check for a senior, child, teachers, military, resident, or student discount.
The world of museum going is yours, however, timing is everything.
Image thanks to kairoinfo4u on Flickr.