Approximate recursion relations which give upper and lower bounds on the free energy are described. Optimal calculations of the free energy can then be obtained by treating parameters within the renormalization equations variationally. As an example, a particularly simple lower bound approximation which preserves the symmetry of the Hamiltonian (the one-hypercube approximation) is described. The approximation is applied to both the Ising model and the Wilson-Fisher model. At the fixed point a parameter is set variationally and critical indices are calculated. For the Ising model the agreement with the exact results atd = 2 is surprisingly good, 0.1%, and is good atd=3 and evend=4. For the Wilson-Fisher model the recursion relation is reduced to a one-dimensional integral equation which can be solved numerically givingv=0.652 atd=3, or by expansion in agreement with the results of Wilson and Fisher to leading order in . The method is also used to calculate thermodynamic functions for thed = 2 Ising model; excellent agreement with the Onsager solution is found.