Top 5 Free things to do (that are actually fun)

Everyone knows when you’re trying to save money, it can be difficult to stay motivated. You may be making sacrifices on a daily basis and it’s easy to get burnt out or lose sight of why you’re even trying to make good financial decisions! Below are 5 activities you can do to have fun while still keeping your budget in check.

1. Get outdoors!
2. Host a game night with friends and family
3. Up your dinner game
4. Find some water
5. Have a movie or spa night at home

Get outdoors: This is probably our biggest go-to when we want to get out of the house but don’t want to spend a lot of money. We love to hike so we usually log on to AllTrails and search for a local trail to go hike with our dog. There are so many local recreational centers, walking trails and parks that are free to use. Utilize those resources, you’re already paying for them in your county taxes!

Host a game night with friends and family: This is another fun option that we do every few months. Either we will host or our friends host at their house. We bring our favorite board games and set up RockBand then we all hang out and chat for hours! This is a great alternative to spending a hundred bucks on going out to eat and having drinks at a local brewery. Most of the time we will bring some snacks or drinks we already have at home so these nights are either free or really close to it.

Up your dinner game: A few months ago, I was having a rough day at work and really just wanted to sit down and be served for dinner (eating out is my guilty pleasure). I was getting ready to go out and Jeffery called me into the kitchen. He was wearing my cooking apron and had a pen and notebook and was standing beside the dining room chair that he pulled out for me. He proceeds to seat me, put a napkin in my lap and ask me for my drink order. He spent the next hour serving me. He went through our pantry and offered me the items from the “chef’s menu” with all of the food options he could cook for us within our own kitchen. This completely surprised me and made me realize how lucky I am to have such a supportive spouse. This is an extreme example, but we’ve had a ton of nights that we’ve pulled dinner outdoors to eat on our patio under the string lights. You can create a memorable dinner anywhere! Get in the kitchen and cook together.

Find some water: This is similar to getting outdoors, but go find a lake or large pond! If you are tired of being cooped up in the house, look up a lake near you. Most lakes have a public beach area that is free to use. You can also seek out a nearby river if you already have outdoor recreational items (pool floats, kayaks, tubes, etc.). This is a great way to get some fresh air and be active without breaking the bank at an amusement park. Fishing is also another fun outdoor water activity if you have the supplies and a fishing license. You may even get lucky and catch dinner 🙂

Have a movie or spa night at home: We have these pretty frequently.. we love a big bowl of extra buttery popcorn and a 5 or 6 movie series that we can binge over the afternoon and into the night! More than likely you already have a series laying around the house that you can pop into a DVD player and skip the $100 movie night at AMC. Some of our favorites are Harry Potter, Vampire Diaries and Starwars. I also love the spa but don’t like the $50 price tag for a mani/pedi. More than once I’ve invited my girlfriends over and we’ve had an at home spa night with wine, face masks and mani/pedis.

What are some of your favorite free activities to do? Leave me a comment below 🙂