Things to look forward to when you can't afford treats

[Outoutoutshout]

Hi everyone. Happy bank holiday.
I'm struggling a bit financially so holidays, meals out, trips etc are on hold for a year or two (maybe longer).
I'm looking for tips to make this manageable. What things do you do that you still look forward to when money is tight? I'll do plenty of walks and free local trips but I'd like some other ideas if possible. Thanks.

Not completely free but get some seeds and plant them, I get a lot of pleasure out of watching sunflowers grow and hearing the buzzing bees in the summer.

Ive always tried to care for them but one year I found a really old packet and just used my finger to prod holes in the infertile soil we just put down for a wild flower area and they were the best sunflowers I ever grew. They were entirely neglected, grew 8-9 ft tall with massive leaves. They were fabulous until the winds came that September and blew them down.

Books from the library, including audio books.

Home baking if you can manage.

Club together with friends for a book club where you each bring something to eat/drink. Or “poker night” but for points not money.

Free local clubs/activities (park-run, choir).

Channel your inner retired person (regardless of how young/old you are).

Picnics. If you have some friends get everybody to bring a few snacks and spend the evening outside now that’s it’s getting warmer and the sun is up late.

Otherwise, pack a sandwich and take a nice book or Netflix episode and enjoy the sunset on a bench eating the same food you would at home, but with a much better taste simply because you’re outdoors.

Enter loads and loads of competitions online - costs nothing and you just never know.....and if you win something you don't want, sell it.

I just eat endless custard creams and cups of tea. A simple, cheap, comforting treat.

Our library has an app that you can borrow books on and also magazines.

I look forward to Friday night. Relaxing with a glass of wine.

Some other small pleasures:
Long walks
Lighting candles
Having bubble baths
Buying a scratch card
Having a takeaway

Baking
Reading
Watching tv in bed
Online quizzes
Do a yoga video...loads on youtube

Obviously recognising that there are different levels of not being able to afford treats - if it's holidays and meals out off the table but things aren't totally brassic then I'd set a monthly budget for enjoyable things e.g.:

Library books and a glass of wine in the garden.

Heading out for a bike ride if you have a bike, preferably to somewhere with a lovely view.

Take a towel/rug out into the garden if you have one and lie in the grass and the sunshine.

Make sure you have an ice cube tray (I think they were 2 for £2 from b and m) and drink drinks with lots of ice - water Vs iced water v with lemon, or mint and cucumber - one is free but meh, the other costs a little for the mint and the cucumber (though you can grow the mint) but feels like a delicious extravagance.

Homemade pizza is pretty cheap (bread flour, yeast, tomato puree and mozzarella being your bottom line essentials with everything else an optional extra) and feels like a real treat for me. If I'm at home with nothing much else to do I also really enjoy trying a new recipe as a sort of entertainment activity.

Bed, especially after a day with loads of preteens in and out the house.

Warm bath
Charity shop hunt (ours often have sales where stuff is really cheap)
Book club?
Growing salads eg rocket in a window box

Art galleries are usually free.

Podcasts while you go for walks. There lots of recommendations on here
Can you do some free training courses to upskill??
Become a volunteer in an area you are passionate about ?

Write a list of things you would like to learn to cook (if you focus on vege food it will be cheaper as well as delicious) and aim to try something new each week
Could you get a second job?? Even just something casual like babysitting or pet sitting. Then save that money to use for a day out.

I look forward to a really good, longish walk on a nice day - and a lovely drink at the end of it. A pint of ice cold cider outside a pub is obviously the best but a cold drink in the garden works just as well.

I also tend to do most meals on economy, but once a week I’ll have something a bit nicer:
Some lovely fish or steak, something like that.

If you have some nice bath stuff, save it for the weekend and have a soak with a book and a glass of wine.

While you are out and about in your area, look out for things like flowering cherry trees, pear trees, magnolias, crab apple trees, laburnum trees, etc, seeing them through the seasons, and looking out for their spring time blossoms will lift your spirits.
The same goes for things like patches of crocuses, daffodils or snowdrops, though they might be in someone’s garden, they can still cheer you up.

If you are more rural, enjoy the abundance of swathes of cow parsley, or patches of cowslips or a bluebell wood in flower. I think this ties in with what an earlier poster up thread was saying about flowers.

You might enjoy joining a choir, it shouldn’t be expensive, and you won’t need special equipment either.

I do product testing sometimes, a big box of duplo arrived this morning for my toddler to check. This week we’ve also won competitions (admittedly through Sky) for an English heritage one day membership, a family pass for a local wildlife park and a new Axel Schaffer book.

Look for local organisations that offer free things. Our parish council is running a series of free art and nature classes and gave out big gardening kits to promote their new community garden. A local organisation does free half term cooking classes for families which comes with a big bag of food to make the recipes at home. Our council had a free Easter egg hunt this weekend and our toddler made a lovely Easter bonnet as part of it. Have a search for free local events eventbrite.

We have a National Trust membership too, they run lots of free things and are nice days out. It’s £10 a month for a family, although I appreciate it may be out of budget.

If money is tight and might not stretch to a take away, there are lots of fake away recipes available now. Look on places like Sainsburys or Ocado websites for recipe inspiration.

Nail varnish and give myself a manicure and pedicure

Doesn’t even matter if it’s dirt cheap stuff because you can leave ages between coats so it ends up looking quite good anyway

Growing flowers or plants. The amount of joy and excitement I am getting from the bulbs I planted in autumn coming up is amazing. Can be done in window boxes or inside if you don't have outside space and can be as cheap or expensive as suits you.

If you do have some outside space, I have also created a wildlife area, a small pond, wildflowers, bird feeders, stacks of logs, etc. Mostly second hand, gifted or repurposed stuff so cheap. We've had frogs, toads, sloworms, lots of different birds, bees and butterflies and a hedgehog. Truly brings me happiness and the kids love it too.

I am a total gardening obsessive though so realise my suggestions are somewhat limited.

While of short duration, if you have a good view of sunrises/sets, try and catch them regularly.

Baths and home made pamper kits, (egg yolk on hair, honey and sugar exfoliating)
Film nights, watch a cult classic out of your comfort zone something you wouldn’t normally watch but is rated highly and give your review.
Meditation and fasting. I know this is a bit random but when I fasted for three days and made a diary of my feelings and I meditated with YouTube as a guide and found the whole journey really spiritual and I cannot recommend enough to anyone! I read lots of free pdfs on Google about it as well and mh mind was solely focused on it.
Do you have a beach or park to sit, soak U.K. the sun and read a book.
Teach yourself about local wildlife, weeds, flowers trees, create a mini scrap book.
Free art gallery’s.
Food festivals with lots of freebies.
Volunteering nearby?
Set yourself a challenge, learn the capitals, touch your toes standing, practice splits?
Cook something new from scratch?

Do you have children or a partner or is it just you?

With kids / other half

Outside games - setting specific time to kick a ball / play tag / hide and seek / treasure hunt with toys they already have can be fun and a way to be sure you get time together

Picnic outside- head to the garden or a walk if you have no garden, take the food you would have eaten anyway, blanket on the grass and lots of chatter while you eat.

Morning coffee in the garden or nearby communal green space

Board games

Reading either alone or together

Craft days using whatever odd bits and bobs and recycling you have

Gardening/ allotment

Make sure you have a library card, they do some fun free activities as well as books magazine and audiobooks. Some even have puzzles and things available

Apply for an allotment, they cost pittance and are good fun plus you get plenty of food out of the hard work

Sign up to Freecycle and any similar Facebook pages in your area, you have to be quick but plants, games, toys, craft kits, and all sorts to be found on there which can be lovely treats to pick up and really boost your mood

Take up fishing if you can, it's not free but licensing can be cheap for some adults, as little as £5 If you are disabled, children are free, and some places don't require you to purchase an additional permit. You can get fishing equipment on the free cycle pages and things like sweet corn or earthworms from the garden can be used as bait rather than buying maggots and pellets from a specialist shop.

Become a citizen scientist and do nature surveys and so on. Great fun and gets you learning about the natural world

Most of the ideas involve being outdoors because it really is a mood booster

A nice cup of coffee in a coffee shop. I usually just have the filter coffee

Go to a market, especially if you go when they are packing up you can get some cheap stuff. Take it home and Google a new recipe for it.

Not sure if your situation, but volunteering can be a great fee hobby if you're that way inclined. I think National Trust volunteers get free access too

Thanks everyone. For those that asked, yeah it's just me. No family.

Bath and an early night is a treat for me. Bonus points if I've changed the sheets that day!

I enjoy puzzles and games, so a cup of tea and playing Semantle, or doing an online crossword is a treat.