Happiness that you can get for free or won't be affected by the raising cost of living

[SophieHasOneQuestion]

Unfortunately, it seems everyone is cutting back, myself included. Let's share things that give you happiness and satisfaction for free (or almost free). So life can still be fun and worth living in these difficult times.

I go to a weekend philosophy club (held in a park), which is free, it gives me intellectual stimulation and makes me happy.

Sex!

Collecting seeds and planting them. You can collect seeds from fruit at home or when out on walks or from friends and family's gardens.

Then plant them out either in a patch of ground or even on a bit of kitchen roll on a bright windowsill - it's a great activity with kids! You can also get a lot of free plants this way.

Sowing peas and looking forward to watching them grow and eating them.

Walking, I have a massive hill at the back of me and went up with the dog and kids. Felt like an achievement sitting at the top eating sweeties with them. Swim in the loch in the summer although fair bit of cash has gone into paddle boards wetsuits etc. It is hard for people to access stuff that is sort of free due to a lack of kit or affordable transport.

Gardening. I've lived in this house almost 5 years and I say it every year but I really want to get on top of it.

I'm loving my borrow box from the library. Lots of lovely digital books and audio books for free. The audio books mean I actually look forward to doing my house work as that's the only time I show myself to listen to them ( Artist from driving). I feel all virtuous as I feel like I'm doing two things at once.

I cultivate mushrooms. I did have to put money into it to start , about £100 but it's a Lovely little hobby and I now get gourmet mushrooms using my Guinea pig sawdust waste . I use the spores from the old mushrooms to make the next batch so now it's freeeeeee!

I absolutely love sitting in my garden with a brew in the morning. We've got a local gardening group and people often share cuttings and free plants etc.

The river (London)

dogs/coffee/books

Yoga.
Kindle unlimited.
Rubbing my cats belly for a purr.
The starlings in my garden that go from scrawny babies to big fat chirpy birds.
Home made pizza dough - costs fuck all.

Highlight of my week was seeing 2 herons flying together on the local fen!

Every spring I get such a buzz from seeing the bulbs flowering in my scruffy garden. I have daffodils and snowdrops. Some of the clumps are getting crowded, so it's time to lift them, divide them up and replant them. If I do this, next year I will have 2-3 times as many flowers, without spending a single penny on bulbs. What a buzz that will give me next spring!

I love sitting out on my deck at night, wrapped in a blanket and watching the stars. I am lucky though in as much as I live in a 'dark sky' area, so see many, many more stars than you see when you live in a town or city.

Also like listening to the birds on a balmy summers evening as they're starting to settle down for the night.

@mum2jakie you beat me to it 😂

I’ve got a window halfway up the stairs which faces east out to sea. I like to sit on the stairs with a coffee at sunrise.

Also lots of beach walks, collecting pebbles I’ll mark my beds with and stuffing wool stuck in fences into my pockets to use for growing/starting fires.

@EdgeOfSeventeenAndThreeQuarter

I’ve got a window halfway up the stairs which faces east out to sea. I like to sit on the stairs with a coffee at sunrise.

Also lots of beach walks, collecting pebbles I’ll mark my beds with and stuffing wool stuck in fences into my pockets to use for growing/starting fires.

This sounds beautiful....

Music, loads of DJs streaming for free every week so I don't have to go to events as much

Sophie - it’s good for the soul. This was last week

We moved near the hills and forests so seeing the landscape change during the seasons is marvellous and free. Doing a sunrise walk up our local mini mountain. Wordle. Yoga with Adrienne. Hugging family, friends and petsAnd making bread-I started during lockdown. We’ve always had a breadmaker but making by hand and feeling the dough transform from a wet claggy mess to a wonderful elastic thing just with a few minutes of kneading feels magical. I know bread flour isn’t free but it’s cheaper than bought bread.

My dog.
I've made the argument to my other half that dog food is way cheaper than heating our house currently, so we should maybe just get loads more dogs and sit in a pile of them to keep warm. He's not going for it.

I live in the Lakes so I just like looking at my surroundings. Doesn't look the same any two days in a row. Also if I just walk from my house I can be somewhere scenic quite quickly. Just make sure I've got my waterproof on!

@EdgeOfSeventeenAndThreeQuarter

Sophie - it’s good for the soul. This was last week

Wow, breathtaking. Where is it may I ask?

@Babamamananarama

My dog. I've made the argument to my other half that dog food is way cheaper than heating our house currently, so we should maybe just get loads more dogs and sit in a pile of them to keep warm. He's not going for it.

It's definitely a thing:

outbackdictionary.com/three-dog-night/

:o

Books (library/ borrowbox app)
Feeding the birds in the garden - not free but the cost of the seed brings a disproportionate amount of enjoyment
Playing with dd/ taking her to feed the ducks (only costs a few oats or stale crusts)
Online word games/ puzzles
Chatting with a friend
Listening to the radio or podcasts , I’m a big fan of BBC sounds which yes needs the licence fee but we pay that anyway

The last part of my morning commute is a walk alongside a river. The birds, the fresh air, the fabulous views over London all lift my heart a bit. This morning I saw a thrush pulling up a worm, a coot building a nest and a moorhen perched in a tree.

You don't need a license to use/listen to BBC Sounds, @AliasGrape , so you can count it as a freebie

Some lovely suggestions on here - my kind of Mumsnet thread!

Sex.

Reading.

Playing an instrument.

Doing jobs around the house that have been needing done for ages!