To ask what you do for fun when you're skint?

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I'm living month to month atm but hoping this will change eventually.
There are only so many free museums, galleries and parks you can do, especially in this weather and they're not open during the evenings.
In terms of eating out as well, I'm not looking to go to fancy restaurants every time and id be happy with a Wetherspoons tbh or just going for a hot chocolate. I don't drink alcohol either.
It gets tedious having to constantly clean dishes, I do a mixture of fresh cooking, frozen ready meals and very basic meals.

Honestly it's hard sometimes. Looking for any suggestions or advice.

I went to see the Robbie Williams film alone. No one wanted to go, I wanted to see it therefore decided to go. Would have been annoyed if I'd missed it.

I love -

Going to the library (and reading at home)
Walking
Museums
Films
Quiz shows
Cinema
Gym ;monthly pass so can use the gym/sauna/swimming as often as I want

10 coffees at a great expense to one free yeah right.😂

It's on Amazon for less than a tenner :)

"How I Lived a Year on Just a Pound a Day: Amazon.co.uk: Kelly, Kath: 9781790744558: Books" https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1790744555/ref=sw_img_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

Some of these suggestions are weird. If someone is genuinely broke then gym memberships , or buying 10 coffees to get one free one make no sense at all!

What on earth is Dobbies? I've never heard of it. What do you get for your £15 except for two free drinks and one 12th of a slice of cake? Please tell me there's more than that.

I've got free tickets from sky monthly for a film.
I don't use them very.much as I don't like alot of what's on.
That could be classed as free entertainment if your skint then.

I looked it up and it's a garden centre chain.
If you are a member you get 2 hot drinks a month and it sounds like you get a slice of cake on your birthday.

But tbh unless you love going to garden centres I can't see it's that amazing a deal, especially as skint people often would be ill advised to spend £15 on something they might get round to using once a month.

I hope things change for you OP. Definitely look at for food saving groups - my friend runs one and is absolutely delighted with anyone taking the food to avoid the waste. You will be most welcome. A few thoughts;

• Book clubs, kitting groups or games clubs (our local pub hosts both and no need to drink alcohol)
• put something out on your local Nextdoor or grumbler seeing what is out there on an evening that’s free or cheap
• a cheap hobby (back to netball, women’s football, running club)
• community walks (either join one or put out a post inviting people to one)

They're daytime only and only certain areas.

I own every loyalty card going!

At the mo it's Lidl spin & win again for FREE bakery items. Just buy something small that you actually need each time & bag the free treat 😇

Here's another one.
Our local.library does a black and white film once a month in the afternoon for free.

Go for a walk with husband, or listen to a podcast or audiobook while walking myself.

Go for a swim.

Cycle.

Take scrabble to the local pub and sit by the fireplace. A drink or two is plenty to nurse over a game.

Invite friends round and cook for them and then we get to go to theirs for the same another night.

Movie nights in. We have a projector which makes it more fun. Make your own popcorn and cocktails/mocktails

Have a bath with candles and an audiobook

Altho my gym membership is £20 & includes swimming. My actual energy bills have reduced because I have showers there rather than baths at home 👍

Do you live near the sea and would consider getting into cold water swimming? Or near anywhere where there's a lake and a swimming community? It's free, very energising and therapeutic- a wonderful way to enjoy being outdoors and the cold water swimming community is very friendly with loads of meet-ups to swim together that don't cost anything.
So many groups nationwide if it's something you fancied. Or even just go alone if you're not bothered about the social side of it.

I'm with Octopus energy that give freebies on their website. Got a massive hot chocolate from cafe Nero near been in there before

Got a new coat is asda at Christmas for a quid with rewards built up from my
Mum's shopping

Had £60 of morrisons vouchers from their more card so I got a sun longer for £18 of vouchers

Most pubs have offers, got a nice free birthday meal from the beefeater didn't have time to use any other vouchers

We went to a toby carvery last week I downloaded the app whilst there got 25% off

Togoodtogo is a good way of getting pot luck food. Had some amazing value and really widened my food range.

You could try running - the Couch to 5k app is free and takes you from mainly walking to running 5km.

Parkruns are free weekly 5km runs (you can walk them too if you don’t fancy running ☺️).

You could try Meet up, or social groups on Facebook for social walking groups. I used to go to a walking group in my city that met in an evening after work so no money needed for transport. I tend to go on countryside hikes now - no membership fees but you do sometimes need to pay a little for petrol/parking.

Check out everything you already pay for and see what perks come with it.

Eg if you have Amazon prime there is deals on cinema tickets

Work memberships often have member deals.

Union membership?

Insurance - check them all out. We have a cash back health plan with HSF and recently discovered their perk box. We've saved over £320 since we started using it!

If you buy cheap insurance (for a day trip?) I did that a few years ago for £3.64 or something via the meerkat company I got free cinema tickets and cheap meals

Library. Always check out the library. You could borrow a box set or music. I save a fortune on magazines using my library membership.

Go on a charity shop treasure hunt

Check out any what's on pages for your local area.

What do you already own? If you have kites go fly one, or plan a bike ride, or go for a swim/spa at the local councillor gym? Not cheap here £9ish but you can swim, sauna, spa and steam for ages.

Do you have a sewing machine? Combine that with a charity shop treasure hunt and upcycle something.

I sometimes scan eventbrite and Facebook events for random free events too ☺️

For an afternoon at home lots of libraries have the free Libby app which has countless magazines, books and audiobooks.

I am posting largely to placemark, as I am knackered but want to have a good read of this thread tomorrow. Some cheap/free things that cheer me up include:

• Trying new recipes, especially baking, where I already have most/all of the ingredients. Often I hunt through the store cupboards, and Google recipes based on the stuff we have had for a while that could do with using up. My daughter and I sonetimes cook and bake together which makes it funnier.

• We have recently taken up needlecraft (knitting/crochet) using mostly stuff I was given by my mom/yarn picked up in charity shops. We have tried other crafts like this before - my daughter still draws quite a lot for example. My partner is currently trying decoupage! All cheap and fun.

• retail therapy - getting new clothes or bits for the flat cheers me up, so I scour charity shops for bargains a lot - cheap AND good for the environment.

• make an event of what we watch on TV - if there is a film or a series or a tournament we are interested in, we plan for it, sit down together with phones away to properly focus and watch it. (Whether that is me and DP or me and DD).

• getting out in the fresh air! Today for example DD and I went down to the local playground for half an hour. We are both far beyond playground age, but we enjoyed chatting as we wandered around the swings etc, and enjoyed a bit of afternoon sunshine.....

-reading. I fucking love it. And there are places you can get free books (often called "community libraries") all over the place if you know where to look. Big supermarkets often have them near the frontz for example. I started one in my place of work (a school - it's in reception). Or of course you can join your local library if you have the fine. Or if you can afford to spend a little, charity shops are often great for books. Some do deals - three for £1 or similar.

Sorry, I am sure there are more - these are all things I have done either on my own or with either daughter or partner over the last few days.

Will read properly and perhaps post more tomorrow.

A lot of free events on Eventbrite, especially if you are in London.

I've started doing the University circuit as they often do a lot of free talks and screenings. Last week I attended an author's talk on a lesser known historical figure, afterwards I went to thank her and to tell her how interesting I'd found it, and she was ever so grateful and insisted on signing and giving me a free copy of her book!

I've always loved all the author's talks at Waterstones and they are free.

We can easily afford to but rarely eat out. When we do, I'm always disappointed. I've expanded my cooking skills and can make a perfect steak dinner exactly to my liking and prefer not being ripped off by the wine menu.

Libraries, parks etc. We never go to the cafe on site, I take water and we may stop at a supermarket for packaged ice creams instead of buying them out, but it's not guaranteed. Often our day out cost is just car parking, we'll have a mooch around in a city, countryside or beach.

Years of having no money has ingrained cheap habits. Fun stuff to do with the kids, geocaching or treasure trails (premade treasure maps based all over the UK, lasts an hour or so and you get to spot different places in a city or town you wouldn't normally see). Movie nights at home instead of the cinema, (streaming film rental and popcorn is less than £6). Games nights.

Library apps - lots of free Audi books that I used to pay for in audible

Bird watching

Walks in countryside or along canal

Baking / cooking

Read the paper

Do a jigsaw - few quid at charity shop

Books - again, charity shops

Geocaching

DIY

Sewing

Papercraft

Write a letter

Loads of fab cheap or free thing that I do on here, and now I have a lot more ideas!
A bunch of friends and I do a cheap get together in winter with everyone bringing some food, and then we have a story telling or reading aloud evening, or card games, or board games, with or without wine.
In summer, stealth camping is fun, or even just getting together around the fire pit in the garden, sky;watching, chatting, even drumming and singing. (No neighbours)