What do people do at the weekend?

[thirtypl]

I'm genuinely intrigued as to what people do at the weekend?

I live at home with my parents, have a boyfriend he lives at home with his family as we can't afford to buy atm. I am currently recovering from being in hospital. I went out for the first time in a while to a local shopping centre on Friday mid morning and it was heaving. Struggled to find a parking space, so many people were out, queues everything you name it.

Which I didn't get because all I hear on the news is everyone's struggling due to COLC / bills etc

Now based on this what are people doing at the weekend? If on a Friday the shopping centre is already heaving with people eating shopping.

I also need inspiration of things to do as I have no idea.

I cook breakfast and something like a casserole for dinner that I don't have time for in the week, make sauerkraut if I've run out. I clean, work in my garden, get my hair cut on a Saturday morning every 5/6 weeks. I read, go for a walk or hike, wander up to the farmers market, visit family, occasionally have a half pint or two in a pub. I think the last time I was in a shopping centre was 2019.

Really interesting to hear what other people get up at the weekend!

I'm not skint. I asked a few questions. If you read properly you would see I am
Recovering from being unwell. Having spent best part of two months in a hospital I wondered how comes it was so busy and what people do on the weekend too.

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Depending what part of the UK you are at ,not everywhere is impacted by COL.Many people need to go shopping for food ,essentials and so on.Also lots of people have Friday off or maybe work from home mornings /have aft off. Im sorry you have been so ill ,maybe just have some small treats ,a gentle stroll in the park ,a drive out to a nice nearby attraction? Coffee ,a trip to a market .Be prepared for crowds though esp is nice weather!

You literally said it was heaving which you didn't understand because of cost of living crisis.
Does the fact you can afford it not suggest others obviously can too.

I work every other weekend. The weekends I'm off are pretty low key these days, we normally take a walk in to the city with our toddler on Saturday, go to the park, get lunch. On Sundays we normally visit my in laws or else they visit us.

I have a lot of days off during the week due to shift work (nurse) so I use those days for meeting friends, I like to keep the weekend for my family.

Today....

Dropped ds at swimming class, then run ParkRun. Collected DS .
Weekly food shop
Trip to B&Q to buy paint.
Lunch at home then cycle ride with DS this afternoon.
Drop in on some friends for coffee & quick gossip on the way home.
Then he'll do homework, and I'll cook supper
Watch a film, play chess etc

Tomorrow...

Drop ds at school v early for a school trip,
Home for a few hours sleep
then gardening, house work etc
Then pub with a friend for rare teen-free drink/meal out

For us it's the start of the Easter holidays so this weekend nothing much planned, I'll collapse in an exhausted heap and be idle. No school run/teen battles for a couple of weeks, thank goodness.

Don't be fooled by the shops being full, some people regard strolling around the shop as entertainment. It doesn't mean they buy anything.

Look online - local arts centre, canals, historic sites, zoo, theatre. I take ds clay pigeon shooting occasionally as a treat, or hire a boat for a day on the canal. Borrow bikes and explore the local countryside. Buy a local ordinance survey map, you'll be amazed what Google doesn't tell you. 🙂

We’re similar in age to you but live together. We walk our dog both days and find things to do that are dog friendly (go for breakfast or coffee some weekends after a dog walk).

This weekend we stayed at home last night and watched tv. Today I’m taking the dog a walk with my friend and we’re going to a garden centre with the dog where we’ll have coffee. Afterwards I’ll come home and clean then I’m thinking of reading, watching a film or playing my switch. Tonight we’ll have dinner at home and watch tv. Tomorrow another dog walk and a friend is coming to help us with something in the garden so we’ll probably make lunch for him and catch up.

I’ve never been big on pubs and nights out so most weekends are spent walking the dog in different parks or beaches, visiting friends and family or having them over for lunch or dinner. We’re content being homebirds and thankfully it means no big lifestyle changes as the activities we do don’t cost that much anyway.

DS is a teen now so often does his own thing with his mates. DH and I might go for a walk, out for coffee, have a couple in the local pub, all sorts really.
There is always washing, cleaning, cooking etc.
Yes there is a Cool issue and some people are in a bad place but that's not the case for everyone. Lots of people can still afford to eat out, shop etc (not a boast)

Weekends we spend mostly at home, today so far husband has done some outside garden jobs, laundry and washed floors (he likes getting up very early!). I have tidied round, made granola, very rainy here so going out with the dog later than usual.

Later have family round for dinner (most saturdays).

Sunday we have late breakfast/brunch, walk and maybe get a coffee, watch tv. avoid shops unless need food top up.
Bonus - I am early retired and husband works both from home and abroad so try do mundane stuff in the week.

Funnily enough we are headed to the shopping centre today but absoloutley begrudgingly. We all HATE shopping. However we are guests at a wedding soon and need a suit for dh, shoes for the kids and I need a handbag to go with the dress I already have. So off we go.

30mins in I'll be furious no doubt but we have no other free time to sort this, and can't get online as we need to check what fits.

Swimming lesson this morning then hair cut this afternoon. Tomorrow lunch at the garden centre.

Washing, cleaning, taking DD out for driving (learning to drive), gardening, walking with friends, taxiing teenagers to things, cinema, telly, faffing about on Mumsnet, eating out, local markets, mooching around shops, cycling, running, weights, yoga, cooking, food shopping, afternoon snooze, haircuts or maybe a beauty treatment if prepping for a holiday.

Plenty to do.

Today I am racing my youngest to swimming class. Popping to the shops afterwards for a few bits.

I will then sling a casserole into the slow cooker and finish de-cluttering our bedroom. Do some y watch something. Tomorrow will be a dog walk, gardening, big family dinner and sleeping.

In terms of CoL, I think almost everyone has been impacted in some way. I still eat out, but less often. I still buy clothes, but less often. Kids still need clothes, so still shopping for them as they outgrow. I still buy food, but I am looking for cheaper options.

Those who had a decent disposal income before may not be planning big home renovation projects or big holidays but may be spending more on the high street instead? Will be interesting to see if this changes post April when bills, council tax go up and fixed rate mortgage deals come to an end.

Fridays are always busy. I work flexi, and if I take a day off, it's always Friday. People work part time, or clock off early.
Also, some workplaces annual leave policy follows the financial year. I've had to use up a few surplus days this month.

today & tomorrow:
volunteering, flaking out, house cleaning, swimming, run, bike repair, life admin, tidying up, some parenting, watch TV, dossing on here, talk to my dad on phone

Endless opportunities to clean house, tidy up inside & in garden

I tell you I’ve had enough of hearing about this COLC. Every single restaurant and the high street is rammed every weekend. But it’s ok, interest rates will keep going up.

We’re quite a low income family (manage on a combination of dhs low salary and tax credits / dla / pip etc). We’ve had to really cut back on the food budget and treats but we still try and keep something back to do something at the weekend. Today I’ve taken Ds aged 10 for a haircut and then he’s had a fancy milkshake for our walk home. We’ve just had ham and cheese toasties for lunch and then we’re going swimming this afternoon. Tomorrow we will go for a bike ride in the forest near to us, we’re very lucky to live in Norfolk where there’s a lot of outdoorsy type things to do.

Household chores ( too many of them), long walks with the dogs, maybe lunch or coffee out occasionally. Can't stand shopping so rarely go to a shopping centre. I agree when you go out there doesn't seem to be any cost of living crisis but I guess the people who are really struggling are elsewhere doing free stuff.

It can be trickier around this time of year with horrible weather to be honest!

This weekend, for us, looks like -

Today: Lie in for all. DS1 now gaming, DS2 watching The Simpsons, DD on her iPad. DD and I are off to Home Bargains and Aldi shortly, to get the cleaning/toiletry supplies for the month ahead, and also a few bits we'll only buy from Aldi. DH has taken the dog out just now. We only go there once a month though. This evening, we'll watch Ant & Dec, possibly a film after. Might play a board or card game.

Tomorrow: DH is taking part in a charity golf day. DS1 has homework to do and needs to tidy his room. DS2 needs to pack and get ready for his residential next week. DD has a party in the afternoon. I'll be baking for the week ahead (quiche for lunches, bakewell tart for Sunday pudding and to put in lunches this week, probably also throw some flapjacks together). DH and I will also, between us, clean our bedroom and change all the beds. Get the ironing done, take the dog for a walk.

In the warmer months we try to get the DC out at least one of the weekend days on a longer walk with the dog. We drive to woods/parks/beach etc to make it worthwhile. Often we'll bribe them with treat them to ice cream. We go swimming a lot as we have a gym membership, though this is being cancelled sadly. We go to car boot sales, farm shops for a couple of nice treats, pop to the cinema if there's anything decent on.
Our family live further afield, so often we spend the weekend with them.

I do think there's a perception that lots of people are 'busy' at the weekend, and that this involves spending a lot of money. It's not accurate, in my experience. The vast majority of our peers seem to have clubs at least one weekend day, we will too from April, and spend the other day as a family and preparing for the week ahead. We live in a nice, middle-class, fairly affluent area and are reasonably typical. We only eat out for special occassions, or very rarely DH or I pop out with friends.

visit friends. Have friends visit us. Housework / house jobs. Go to the pub to see a band. Cycle ride. Shopping. Lying in. Leisurely shag. Reading. Hobby. Gym.

People need to eat. People need to buy food. People choose what day(s) to buy their food. If at work all week then Friday afternoon might be an idea to give them more free time on Saturday

Exactly this. I normally shop on Saturday morning but we have a big sporting fixture going on and I couldn't be bothered to dodge the crowds, so went to the supermarket yesterday afternoon.

Today i dropped ds off at Saturday study in the morning then went to the woods with the dogs for a couple of hours. Then I took dd for ice cream and picked ds up from study. Now I have to do lunch, clean up a bit then me and dd are spending the afternoon together, I'm going to teach her to crochet a hippo.
Tomorrow will be another long dog walk, some more cleaning and just generally getting ready for next week. I'm self employed so like to plan out my week on Sunday so I can just get straight to work without faffing on Mondays.
We don't generally do the whole shopping as a leisure activity thing.

I work in retail, plenty of people still have money to spend....

Today

I took DD1 who's 14 to her part time job
I took DD2 who's 5 to her tuition
Then I went home and cooked lunch, did some housework etc. etc.
Now my DH and I are off to do some shopping for the holiday we have in April
Later in the evening, I have a girls dinner with my friends and my husband and 5 year old are off to a friends house as well.

Tomorrow

DS who's 19 is coming home from uni so most of the time will be taken up there sorting out picking him up from the train station and overall spending some quality time with him!
We also have DD2's swimming in the morning to take her to and DD1's badminton. DH has badminton later in the evening and he's taking DS with him so me and my girls are going to have a little movie night before bed as school the next day. 😁

To be honest most of our weekends are fairly relaxed, we go out every now and then and we do do a lot of shopping on the weekend to be fair but not for fun, it's just essentials. Fun shopping is kind of spontaneous tbh.

Two dog shows this weekend. Two dog shows next weekend. Last weekend was great as we did nothing, weekend before that was crazy, three days at Crufts. Kids and DH all involved too. We're mad but it's fun and less time for housework 😁