What do you do for pleasure now?

[peebles32]

Like everyone else our bills have gone up along with food etc.
This means we have no spare income for holidays, days out etc.
It feels like we are working just to exist so I am after some ideas on what little pleasures I can look forward to. Kids are teenagers so that's a difficult one as it normally involves money when going out.
I am lucky as always had a holiday every year but next year is a not a possibility. (Unless it goes on a credit card).
I feel like although we are in a good position been able to pay the bills the money for extras has gone. Paying for Xmas is worrying me and I feel so guilty that we can't go for days out anymore.
Throw me some ideas on what makes you happy that does not cost much! Please...

BorrowBox via library membership has a large catalogue of audio books to download for free and the Audible Plus section of the Audible membership has quite a few free to stream ( though I think there seem to be less available than before)

It’s really difficult with teens because all the stuff that would easily please younger kids just doesn’t cut it. I have found having a bit of an open house works well, so film nights with popcorn, my dh runs a great d&d session which the teens like, I serve them shop bought pizza or home made burritos etc, sleepovers. Teenagers basically want to hang out together being teenagers and it’s possible to facilitate this without spending a fortune.

We like a long project, broken up into chunks.

So one of the long national trails near you, but broken up into half-day chunks. Flasks of hot choc and sausages for hot dog rolls at the end of each stage.

This winter we are making garden furniture out of concrete. First project is a simple bench. Step one is building the mould out of scavenged pallet.

I get a lot of pleasure out of a block of fimo.

Library books and e-audiobooks (the CDs are a bit risky from the library ime). Language learning (free apps and make use of language/subtitle options on DVDs and streaming sites - we are currently watching old disney cartoons in Italian as a family Sunday-night ritual). Free online courses.

Invite people round for a simple meal. Start a book group or film club or walking group or board game circle. Drink coffee from home on a park bench and have a chat. Friends are the ultimate cheap pleasure. Take the things you have been spending money on for pleasure and isolate the pleasurable bit - then find a way to do it for free or v low cost. You don't need to outsource your enjoyment.

I downloaded C25K app a few year ago. Now inspired to possibly open it for the first time!

Make some very local friends, and host board game nights with cheap wine and crisps.

My dp has a flexible gym membership - it’s expensive but for £4 each per month he can add our kids to the membership. It means they can swim, use the gym, go to classes etc. We find that is a really good thing for our teenager, as it is so flexible. Worth looking out for … if you are on very low income some gyms offer “big sister” schemes which allow female girls to use the gym for free.

I have a beautiful doggy and he costs a fortune in grooming and food! Would not swap him though!

hmm nothing. Our lives have drastically changed financially…we’ve taken massive pay cuts and our bills like everyone’s else’s have gone up. We never eat out anymore, our car is now apparently deemed non ULEZ compliant so we are trapped as we live in quite a rural area with poor public transport. We work to pay bills that’s it.

I went on a fairly cheap one-day navigation course to learn how to read an OS map properly. This led to me getting the local area's public right of way map, and going right off the beaten track - I've discovered all kind of stuff; a roman fort, derelict mill workings, learning about local history, and it's helped give me the confidence to go right up on to the moors and fells.

I go to the cinema at least once a month. My local has £4.99 cheap seats (right at the front) or £6.99 for better seats. I also have two streaming services and watch a lot of films at home. And YouTube.

Have you looked into house sitting instead of a holiday? We are looking at it from the house owner perspective but seemed to me to be a great opportunity to explore new places for a little bit of responsibility towards pets. You pay a membership fee but can then go away as much as you want.

If anyone is interested here is my referral code - I think we both get a discount.

https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF865392/?utmmedium=refer-a-friend&utmmcampaign=refer-a-friend&utmsource=apppnative_share&fm=2

It depends how you define it, costs are:
-£20 a month food
-£16 on insurance (without claims) with this will rise quickly
-£90 every 6 months for flea and worming
-£80 a year for vaccines
-£10 a month on litter
treats and new toys ad hoc.
any vet trips under £150 we pay out of pocket as it affects premiums - our male cat has had three this year for various things

Yes to board games! I bought Hero Quest 2 years ago as a Christmas present for our family of 4, then last year my son had the Frozen Horror expansion. Although initially I thought it was expensive for a board game, it took us nearly a year of Sunday afternoons to complete and another year for the expansion. We can spend a whole afternoon doing a quest and there are many expansions available. I 100% did not expect it to be my kind of thing, but we've had so many fun times with it. It's for older children 14+ though as it's quite complicated and analytical.

Walk the dog, volunteer at our local village hall, exercise. It’s boring and our lives have become so small 😭.

Some great ideas thanks. I'm about to take a big cut in salary + like everyone, bills going up all the time - got our water bill today 😫so that's made me really think about saving water / energy costs.
I love reading (I'm intrigued by the PP who doesn't like reading in winter!) and have a lot of books that I haven't read yet. I enjoy films but will have to cut cinema going down drastically.
I live in a very rural area now but 5 years ago lived in a big city and there was so much to do there that was free - museums, galleries, concerts. I really miss those opportunities - great for when money is tight and for meeting up with friends etc.

Depends where you live but we're in Cornwall & we picked up a book of Cornish Curiosities which is just places with a bit of unusual history & have been visiting them over the last few years. We've taken a picnic / packed lunch etc so all it's cost is fuel but it's been really enjoyable so far.

We didn't really have the time or money for a proper holiday this year so did a couple of nights stay at Alton Towers which was great & a break away from home.

I am sorry to hear this. I think a lot of us are I. The same boat at the moment.

My boyfriend and I did a jigsaw a couple of months ago and we really loved it 🤣 I haven’t done one since I was a child. It took us six nights to complete and it was really fun! The team work, the frustrations, the accomplishment… all great!

I'm in London and it's kind of the best and the worst place to be. There's so much I used to do – dance, theatre, etc – that just feels beyond my means now. On the other hand, I can go and look at the permanent collections in the National Gallery, V&A, Science Museum etc any time I like for free, which never fails to blow my mind a bit even after many years.

Can I say, on another point, a UK holiday is NOT a staycation! I don't know when people started using the term in this sense, but a staycation is doing things you'd do on holiday e.g. walk on the beach, trip to a stately home, but staying at home rather than in holiday accommodation elsewhere.

Having a cat or dog is a big commitment - cats live for about 18 years.

Hitachi Magic Wand and early nights.

Oh, you don't mean that kind of pleasure.

Reading is cheap.

We don't go out for meals or drinkd unless it's a kids birthday. This saved some cash for a holiday park break. Also stopped buying takeaway and put £10 a week instead into a Monzo pot for takeaways that just builds up. We do home made kebabs and bought some donor meat and chips for a treat. Cost under £10.

Could you book a Premier Inn or Travelodge in a nice area? We are going to Bath Christmas Market and buying dinner with Tesco vouchers

A run or walk

Make a nice meal

Play games

Watch a film

I'm doing free woodcarving classes at my local community arts centre.

Cats still need feeding, vaccinating, and worming/de-fleaing. And our very elderly cat cost us a fortune in vet bills for the last year of her life. Of course we could have had her put to sleep instead of paying £130 a month for solensia ( arthritis drug) which was on top of metacam, also not cheap, but we didn't as we could afford it at the time. It's certainly put us getting any more pets though as every one of them has been expensive in their later years.