How do you keep life fun when you're on a budget?

[Clumsyandshy]

How do you keep life fun when you're on a budget?

With Covid feeling like a thing of the past I can sense old feelings creeping back noticing how everyone seems to be going abroad, having fancy date nights and going to gigs. I know Instagram is a highlights reel but when I found myself looking forward to going to a slightly bigger LIDL than usual this morning I thought that maybe it's time to inject a little more excitement in my life 😆

Ideas on a postcard please ❤️

I'm with you op

Life on a tight budget here too right now and the supermarket is the bloody highlight of the week

Treated myself to som Brie and fresh baked bread and couldn't get over the excitement and then the ridiculousness of it

Move to somewhere like Edinburgh where all the most fun things are free: galleries with glorious outdoor space, museums, Cathedral organ recitals, random urban mountains, street theatre during festivals … Or almost free like enjoying the view of the Firth from the top floor of a department store, or spending all morning over a cup of coffee in a theatre cafe as the actors come and go.

Buy less but better? Rather than a weekly bottle of cheap wine, a single bottle of much better wine once a month? (I realise this requires at least a moderate amount of spare money …)

Get on the mailing lists for every possible arts venue within reasonable travelling distance. There are always free or almost free viewings, talks, workshops, play or poetry readings where wine and conversation flow. Your nearest conservatoire will have a regular timetable of free concerts.

Volunteer at an RHS, or similar, garden. (I really need to do this.)

Download the free kindle samples of new books that take your fancy from reviews.

I’m feeling guilty now - I really should be doing more myself.

Move to Edinburgh? 😂

Meanwhile is there any room in your budget to scrape some fun money together? National trust membership. Vouchers for days out.

Heavens! Is there no room for anything but the strictly literal on MN nowadays?

Look at what's free to do near you.
If you can manage, then a Travelodge in a city not too far away can make a good break, funnily enough I did that in Edinburgh back in March and there's so many things that are free, I live near Glasgow though so not far relatively.

Mumsnet is probably the only place you will be advised to seek out organ recitals and random urban mountains to get more fun into your life!

My advice is to invite friends around and to plan stuff with them. It doesn't have to cost much - homemade pizza and a beer, a picnic somewhere you don't usually go... Just make a list and send some messages. In my experience getting out seeing people leads to more getting out and more seeing people, which is good if you're feeling a bit flat.

Mumsnet is probably the only place you will be advised to seek out organ recitals and random urban mountains to get more fun into your life!

I’m amazed that a harmless suggestion to seek out free cultural and outdoor entertainment in one’s urban environment (any city or lively town) is considered in any way unusual … Certainly these activities don’t preclude ‘getting out and seeing people’ - unless, of course, the only people you know are very narrow minded.

However, tight budgets do often impose a degree of isolation (particularly if you are reluctant to invite people into your home) so I have suggested things that can bring pleasure outside the house, and regardless of whether one attends in company or alone.

We haven’t been on holiday. We grow a lot of seeds. We do loads and loads of arts and crafts and books. We take loads of fun baths. We watch loads of iplayer. We have hundreds of cds and dvds - these you can pick up for pennies in charity shops ! Loads of boards games

we follow free kids days out sites and fb etc

Have a kitchen party .. people bring wine and dance.
We do this .!

my friends have more disposable income than me- we changed from dinners out to a game night where a diff person hosts each time.

achieving a goal is a great way to break monotony too- whether it’s books to finish, studying, exercise

I keep an eye on local Facebook groups. I have a toddler so in a six week period we’ll have been to a free family fun day, a £5 ballet show with a full orchestral accompaniment, a free theatre show, a tree planting event and a free craft afternoon.

We also do picnics, walks in the countryside, sitting on the bench on green playing eye spy…

What do you like doing? I’m aware of a lot of pay it forward groups where you can access free craft supplier, gardening equipment etc. I have a local group where they are happy for you to make requests for the equipment you need

I’m amazed that a harmless suggestion to seek out free cultural and outdoor entertainment in one’s urban environment (any city or lively town) is considered in any way unusual

No, I think it's lovely and I myself would be willing to give the organ recital and urban hills a go, but I am picturing the expression on my friends faces...

OP I have also remembered that my phone contract (O2) gives a free cinema ticket every week/month (?). And also the national lottery runs £25 off promotions regularly for days out.

Well, I'm sold! Always loved Edinburgh

Have more good sex.

I'm finding joy using Too Good To Go for cheap "takeaways".
We have Netflix and often use it for movie night, get popcorn etc.
We walk a lot, but we do live semi rurally and particularly at this time of year it's lovely to see the wildlife.

Moving there is obviously a ludicrous suggestion, butI dud get a Travelodge room for £25 a night and did mainly free stuff.
I'm sure you can do similar in most cities too if you avoid weekends and school holidays.
I'm aware not everyone can avoid those times but even cities on a weekend generally have lots of free stuff.
Google Street tour of X place, and that's a good way of seeing the main sites, there's often different ones too, I know Glasgow at least has several to show different main sites, then a street art one, and one of The Necropolis.
Food trucks ate generally cheap and delicious, or do what I do often and take a packed lunch/picnic.

experiment with new recipes

As a group of 6 friends we all host a craft evening one month, so that’s a night out every other month.

The idea was to utilise stuff we had in. One night we went and coloured in using the friends child’s colouring books. It’s less about the activity and more the company and reason to get out the house tbh.

Volunteer with the Cinnamon Trust to walk elderly and disabled people's dogs for them.

Get free stuff on the Olio app or cheap takeaways on Too Good to Go.

Take up wild swimming - search online for a good spot near you.

Host a movie night at home with friends, everyone brings a snack to share.

Brilliant suggestions, I'm completely sold on Edinburgh too, haha. Sounds fab.

Just for context, we're a family of 3, both me and DP work full time so don't have tonnes of free time. I think that's why i want to fill the time we do have with some fun stuff 🙂

My DS is 18 months old so that sort of age where you can't really take them along in the hope they'll sleep through what you're doing but also a little young to participate fully in everything we would do.

Movie night at home with some popcorn.

On a Friday night when the children are in bed sometimes DH and I have a couple of drinks, put on some music and dance around the kitchen. I'm probably really ridiculous but it's one of my favourite parts of the week😜

Find a new recipe to try and spend an afternoon making something you wouldn't normally. It doesn't have to be expensive, the last one I did was a lentil moussaka.

Taking a picnic to the park with the DC, feeding the ducks etc. Actually, buying a bird feeder for my garden has given me lots of joy and I could sit for hours watching the birds.

This is such a lovely thread. Thanks OP, and some great ideas here.

Last weekend we drove to Bourton on the water. I hadn't been before but I had heard children can paddle in a shallow stream and I thought this would be nice for our little one. It was nice - basically paddling (in crocs as stony) and picnic somewhere pretty. This might be a nice afternoon for you as you have a little one (anywhere with suitable shallow brook and pretty).

Then maybe a little mooch around (we did go in the model village at less than £5 each)

If you did go to Bourton have some change as it's 30p to use the loo and in one loo the card machine was broken so change needed.

I think I must be boring, but my husband bid the uncut version of Friends so we are watching it all over again (my idea of fun). We also spend more time outdoors than eating in restaurants etc.

DS and I have a few memberships which we use all of the time and it makes what would have been a boring day with no money, our favourite days. The other day we went to the library, walked to a cafe through some fields and then he had a babychino (free) and I had a cup of tea (£1.50). Cheapest day out and possibly one of the best.
We are good at being creative with not a lot of money. Currently saving like mad so there's been a bit of cutting back but I'm determined to make this year a good one.
Total spend on holidays this year will be about £100-two little breaks camping with the contents of the fridge!