If ever a wallet were malnourished, it’s yours. You work hard to pay your bills, but sometimes it just doesn’t seem enough to cover all of your monthly expenses. That’s why you try to keep your entertainment expenses to a minimum, but that leaves you with a problem: how to occupy your free time. After all, you work so that you can afford a place to live and enjoy your free time!
You probably just fill your free time with another night of TV. If you’re not watching a particular show that catches your interest, what’s the point of watching TV? Especially if you cut back on TV expenses and don’t have cable or satellite. There’s not much to choose from, is there?
Lucky for you, you don’t have to always rely on what’s on TV to fill up your free time. Here are five completely free, enjoyable ways to spend your spare time:
1. Head for the Library. Most counties have a public library and cities with universities often offer free school library membership to the public as well. Libraries are comfortable, peaceful places with hundreds or thousands of books and magazines from which to choose. Read a thriller fiction novel or brush up on your history. Most libraries offer even the latest $30+ novel from the bestseller lists for free. You may have to put your name on a waiting list, but there are plenty of other books to keep you occupied until it’s your turn!
Stay and read at the library or take an armful of books home to read at your own leisure. Most libraries let you keep books for as much as a month and if you’re still not finished with the book at the due date, you can usually renew the book over the phone or at the library without trouble. Libraries are the free video rental sites, too! Instead of watching TV, you can watch a classic movie or even the latest blockbuster to hit video shelves by renting DVDs for free from the library!
2. Spend an Afternoon at the Park. You can bring your library books to the local park and get some fresh air on a park bench or on a blanket under a tree. Pack yourself a picnic lunch and enjoy a meal under the warm sun. Dress for exercise and jog around the park, play basketball alone or with some friends, or play Frisbee with your dog. Bring a sketchbook and draw what you see, work on knitting, or just relax in the cool breeze with your thoughts.
3. Exercise and Windowshop at the Mall. This one can be tricky if you consider yourself an impulse shopper, so it’s probably best to leave all of your credit and debit cards at home and put only $5 in cash in your wallet for emergencies before you go. Dress for exercise, bring an MP3 player or walkman with tunes that make you want to dance, and take two or three power-walk tours around the mall.
You can bring a notepad and pen too. Anytime you see something in a store window that catches your eye, head inside the store and whip out your pad and pen. Write down the day’s date, the store, an item description, and the price. This can be the start of your wish list for the next special occasion or small goals for which to start saving. However, put away the notepad when you get home and wait at least one month after you write down the item before you even look at it again. Do you still really care enough about it to ask for it or buy it by then?
4. Hold a Game Night or a Thrift Party with Your Friends. Once a week or once a month, meet with your friends at either your home or one of theirs. Play cards, chess, checkers, a dominoes game, a board game, or a video game from your collective stock of games. Among the group of you, you’re bound to have ten, twenty, or thirty games from which to choose each week. One pack of cards is all you need to play dozens of games!
If you and your friends wish you had more money to buy clothes, shoes, jewelry, trinkets, and more, why not hold a monthly Thrift Party? Everyone picks out a predetermined number of clean, useable items from their personal collection that they no longer want to wear or use. The group of you then meets at one of your homes and everyone puts their items on display. Now each person can pick the same number of items that they brought to take home and anything that no one wants can be donated to a charity. What’s old to one person is new to the next. It’s a free way to spice up your home or wardrobe!
5. Play Online Puzzle Games. If you already have the Internet at home for work or fun, you can play free online puzzle games like the free online dominoes game at www.dominomatch.com anytime you need a little mental stimulation. If you’ve cut the Internet out of your budget, you can bring a laptop to a restaurant, coffee shop, or library that offers free wireless Internet access or you can find an Internet café that offers free use of its Internet-connected computers.
Free online puzzle games like dominoes games online encourage a little strategy as well as a little reliance on chance. Online dominoes at DominoMatch.com presents the dominoes game in a completely virtual world complete with avatars, a 3D game table, and background music and sound effects. Play online puzzle games with computerized opponents or have some fun with real live Internet players. You don’t have to purchase any game software with online puzzle games if you find the right sites. Try a free online dominoes game today!
Entertainment doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, it doesn’t have to cost a dime! Reward yourself for budgeting your money by loading your spare time with free, fun activities like the ones listed above!
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