I swear.....

[PUZZLDY5]

If I don't get out of this house soon I am going to loose my mind.

Finances are kind of tight right now so I am getting cabin fever. What does everyone else do for entertainment when on a tight budget?

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Visiting the library is free and usually you go home with more entertainment!

Parks are free.

Some museums have free days or afternoons.

Thrift stores are not free, but if you go in with X amount of cash, it is amazing how long you can sometimes spend shopping before you make that final purchase.

If you live anywhere near any urban environment that encourages walking, go and spend the day people watching.

Find a good cause or three and volunteer once a month.

Go to the events at your local house of worship. They're usuall free or low cost and generally fun.

 

[SDFgirl]

I know how you feel. I've been home with my kids for two years so money has been really tight. That, combined with being pregnant and/or nursing for the last three years, has left me more homebound than I like!

Do you camp? That's usually a cheap way to get out of the house, maybe even out of town.

How about a long drive through the country with a picnic lunch?

 

[disneybound2010]

Things are pretty tight around here for us right now as well. I started looking online for free or cheap activities that would suit our family and was amazed by how many things there were to do around here. We do a lot of parks and library days so finding all these activities have been a great surprise and treat for all of us. Last weekend we did "Touch a Truck"(all kinds of vehicles and equipment for kids to climb on) a car and plane show and then discovered an interactive train museum. We spent a total of $7 for the 3 of us! It was a great day out and we got to see so much for so little.

That being said, one of our favorite activities still is walking along the local towpaths. We have little "adventures" and set out to discover new creatures...caterpillars,beetles,anything but spiders It gets us out of the house and we get to see some beautiful sights that we normally wouldn't pay attention to otherwise.

 

[Brancaneve]

I am a teacher and have been on vacation since the end of May. I tend to overspend when I'm off, because I am constantly finding things wrong with my house, or my clothes, or bored with the food in the fridge! I need to stop the madness and just enjoy what I have around me. My kids and I have enjoyed the free movies at 10:00 am at our local theater. I also like the library, and the mall, and lunch out, and grocery shopping, and J. Crew, and Pottery Barn..................

 

[Handbag Lady]

Do you get a AAA magazine in your area? I get one and in the back, they have all kinds of activities and local fairs and museum free days and all that jazz. I go through it when it arrives and I circle all of the fun things. When we are bored, we pick it up and pick something.

We managed to see, for $5 each, an exhibit on Monsters in the Movies at a community museum. The had one of the original pieces from the first King Kong movie, plus some really rare movie posters and all sorts of really cool things like a film shot of how they animated the stop-action monsters complete with an actual set and a camera physically right there.

Well, I'm a film buff and I loved it.

 

[dizluvah]

you've gotten great suggestions so far - all I can add is

our library has passes to local attractions - planetarium, museums, etc that we can check out and use for free admission...

beach or pool day can be free or cheap

 

[NHdisneylover]

You've gotten lots of good ideas already

We also like letteroxing. It is free and low tech and does not require any fadncy equipment (just a rubber stamp and some ink) and it can lead to many fun adventures.

When school is in session we like to go to choir or orchestra concerts and theatre performances or sports game at the high schools and junior highs. Generally free or inexpensive and fun--and it is nice to support the local kids. If you have a university near by many of their events are also free or low cost and open to the public.

 

[LisaInNc]

We go to a lot of local festivals they usually have live entertainment. I bring the beach chairs and a picnic.

Lisa

 

[dejr_8]

You are not permitted to swear on the DIS

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

You are not permitted to swear on the DIS

rofl... when I saw the title, I was going to say "So do I... frequently!"


Does your grocery store have those free local newspapers? We have several different ones that list all kinds of free and cheap things to do around town.

Google your town as if you were going to be visiting it from a different location. There are probably things to do and see that you might not even know about. Dig our your camera and go be a tourist in your own town

 

[mtemm]

we are in the same boat. finances are tight tight tight. I am itching to get out and do something. I'm really itching for a vacation, but that isn't going to happen any time soon.

I have found tons of free things to do in my area. the boston area has a ton of free things to do, something new each friday. there are other things like museums that are open to MA residents for free on certain days. we have a membership to the science museum that gets us in via reciprocity to lots of other museums/zoos. hiking is free, we do have a pool membership (our big splurge for the summer). we will likely do some day trips and pack picnics so we don't spend a lot of money going out.

its tough, but doable. some moms and I have been exchanging tips on free things to do.

I think we got so spoiled when we had more disposable income to spend. its hard for us to backpeddle sometimes and remember how NOT to spend. but we are trying to be creative and do our homework and such.

 

[golfgal]

We went to our free zoo last weekend-they have a new exhibit there and we wanted to see it. There are town festivals around our state pretty much every weekend in the summer. Attending them and most of the activities are free. We have free concerts in the park every week. I agree that camping in a state park is very economical and fun for the kids. We go once a year with friends from our old town. The kids have a BLAST. It is about $50 for two nights camping. Many of our state parks have cabins you can rent for not much more than that if you don't have tents, etc.