Cheap and free things to enjoy

@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
October 16, 2011 11:35am CST
At the moment my husband and I are saving up for our trip to the UK in 2013. When we return to Denmark we have decided to pay off some of our debt. That will take several years, but it should be possible if we save up some of the money that we earn every month and combine it with an extra job in the summer months. In order to save up the money to pay off our debt we have to spend less money in our daily life. A lot of the things that I enjoy cost money like visiting other places, shopping or eating out but I would like to find more cheap things and free things to enjoy. What kind of free or cheap things do you enjoy? Is it hard or easy for you to find free/cheap things that you enjoy?
2 people like this
9 responses
@Jotomy (6322)
• India
16 Oct 11
Hi porcospino, i prefer good things than cost, whether it is cheap or costly. Yeah and you are also right that we have to enjoy our needs within our money limits. Have a good day/night.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Oct 11
I also like to buy good things, and if I could afford it I would buy several new things for our house, but at the moment that will have to wait, because we don't have the money to pay for new things for the house. When we get rid of our debt the situation will be different and we will be able to buy some of the things that we want.
• Netherlands
16 Oct 11
so.. what would you do if you have no money to spend? YOu can like what cost a lot but if there is no money to pay for it? Or do you look at brochures of expensive things during that time? I like do that if it comes to travel magazines :-) I can pick them up for free or watch them on internet or tv
1 person likes this
• Philippines
17 Oct 11
There are a lot of free or cheap things to enjoy. To save money, do not always keep on buying new stuffs like clothes, shoes, bags and many more. Those things can be really expensive. But if you really want to go shopping, you can always buy cheaper versions of those things I've mentioned. Those that aren't branded are cheaper. With food, do not always eat at restaurants. You can just cook at home and stay there to eat. There are so many more cheap and free things to do yet they can make you feel happy. As what they say, the best things in life are free.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
18 Oct 11
I have started buying part of my clothes in the second hand shops, and I am often able to find some really cheap clothes there. I also think that it would be a good idea to avoid brand clothes when I buy new clothes like you say. In the future we are going to cook at home most of the time. I love to eat at international restaurants where I get the chance to eat unknown dishes from other countries, but we have to save money, so it would probably be a better idea to idea to find some internation recipes onlines and cook foreign food at home.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
17 Oct 11
I admire that you and your husband are so prepared to cut back and save to achieve what you want. Some of the free outings I enjoy are to National parks. We can take our own food and even coffee in a thermos flask. Instead of going to the cinema, which is expensive these days, my daughter prefers to watch a dvd. When shopping, I sometimes feel slike stopping for a coffee, and in most places I have worked out which coffee shops are the cheapest.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
18 Oct 11
Your outings to the national parks sound very nice. Last summer we visited a park in another part of the country, at first we went for a walk in the area and then we had lunch near a lake, it was a beautiful place. It was cheap as well because we carried our own food, water and coffee in our bag, and we didn't have to buy anything. I think we should do things like that more often Yes, it is expensive to go to the cinema, and most of the time we also prefer to rent a dvd at home instead. Finding out which coffee shops are the cheapest sounds like a good idea, that could be another way to save some money.
@GemmaR (8517)
16 Oct 11
I think that there are so many things that you can do in your life that are free, and it is a shame that a lot of people don't make more of an effort to find them. You should use your spare time to explore the countryside around your home. This means that you can enjoy walking which is healthy and doesn't cost a single penny. In addition to this, you should search online for any museums or local attractions which you live close to which might be of interest to you. During school holidays, there are often lots of things that children can do for free, and this means that you should be able to find things for them to do.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Oct 11
It is a very good idea to explore the area around our home. We have lived on this island since February and we still haven't seen every part of the island. Right now we are quite busy with work and voluntary work, but it is something that I would really like to do in the future. There are a couple of small island in the area, I would like to visit those places as well.
@EdnaReyes (2622)
• Philippines
17 Oct 11
Oh the only thing that's free is to breathe! But seriously when i want to eat free I just call my elder sister and tell her I am coming to her house and have a free lunch and dinner with her. Oh,she loves to cook and she loves cooking for her younger siblings especially now that her two sons are all grown up and have a life of their own. What a way to eat a free lunch and dinner,huh!
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
18 Oct 11
I wish I also had a sister who loved to cook When I lived in the nothern part of the country my neighbour often cooked for both of us, that was was really nice, because I am not a good cook myself. My husband and I don't live on the same island as the rest of my family or my friends, so we usually have to cook our own food
@eljayo (1105)
• Philippines
17 Oct 11
Hi! We really can enjoy even if we only spend a little money. like spending time with our family at home and with friends. There are just some things that money can buy, like happiness.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
18 Oct 11
That is true, spending time with our family and friends is a great way to enjoy life. I like to invite my family and my friends to our home or visit them in their home. I also like to spend time with my friends. In the past my friends and I usually had dinner in town when we met, but now that we want to save money we are going to meet in our homes instead.
@JodeneB (177)
• United States
16 Oct 11
Hi Porcospino! One of my favorite things to do is to pack a picnic lunch and take it to the park to eat. If you don't want to eat, you can just take a stroll or go for a walk. If I have a little money (most of our $ goes to living expenses & bills, so we are left with almost nothing left), we will go to the cheapie movie theater nearby. For $10.00 you get 2 movie tickets, 2 popcorns & 2 sodas - so for $5.oo each, we get a date night. We used to go once a month, but now, maybe every other month. We don't have television, so we watch movies and documentaries on line. other times, we will have a game night and invite some friends over, so all we need to do is buy something to give them to drink and some snacks. it is not hard to find something to do, because I am lucky that I have 2 parks withing walking distance, and if we drive, there's tons more. Have fun in what you 2 do!
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Oct 11
I like picnics, too. This summer we had a couple of picnics on the beach, and it was very nice. Right now it is too cold to have a picnic, but June, July and August are usually perfect for a picnic. $10 for two movie tickets, popcorn and sodas, that is really cheap. In my country one movie ticket without soda and popcorn costs between $14 and $18 and that is one of the reasons why I don't visit the movie theaters very often. It is much cheaper to rent a movie and watch it at home. The game nights that you are having sounds fun. We have talked about doing something like that as well.
@WakeUpKitty (8694)
• Netherlands
16 Oct 11
I am always trying to save money as long as I can remember. Sometimes because I am in big need other times because I want to travel etc. I don't go out to relax, I am always so busy I like to stay at home. I like reading (have many books or borrow them from someone), I like to watch tv (criminals, have less time for that), once in a while I watch a movie (download or borrow from someone). I started with turkish cooking lessons given by a friend at her place once a week. If I am not tired out I cook more myself (no junk food or fast food, making own soup, dessert, bread etc and not using half-fabrics). Years ago I cooked once a week for neighbours and they did the same for me once a week. At wednesdaymorning I went to the library and was reading there for some hours. You can use a bike (if possible) instead of the car and if you go shopping make a sport out of it to find the most cheap thing (during sales for example). You can make presents yourself. If it comes to visiting other places/restaurants I think it's easy to skip that since that is something you can do if you go on that vacation you like so much! I don't really have a hard time to find cheap free things to do even not with the kids. It's every where around you. I also have to admit that you might have to start liking other things as well. For my kids a NO is no problem if they know we go on vacation (soon).
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Oct 11
Thanks for your detailed response, You gave me many useful ideas It is a good idea to use a bike instead of the car. The big city is too far away to go by bike, but sometimes we go shopping on our own island and we could use the bike instead of the car when we do that. We would even get more exercise as well so the money that we save isn't the only advantage. Cooking at home is another thing that we ought to do more often. We do cook our own food, but not every day. We could cook foreign food at home instead of visiting the international restaurants. I already use the library, but I think that we could use even more than we do today for instead by borring films instead of renting them in a shop etc.
@jd5351 (2)
• United States
16 Oct 11
It's easy to find cheap things to do..At least I think so! I like walking around my neighborhood. I love to see the unique things that people decorate their yards with. One house down the road has their garage decorated! They have a beach scene mural on 3 walls of the garage, so when the garage door is opened, it looks like they're at the beach. It is so cute. They have a picnic table and beach chairs in there too. In my own yard, I have flower beds and a vegetable garden. Most of my flowers come back every year, so I just spend time weeding and straightening out the flowers. Veggie seeds are inexpensive, so every year I'll pick something new to grow.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
16 Oct 11
Hi and welcome to MyLot The way that they decorated the garage sounds very creative, I like the idea. I also like the look at the different yards. It is very easy for me to do that at the moment because I sell magazines from the lung association and I walk from house to house. People decorate their yards and their frontdoors in so many different ways, and I think it is interesting to see the different styles that people choose. In my own yard, I have flowers but no vegetables. Next year I would like to make a vegetable garden.