Good Morning Everyone. It’s February 13th and this means that some of us who hate the cold have been cooped up in our homes and apartments for almost 2 months. I don’t know about you, but I am definitely starting to experience some anxiety from cabin fever. The few months after the holidays can be a big strain on our budgets as we rebuild your savings and pay off our Credit Cards. We don’t want to be stuck inside because that can get very boring very quickly. However, maybe our budget just doesn’t have the flexibility right now to spend money on having fun.
Here are 5 Tips on How to Have Fun Without Spending Tons of Money:
1. Spend those gift cards. It’s a great idea to ask for Gift Cards as a Christmas, Birthday, or Graduation Present because we can enjoy them throughout the year. We can save them in case of an emergency or we can spend them when retail stores are having various sales throughout the year. Giving Gift Cards as a Present is also very economical because if we live in a city away from our family it doesn’t cost more than the price of a postage stamp to mail them.
2. Hang out as a group. They say that one is the loneliest number; I say that one is the most expensive number. I agree that sometimes we just need to spend some quality alone time, but doing everything by our self can become very expensive. If we want to go out we can call a group of friends, get together for dinner or something, and all split the costs.
3. Go to the movies. If we go to the movies on a Friday or Saturday the evening can definitely start to be very expensive with the cost of the ticket and the cost of the food and snacks. However if we go to the movies on a night when the theatres are offering a discounted price on the ticket cost and we skip the snacks we can definitely save a lot of money and still have a good time. Many movie theatres also offer clients the option to purchase their tickets in advance at a discounted price or as a package deal.
4. Cash in your rewards points. If we are a member of a rewards program maybe it’s time to check our rewards points balance and cash in our points for gift cards, coupons, money, and other rewards. Maybe we can get a free dinner, maybe we can get a free flight, or maybe we can just go shopping and get some free stuff.
5. Get outside. It is still a bit cold outside but the air is fresh and the sunlight will do us some good. We can bundle on the layers and go for a walk. As we walk around our neighbourhood we can discover new stores, restaurants, and other fun places. I like walking around in winter as long as the sun is shining and there is not a snow storm. As I walk around I picture my neighbourhood in spring when all the snow has melted and the flowers begin to bloom; it gives me hope for the warm weather to come.
Photo by Eden Pictures
Tahnya is 30 years old and lives in Montreal Quebec. She graduated in 2005 from Concordia University, and she currently works for a major International Financial Institution. She recently launched http://www.mediamadam.ca/. You can follow her on Twitter @TahnyaP.