I know this common knowledge around these parts, but after a few weeks of over spending and needing some peace with my wallet I reverted back to "my old ways" in terms of hobbies and spending my free time. This allowed me to save money and just generally feel better about my finances, physical and mental health and overall wellbeing. I just wanted to re-share and repost about some of my personal favorite things to do in my free time that require little to no money in hopes that someone out there may need this post and may get some peace of mind or newfound inspiration from it. I'm also curious to see what other people do!
Here's my list of my favorite frugal hobbies;
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Lifting weights/running/ yoga etc- We know the effects of exercise on the human body, mind and spirit and with gym memberships being as low as $10/month in some parts, its a no brainer to invest (frugally) in your physical and mental health!
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Reading- A library card is either free or a few bucks (depending on where you live or what library you belong to), and with an endless supply of books to entertain the mind and heart, its a perfect frugal hobby to relax and learn some things or enjoy a great story!
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Movies- Whether its Netflix/Hulu/regular cable TV or even a library to rent from, our access to Movies and TV shows is endless. In my opinion shelling out $10-$12/month for Netflix while also owning a library card allows you to be able to watch almost any show. And who doesn't love a lazy movie day every now and then?
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Cooking- We all need to eat and we all want to eat tastier food (especially if it's inexpensive). Most of us have seen the amount of food we can buy with a few dollars, the next step is to cook it! I enjoy the challenges but also creativity that cooking brings. There's also a deep self-satisfaction when feeding your loved ones or even yourself with a meal that you prepared on your own. And who needs to spend money on cookbooks? There's millions of resources online, either with youtube or a simple google search. There's even more if you own cable as well by being able to watch food network!
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Going out- all of the things I mentioned include being a homebody and staying in to a degree, but what if you want to "get out of the house"? Other things I like doing when I want to enjoy a nice day include hiking, walking around the city, going to the beach, having a picnic, going to a free museum, going to a state park or forest etc, the possibilities are endless.
With all that being said I still spend money going out with friends to a bar or to dinner but I just regulate how often or how much I spend now. I save money to pay off my student loans/pay bills or put into my savings and I have a separate account which is my travel fund, since that's what I enjoy doing the most.
I look forward to what everyone else enjoys doing thats inexpensive!
September 04, 2017 at 09:55AM
