It’s a little odd to be posting this just a short time before leaving on my vacation adventure which – while frugal- commands a pretty penny! But part of the reason I am able to take off on this trip is because I’ve spent plenty of frugal nights at home, working on projects and being content with frugality.
Fun & Games
Board games are awesome; Monopoly teaches math and jail breaking skills, Clue teaches deductive reasoning, Battleship teaches war game strategy. Apples to Apples and Settlers of Catan are new favorites and the old standbys backgammon and Candyland can’t be left out.
But since I don’t have a lot of board game playing friends around here and it’s no fun to sink your own destroyer, I stick to single player games like Solitaire. Yes, I use real cards.
Puzzles are another favorite of mine, the Planet Earth series is quite beautiful and I prefer landscapes.
If you own a game system by all means try to reach new levels on games you own, trade for newer or more challenging games and unlock all the tricks. For every sit-and-stare-at-the-screen game you play, switch it up with an active game like the Wii Fit series, Dance Dance Revolution or even Guitar Hero.
Cook
We all have to eat, right? Use your frugal time at home to look at magazines or an old cookbook for a new recipe. Write your own recipe. Bake something for game night. And even if you don’t have the time for a master creation you can spend an hour or two preparing meal components ahead of time.
Juice a lemon or make orange juice, shred and freeze blocks of cheese, repackage snack foods in smaller containers or make smoothies for breakfast.
Crafts
Most people have a half-finished photo album or scrapbook ditched in a closet somewhere. Pull it out and finish it over a few weeks. Finish that quilt or knitted scarf, sew buttons back on your clothes or finish a needle point.
I would like to finish painting my china cabinet but the sub-zero Artic temps in the garage and thwarting my progress (it’s 45* but still…).
Read
Pick up a book, new or old, and get comfortable on the couch. Relax and read, see the world through someone else’s eyes. Whether you read fiction or non, enjoy what you’re reading. Life’s too short for bad books.
Finish a magazine, pull out old comic books, read the newspaper or a trade journal. Whether you choose to relax or exercise your mind, enjoying reading time can be a fun, frugal activity.
Write
Write down your goals, send a birthday card, make a list or just doodle.`Or (hint, hint), read a blog and write a comment. I’ve heard bloggers love that!
I heard that comment for blog readers! Just wanted to say how much I love love love your blog. I was cleaning my house this week to make room for my best friend who is moving in and the whole six hours I kept thinking about blogging my work, findings, pounds of paperwork I was cleaning out as I imagined you would do!
Thanks for your great, productive ideas. For every night you made a deposit toward your trip. I can’t wait to read your blog about that. Well earned!
I love reading your blog. I would love to start one but somehow keep being my own worst enemy at putting it off. I am a perfectionist so I tend to do that. Keep up the great work. love it.