Comments on: Fifteen Free Things To Do During A Money-Free Weekend

By: anne

anne — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:25:25 +0000

I enjoyed reading all of your suggestions. Here are some of my suggestions; bake a cake, clean out your closet, draw, knit, write in a journal or write a short story, take your niece or nephew or kids to the park, go jogging or walking on a trail, watch a little league baseball game and cheer for the kids, grocery shop for your older parent/working mom/senior citizens in the neighborhood, fix something that needs to be repaired (leaking faucet, plug a leaking bicycle tire), clean the garage, mow the lawn, play hopscotch with your kids, visit animal shelters and play with the puppies/dogs/cats, make a pizza from scatch (use items that you already have for toppings), go to the beach,go to the bookstore, play charades, make a pie, watch tv and eat snacks, make up a game, research a topic you’re interested (at the library & on the internet), learn a new skill (woodworking, knitting, sewing, car maintenance, new language – get tapes from library), read your child a book, make a shake or a smoothie, do arts and crafts, go roller blading/skating, organize your desk, call an old friend, work out at the gym or exercise at home, call your family and just listen to them talk uninterrupted, water your plants, plant some flowers, try a new recipe, organize a fundraiser for your local school or organization, visit rest homes and talk to the residents (paint the womens’ nails, bring books, magazines and movies for them that you no longer watch), help friends with a project of theirs, have a cup of coffee and relax, bird watch, go to a nature or forest preserve and listen to the nature sounds and watch the animals, pick some wild flowers, have a cookout or barbecue (with things you already have on hand) at home or go to a park that furnishes a grill, have a family and friend outing at a park or your backyard (have sac races, running races, 3-legged races), make a photo album or a scrap book, make homeade birthday cards, make homeade cookies, volunteer to be a big sister/big brother at ymca or local community center,or plant a tree.

By: Jihan

Jihan — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:03:07 +0000

Great suggestions, but I am hesitant on the board games. It IS fun to play board games but not if you play online or have only two people. I actually have a deck of cards, Scrabble, Triominoes, and a chess set and it’s enjoyable a few times.

I am hesitant on board games also because I live in a small place, so storage would be difficult.

By: eric

eric — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:59:46 +0000

Love the idea, though I do think it’s very much ingrained in society that a fun outing involves spending. When my friends want to go out, it’s usually for a movie or food and drink. But I’d love to become the kind of friend that suggests these unorthodox things.

By: chris

chris — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:37:31 +0000

After reading this, I am going back to work to make more money. I can not see any of this as fun.
Really Quilting!!!!

By: umwisam

umwisam — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:46:17 +0000

I like the idea of a garage sale but i just don’t know how to do it …. any ideas??
I live in a city, hardly know a few people and nobody seems to have any garage sales here, besides i don’t want them to think as if i am out to collect money from them …

By: Kari

Kari — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 09:07:47 +0000

Here’s a fun, creative, and free thing to do if you have digital cameras. Some friends and I gave ourselves a photo assignment and went out together to take pictures related to a specific topic. The first one we chose was “Angles.” We took photos, chatted, and at the end of the excursion we shared our five best shots.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 17:38:37 +0000

well my husband only wants to play his stupid xbox live. so i get stuck in the house all weekend and i try to come up with cheap things to do to get out of the house…but he never wants to spend any money. so i need some help with ideas to get him away from this xbox.

By: Sally

Sally — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 05:46:06 +0000

Tyler – why don’t you just post that list of 155 free things to do on here, we all want to see it.

By: TMod

TMod — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:50:40 +0000

I live in NYC and there are millions of free things you can do on any weekend (along with millions of outrageously expensive things you can do). The spring and summer are the best of course for free things since there are so many free concerts, shows, and movies in the park. But the winter is full of things as well too. You can find huge lists of events for any day, along with huge lists of off-beat recommendations. Personally one of my favorites is something rarely talked about but simply “exploring” the city. I usually do this with either my girlfriend or a friend or two, we just walk around the city, go into random courtyards, find shortcuts through little parks and alleys, very random types of things. We always find some cool new places that we would never find otherwise, like new little restaurants, stores, playhouses, etc. I’ve lived in NYC for six years now and I love it more and more everyday and am always finding MORE things to do, not less. Six years and I still feel like I’ve only done 1% of the things to do here.

By: Deila

Deila — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:25:08 +0000

Also, how about learning a new card game? (http://www.pagat.com/alpha.html)for games and rules.

I recently taught The Husband a game called Hand and Foot, handed down from my grandmother. It is fun, takes some skill, and one game of it will kill about 2 hours.

And I second the motion of giving up the 155 list!

By: walleyegirl

walleyegirl — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:30:08 +0000

Hey, Tyler! Send in the list of 155! We all want to see it!

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 20:03:51 +0000

sorry but its hard to get excited about boardgames and blowing bubbles when you;re 24.

Plus i tried to volunteer once for a fundraiser and they made me work in the admin department pushing papers all day long. (that was not fun!) Another time when i volunteered at a fashion show they made me run around getting ppl drinks. (that was not fun either).

And quilting bees?? don’t get me started.

By: nate

nate — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 18:17:31 +0000

gee i found fun free things to do on weekends..read advise websites that will bore the pee out of you..like this one!

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 01:17:08 +0000

How about that old CB radio you have in the closit? Dig that thing out and put up a base antenna, or put it in your car. There use to be BRAKES* where hundreds of people would go and meat in a viarity of ways, and it’s a lot of fun. The cb radio has died, so there is pleanty of room on the 40 channels. The ratio of men to women is like 500 to 1 so we need more women to get on the radddddddddddddioooooooo and talk to us and get togeather. We usta do foxhunts, where one car would go hide and transmit for one minuit every t minuits and the others would try to find them. :) then we would all go eat. Lee, DEADHEAD from denver CH20 amonst other channels.

By: Seraph

Seraph — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:57:05 +0000

I love that list. It’s a great starting point for some people.

Also, I’d love to see Tyler’s list of 155!

And I have a question. If you pay for a yearly zoo pass, when you go to the zoo (and pay nothing to get in because you have the pass) does that *technically* count as money-free activity?

By: Carlos

Carlos — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:36:42 +0000

You mentioned trying to avoid TV… I would add computers to that. I know it’s hard for my wife and I to avoid the internet, but it does provide for more quality time with our kids.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:41:34 +0000

My wife and I made a HUGE list of things we can do for free (if you want it, let Trent know and I’ll email it to him). It ended up being 155 items long! I suggest you dig deep in your brain and come up with a huge list like we did! We pull out this sheet anytime we want to do something and it never fails to entertain or relieve us from boredom. Trent’s list is a great start, just add on to it!

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:32:53 +0000

Adding a bit of glycerine to your bubble mixture will make them sturdier. I loved to do this when I was a kid. Also fun is to get creative with your wand…one of my favorites was an old strawberry basket, but you can also rig something very nifty with a piece of string and two drinking straws.

Another thing I loved to do as a kid was sidewalk chalk art. Nothing like having permission to scribble all over the place. Also, homemade Play-Doh. I think the recipe involved flour, vegetable oil, salt, and food coloring, and helping to make it was half the fun. If you live in a warm climate and have a backyard, you can make a slip-and-slide out of a tarp. And my father bringing home an empty appliance box? That made my week (and probably my mother’s as well!).

For adults, putting together a scavenger hunt requires a lot of advance work, but is amazing social fun. Casino games like Blackjack or Texas Hold-Em also feel more adult than board games but require only a deck of cards…you can play with pennies and give some sort of boob prize to the winner.

Starting a book club can be very cheap too, though if you live in a small town you might have problems with the library running out of copies of your chosen book, so perhaps not technically free. Also violating the exact rules of the money-free weekend, but I think adhering to the spirit, my friends and I have a regular evening around a television show we all watch. Each week, someone hosts and provides snacks, and we all watch the show together and vent about it afterwards.

By: Jay Wilson

Jay Wilson — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:26:21 +0000

I’m a huge advocate of the board game – in fact I was just telling my g/f that we should rack up some oldie but goodies. Monopoly…Life…good times!

By: Zachary

Zachary — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:27:20 +0000

I like the cupboard pot luck idea! My wife and I have been trying to play more board games together, too. It’s more social than television, and very cheap!