I used to date a guy who was into skiing in the winter and sailing in the summer. So I accompanied him very often to do these sorts of activities. I didn’t get it. Once in a while is fine, but not every weekend.

Coming from a winter climate state (Wisconsin) I am making an effort to get outside during these cold, snowy months. Won’t catch me in -30 windchills, but I have found cross-country skiing to be very fun. I got the skis for free from my future mother-in-law from a garage sale, and it’s a great workout.

Also, being a programmer, there’s always opportunities to design and create a website or web application, to learn different technologies.

Just depends on who you are and what you like.

But +1 to number one. Get a hat and go for a walk.

Often frugalistas stress finding free sources of entertainment. I look for entertainment that actually saves money, even if it is a small amount of money saved. If instead of engaging in entertainment that costs $10 per hour, I do something that saves $5 per hour, the swing is $15 per hour.

Yesterday, for example, my husband went out to his workshop and whipped up a charming little step stool out of scrap materials for our small grandson. It is similar to ones sold on Amazon.com for about $20 plus shipping, and took him about an hour to make.

I don’t feel the need to spend a lot of money on entertainment, but I have family members that do (and some of them can’t actually afford it).

My personal faves for entertainment: walking on a local nature trail, playing card games with my husband and cleaning out drawers/closets. (Ok, that last one may be a bit odd, but I enjoy it.)

You can also organize, clean, service/maintain, and repair your things of course.

If you find that you don’t want to use the stuff you have, that is a very interesting thing to learn.

You can also use other people’s stuff (go to public libraries, go to public parks, lend/swap movies/books/etc. with friends).

You can also set up events. Grown-ups mostly set up dinner parties or keg parties, but you don’t have to make eating the main activity. You can have a dance, have a music recital, display “art” (creations), put on a play, give lectures, play board games, play other games (hide-and-seek, charades, etc.), play sports, do an exercise video, lead a tai chi practice, make a movie, carve pumpkins, decorate cookies, make a quilt, plant a garden, have a book club, watch and discuss a movie, or a million other things.

The once-a-week-dinner I have with friends where we take turns cooking satisfies a very different need than the one I fulfill when I go to a movie or play a computer game or read a book.

But most of the stuff you list isn’t really ‘entertainment’ – which is what the original person wrote to you about – so much as ‘things you have to do anyway that you happen to enjoy.’

Cooking, cleaning, sorting through storage, making your calendar – these are TO-DO list items. It’s awesome that you enjoy them, but they’re not entertainment.