Every single time I leave my house, I spend money.
Occasionally I spend a lot of money.
Sometimes when I spend a lot of money, I come back home with nothing to show for it. When you’re working hard to stick to your budget and your “fun money” was depleted a week ago, what is there to do with your time?
Besides watching YouTube videos or scrolling through social media, let’s come up with some fun ideas.
(Almost) Everyone loves animals
Take your dog on a walk. They will be so happy that you’ve decided to spend some time with them.
Don’t have a dog? Do you have a cat that you could try to train to jump into your arms? I had a cat in my younger years that did this.
No animals? Would your neighbor let you take their dog on a walk?
Could you walk by yourself or with a family member?
Discover something new on your walk like finding that pond you heard about in the neighborhood a quarter of a mile away.
Vacation Planning Time
I’m a planner. I love to research all of the unique things around my upcoming vacation area. This costs nothing and it’s super fun to research and have it all put together so when you’re ready to start booking, all the work has been done and you know exactly what you’re going to do.
Make a spreadsheet with time blocks and get a pre-budget together so you know how much you’ll need to have saved up.
Make an agenda for each day with snippets of all the places you plan to visit while you’re on your fabulous vacation. Your vacation partner(s) will think you’re amazing!
No vacation planned, but you’d like to start researching possibilities? Check out Next Vacay’s article on How To Research Travel Destinations.
Purge
Go through your closet.
I actually dread this sometimes, but it needs to be done. I try not to place things in my closet anymore that I can’t look at and say “I absolutely love that!”. However, some items somehow find their way in there.
Right now I know there’s a Jim Bean shirt I was given at a music festival that is too small and for some reason I hung it up anyway.
Having a freshly clean closet is seriously therapeutic.
Maybe you have too many shoes and can list some items on Poshmark while you’re looking for something to do. I know I have a ton of purses that are gently used that I should go do something about right now. If your closet is already meticulous and freshly cleaned – Good for you!
Now you can coordinate by season!
Makeup Doesn’t Last Forever
Go through your makeup. This one is 100% directed at me. If you don’t have this problem, you’re an amazing human.
I buy new makeup and never throw the old stuff away. It stays in a drawer or in a makeup bag forever. If you have this issue, do what I try to do and go through makeup every now and then.
Sometimes, I’m completely shocked by what ended up in the back of my makeup drawer.
Reading is Fun
Organize your bookshelf. My books are scattered and in no particular order.
My seventeen year old daughter has stolen many of my favorites. That said, go through your books.
Do you have a designated room/shelf that you keep all of them? Could you give some away? Maybe you want to start a donate, keep, and read piles.
Donate – give to a friend or family member. I gave a ton of children’s books to my local church.
Keep – find that special spot for books you’d like to keep.
Read – Haven’t read some of those books yet but you obviously bought it for a reason? I think now is a great time to start.
Talking to People on the Phone is Still a Thing
Call a family member or friend.
I have so many friends that I text every now and then but haven’t spoken to in over a year.
Whoever you decide to call will be thrilled that you took the time out of your day to call them. See how they are doing. Maybe they even want to stop by and chat in person for a while.
We depend so much on messaging and not speaking in person that we sometimes forget how it makes us feel being close to the ones we care about. Reach out, brighten their day, and enjoy time catching up.
Side Hustle
Come up with new side hustles.
You’re inside twiddling your thumbs because you’re trying to stick to the budget that you’ve been so savvy to create. What if you spent this time coming up with ideas to bring in some extra income? If you haven’t already, check out my Multiple Streams of Income article and see if there’s something in there that would work for you.
If you have time right now, I bet you have time other days of the week as well and could actually easily add a side hustle into the mix. Add something that you enjoy doing!
New Hobby
Are you ready to take on a completely new hobby?
Perhaps you had a hobby decades ago that you completely forgot that you loved to do.
Do you need some ideas? Check out my article on 50 Hobbies That Could Turn A Profit.
Some of the 50 ideas:
- Wood burning
- Social Media Management
- Exterior Design
- Makeup Artist
- Photography
- Tie-dying
- Customized shoes
Cook
Look at the ingredients already in your pantry and find recipes that will work with what you have.
I love nothing more than having a refrigerator full of leftovers so I don’t have to worry about what I’m eating for lunch or what to feed my kids when they’re “starving”.
You could make all of your lunches for the week and have them in little perfectly packed bags in the refrigerator.
If you haven’t already planned your meals out for the week, take the time to do that now.
Painting is Never Dull
Yes, the goal of this entire article is to save money and paint is usually not cheap. Do you have any extra paint laying around? Am I the only one that always has paint in a random closet or in the attic?
If you don’t have enough paint to spruce up something like an extra room or a closet, then look into furniture. I love taking a piece, sanding it down, and painting it a completely different color. There are so many crafty projects out there you can do with existing furniture and resources you already own. Find something you don’t like in a room, rearrange it or completely change it. I can find at least one thing in every single room in my house that I want to change.
Who Said Working Out Wasn’t Fun
I think it can be fun with a friend.
Try a new online cardio class. Lift some weights. I am not into this much myself, but I will pull up a yoga video for beginner levels and enjoy myself. It’s relaxing and sometimes I feel like we need to be told how to slow down and breathe.
A long time ago, I paid quite a bit for a bougie local gym. They had the best cycle class ever. I now don’t want to pay that kind of money to go to the gym anymore, but I would search online and try to find something similar.
Blog
Lastly, think about creating a blog!
What are you interested in? Did you know the average successful blogger makes $40,000 a year (wow!).
Maybe you want to blog about your amazing kids or pets or what you’re doing on the daily.
Reading this article took at least six minutes out of your day – Fill up the rest with awesomeness!
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