The Good Life on a Budget

• Posted by JvW on January 21st, 2008 filed in Budget, Frugality

The other day, Trent at the Simple Dollar posted about free things to do. It really got me thinking. With all the whining I’ve done recently, I need to celebrate some of the finer (free) things in life, because, let’s face it, it’s not so bad.

I made a list of all my favorite free things to do and stopped at 56 because that’s how many lines were on the piece of paper and I am weird like that. I could probably double that, given the time and another sheet of paper. I could bore you with a nice, long, 112 item list, but I figured I’d whittle it down to the top ten. Since I love countdowns and think they’re much much better than countups, I present to you, in ascending order, my ten most favorite free things to do.

10. Taking a walk. Little did I know that, when my parents and I would take walks with our dogs years ago, that it was actually fun and useful. I enjoyed it then and I enjoy it now - a nice little stroll down the road or a walk around the park. Lovely.

9. Sledding. Not tubing, sledding. We live next to a golf course with a nice big hill up to the 6th green. I’m sure it’s a bugger to play that hole, but it’s fun to slide down the hill!

8. Sunbathing. I know, I know, skin cancer. Bad for you. UV rays. But it feels SO GOOD to lay out in the sunshine and feel the sweet breeze on your skin. Since my husband is fair-skinned, I use sunscreen religiously when planning a day out. I most often sunbathe at the beach (obviously) and love to combine it with…

7. Reading a (borrowed) book. Whether borrowed from the library or my darling sister or mom, I rarely buy books, but read as many as I have time to. I have always been big into reading and I go through them pretty quickly, easily losing myself in the story.

6. Sitting by a fire. In the fireplace or an outdoor campfire, I am drawn to a burning pile of logs like, well, a moth to a flame. Something about the crackling wood and the smoke transcends all seasons and is very relaxing. My husband and I have had many heart to hearts while staring into the fires - it makes for some good conversations and removes the everyday hum of technology that seems to surround us.

5. Sleeping. I remember the days when I begged to stay up later than my bedtime. Now, bedtime is something I look forward to every night. I love my bed and the feeling of complete relaxation when I place my head on the pillow.

4. Playing with my Kitties. My two crazy cats are always coming up with something new. Calypso, the older cat loves to jump for toys - I mean back flips. Tango, the baby, has learned how to play fetch with his toys and keeps bringing them back. They just always bring a smile to my face.

3. Snuggling. I love to curl up on the couch with my husband and kitties and watch a movie or just plain be. It’s probably the easiest way to unwind after a long day.

2. Taking Pictures. I have always been a take pictures of things and not people kind of girl. I like to carry the camera around and capture whatever catches my eye. While you could argue that this isn’t free because you need a camera, we bought ours years ago and use it often enough that the cost per use is very very low.

1. Playing Board Games. This is my favorite thing to do when we have a group of people together. My preferred game is Pictionary, but I love them all - Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Scrabble. We received most of our board games as gifts and my family always shows up to a party with one or another in hand. Case in point - my sister introduced us to Oodles this past weekend and we all had a blast.

I know that some of these items have an initial overhead cost, but at this point in time they are free for us. You can argue, of course, that my cats aren’t free because of food, litter, vet bills, etc., but the point is that I don’t have to spend any money to do any of these things today. There are plenty of activities I could choose to do that are costly, and I plan to use my list to keep enjoying the simple, free things in life.