Like any sane person, when the economy tanked you cut your spending.  You went from lattes to travel mugs and from haute couture to the dollar store boutique.  You accepted your downgrades grudgingly, realizing that in times where job security is a thing of the past, it’s better to have some money saved for emergencies than to continue your tradition of weekly manicures. 

But after 18 long months of skimping, you are dying to indulge yourself.  I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to deprive yourself any longer!  Here’s how…

Free Entertainment

Your weekly movie rituals with your boyfriend are gone.  And your love of classic lit has had to take a backseat.  Well, not anymore.  Have you heard of a wonderful thing called the public library?

It’s free to borrow books.  Not only that, you can borrow them for weeks at a time, so you can enjoy them at your leisure.  You may not be able to go to the movies anymore, but libraries often let you rent DVDs for free.  Movie night is back!

The downside is that sometimes you may have to wait a while for your items to come in.  But if you sign out enough to have a steady stream of movies and books, you will never want for entertainment ever again.

Feed Your Life, Starve Your Boredom

Remember having dinner out?  And not having to cook?  And maybe enjoying it with some friends?  You can bring those nights back.

Sort of.

One word: potluck.  Get a bunch of your friends together.  Each person cooks one course.  Then you all congregate for dinner.  Everyone does less cooking.  Some people even get to leave their houses.  Everybody wins.  Plus, eating in will always be cheaper than going out.

Dates

Remember going on a date?  Vaguely?  It’s where two people go out in public and do stuff…?  Yeah, those.  Time for one of those again!

We live in Canada, a nation of hockey lovers, which means we have hockey rinks.  You know what those hockey rinks are sometimes nice enough to do?  Have free skates, where members of the public get to come in and skate for free.  Or a price so incredibly low that it may as well be free. 

Not sure?  An old flame of mine once took me to a free skate as our first date.  It was the most fun I’ve had on a date.  

Except the part where I got on the ice and wiped out.  That was embarrassing.  Don’t do that.

Shopping Spree

Oh yes, I said it.  You can buy clothes again!  The caveat?  Well, there are two of them.

First, clothes tend to be a lot cheaper during end of season sales.  I’m talking ridiculously cheaper.  Except, they can be rather picked over.  Nevertheless, there is usually something on those sale racks that will fit everyone. 

Second, check Facebook.  My hometown (and likely other cities) has a Facebook group called Divas on a Dime.  It’s where people post pictures of clothes or shoes or accessories that they’d like to get rid of, at discounted prices.  I’ve scoured through the group and nothing is ever on its last legs of life.  Most of what has been posted are things that people bought and maybe wore a few times, if that.  Something practically new for really cheap?  Sign me up!

Don’t Despair

There are plenty of ways to inject some fun into your life.  Many of them cost nothing at all or are very low cost.  A little creativity is all that’s required to have some fun without breaking your bank.