Cheap or Free Ways to Relax When Money is Tight
Entertainment Venetians Style (Photo credit: Mr G’s Travels)
When it comes to entertainment, the old rule of buying only things that you actually need doesn’t apply. You don’t really need a new MP3 player, but, if it helps you concentrate better at work, or if it helps you run faster during your workout routine, then it may be worth getting one. Therefore, you should think in terms of the value a product brings, whenever possible, on the long term. For example, if you like computer games, you may find one that costs $5, and will keep you busy for three hours, but you’ll be better off with one that costs $30, and will keep you occupied for the next half a year, because it offers great replay value.
Think Old-Fashioned Fun – with a Modern Twist
First of all, turn off the TV set. TV is actually an expensive source of entertainment, and an unrewarding one, in general. You pay more than just the cable bill – which is expensive enough. The constant exposure to aggressive advertising pushes you to buy more useless things, so avoid leaving the TV on, just to have something buzzing in the background while you perform your household chores.
Entertainment today is merely related to the latest craze: the newest movie, the freshest singer, a book written literally yesterday. Bear in mind that newest entertainment products are always more expensive than older ones – and there are so many great books already written and movies already made, that you’d need more than a lifetime to enjoy all of them. If you can wait six months or a year before seeing the latest releases, you will find them for a fraction of their initial price.
Museums and libraries have changed a lot in the past decades. Forget those dusty places where a librarian yelled at you for being two minutes late with a book; now libraries provide access to electronic books, subscriptions to specialized magazines, and wonderful meeting places for community members – all in return for a very small fee.
It’s the People that Make Things Fun
Entertainment doesn’t mean that you have to sit down and watch somebody perform for you. There are a lot of activities that provide both value and entertainment at the same time, such as volunteering for an organization – children and adults alike enjoy working with animals, and local zoos and animal shelters are always looking for more people to lend a helping hand.
Many hobbies can be turned into social activities. For instance, if you like to knit – or if you don’t know whether you like it or not, because you’ve never tried it before – you could join a group of people who organize weekly knitting meetings, sharing their experience, or simply chatting about general things. There is a club for everything, from collecting stamps to reading, and from watching movies to carving ice sculptures, so you just have to find the people who share a common interest with you.
Communities provide a great source of free entertainment – so keep an eye out for events organized for charitable purposes, or local anniversaries, such as concerts and performances sponsored by the local city hall. And while you’re at it, why not think about ways to contribute to such events, and be more than just another audience member?
Janice Thompson is a guest post contributor. She loves to write on finance based issues like debt, credit card, mortgage, bad credit loans, insurance, personal loans etc. She is sharing her vast experience by providing informative articles.
Category: Saving Money
