If you have a budget that your family is struggling with, you probably need to find a way to inject some fun into your life. ‘Fun’ and ‘Budget’ aren’t two words that go together. Don’t believe me? Try watching a Senate hearing on budget reforms. I almost fell asleep just writing that.
No, you need to find ways to make your budget allow room for fun. Give yourself activities to plan, events to look forward to, and purchases to anticipate. Putting the fun back into your life helps you get through a tight budget.
What Do You Like to Do?
Remember: the right answer to this question is not “Stop budgeting.” You need to plan out things that you and your family like to do. Is it going to a movie that excites you? Do you enjoy cooking classes? Have you always loved taking trips to the museum?
Agree on a common activity that includes the whole family. It needs to be something everyone can look forward to.
If you can’t agree, make a list of the things that each person wants to do. Each activity should be similar in cost. Take those activities that you’ve written down on separate pieces of paper and put them in a jar. It’s fair for everyone this way, and the next event can be chosen this way as well.
Finding Free and Inexpensive Things to Do
Free guides and activities are easy to find. The Internet and the newspaper are great starts to look for what’s going on around you that is inexpensive and enjoyable.
You’ll find that there are listings of all sorts of upcoming community events and activities. Nearly every day there will be some street bazaars, movie night, fairs, or other free activities for the kids in your surrounding neighborhood. Grab on those events with both hands!
Keep up with your local Facebook news. You’ll hear about other larger events in your neighbourhood. They are usually heavily advertised by corporate sponsors.
Using your creativity is important as well. Sometimes, the smallest pleasures have been forgotten. It could be something as simple as putting the electronics away and getting back to walking along the beach, collecting shells, having a picnic, and playing sports in the park.
All of these kinds of activities can be very rewarding for just about everyone in your family, and they can get you thinking about other activities you’d like to try.
I have always enjoyed activities that help build relationships. There’s camping in the back yard, trying new foods on the grill, playing board games, having family and friends over, hosting a movie night with popcorn, and many other ideas.
The tight budget doesn’t need to be an excuse to do nothing fun. Life isn’t about spending money on things, but spending time on people. It’s the experiences that we can take with us, not the item. Plan on budgeting more experiences because your budget always has room for those.
Thanks for dropping by this post. Share it if you like it. And if you’d like more of my practical tips to money then I’d like to invite you to my event Show Me The Money . I look forward to seeing you there 🙂