BUDGET ACTIVITIES: Things To Do With Limited Budget

Restricting activities and hobbies to a tight budget is a fact of life for most people, but this doesn’t mean the fun has to be sucked out of everything just because the lavish spending factor is absent. In fact, with some creativity and proper planning, you can have just as much fun— if not more—on a limited budget than a free-for-all spending spree.

Even going on holidays doesn’t have to be a pricey affair, and with the plethora of discounts being offered today, you can have a grand time even while you’re in frugal mode.

Daily Deals’ Adventures

There are dozens of daily deals sites available in Australia. From Cudo to Spreets to Buyii to Groupon’s StarDeals, there are many opportunities for you to find amazing discounts on an assortment of items. These can include: travel adventures, spa treatments, tours, beauty products, restaurant discounts, sports packages, and more. The best part about these sites is that you can often find discounts on these activities or items ranging from 30-80% in more cases.

This is especially true for the tourism industry, which is struggling right now due to the lack of incoming foreigners in this rough economic crisis. Desperate for business, they offer astonishing deals on these sites in order to attract more people, and as a local customer on a limited budget, you can take full advantage of these low prices while they last. Beware, you usually only have twenty-four hours to buy into the deal before the promotion expires, and if you don’t act quickly on a truly great deal, it can even sell out.

Even if the holidays listed aren’t the destinations you were looking for, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised with the deal sites’ offerings and your wallet will thank you in the meantime.

Learning A New Skill

If you were thinking of acquiring your pilot’s licence or scuba diving internationally, then you may want to look elsewhere for budgetary advice. If you’re thinking of picking up a new hobby that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, however, there are several you can choose from.

One hobby you might want to consider is learning a new language. There are websites such as Babbel.com that offer low-cost language lessons starting as low as $8-10 per month. This includes unlimited access to every lesson in the language you have chosen (or multiple languages, if you so choose), ranging from writing exercises to listening practice and vocabulary acquisition (most of Babbel’s language programs offer over 3,000 new words). There are also language schools in most areas, and there are always books and tapes (free from your local library or for low prices if purchased online).

Another hobby could be gardening. This is beneficial in two ways: you have something interesting to fill up your time and you get fresh produce as a result, lowering your monthly grocery costs.

Or taking up a new sport. There are dozens of amateur sports clubs in existence, even for adults. Whether it’s a team sport such as rugby or football or an individual sport such as golf—even this can be done cheaply if you go during low-traffic parts of the day or find deals on Daily Deals sites—there is a little something for everybody.

Potluck With Friends

If you’re looking to cut back on meal costs without sacrificing quality, you may want to consider having regular potluck dinners with friends or family. For these, you can buy items in bulk at the grocery store, lowering the per-item cost on each foodstuff. While one person provides an entrée, another would provide dessert and another the appetizers. This means less meal preparation time (and costs) for everyone and more variety because you will get to try things you might not otherwise have prepared for yourself and your family. There is also the added social benefit of being able to spend time with others without having to stress over financial matters such as your monthly meal budget. On a cost benefit analysis, potlucks are endlessly valuable in terms of both social happiness and financial savings.

Cinematic Thrills

A trip to the cinema is no affordable venture without some discounts in place. With tickets ranging from $15-25 or more, a single film outing for a family of four can cost well over $100 after the tickets and food and drinks have been purchased. If you’re looking to avoid these exorbitant prices while still catching your favourite flicks, you can still do so if you follow these guidelines:

• Never buy food or drinks at a cinema. They’re heavily overpriced, and you’ll survive a couple of hours without this artificially flavoured sustenance.
• Take advantage of the Tuesday discounts. These are the least popular days for regular moviegoers, prompting cinemas to initiate significant discounts on film ticket prices.
• Go to matinee showings. For working individuals, this may be a challenge, but if you can manage it, you will save several dollars each time you go before 5 or 6pm.
• Wait until they come out on DVD or online streaming and simply rent the films online or from a store. Given that most people only watch a movie once or twice, it’s generally advised that you rent instead of purchasing DVD’s.

Backpacking

If you’re looking to travel but need to keep costs to a minimum, consider backpacking. Hostels are very backpacker-friendly and are vastly cheaper than regular hotels. Also, this cancels out any transportation costs, as your only way of getting around is your own two legs. Furthermore, you get a better change to admire the scenery around you and see things you may not have noticed while driving past them at 100km. It requires a certain level of fitness, but many people have turned to this as a way of staying in shape and saving money on holidays.

As you can see, saving money and having a lot of fun are not mutually exclusive. Whether you decide to purchase a daily deals site’s adventure package, learn a new skill, host a potluck dinner for your family and friends, go to the cinema during off hours, or try backpacking with a friend or spouse, all of these are great things to try while on a limited budget.