Cynthetiq

We all have activities, some of them are expensive and others are not. Since the economy is in the crapper and well, there's always a good reason for frugality this may be just a little different.

At the moment, Skogafoss and I play World of Warcraft together. It is really some of the cheapest entertainment out there after the initial costs of computer etc. It costs just pennies an hour for us to play when we're in saving money mode.

But in going out, there's a couple of things that I keep an eye out for, New York Magazine and Time Out NYC always have Cheap Eats issues. But I'm not your normal foodie, I like food. But I don't like chic food. I like cheap-good-quality-plenty-enough-for-a-second-meal-it-maybe-a-dive-but-better-if-it's-not-food. So I scout the city all over for cheap food outings. Getting friends together for Cheap Eats is a challenge, but rewarding. At one point it was a game where we tried to find who could find a nice dinner set meal for $10 which included wine. I'm going to have to revive that game.

What's a cheap activity that you can do with your friends or loved ones? (besides sex, not to mention that can be expensive if there is an accident...)

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Plan9

Board games are always a great way to have frugal fun. Especially if you include alcohol. I suggest playing Life or Cranium.

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Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Manic_Skafe

Since movie ticket prices have gone up to $11.50 per ticket, the misses and I always seek out the smaller (slightly run-down) indie theaters. They might not carry the blockbusters and they almost always get the new flicks a little late but for $6 on a bargain day, you really can't go wrong.

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snowy

We live about 2 minutes on foot from the nearest park, so we go toss the frisbee around with friends or take the soccer ball out and kick it around with friends.

We also organize dinner nights with everyone, where the host makes the main dish and people bring bread, wine, dessert, whatever. Last week I had everyone over for white bean soup. We also provided the bread, but someone else brought dessert and spinach for a salad, plus another friend brought stuff to put on the salad. We fed 7 people very cheaply and had a ton of fun hanging out. Sometimes we organize potluck picnics and parties, too.

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Glory's Sun

we like to cookout and play cards.. the only problem with that is my wife is obsessed with rummy and I think that game is boring.

Give me a set of dominoes or set up a spades game and I'm king all night

Sue

We have our weekends at my place all the time. We're both laid back, so it's not a huge deal if we don't go out (even when we do have the money for it). We grill, watch movies and tv, drink wine and/or mead, and just cuddle. We're happy with that, so it works.

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PonyPotato

I've wanted to participate in a large-scale scavenger hunt with a SO as a teammate. I think it would be lots of fun. Geocaching might be a decent substitute.

Also, already mentioned, but board games are good. Fake tattoos and new meals and artwork is always fun, too. My best friend (former SO) and I used to just be able to spend weekends together during the school year, so we'd watch movies and read together and spend a lot of time talking and even helping each other with homework. Going for random drives to go look at the stars or get lost and find our way home was fun, too. We'd lay around on Sundays and give each other full-body massages after a warm shower. Oh, man.. that was always a nice way to spend time together.

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ngdawg

Can't go wrong with a motorcycle and a camera.

Barring that-tv.

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The Fluffy One

Torrent movies and then watch them when they're finished, in the meantime look up youtube videos, take a walk, do a craft together, learn a new recipe to try and cook together....

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ItWasMe

Microwave popcorn and a movie. Redbox has movies for $1 per movie per day, right around the corner in the Mc Donald's parking lot.

Since we're going to eat dinner anyway, potluck barbecues. We've been to family reunions that are potluck except for "bring your own meat" for the bbq.

A cheap birthday party that the kids loved ... homemade birthday cake, peanut butter sandwiches, and juice at the park down the street. The kids had fun, and they weren't tearing through my house on a sugar high. They were instead getting exercise in the playground.

Look up the constellations on the internet, then lay on a blanket outside while trying to find them.

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Grasshopper Green

My son and I like to go to the park and feed ducks when the weather is warm and then we'll take a walk around the park when the bread is gone.

My dad often has barbecues at his house during spring, summer, and fall. He provides the food, we bring some beer or a bottle of wine.

Hubby and I enjoy going to a local coffee shop, getting a cup of coffee, and chatting for an hour (or 2). We also enjoy renting movies and watching them in bed.

When we lived in NC, there was a boardwalk in a marshy area that we loved to go for walks on. We'd watch the crabs chase each other, look at birds, and look for fish in the water.

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777

Never under estimate the power of peanut butter sandwitches. I asked a friend of mine to keep some of my tools in her car (since I couldn't get them home on the bus), and we had picnic at school. I brought p.b & j sandwitches and some iced green tea I brewed the night before. Her and I had a memorable time and the instructors had to find a new place to smoke that day

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Roger Zelazny

span2

Go to a museum for free (if you and your loved one(s) have a Bank of America card). Link.

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SabrinaFair

For a night in involving booze, my friends and I have come up with a crowd-pleasing party game called Drunk Jenga. It's pretty similar to regular Jenga, but with a drinking element and a truth-or-dare component. Get a cheap Jenga set (technically, ours is "Tumbling Block Tower", the generic version from Target) and a thin indelible marker or felt-tip pen. On the tiles, write different actions--"Take a drink", "Social" (everyone drink), "Give a dare"--or questions--"Describe your first kiss" or "If you were casting a movie of everyone at the party, who would play each person". Whoever knocks over the tower has to finish the drink. Start again.

Progressive dinner parties can be fun. Each course is at someone else's house--you can do as few as 3 homes and as many as 5 or 6. Each host is responsible for that course. So, no one has to shell out for a full meal and no one's house gets too trashed. :-) As long as everyone lives pretty close, it's a pretty economical evening.

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soma

Video games and cooking are the only cheap things my brothers do when they're in town.

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ironpham

We spend a lot of time sitting around listening to good music and just talking. Aside from that, cooking and potlucks are cheap and fun. We take walks around our downtown area, which unfortunately is somewhat small and can be dangerous if wondering down the wrong street for too long (I guess most downtowns are like this anyways). Also, we like to drive around nice neighborhoods and look at cool looking houses.

I was going into this thread thinking I could get more ideas, but it seems like we do what all of you do on a pretty frequent basis....except for the board games. Sometimes I really hate board games.

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little_tippler

On Sunday mornings it's free admission in most museums here, so I do that.

Most art galleries are free entry too. I sometimes go to opening nights, entry is free and there's free drinks.

Movies here only cost 5,20 € ($6,50) so that's still affordable, plus if you have a subway travel pass you can get a discount through that.

Movies at home, playing cards is good too.

Lunch or dinner with friends where everyone brings something with them.

Going for a walk in the park or on the beach, playing volleyball or doing yoga on the beach too.

I go surfing, once you have the gear, it's cheap enough.

A swim in the sea, or sitting on the beach chatting and reading and catching some sun.

Gardening on the balcony.

There are a few free music concerts around Lisbon also, you just have to keep your eyes open.

Lisbon is an interesting city, there are a few quirky stores in some areas so sometimes I like to just walk around finding them and being amused at what they offer. It's a way to get to know the city.

Walking around with a camera taking photographs of interesting things you see.

Most clubs will let you in for free here if there's plenty of girls...as long as you're not having more than one drink and want to dance, it's a good night.

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Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918