No-spend weekend to save money
Last week we wrote about saving money on movie date night, this week we are saving money by doing a no-spend weekend. The premise for this is simple, you try to take at least one weekend day, if not the entire weekend, and spend no money in regards to activities. This can be with kids of family time or could be more of a date night. These can be simple activities for entertainment. Similar to the last post, Netflix movie night would be a good example as you are utilizing what you already have.
What to do? What to do?
It is easy enough to find stuff around the house to do. Simple examples are of activities around the house, include spending time doing art, going for walks, and gardening. If you want to get out of the house, one option would be going to free concerts during the summer. There are countless examples of things that can be done for free
With a no-spend weekend, the level of commitment is up to you. You can go with free activities where you may have to drive or to the extreme where that includes not having to drive either as you’d be paying for gas. In these cases, I would recommend the free activities and not worrying about driving. Trying not to drive anywhere maybe save a little money but is a little extreme. Realistically, driving would only cost you maybe a couple of dollars per weekend, which may not be worth considering. It all depends on how tight of a budget you have. People are less likely to stick with this if they are restricted by driving as well.
How much can I save?
This will vary from family to family. If you normally spend save $50 a weekend on activities and you commit one weekend per month to no-spend weekend, you will save a total of $600 over the course of the year. This becomes a great way of saving, especially around the holidays when you have extra money. You can also do every other weekend which would be a great saving at the end of the year.
Conclusion
Overall, finding free activities or even activities around the house is a great way of saving money. A no-spend weekend can be a great way to connect with family without breaking the bank. If you have kids, this can be a fun way to spend time with them. It can be as simple as spending the day making a blanket fort. I mean the possibilities are endless. You can easily plan a day if fun activities with family at little to no extra cost. This just takes a little forethought of what you’d like to do.
What are your favorite free activities? Leave a comment below
