How To Have Fun At Home When You Can't Afford To Go Out

Summary: Are you strapped for cash? Bored out of your mind? Tired of watching meaningless TV shows? Here are some ideas for you that don't cost as much money as going out on the town. Have people over You can organize any kind of get together that you want: you can have a few girls over for tea, or you can have a bigger party (but remember to tell guests to BYOB!). For the price of a few bags of chips and some pop, you can have a great night. Theme nights Theme nights can ...

Are you strapped for cash? Bored out of your mind? Tired of watching meaningless TV shows? Here are some ideas for you that don't cost as much money as going out on the town. Have people over You can organize any kind of get together that you want: you can have a few girls over for tea, or you can have a bigger party (but remember to tell guests to BYOB!). For the price of a few bags of chips and some pop, you can have a great night. Theme nights Theme nights can be a lot of fun. Have girls' night where you all paint your nails and do pedicures. Everyone can bring their stuff, and you can all mix and choose. If you have kids, you can organize a scavenger hunt. It can be fun and simple. Play Games You can play Balderdash or Scattergories with materials that you probably have around the house. For Balderdash, simply take a dictionary and have one person find a really hard word. Everyone invents a definition of the word and writes it down (the person with the dictionary copies the word down too). Then, when the person with the dictionary reads it aloud, everyone has to guess which the correct definition is. You get one point every time someone guesses your wrong answer, and you get one point for every answer you guess correctly. For Scattergories, simply write the alphabet down the side of a piece of a paper. Agree on a time limit. An easy way to do this is to put on a CD and use the length of one song as the timer. Then you choose a category and have to list items in that category for each letter that you can. You get one point for each original answer you have (as in, an answer nobody else has). You get two points for alliterative answers. For instance, if the category was Boy Bands and you choose "Herman's Hermits," you get two points. Some good categories include cities in a particular state, things that rhyme with "late," one word movie titles, actors in movies with Julia Roberts, famous painters, rappers, or whatever you choose. Organize a swap You've watched every movie that you own. So organize to swap other people's movies. If you always trade, then you'll never lose your movies. You can even keep track of who has what, and write your name on your movies that you lend out. You can also organize a clothing swap, which is when your friends bring together the clothes that they don't want anymore and put them all in a pile. You can find new clothes and get rid of your old ones. The ones that nobody wants you can take to the St. Vincent de Paul. Stretch your Creativity Challenge yourself to do something that you have never done before. Write a sonnet; sketch a picture. You'll be surprised at what interest you. Go to the Park Okay, this one isn't really staying at home, but it's always a nice way to get out and have fun.