Fun on a budget
Jan 18th, 2009 by jwood
With the country firmly in the grasp of the credit crunch one of the first things people are cutting down on are leisure activities. Holidays, day trips and gym memberships are on the down, but fear not. Just because you don’t have as much expendable cash it doesn’t mean you have to ride out the dreaded recession in total boredom.
Here are a few hints and tips to help you have a bit more fun:
1. Cancel your expensive gym membership, shop around, many gyms have special offers. JJB gym were charging just a pound a day over the festive period. Also check out your local leisure centre, they’re usually fully equipped and offer a wide range of classes for a fraction of the cost with no monthly membership fee.
2. Don’t pay full price for cinema tickets. The three large multiplex chains Vue, Odeon and Cineworld offer cheap weekend deals for families. Also if you have an orange phone take advantage of orange Wednesdays and get two for one cinema deals.
3. Keep an eye out in the newspapers, many papers offer two for one deals and vouchers for a variety of restaurants and theme parks. Some even offer holidays at a cut price.
4. If you’re football crazy and must buy a season ticket, try and split the cost with friends or relatives, they can go to the games that you don’t attend or you could even work out a rota.
5. Travel at off-peak times and pay a lower ticket price on trains and buses. Arrange your journey so you travel on the first off-peak train or bus and you can and save a small fortune.
6. Book plane tickets well in advance to save money. Shop around for the best deals for accommodation. Try hostels, bed and breakfasts, or self-catering instead of expensive hotels. Shop around on the internet for good deals as travel agents can often bump up the costs.
7. Search around for local groups and clubs, you can find people with similar interests, it gets you out of the house and it usually costs very little if anything to join.
8. Become a member of your local nightclub many nightclubs offer discount cards in exchange for being on their mailing list.
9. Go to the library, many libraries offers a wide variety of music, DVD’s and magazines as well as books.
10. invite friends over, take it in turns to cook or buy a bottle of wine, you could have a games night or get together to watch a film.
By Jade Wood
