Debt free social life?????

LilacPixie

Glen -

Does your wife realise that the 'friend' who called her a boring cow only said so because she realises without your wife to go out with she has no one to deflect her attention from her own sad life.

Spending time with your husband and kids is not and never will be boring.

Anyway rant over. You have had some great ideas. I dunno how old your kids are but mine are small and we spend maybe 40 a month on entertainment. We could spent more but to me I would prefer financial security forever than short lived nights out.

Red_Fraggle_3

Years ago with my ex - he always felt the need to go out rather than stay in with me and little un - made me feel bad but when I actually stood back and looked at the situation he was trying to be cool when really he wasn't :-)

I have friends who still eat out etc and say "credit cards" but i always say I'm skint and that I pay out of my monthly budget cos if I am honest the thought of wasting money on loads of nights out devalues the night to me - if you look forward to it it means more than couple of nights everyweek - so think you're wife's friend would call me a boring cow - moo

Happy_shopper

I agree with the advice about free cinema previews. It's worth keeping an eye on the 'free cinema tickets' thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=606589

That thread was a revelation to me! There's usually a variety of offers posted there and you tend to pick up more offers than if you just wait for See Film First etc. to email you. You do need to check regularly though (probably daily, or you can set up a subscription so that you're emailed when there's a new post on the thread) as the tickets go quickly. I see around one free film a month which saves me a load of money, and seeing current films means I don't feel too hard-up or 'boring'. It does depend on where you live though - bigger cities tend to get more free films; no point having free cinema tickets if you're going to spend a fortune on travel / parking. Oh, and take care not to blow all the money you've saved by spending it on food at the cinema - home-made popcorn costs fraction of the price (even cheaper if you buy a big bag of popcorn seeds and some oil and not those microwave-in-the-bag jobbies.)

Good luck and keep us posted!

Travelqueen

Just to add some more thoughts in

If you like trying new things then all the social groups people have mentioned are great.

Also look at council sites - they often have cheap deals for gyms etc. For e.g. I'm doing an 8 week fencing course (to keep me busy!) for £32 for the whole course.

Learning languages is a great idea. There are also the ramblers for e.g. if you fancy family days out.

Lastly, if you have a uni near you and want to meet new people / learn new things they have loads of social groups for all ages, and some aren't restricted to students either. e.g. capoeira & krav maga at my local uni

I know most of my ones are sporty, but IMHO a variety of socialising is far better than simply getting drunk at your local all the time - although that has its place!

There are so many ideas of different things to do with your time - even look at the 'crafty christmas' things on the special occassions board and there are flavoured vodkas etc to make. You could have an interesting (and cheap) evening with friends doing that.

If you want a night out then maybe doing something other than pubbing - e.g. bowling often have promotion nights. You could go out earlier and get earlybird menus / drinks and then go home earlier.

If staying out late is a must, go to a late cinema showing

Are there local Christmas markets near you - e.g. german market, they tend to be cheaper to socilise at.

What about learning home brewing, life drawing, jewellry making etc

I think the main thing to work out is what your interests are - and everyone has them - and then try and do more of them

If you don't have any... then cultivate some.

Here are just a few things you could try (cheaply!)

Painting - get supplies online / car boot / charity shop

Craft - as above & look at boards on here

Languages - language tapes / classes

Sports - variety offered v. cheaply by council leisure centres / try groups also such as dance (e.g. salsa), walking (ramblers), fencing, karate etc

Socilising - social websites often have groups where likeminded people can join & meet-up - what about book clubs, bee keeping, crochet making, naked sky-diving - you name it there will be a social group associated with it

Clubs - diet clubs (e.g. Rosemary Conley) if you need to diet, or even not, widen your social circle fairly cheaply, any other kind of interest club from mopeds to climbing. They will most likely be listed for your area in either upmystreet.com or http://www.touchlocal.com/nat/c-1847-Sports+Social+Clubs for e.g.

Lastly, and some people might kill me for suggesting any monetary spend. Why not recreate the 'pub' feel at home by getting a 2nd hand pool table for your house if you have room, doesn't even need to be full-size. Get a tournament going between your friends. (you can probably forget spilling stale lager on your carpet to recreate the smell, but each to their own...)

You could do the same with darts or even with Wii-sports / fit

There are hundreds and hundreds of things to do for free or limited costs and if your wifes mates haven't managed to read the writing on the wall at the moment for the economy I suggest they go back to school....

hermanmunster_3

quick way to not be bored in the evening AND deal with the debts is to get a job with evening shifts....

icka

Hi maybe I'm having a really bad day. And I promise I'm normally a realy nice person. But your post made me a little mad to be honest. There are people on this board who are struggling to put food on the table and one of my friends had to less than £13 for 2 weeks. And with all our help she fed herself and her family.

So listening to you complain that you are bored because you have ONLY £200 to spend on entertainment, brings out my slightly less sympathetic side.

You are Bored, your wife is bored. My mother when we were growing up would have slapped us for saying that.

Here is a list of things to do that will make you un-bored.

• Volunteer - there are thousands of charaties that could use your help.
• Help the aged desparately need people to help
• Samartines and childline also are crying out for people to give a few hours to help them out.

Not only wil you be doing something really worth while and rewarding but it would make you realise how lucky you are, and you have nothing to complain about.

You seem to have a family, why dont you spend quality time with your children, teach them something. Bring them to scouts or choir and you could give a dig out and become leader.

you will be amazed how fulfilled you will be if you stop thinking about your own entertainment. I was always thought as a parent to lead by example. Teaching children that it is ok to be bored is not the right way.

Clear out the house, spring clean and the stuffyou find you could sell on ebay. And the money you earn from sales you could use that as entertainment money.

I'm sorry if I sounded mean, I was not trying to be, just sometimes we need someone else to open our eyes to how god we have it.

x

ltm07

Sorry Icka, but your post is a little judgemental if you don't mind me saying so. Glen is asking for advice, not to be slagged off for being bored. He has come to terms with his debts by the looks of things, that is why his budget his household entertainment budget is dow from £600 to £200 a month. In my opinion £200 a month for a working couple to go out & enjoy themselves isn't alot in this day & age. That is why he is asking how he & his family can do more within their budget. Everyone's different I know, but being too obsessed with debts can be very stifling & can stop you enjoying life. We all know that we have to make changes if we want to clear our debts, but having a little dig at people doesn't help matters one bit. Glen hasn't come on here saying he wants to go back to his old ways, just how he & his family can do things within their budget.

icka

I know it was totally judgemental and i really truely apologise. I was out of line. Cold, tired, crappy day. Took it out on you Glen. please forgive me.

ltm07

Don't worry Icka, we all have them & you did also make some good suggestions. Hope your week improves. All the best & take it easy!

got-it-spend-it

I agree that doing something for others is a good way to occupy some time. I've been making up charity shoeboxes throughout the year- whilst not free I get a lot of pleasure from hunting out bargains and putting it all together. Volunteering is another great suggestion.

Hubby and I try to take advantage of the 2 for 1s on this site to save money on going out every now and then. Friends are always grateful if we print vouchers for them too!

Are either of you into cooking? Some evenings I just lose time in the kitchen, bulk cooking for evenings when I know I'll be out or baking things like hobnobs, cakes and flapjacks. I'm sure this would also be a great thing to do with little ones. Making pizzas from scratch is dead cheap and very satisfying too. If I feel like a takeaway but want to save money then I tend to either do pizza or something like Mexican which is easy to make and feels like a treat.