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Financial Journey
(featured column)
Enjoying
Laughter and Fun Even During the Tough Times
by
Karen Kuebler
"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times."
- Charles Dickens
This famous quote reminds me of what we are
all facing today. To say that the economy is in a slump is an understatement.
People being forced from their homes, filing bankruptcy, increased
unemployment—all of this, and more, is enough to discourage the most
optimistic person. However, at BetterBudgeting.com we are continuing to
challenge this line of thinking and trying to spread words of hope and
encouragement. More...
I have talked to countless people, and I’m
sure many of our readers have as well, that share some of their favorite
memories during their lifetime. So often, the best memories come from when they
were young and growing up poor, or when they were newlyweds and squeezing
pennies.
Their favorite stories revolve around ways
they made it through and generally brought the family closer together. The gifts
they remember receiving weren’t expensive items, but something that their
parents or siblings made for them or sacrificed to give to them in one way or
another. The nights they remember enjoying the most weren’t the ones where
they went to a fancy restaurant, but where the family did something that left
indelible memories in their hearts.
Let me share some ideas of different things
that we have tried and enjoyed, or that I know have been a success for others.
Keep the list handy to help you with ideas when you’re feeling in a
non-creative slump! A lot of these we did as our normal course of entertainment,
as we were living frugally before tough economic times hit.
 | Shares
stories in the evening hours around a fire, or by candlelight. You can have
a theme such as the most embarrassing stories you remember, or the funniest
prank you ever pulled, or the most touching moment you have experienced, the
best thing that happened to you this past week, etc. You’ll learn so much
and it will draw you closer. This can be done with or without children in
the home. We no longer have children living at home, but enjoy sharing
stories with each other.
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| Make
a list of books that family members would enjoy reading. Check out books
from the library and read them aloud together. Again, this can be done even
if you don’t have children at home. My husband and I love reading books
aloud to each other. If there are children at home, what a great opportunity
to read some of the great classics and give them an appreciation for
literature.
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| Prepare
meals together. By doing this, the work won’t fall to one person. Family
members can make a list of favorite meals and alternate from the list.
It’s another time that can either be spent bickering (I’d recommend
avoiding that!) or sharing stories about what happened throughout the day.
It can make mealtime preparation much more fun and not feel like such a
chore.
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| Make
inexpensive snacks and go back to days of old where families played games
together. There are so many options including board games, card games, and
games that don’t require anything but your imagination. You can create
your own games such as Charades and Pictionary. Just write out ideas for
either one and put them in a jar. You can keep score without the actual
board game, or just play for fun and don’t keep score! Make up word games
– get a dictionary, and read a word and a definition. Look for obscure
words and switch the definition from another word, then give the opponent
the opportunity to answer true or false. Or, another twist would be to read
the word and allow the opponent to provide the definition. The possibilities
are endless. By the end of the evening, we have found ourselves aching from
laughing so hard!
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| If
you are still looking for ideas for games, do a "Google" search on
the internet. I did this for my granddaughter’s birthday party. I hadn’t
thrown a party for a six year old in years. However, I left the internet
with several great games. You can also check out books from the library, or
buy an inexpensive book from a thrift store, filled with hundreds of
different game ideas.
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| This
is the perfect time of year for walks and hikes. Taking walks after dinner
are wonderful because they are mind -clearing, help with digestion, burn
calories, and provide another opportunity to talk and share stories or
ideas. It is also wonderful to take in the wonderful scents and sights of
nature. If you are up for more strenuous exercise, go for a hike in a nearby
area. I would definitely avoid hikes in the dark for a variety of reasons
including wild animal life, and sometimes other people aren’t to be
trusted. It is key to exercise caution in all that we do. We purchased a
book with hiking trails throughout our area and there are more than we can
probably take in our lifetime! We sometimes will drive the car to another
part of town and go for a walk and admire some of the old Victorian homes,
or take advantages of hills for an additional workout.
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| Study
your town or state history and make your own trivial pursuit game out of
questions related to the history. Put on your creative hat and think about
other subjects that would be interesting historically. Take some time to
study the history of art, geography, history of the country you live in,
etc. Then devise your own questions to play games of trivial pursuit related
to the topic. Not only are you creating a fun bonding experience, but you
are developing a fantastic learning opportunity. Again, these are ideas that
can be applied with or without children in the home. If you have
grandchildren come for visit, this provides a unique game they have probably
not played before!
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| Fill
a jar with ideas from all family members of free activities you can enjoy in
your area and pick from the jar when you have some time to spend together.
Examples of things we enjoy doing in our area include going to the
courthouse square during the summer evenings for a different form of
entertainment each night for three months (plus meeting friends there);
going to our renovated Elks Theater (over 100 years old) to see free movies
screened every Sunday; going to the doggie park for wonderful free and fun
entertainment; and going to our local zoo which costs very little for an
annual couple’s pass and we are able to spend time with all of the rescued
animals from the outlying forests. Your towns have their own stories, and
events, so you can create your unique list of activities to choose.
Sometimes a scenic drive is the most comforting thing we can do for the next
couple of hours.
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| As
the summer months draw closer, one of my favorite activities since I was a
young girl is to run through the sprinklers! I never grow tired of that and
it a great way to cool off without a lot of expense. Not many of us have
swimming pools and this is a great alternative. I also find it fun to grill
outdoors and make picnic dinners during the warmer months. It makes the
evenings much more bearable than staying indoors and running expensive air
conditioning.
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| Have
a movie night and make homemade pizza. If there are two of you, you’ll
save at least $30. If there are more in the family, the prices to eat out
and go to an evening movie become exorbitant (at least in my price range)!
Rent a movie from a Red Box machine that are available everywhere these
days. We have 2 within a couple of miles at Wal-Mart and Walgreen’s. The
movie is $1.00 for one night and we just watched 2 movies that had been at
the theater less than 2 months ago! Pick a night when you can watch the
movie so that you don’t rack up extra fees holding on to the movie before
returning it. Make a homemade
pizza (this is Michelle's recipe!). You can also pick movies free from
the library and hold on to them longer without a fee. Why spend $30-$50 or
more when you can enjoy the same things at home for a few bucks. Plus you
can pause the movie if you missed what they said and need to rewind it, or
if you need to make a visit to the powder room! |
There are some real pluses to doing
activities like these on a regular basis:
(1) You are teaching your children and/or
yourselves how to enjoy life without a large outlay of money; (2) When times are
tough, you won’t feel the pinch since you already know how to have fun without
spending money; (3) You are being a good role model for your children, friends,
relatives, and neighbors; (4) You are building closer relationships with
friends, family, and spouses without adding debt to your credit cards; and (5)
You KNOW that, no matter the external circumstances, that you can still share a
life filled with laughter and fun! Life
is too short to let it pass you by, so start sharing your time with others and
reaping the rewards. If you believe it, you will achieve it!
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Copyright
© 2009 by Karen Kuebler. All rights reserved. Want more
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