I've been attempting to look at the newspaper as it comes in to keep abreast of the free or nearly free activities in my town to give us something different to do.
robertaD - good luck with the free activities in your town and around you. Here, there is a listing in the newspaper called "entertainment" free and not free. I also read the whole paper as there are other free things written up elsewhere. This week, I got 2 invites to free seminars for seniors, one for a snack and one for dinner at a nice restaurant. Local senior friends call me to tell me of free happenings. If you let your friends know you like to attend free things, hopefully they will call you when they find out something is happening. I do the same for my friends. My granddaughter sure was kept busy with the free things I would take her to in our town. She didn't know they were free, just that she liked going places with me.
Prior to Christmas, I attended the free party at the nursing home/retirement center for an older gentleman from our singles group. He is over an hour from home and feels lonely. The ladies who sit with him at dinner have started talking to me and I find out one worked with him at the college were he was Professor of English so they are enjoying my visits too.
Tonight, I'll attend the free Bluegrass/gospel music which they have each Saturday night near the nursing home/retirement center. One of my best friends also lives closeby there so I'll deliver their Christmas presents today, lumping all my errands together.
Got a nice freebie in the mail yesterday, two pair of sneaker socks, NoNonsense, which I requested from a freebies site some time recently. Don't remember which site, but a nice freebie. My college aged granddaughter will get those. There was also a $1.50 coupon for a NoNonsense Ultimate Shaper in the package.
This past Christmas and New Years we had 9 family guests, that stayed with us through out the season for 2 1/2 weeks. We did many things together. I planned in advance before they arrived from different states.
One of the things we did was to play shanghai, this is a card game alot of fun. As part of the fun I bought 50 cent stockings and put 2 decks of cards, pennies, a pad of paper and pencil, with the game instructions. Everyone loved it and took their games home to share with friends too. Total cost $7.89 for gifts and fun.
One more thing we did was to Rent a movie from the red box $1.00 a movie. We made pop corn, hot dogs, had some pop and kool-aid and enjoyed a movie night at home. Total cost $5.85 for movie and food for 12 of us.
These were just a few things I did to save money, have fun and enjoy my family.
We play canasta with our friends in the evenng and serve a light lunch after. The lunch is a time to try out new dishes for appertisers, It is fun to make these different things. The cost is low and it keeps the snack light for late night eating, we take turns so the lunch is never boring and the cost is shared
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Midnightmama 214 Sixty and I am still HOT! It just comes in flashes now!
In the winter we play a lot of indoor games and build a lot of puzzles, do a lot of simple crafts and have fun baking and decorating. Playdough is also a favorite.We also play outside when the windchill isn't too bad.Have snowball fights, build snowmen or whatever my lil man feels like building if the snow will cooperate.
In the spring summer and fall we take advantage of where we live and go out on nature hikes/herb gathering walks in the woods. There are also bluffs to climb and new things to discover all within a half mile of us. We also love to be out in the garden growing our own veggies and getting our hands dirty.My lil man is thrilled when we come across worms LOL.Also, we sometimes drive a few miles and pick berries on state land, take our dog as well, he and the little man love to run around out there and both know to stay close to us and away from the roads.We have city parks within walking distance and free city beach/big park about three miles away.
We download free movies and have a movie night with home made popcorn. Makes a nice relaxed visit with the kids and their closest friends. (Both are away from home and not jet married)
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Midnightmama 214 Sixty and I am still HOT! It just comes in flashes now!
We have been getting a lot of movies for $1 new releases from the Red Box machines and older ones for 2/$1 or $1 at Family Video plus some of their free rentals. And of course free rentals from the Library. Make popcorn on the stove and a drink makes for very cheap family entertainment.
We got a Wii for Christmas while not cheap we have been having lots of family fun with the sports package that came loaded on it.
Sixty and I am still HOT! It just comes in flashes now!
