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Fun, Frugal, and Free Activities

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 68 Comments

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I’ve never been a super outdoorsy person, until recently. Having fun does not automatically have to mean spending a lot of money and in fact there are many free activities out there. And sadly enough, this is something that I have just recently come to terms with.

My life has changed so much in the past year, and with it comes the activities that I used to enjoy, versus the activities that I enjoy now. Before, I feel like all I did was shop. Ah, I have no idea how I found that fun to do every single day.

Having fun by doing things frugally does not mean that you have to hate your life. Lets please not confuse frugal with cheap. I will not just stay inside and look at a blank wall 24 hours a day just to save money. There are so many things that you can do out there that don’t require much money.

Today’s post will be all about the many frugal and low-cost activities that you can do, including some free summer activities for your family, children, and friends as well. Below are several fun, frugal, and free activities for you to try out. I also have a post dedicated to the many fun and frugal things to do in St. Louis for you to check out if interested.

Kayak in a new area is a great free summer activity to do.

Kayaking does not have to be a lot of money and because of this it is one of the first of the free activities that we will be discussing today. At many parks, you are able to rent a kayak for maybe $10 a day. And if you already have your own, then it is free. You can look for a great deal, or score a used one on sites such as Craigslist.

Go camping as one of the many great free summer activities.

Something that I am always ashamed to admit is that I have never been camping. Yes, I just said that, and yes you read that correctly.

Camping in the beginning might be expensive because you have to acquire everything, but after everything is bought, it then becomes very cheap to go camping. Much cheaper than going to a hotel. Camping is one of the several very fun free summer activities.

Find a place to hike is one of the great free activities.

I’m going to guess that there is at least somewhere around where you live where you can go for a hike. There is a park right up the street for us where we can go for a hike and it’s great!

One place that we would like to visit more is W’s family property. They have tons of acres and miles of land to explore full of creeks, cliffs and everything else. It is so pretty, and I regret not bringing the dogs there more.

Bike on trails or around your town.

Yes, a bike might cost you money in the beginning, and in some cases it might cost you a lot of money. However, I do believe that the cost pays off because usually it will be a one-time cost, unless you go through bikes like crazy (lets hope not!).

We have been going for bike rides a lot lately, and it’s been a lot of fun. I really wish that there was a way for us to get to the Katy Trail without having to get into our Jeep (there is a river that separates us from the trail, and only cars can realistically go on the overpass since it is a highway), but it is still fun.

Riding a bike is another one of the fun free summer activities for you to try.

Seek out festivals for free activities to try.

There are so many festivals happening every single month. St. Louis also has many free concerts during the summer with big headliners (past Fair St. Louis music includes: Maroon 5, Steve Miller Band, Nelly, The Offspring, Third Eye Blind, and much more – and all for absolutely FREE) that I happen to miss all of the time.

The botanical garden almost always has something fun also. I always miss the annual air balloon show also. I would like to start doing all of these things!

Go to the library.

I haven’t been to the library in a very long time. I would like to start spending at least some of my days diving into everything. Learning and reading new things, and for free? Deal!

What other frugal, yet still fun, free activities do you have to add to this list?

When was the last time you did something frugal and fun?

 

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. Liz says

    Really great ideas! It’s so true: there is so much out there in our cities to enjoy and it’s fantastic that you are being so active outside! It’s something I really miss where I live (Brussels), there is very little access to nature in such a small, populated country, especially without a car. But back home, I used to go camping all the time – it’s not expensive at all and is really relaxing. You could probably find good deals on camping equipment on ebay, craigslist, etc.

    Taking walks, reading a book, having a picnic, playing badminton or soccer in a park, are all nice things to do for free in the summer. Almost free things can also be visiting local markets (cheaper produce usually) for the atmosphere, fresh food and free tastings. Cooking a new meal trying to use the ingredients you already have is also a good, frugal idea!

    Reply

  2. Mark Ross says

    I’ll add walking/jogging with a dog on those. It’s also a great way to keep yourself healthy and meet new people that would talk with you about your dog and their dog/s too.

    Reply

  3. The Norwegian Girl says

    This weekend there´s a big literature festival AND a FOOOOD festival in town, so I´m definitely stoked about going! It doesn´t cost anything, and I get the chance to meet some famous authors and taste some delicious food;-)

    Reply

  4. FI Pilgrim says

    We aren’t super-outdoorsy either, but my kids absolutely love going to the public parks scattered around our city, especially the ones with playgrounds. They get a lot of exercise that way, which helps their mother stay sane. 🙂

    Reply

  5. Skint in the City says

    Picnics and camping are my two favourite, low-cost outdoors activities. So much so that even if I’d the money for a posh holiday I’d still go campaign. Nothing more refreshing – and both picnics and camping are perfectly do-able in October when the days are still sunny. Just bring a cosy duvet for those crisp evenings and cuddle up with loved ones!

    Reply

  7. DC @ Young Adult Money says

    Kayaking is so much fun! I almost forgot about it until I read this post even though I love to go haha. DVDs from the library as well as books (though I’ve had little to no time to read recently) are a big source of my frugal entertainment. We had a bonfire two weekends ago and that has been a fairly frugal activity, though it will be MUCH more frugal next year when we can stop buying wood since our friend’s Dad is going to help us cut down a big tree in our yard for firewood. Gotta love frugal entertainment and activities!

    Reply

  10. dojo says

    Excellent tips and ideas.

    There’s a lot of fun to be had with little money, once you start thinking outside the box. A day kayaking or biking is surely MORE rewarding than a night at the cinema, while also eating junk food. We do some of these activities and really love them.

    Reply

  11. Connie @ Savvy With Saving says

    Great ideas! There’s a new bike renting program in NYC that allows you to rent a bike for the day for $10. It’s perfect for me since I really don’t have any space to store a bike and I only ride every now and then.

    Reply

  12. Budget and the Beach says

    With fall I used to love going to apple orchards and pumpkin patches when I lived in Michigan and Seattle. Here I don’t do that much, but I do frugal activities almost every single day with running on the beach or beach volleyball. The only thing that can get costly about that is the temptation to go out to restaurants or for drinks after. I have to avoid that temptation every single time-especially if it’s nice out and I’ve been feeling anti-social.

    Reply

  15. moneystepper says

    I love this post and personally do one of these things every week.

    So many people going through life thinking that the “mall” is the place to go when you have free time and would like to get out of the house. To me, its the world’s most life sapping and depressing place.

    Like you’re doing now Michelle, get and see the world – its ****ing brilliant!!

    Reply

  17. kelly @stayingonbudget says

    I love the library and finding new places to hike! Great ideas, kayaking sounds like another great way to not spend a lot for entertainment!

    Reply

  18. E.M. says

    Similarly, I wasn’t an outdoorsy person until I met my boyfriend. He loves nature, and I’ve always admired it from afar. Now, we go walking and discover new places around town all the time. It’s fun! We have a few parks we go to, but sadly our area is more beach-oriented than woodsy. I’ve never been camping either, but it’s something I would like to look into for the future. I also love going to the library; it’s so peaceful. I plan on getting a bike next year! I have to save up for one first.

    Reply

  20. Leslie says

    I love your list!

    In regards to libraries, I know many (at least in our state) have movies there as well that you can rent! FREE movie rentals! Both my boyfriend and I subscribe via text to RedBox and every so often we’ll get a coupon code for a free rental as well. Can you tell we like watching movies? :p

    I’ve also found it useful to keep up to date on things happening within your community. There are always things that are free of charge that are going on where we live. Whether it’s a festival, block party or a movie in the park.

    There is also a museum we have downtown as well as an art museum that both have free general admission (they have special exhibits monthly that are a small fee…).

    Lots of stuff… one just has to look around!
    Thanks for posting, you’ve made me think a lot of more things we can do around where we live!

    Reply

  21. lyle @ the Joy of Simple says

    Hey Michelle and thanks for an enjoyable post!

    Like a few commenters, I am not an outdoorsy kind of guy…although I do plenty of biking to get around.

    My frugal activities include going to the library down the street from my place, hanging out at a friend’s place talking to their children and enjoying a delicious home cooked meal and going to Dollar Cinema which is actually two dollars but popcorn and stuff is a buck! They have second run movies which means that once the first run movies leave the cinemas, they can then be shown at second run theaters. So for like a few bucks, you can enjoy a great movie and treats! My way of living 🙂

    Take care and all the best.

    Lyle

    Reply

  23. debtfreeoneday says

    I love camping! And I love festivals too but I can never seem to find any free ones where I live. I really want to join the local library – that’s something I haven’t done since I was a kid!

    Reply

  26. Tara @ Streets Ahead Living says

    Great tips! I’m a fan of boat rentals too. As far as camping goes, if you get a Rand McNally Road Atlas (they’re a bit large in size), they list all the federal and state campgrounds across the country so it’s a great way to find a great campsite to try out near a place you want to visit!

    I love something as simple as spending time in a new-to-me walkable neighborhood. My husband and I will walk around new neighborhoods to explore and find new restaurants or places we’d like to try. It’s a great way to find new things you might otherwise miss while driving by.

    Reply

  27. Emily says

    Hiking is absolutely one of my favorites (with the Rocky Mountains in my back yard how couldn’t it be?!). Taking advantage of free festivals, neighborhood events and window shopping are great. The Mister and I spend a lot of time walking around when it’s nice. I love finding new nooks and crannies in my city. Our library in Denver not only has books, movies, etc but they also have a lot of free classes and programming to take advantage of. It’s amazing how easy it can be to find free things to do once you look for it! Oooh and flying a kite. Man, if you haven’t done that since you were little, give it a try. It’s a blast 🙂

    Reply

  29. Michelle's Finance Journal says

    I go to cafes often with my girl friends to talk and it only costs a couple of dollars to catch up with your friends.
    There are a lot of free outdoor movie events in the summer time you can search in your area.
    I also sometimes go to a book club which helps me meet new people and read without spending a lot of money.

    Reply

  30. charles@gettingarichlife says

    People pay thousands to get here and lay at our beaches, and mine is three blocks away. I spend a lot of time there. Hiking our mountains is another favorite, although I offset that with eating junk food after which isn’t so smart.

    Reply

  33. Kim L says

    Why, hello, fellow Missourian! I’ve been digging around for some good and cheap date ideas for hubby and I. Love this list! Does the Muny still have the nosebleed seats for free? We used to head out with Binoculars and a picnic when I was a kid. So fun!

    Reply

  34. Kim says

    Great list.
    My town has a garden club that does veggie gardens and also the islands around town, another group that meets every other Saturday to help with park up keep, painting, cutting back brush, rebuilt our Santa house.
    Getting involved is fun and rewarding.
    Finding a cheap piece of furniture and rehabing it, make some yard art.
    Library has speakers, high schools have plays and band nights with some talented kids.
    Google interesting places in your area. We have found some great day trips to personal gardens ie: three sisters sanctuary in MA and the fantastic umbrella factory in RI

    Reply

  35. Lauren Daly says

    Great list Michelle! One way I found to have fun is joining local clubs. For example, our rotary club does interesting volunteer opportunities and our young entrepreneurs club has interesting speakers. They can also get group discounts– for example: the church has a men’s bible study called Bro’s, Bibles & Brews they can host their bible study at a local brewery and get beer for a few dollars off!

    Reply

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