Having Fun With As Little Money As Possible

1) Old-school sleepover

This is a perfect way to recapture the good old days, when everything was simple and crushing on some guy was the worst of your problems. Simply invite a couple of friends over, morph into your twelve-year-old selves and slip into a world of ‘truth or dare’, boys, and ‘would you rather’. You don’t need any money, maybe just a sufficient amount of girly movies or horror films, food and possibly some makeover stuff. The trick is to not plan the night out too much, as you don’t want the fun to seem forced.

2)Cooking/baking

You’d be surprised at the amount you could bake with just three or four ingredients that you probably already have lying around in the kitchen. You can either attempt to create something wonderful and edible, or try to come up with some of the grossest concoctions physically possible. Here is a simple biscuit/cookie recipe that you can adapt and basically go crazy with (makes about 30).

1. Whip together 200g softened butter with 200g caster sugar until fluffy. 

2. Add one lightly beaten egg, and a few drops of vanilla extract and mix well (at this stage, you can add any other ingredients you may want, such as cocoa powder, dried fruit, etc). 

3. Sift in 400g of plain flour, and combine everything until you have a ball of dough. 

4. Place this in the fridge for half an hour, allowing it to solidify a little so you can then easily roll it out on a floured surface, till it is about 7mm thick. 

5. Next, use cookie cutters of your choice to cut the dough into shapes. Lay these out on a tray lined with grease proof paper.

6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4, for 10-15 minutes.
7. When the cookies are golden, remove them from the oven and place on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes.
8. In the meantime, you can make some icing by mixing together 75g of icing sugar with 1 ½ teaspoons of water (and a couple of drops of food colouring if required).
9. Once the cookies are cool, you can drizzle, smear the cookies in icing, or simply dunk them the bowl.
10. Let them set and decorate them however you wish, or simply enjoy them.

3) Cheap nights out

This one may require a little bit of money, but it does go a long way. It’s shocking how much is actually going on, that you may not be aware of, and concerts don’t have to be expensive. There are actually tons of small, unknown bands and musical acts out there and chances are their gigs are extremely cheap or even free to attend. Look online to find out if there are any small, intimate venues near you. Go on to their website, and see what’s occurring. You might even find that the most unlikely performances are the best ones, so don’t be afraid to venture outside of your musical preferences slightly. This is a great way to expand your tastes too. 

4) Be one with nature

This is probably the cheapest option. With the presence of the Internet and various kinds of technology, many of us forget what the physical world is actually like. And no, following a nature blog on Tumblr doesn't provide you with your daily share of the world outside. Most of you don’t really have an excuse to not explore further than your bedroom. With GPS readily available on your phone, there is (supposedly) no real way of you getting completely lost and even if you do find yourself in an alien environment, finding your way out is all a part of the fun. You might even find yourself capturing some wonderful photos, not to mention, walking is a great way to catch up with friends. There are so many ways in which you can learn to appreciate nature, whether it means going to the beach, taking a long hike through the woods, building an igloo or simply reading a book under a tree.

-Barista Ria-

Images:  Mark Sebastian, GlennFleishman, Jase Lam, Arturo Avila