Cheap Fun Things (For Winter)

After being married for 6 months, Tara and I finally sat down and took a serious look at our finances.  I’m slightly ashamed that it took us 6 months to get around to this, but then again, 6 months late is better than never.  To our alarm, despite honest efforts to be frugal, we discovered that we’ve been spending too much money.  This had gone unnoticed thanks to a substantial amount of borrowed money (student loans) that pads our account.  What can I say?  The money just goes faster when there’s two people spending it.  In an effort to better emulate responsible adults, I fired up long-forgotten MS Quicken and we developed a budget.  Now we know how much fun money we have in a month.  It’s a decent amount, but it’s certainly not enough to go skiing/boarding every weekend.  Anyway, mostly for ourselves, I’ve compiled a list of free or nearly free wintertime activities.  Suggestions are welcome.

Snowshoeing – 4hrs — $0-7 (rental)
Cross Country Skiing – 4hrs — $20 (rental)
Snow Hiking – 4hrs — Free
Blogging – Too much time to admit — Pretty much free
Working Out – 1hr — Free
Watch a Movie – 2hrs–
Free On-Demand (Cheesy 80’s Film) – Free
Red Box — $1
Blockbuster — $4
Theater Matinee — $12
Sex – 30min – Free
Cuddling – 30min – Free
Reading – 1hr
Library books – Free
Newspaper — $5 subscription (after I kept trying to tell the salesman no)
Rolling Stone — $1 subscription (Amazon special)
Blogs – Free
Photography – Free (once you have a camera)
Perusing Barnes & Noble – 1hr – Usually Free
Video Games – 1hr
Sim City 3000 (me) – Free
Tony Hawk’s Underground (me) – Free
Diner Dash (her) – Free
Music — 30min
Piano (her) – Free
Guitar (me) – Free
Visiting the famous Salt Lake City Library – 1hr – Free
Board Games – 1hr – Free
Scrabble
Phase 10/Skipbo (Nice because you don’t have to think)
5 Stone
Watch the athletes practice arial ski jumping at Olympic Park – 2hr – Cost of gas to get to Park City
Peruse the photo galleries/specialty shops in Park City – 2hr – gas
Sledding – 1hr – Free
Pretend Furniture Shopping – 1hr – Free
Go to the Coffee Shop that has a greenhouse – 1hr — $6