What activity do you find to do, that is fun and inexpensive...under $20 a person?

[SavingSweetOneL]

Hi All,

This has come up for me a few times through the media, as to what are fun activies people can do, that are inexpensive.

Any suggestions for a person on thier own, in a couple, and for 3 or more.

Thanks.

SweetOneL

[disneysteve]

There are a ton of activities that are under $20/person.

Going to the movies or having people over to watch a rented DVD
Playing mini golf
Going on a hike or bike ride
Going ice or roller skating
Playing virtually any sport
Having people over for dinner
Attend community theater, concerts, etc.
Attend public events at churches or synagogues
Take an adult education class

I could go on and on but I'll stop there for now. I think with a $20 budget, the possibilities are nearly endless.

[creditcardfree]

Our family has been playing Scrabble a lot. Board games and card games can be found used online and at garage sales. Even one game purchased at the store would qualify under your criteria.

[SeanH]

(1) The movies. Sneak in your own snacks.
(2) Most zoos.
(3) Christmas light neighborhood viewing. Drive around looking at other people's decorations.
(4) Public art. This morning I took my wife to a free public art exhibit in downtown Des Moines. Then we walked around for awhile. I offered to buy coffee, but she declined.

[elessar78]

There are plenty of discount cinemas around that show old flicks for a fraction of new movies.

Go for a hike or go camping—but those can be expensive too if you don't have gear. But for a basic hike, all you need is a pair of feet.

[snafu]

Adding to those already mentioned: check on-line for programs/events by Parks and Recreation. Neighborhood libraries usually have experts and volunteers to demonstrate skills or crafts and Talk about topics of interest like Finance or Income tax. High schools and Community Colleges offer sports, science fairs, concerts and live theatre productions. Beauty College do manicure/pedicure for about $20. The malls offer seasonal events, fashion shows, food tasting all free. Just now our nearby mall has people made up and costumed like statues who entertain us. Most entertaining are the people trying to get the human 'statues' to break pose. 2nd most entertaining is seeing the shock on a kiddies face when one of the 'statues' wink at them!

Lots of nearby communities/suburbs run events to promote their history or special feature. It's really fun to see what communities like to promote. Nearby community of Vulcan for example holds a Star Trek festival every year. Visitors from around the world dress up like Star trek characters or their view of a Star Trek character.

DH likes to go to Farmer's Markets, the real ones where farm wives, Hutterities, Aimish type groups sell produce from their community. Start looking for events that are of interest to you. If you work as a volunteer, you get free admission to concerts/events.

[marvholly]

Library FREE concerts 1st Sun most months, a few other Sun sometimes
Library FREE movies most Friday eves (some family ok)
Park District Cheap plays 3-4x/year
Park District weekly FREE summer concerts 7/4-8/31
Senior Center FREE movies 2x/month Wed afternoons

The above are my town. Nearby towns also have events I can usually attend FREE.

Hot Tix for off, off shows CHEAP

Groupon type deals for shows & dining

[humandraydel]

There is 1 FREE, fun activity that got me and all my friends through college: frisbee golf!

And, it's actually fun by yourself or with others.

[susie michelle]

We are a family of five, and we have found so many fun things to do for less than $20. First, we walk just about everywhere. That's half the fun. For example, instead of going out to breakfast, we'll walk to the market and everyone gets to pick out a piece of fruit and a drink. Then we'll have a picnic. We love to camp in the summertime and ride bikes. In the winter, we cross country ski instead of buying expensive ski passes. You can often find lots of fun things to do in your area by visiting your town or city's visitor's information kiosk. The local library generally has some great ideas and postings of free events, as well.

[sandrark]

- BOWLING! No one ever hated bowling.

- We host game nights at our place, very inexpensively. We buy pre-made pizza dough for $1 per pizza ball, and provide sauce, cheese, and beer. Our friends bring one topping, and a game. Hilarity ensues.

- We've also hosted movie days - we rent 2-3 movies with a theme (Sean Connery; SciFi; Hitchock) and then serve bagels and OJ and mimosas. We ask people to bring an item for the BBQ, and we provide beverages and chips.

- Card nights. I miss these, we used to play fiercely with DH's grandparents. All we needed was a deck of cards, and a bag of Rolos to share.

[nalidixic]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned geo caching yet. You need either a phone with GPS capabilities or a hiking GPS unit. Once you have those though it's free and tons of fun!

Check out this site for more info.

Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site