Ten free winter activities

A reader writes in: “It seems like so many people who write in are caught up in our consumer-driven society, and I think we all struggle sometimes with having “nothing better to do” than shop. Besides contributing to rampant debt, shopping is like an addiction that satisfies boredom, and leads to fake fulfilment and non-productivity. But it has to be enjoyable – “extreme” anti-consumerism can go too far. We need to talk more about the world of options of hobbies and activities to replace shopping.”

This reader went on to mention several activities that they enjoy, some of which overlap with the ones I mention below.

While I see where this reader is coming from, I don’t fully agree. I think there are a lot of activities that people engage in besides shopping that are regular money drains, such as playing golf, going out to eat, going to coffee shops, going to the movies, and so on.

Whenever an experience requires you to spend money, requires you to spend additional money beyond what you would normally spend, or heavily involves spending money, you should rethink whether or not you want to engage in that activity. Instead, it’s really worth your time to find things you enjoy doing that don’t involve spending money.

It would be easy for me to just start listing outdoor activities. I love spending time outdoors. I love taking walks in parks, playing soccer with my children, coaching youth sports, going swimming at one of the many lakes here in Iowa, going camping… the list goes on and on.

However, if you live in a winter climate like I do, you’re finding yourself stuck with indoor activities right now, so I’m going to name ten things I enjoy doing for little or no cost in the winter. These are all things that I fill my time with indoors, and each of them has little or no cost.

I don’t expect you’ll enjoy all of these. Instead, I suggest reading all of these and trying one or two of them (or more, if you like). Everyone is different and everyone has different passions.

Play a board or card game
 First of all, if you associate board games and card games with endless, boring games of Monopoly from your youth, you’re missing out. Monopoly was first published in an early version in 1910. Comparing Monopoly to a modern board game is like comparing a Model T to a Lexus.

Try playing a more modern board game, like Settlers of Catan or Ticket to Ride. Look for a local hobby shop in your area and ask for a demonstration of the game if you don’t have access to a copy, just to see if you enjoy it. Board games can make for a great holiday gift.

If nothing else, a standard $1 deck of playing cards can provide lots and lots of gaming. You can play poker, euchre, pitch, bridge, rummy… the list goes on and on. There are also many, many solitaire games to play.

Read (or re-read) a book
 My shelves have quite a few great unread books sitting on them, right next to a big pile of some of the greatest books I’ve ever read. There are few better ways to burn a few hours than to read a great book.

If you don’t have any books available to you, visit your local library. There are thousands upon thousands of books available there for free borrowing.

I could list hundreds of books that I’ve enjoyed over the years. The key, though, is to find something you enjoy, whether it’s something challenging or a complete page-turner.

Thoroughly clean a room in your house
 Whenever I thoroughly clean a room in my home, I feel really good. Not just because of the exercise I got from cleaning the room with a good tempo, but from the enjoyment of having an uncluttered and very clean area in my home.

By cleaning, I don’t just mean dusting and vacuuming. I also mean getting rid of items that you don’t want or don’t use any more. A cleaned room generally has far less stuff in it compared to when you started.

This is just a great way to spend an afternoon. It makes your living quarters that much better and it can give you a good workout, too.

Make a great meal using what’s in your pantry
 It’s easy to go out to eat… but that’s going to eat up money. It’s also easy to just go to the store and pick up a premade meal… but, again, that’s going to eat up money. Not only that, both of these options don’t help you learn how to prepare food or use up the multitude of things you have in your cupboard.

Making a meal from the items you have on hand can be a bit of a challenge, but it can be very rewarding, too. It gets some of the unused items out of your pantry and results in a delicious meal for you and your family.

Quite often, this ends up being close to a “free” meal because the items you use are things that would have otherwise never been used.

Make some homemade gifts
 Homemade gifts are a great way to cut back on your budget while also producing something that the recipient will actually want and value. Instead of throwing your money at a person, you’re throwing some of your time, which often means a lot more.

There are a lot of great homemade gifts you can make, from jars filled with soup mix to original examples of any art that you’re skilled at.

The key is to invest the time to make it well, and to make something that the recipient will value. Do both of those and you’ll create something memorable out of your spare time.

Learn about a topic you’ve always been curious about
 Most of us have some degree of curiosity and find ourselves wondering about some topic or another. There are few better ways to spend an idle hour or two than learning more about that topic.

The easiest way to do this is to start at Wikipedia, type in your topic, and start reading. Remember that this is a starting point – if you begin to dig deep into a topic, it’s often a good idea to move on to books on the topic.

I actually do this quite often. Recently, I’ve been learning about specific philosophers, using the entry on Wikipedia as a starting point and moving on to their writings.

Host a potluck dinner
 A potluck dinner simply means that you invite friends over and have them each bring a dish. Together, you have a varied and delicious meal.

This is actually a great way to spend an evening socially without spending much money at all. Generally, you’re only in charge of one or two items which you can prepare or buy in bulk. In exchange for that, you get a great meal and an evening with friends.

We host potluck dinners about once a month. They’re always quite fun, and they often end up with a bunch of us sitting around a table playing a game, laughing and joking with each other.

Do volunteer work for a political campaign
 If there’s a candidate or cause you believe in, donate your time from home to work for this campaign. There are always tasks that political campaigns would love to have volunteers for.

In the past, volunteers have written letters on behalf of candidates or issues, made phone calls, stuffed envelopes, maintained social media tools, and countless other little tasks that campaigns need fulfilled.

Most of these tasks can be done from home. I know one person who used to stuff envelopes for her preferred candidates. They would drop off reams of papers and envelopes and she’d prepare the documents and mail them for the campaign. She loved doing it.

Make a yearly calendar
 This is a project that I do each year. We still rely on a wall calendar, so one afternoon, I’ll sit down and transfer all of the birthdays and other events from the previous year’s calendar to the new one. I’ll also incorporate things from my own personal Google calendar.

It can be quite a task when you fill in birthdays, anniversaries, and other such events. I like to write in reminders of those events a week in advance so that I remember to pick up a card or a gift if needed. I also like to note other important things, like key dates on our children’s academic calendars and the like.

This can take several hours, but a calendar with all of your important dates on it can be a godsend. You’ll find yourself relying on it so much that the time you invested up front will repay itself in a smoother life and better relationships throughout the year.

Get rid of your unwanted stuff
 Virtually all of us have unwanted stuff in our home – old stuff filling up the closet, items that we might use “someday” but really won’t, items from abandoned hobbies that might have value.

If you haven’t used an item or really thought about it in a year, it’s probably safe to get rid of it. Once you make that decision, you have several options. You can sell it, you can donate it to Goodwill, or you can simply toss it in the trash.

Even with the options that don’t involve receiving money for the item, you’re still improving your life because you’re decreasing clutter. If you’re making money from it, too, all the better.

There are countless things to do with your time without spending money. The key is to just find things that you enjoy and do them.