Budgeting for entertainment

[pkellyc]

What does everyone do to budget for entertainment? Eating out, movies, vacations and that type of thing. I have noticed over the years that entertainment can be a real budget buster.

[Mojjo]

I include Netflix in my budget and we have a vacation club account we budget for.

As for eating out...only if we cut down on groceries for a few weeks. But we can usually fit it in to our grocery budget because it's only $30 for the four of us.

Big dinners for DH and I to celebrate something....that takes a little saving time.

[FreesiaE]

We get one vacation a year for about one week. We don't do the weekends here and there like lots of our friends do. We use our Hilton points to pay for our hotels as well. The airfare has to be reasonable as well for us to consider the location.

[Emerald_Mommy]

We use our entertainment money to eat out. We usually budget enough to see one movie (adults only, matinee) though we usually end up spending it on something else. We have a great library so we never rent movies.

We take very few vacations and have never taken a vacation where we didn't stay with family for a few days. We call vacations a "someday" thing.

We keep our eyes open for free or nearly free activities: free museums, concerts in the park, discount zoo days.

[missmollymayhem]

We plan our entertainment ahead of time. If there is a movie DD wants to see I plan well ahead of time for the money to go. I don't generally eat out- I've never really made that a priority. I do buy movies, and I've tried Netflix- mostly we just watch the videos we have.

[peanut]

Oooh! Things to do for entertainment?! I love this topic. Here's some of the things we/I do:

At home spa treatment, or, if I'm feeling flush, I drive out to a nearby spa and just soak up the waters for $6.50. I take a picnic lunch with me to eat after the spa.

Go to a local cafe for tea. I always get one of those cards where every so many drinks you get a drink free.

Go to the free art galleries...commercial and government run.

Go to the symphony and buy the cheap rush seats in the third balcony. Can't see the musicians but the music is great!

Attend amateur live theatre. Or real live theatre and buy the rush tickets again. Can't beat those $5 tickets!

Shop for me and buy something that inspires me. It doesn't have to be expensive, just nice or inspiring.

Go looking for inspiration by the creek near our home. Take a picnic lunch.

Go to the library to read magazines, newspaper, and attend programs.

Attend free art shows or opening nights at art galleries.

Go to free museums.

Make someone's favourite dish and share it with them (or mine). Things like strawberry shortcake, Boston creme pie and mochas are big hits here.

Go for a walk/hike in a new area we've never been before...with that ubiquitous picnic lunch of course.


Have a movie night at home with hm popcorn and library DVDs/videos.

Sleep out under the stars.

Go to a favourite restaurant for breakfast, lunch or coffee...all cheaper than dinner.

Go to the beach/lake/mountains.

Go to the park and feed the birds.

Go window shopping.

Go to a theatre and see a second run matinee.

Work on a puzzle together.

Bake/cook together.

Bike hikes together.

Visit historic sites that are free.

Games nights/Family nights.

Tobogganing and hot chocolate (or skating and hot chocolate).

Train watching.

Walk/bike to city bandstands on weekends to hear the free concerts.

Free workshops in big box stores.

Attend community potlucks.

Do a craft together, or recycle something....work on a project together.

Go to the go-cart track and watch the races.

Have a campfire in the backyard withwienies, marshmallows and hot chocolate.

Picking berries in the wild...or flowers.

Making homemade ice-cream in an old fashioned ice-cream freezer.

Subway Sunday...we go to Subway and eat subs...or dessert out...we walk to the DQ and order ice-cream.

Those are some of my ideas.

Jean

[missmollymayhem]

WOW! Excellent list, Jean!

[Lucky Star]

We have a set budget for entertainment each month, which includes our Netflix subscription. We have a separate budget for dining out - which includes one dinner or brunch out per month for the two of us, plus a couple of lunches with colleagues at work.

We currently don't have a vacation budget, since we've been focused on paying off debts, and haven't taken a vacation since then. But this year we are planning a major trip, so starting this month, I will include some money in our budget to be set aside for that. In the future, I will just make it a monthly item to be deposited in a separate savings account.

[mizniteowl]

Thank you for the ideas Jean! I actually totally missed budgeting money for entertainment for some reason. Too concentrated on getting the debt down. I know there will be extra money I've not counted though but not sure how much. I'll be using some of those free ideas I guess.