Fun Frugal Friday

Ahhhh… it’s almost the weekend, and you and your family/friends have been working hard all week.  Time to relax, kick back and enjoy your life a bit.  So on this first weekend of Spring (after an excruciatingly looonggg winter), what can you do that doesn’t involve a screen or a lot of money? 

How about planning a weekend picnic?  Gather family or just meet up with friends and do a pot-luck picnic in the park.  Nothing elaborate, just some sandwiches and salad – toss around a football or baseball or Frisbee, go for a walk/hike, bring the dog.  If you are blessed to own a grill and have a deck or patio or yard, grill up a yummy meal to start off the season – oh won’t it smell just grand?!?!? 

Start to look around your favorite home store like Lowes for spring flowers, bulbs, herbs.  You don’t have to buy anything – just think about what you’d like to put in a garden or flower bed and begin planning it out.  Maybe get one small little pot of daffodils or herbs to brighten up your kitchen.

Check out local activities in the newspaper or online.  Libraries, museums, zoos, nearby places of interest.  Any Spring festivals going on? 

Have an impromptu night with the girls.  Choose someone’s home, pot-luck the food, maybe do a vision board together (check out my posting on vision boards – click HERE).  You could even do it as a family, or with the hubs.  It could be a lot of fun.

If you are blessed to have a fireplace, snuggle up and make s’mores and put on some background music and just… gasp… talk!  Imagine that!

Do an old-fashioned game night with family, friends, neighbors - cards, board games, etc.  When was the last time you played Monopoly or Scrabble or gin rummy?

Make plans for lunch with friends after worship service – or invite a single person/student over to your place.  Reach out and get to know someone new and find ways to bless them this weekend.

Take your journal, a devotional book/Bible/inspirational reading, and go spend time outdoors in the local park and just “BE”!  Write down all your blessings, your hopes, dreams, prayers, goals.  Write down what you see around you – birds chirping, the flowers peeking out from their winter slumbers, new buds on the trees… be mindful and intentional of the sights, sounds, scents around you. 

Take a drive “down the shore” as we say here in New Jersey.  Walk along the boardwalk and enjoy the ocean.  I love walking along the ocean when it’s still cold, with a big cup of tea in my hand.  Ahhhh…. Let those negative ions sooth away your tension.

Whatever you choose, make it a point to be outside and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation this weekend, and spend time with those you love.  Spring is a time of rebirth, renewal and restoration.  Celebrate this season of new beginnings this weekend by loving on yourself and those around you.

Be blessed and be healthy,

Coach Linda Bush