Rising Tide Blog

How to be a social butterfly on a budget

Posted by Matt Hale

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If you’re on a budget, chances are you sometimes have to say no to social outings with friends.  Dinners out, nights on the town, movie tickets – they’re not cheap and they all add up.  It’s never a nice to wake up in the morning and realise you’ve spent your whole month’s entertainment budget on one night out!

Thankfully, you don’t have to exclude yourself from catch ups with your friends completely.  You just need to get a little bit creative with the types of social activities you suggest.

Here’s a few of my low-cost faves that you might want to try out:

Start a My Kitchen Rules competition with your mates and schedule in regular dinner parties  

Take turns cooking a dinner for the team and give each other scores out of 10.  If you’re like me, things can get pretty competitive pretty quickly!  This is a great way to enjoy a delicious meal with your mates without the expense of eating out.

Dust off the picnic rug and head down to the nearest park for a lazy picnic

Get everyone to bring a plate and some drinks to share and it’s happy days.  Great for kids too!  Here’s a list of Melbourne’s best picnic spots.

Kick a footy around 

Remember how you used to meet your mates after school for a run around and a kick?  Why oh why do we stop doing these things?  Time to reintroduce the ritual.  You’ll have a laugh and get some exercise at the same time.

Invite your mates around for a gardening day  

We spend so much time at our desks and behind computer screens these days that getting outside and getting our hands dirty is a real treat.  Why not get the team together to knock over a specific project like a new vegie garden, reinvigorating the nature strip with some guerrilla gardening or planting a new flower bed.

Get out and explore

We’re lucky to have some of the most pristine bush tracks in the world in Australia.  What could be better than spending your weekends exploring them?  Visit the Bushwalking Australia website for a complete guide to the tracks in your area.

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