Fun Things To Do For FREE (or close to it)
In a tight economic time, a lot of people are getting very creative about how they spend their time and money. Let's face it, we all want to have fun – even more so when the money is tight and times are stressful! Here are some ways that I have seen people having fun and it is costing them NOTHING (or next to it).
- Pick-up basketball games at the local park
- Library visits – just to peruse the books, magazines, and check out free movies
- Bake a new dish using stuff that is already in the pantry and freezer
- Take the train downtown to people watch – I LOVE doing this in Chicago!
- Pull up Hulu.com and catch up on some old shows (like T.J. Hooker!)
- Start a blog
- Dig up some trees out of a ditch and transplant them into your yard
- Take time to pet the dog and cat
- Volunteer at a local community center, food pantry, or animal shelter
- Clean up the yard
- Attack one room in the house and reorganize it
Those are a few ideas. What are your favorite things to do that cost little or no money?
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SERIES: Top 5 Things People Lack In Their Financial Plan RECAP
So that's it for the Top 5 Things People Lack In Their Financial Plan series! I hope that it has been a help for you. Below is a recap of the Top 5 Things (plus the Bonus one).
- A monthly written spending plan
- A plan to get out of debt
- A written will
- Term life insurance
- Savings account (with money in it!)
BONUS: Health Insurance
SERIES: Top 5 Things People Lack In Their Financial Plan BONUS
Over the past two and a half years, this crusade has been able to reach tens of thousands of people. I was recently reflecting on the top things that I see most commonly lacking in folks' financial plans. So here are the top five things I see lacking.
BONUS for self-employed Health Insurance
I know what you are saying already. You are saying, "It is so horribly expensive!" I would say, "I KNOW it is horribly expensive, but it is way MORE EXPENSIVE to NOT have health insurance."
Half of all bankruptcies are due to medical bills. Why did the medical bills happen? Because of the lack of health insurance.
I personally like High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) with an attached Health Savings Account (HSA). The cost of this insurance is much more affordable, and, frankly, it is a better deal for the consumer!
I really like eHealthInsurance's interface for finding insurance. You only have to provide basic information (and not your contact info – yay!) unless you want to share more info!
Check out the health insurance quotes HERE.
SERIES: Top 5 Things People Lack In Their Financial Plan 5
Over the past two and a half years, this crusade has been able to reach tens of thousands of people. I was recently reflecting on the top things that I see most commonly lacking in folks’ financial plans. So here are the top five things I see lacking.
Part Five Savings Account (with money in it!)
I used to operate with an average bank balance of $4.13 in it (can I get a witness). I celebrated because it was positive!
But the lack of savings led to numerous negative financial issues. Every single time that life happened (sick child, refrigerator died, car broke down, etc.), I would have no money. As a result, I would put the bill on the credit card. The cycle of debt spiraled out of control.
Every time I had a problem, I had two problems. I would have a sick child problem and a money problem. I would have a refrigerator problem and a money problem. ARGH!
A healthy savings account solved my problem. Instead of blowing my tax refund in February 2003, I put it into savings. We never acquired debt from that day forward. Has life stopped happening? NOPE! BUT we have money to fix it!
A savings account with money in it has been the greatest stress-reliever we could ever purchase!
Jenn and I keep our money in on-line savings accounts at three different on-line banks. They pay interest that is five to eight times above the national average and are very flexible to use.
You can check out the three banks we have savings account with HERE.
SERIES: Top 5 Things People Lack In Their Financial Plan 4
Over the past two and a half years, this crusade has been able to reach tens of thousands of people. I was recently reflecting on the top things that I see most commonly lacking in folks’ financial plans. So here are the top five things I see lacking.
Part Four Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance is too cheap to not have it. When you have people who are dependent upon you for your income, term life insurance is a great way to provide for them in the event of your untimely death.
You can obtain free quotes without talking to anyone HERE.
I personally carry ten times my annual take home pay in 30-year Level Term Life Insurance. It is SO cheap. My bride is a homemaker. Even though she does not produce an income, she is invaluable at what she does! If she would die an untimely death, it would take tons of money to replace the work that she does.
I have seen so many instances where someone has died an untimely death and left a financial mess for their surviving family members. Term life insurance takes care of the financial issues so that the family can focus on grieving!
So today’s challenge is to get your new quotes and put your policy into effect!