With the current times, we especially need things to distract from our stressful situations or lives and to entertain ourselves in any free time that may arise. In fact, even making some time out of your daily schedule to do something you enjoy can benefit your mental health pretty greatly or help to improve bonding between family and household units.
But spending money on things to entertain us can get pretty annoying quickly, and can harm those of you out there that have to keep to a strict budget to get by. So how do you find entertainment and fun in our home without spending your hard-earned money or the money allotted to bills and expenses? Here are some great started ideas for free or cheap ways to stay entertained at home.
Reading
Books may not be your cup of tea, but reading is incredibly beneficial for your mind and can actually bring some nice nostalgia or good feelings and knowledge to the table for your day or week. You can read a book you read as a kid for a boost of nostalgic happiness, or try to read something new (fiction or informational!) if you’re up for it. You also can spend a small amount of money or look on YouTube for audiobooks, if reading isn’t your favorite thing or is draining.
Journal or Write
Writing is definitely something we all tend to think of as boring or tasking to do, but it can be made into an interesting activity alone or with others. You can look for fun, brain picking, or unique writing prompts anywhere online to try to get some flow started. And this can be something done alone or with others as an activity, way to de-stress, refocus after a long day, or absolutely anything else that may help you.
Learn New Things
Those of us out there that love to yearn for knowledge and find new and interesting things to learn, spending some time to educate yourself on a new hobby or topic can be excellent entertainment. You can do this through reading, online videos or articles, practice if it’s an involved hobby like gardening, art, or other topics, and so much more. Not only can learning something new alone or together help entertain you it will also give your brain stimulation.
Revamp Surroundings
We all get a little bored or suffocated by our living situation or rooms, and usually just keep muddling through that to keep our routines moving and not focus on it. But cleaning, reorganizing, making new things for décor, painting or something for decoration sakes, or other activities can be quite fun if you do it right. Try playing fun music or an audio book while you revamp your home, or looking for DIYs online that can help you improve the space.
Staying home has come as a surprise and a necessity for millions of people around the world from the pandemic that hit hard in 2020 and continues to show its face through most of 2021 as well as with the overall cultural shift towards more at home focused jobs, schooling, and more. It can be great to spend time with your household more, or to be able to try something new more like at home work, homeschooling your kids some, cooking for meals, or anything else that appeals to you.
But we also struggle to find ways to have fun and entertain ourselves without the ability or wishes to leave the house, and without having to spend a bunch of money on supplies or other things. So hopefully this list gives you some good free and cheap at home entertainment.