Money Matters
Having Fun On A Budget!
By MaccWeb
Jul 22, 2010, 11:22

The purse strings may be tight, but that's no excuse to stop having fun. Being on a budget just means you have to get more creative, and Maccweb Scoops have put together an ideas list to give you a hand!

Come Dine with me!

Instead of spending money on meals out with friends, why not host your own series of come dine with me! Each person/couple/family takes it in turns to host their own dinner party, and the guests judge their culinary efforts out of ten. The winning chef or cookery team will then have the honour and satisfaction of knowing they're the Gordon Ramsay of their friendship group! To keep the food costs low but the quality high, visit ALDI to pick up some delicious bargains that could be from M&S they taste so great!

Bake yourself Happy

Baking is a seriously under-estimated past-time, and nothing is more trendy now than cute, kitsch cupcakes. We won't try and pretend this is one for the men, but the kids will love it, and we're pretty sure adults will too! The Maccweb Wot-Nots tester girls are all in their 20's and loved spending a nostalgic day whipping up colourful cakes and licking the spoon! They also found that taking photos of their colourful creations gave them them some gorgeous images to make into greetings cards and wall-art, no artistic skill necessary! See below for a simple recipe to get you started.

Basic Cupcake and Frosting:

CAKES: 3 Large Eggs, 250g caster sugar, 1tsp Vanilla Sugar, 100g butter, 100ml milk, 250g plain flour, 2 tsp baking powder, zest and juice of 1 lemon.

FROSTING: 60g softened butter, 300g icing sugar, 1 tsp Vanilla Sugar, 1 tsp lemon juice, 100g cream cheese, few drops of food colouring, decorative sprinkles for the top.

Vintage film night

play.com have old-school DVDS for less than a fiver - most of them are cheaper than a rental and are yours to keep! Getting a classic movie like Scarface or The Godfather beats the cinema any day, and they have the quotability factor - 'say hello to my little friend', indeed! All you need are some chips, dips and punch and it's the cinema in your own home! Never under-estimate the deliciousness of basic tortilla crisps, you'd never know the difference!

Country Bumpkins

We're surrounded by beautiful countryside, so get out there and make the most of it! You don't need the sunshine, you just need your friends and family to make this fun! If it's raining, put on a coat! Macclesfield forest is just one example of a lovely walk whatever the weather, and with the Leather Smithy waiting for you afterwards you can burn off calories walking and have a drink at the end of it - sounds better than pricey gym membership and a lucozade doesn't it?!

Get a hobby!

You only have to look at the wealth of free activities advertised on Maccweb to realise there's loads going on out there! So why not take the plunge and try something new - if its not for you, then try something else! You may well find a hobby you love and make new friends out of it, and if not then at least you've given it a go and had a laugh in the process. Take it in turns between you and your friends to pick an obscure hobby to try your hand at, you'll be surprised at how fun this can be.

Jump Aboard!

Book yourself a train ticket in advance, go somewhere new, and explore! train tickets booked a month or so ahead can be dirt cheap, and Macclesfield is on the direct line to so many places, each offering something exciting to do! Nearly everywhere has places of interest that are cheap to visit, so really get to know your country!

Any other ideas you can share with Maccweb readers then send them to us - geoff@maccweb.org.uk - and we'll get them posted.