by Linda L Kinyon

Created on: December 19, 2008

Holidays are a time to reconnect with friends and family, but it doesn't have to be expensive to have fun. Entertainment can be as inexpensive as you make it. I have found some great ways to enjoy time with my friends and family and not spend a lot of money in doing so.

One of our favorite ways is to have everyone bring something and have a dinner. Someone brings rolls, someone else might bring salad, someone else might bring a meat item (often we break this into a few people to help defray costs) and then beverages such as coffee, tea or lemonade are often on the menu. Choose a movie that is already in you or your friends library and sit back and enjoy. What a great way to spend time together as a group and keep the costs down.

Have a snow man building contest. Gather friends and family and divide up into groups. Each group has an assignment to build a snow man (or snow family) and set a time limit. After the contest judge each groups accomplishments and have a special prize for the winning group. The prize can be as simple as the winners get the first mug of hot cocoa or cider. Be sure to have everyone bring some cookies, cider or cocoa and you have another winning entertaining afternoon.

Throw a decorating party. Invite your closest friends and/or family and decorate your house with your decorations. Plan an evening of nachos or some easy finger food and enjoy the great company of your family and friends while you get your decorations up. Funny though, when it comes time to take your decorations down everyone will most likely be busy.

Take the family to a matine at your local theater. Matine prices are much less expensive than regular prices and you often beat the crowds. Plan your day around the matine and enjoy an earlier or later lunch (that naturally since you are so wise you packed yourself) and you will have a wonderful time and save a lot of money on the cost of your theater ticket. Often as much as $5 per person.

Wait til after dark and take a drive around your neighborhood and look at all of the wonderful Christmas lights your neighbors have put up. Some areas have entire neighborhoods that really go all out to decorate for the holiday season. One year I was really really down and out financially and I took my young son on a drive to a beautifully decorated neighborhood. Someone had Christmas carols playing in the neighborhood and several of the houses actually had parking areas so you could park and then walk through yards of beautifully decorated scenes. It was a great bonus to me that they did not charge anything (though they did accept donations) for this excursion. My son and I had a wonderful time and after an hour or so we went home and had cocoa and cider and some cookies. He raved about it for many Christmases after that year. I smile because it didn't cost me anymore than a gallon of gas and he had such a wonderful time. Inexpensive indeed.

It doesn't have to be expensive to have a good time.

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