By: Revanche

Leisure time and free entertainment

January 8, 2010

TGIF!  Does everyone have exciting weekend plans? I might, a few of us might meet in the middle and visit with a friend back in town from one of the Dakotas.

It’s funny, back when I was working 60-, 70-, and 80-hour weeks, I had completely forgotten what leisure looked like.  My hobbies were eating and sleeping until I worked again.  Nowadays, I spread out my fun throughout the week since I’m living a somewhat freelance life.  In no particular order ….

1.  Hulu
Instead of watching real TV, I poke around on Hulu for a few shows to eat watch while I’m eating lunch or dinner at my desk.  Sadly, the selection has been poor lately.  It might just be because we’re between seasons or post-holiday or some such but I also wish they would have more past seasons available.

2.  Library
I’ve been a regular at our local library these past months for the free wi-fi when my internet was down, and for the books.  Our library is pretty populated during the days, more than I would have expected, but then again I was never in there when I still worked full time.

3.  Fighting with the TreasuryDirect site
I always forget my password, I hate checking on my bond there.  I should never have bothered to convert, cashing out the bond or checking on the current price online was so much easier when it was paper.

4.  Job Hunting, related jobby activities
It’s only mildly entertaining but I do it every day.  And it’s free.  So there you go.  (Actually it doesn’t belong on this list at all since I don’t do it for FUN.)

5.  Blogging, twittering, reading online
Major time killer, and I’m even mildly productive.  Some days, wildly so. 

6.  Coupon clipping
Yes, it’s a precursor to spending, but not always my spending. Sometimes I’m just collecting coupons for MoneyMateKate’s Robin Hooding.  I only CVS/Walgreen’s Rewards if my deals are all-inclusive: the coupons cover what I need and the rewards generated are used for another upcoming deal for something I need. My attention span’s short these days so I don’t commit to big deals and rounds.

7. Walking
If I have to run errands within a 1.5 mile radius, I’ll walk to and from.  As I work on my stamina, the amount of time spent in transit will improve.

8. Playing with my finances
Most everything’s automated really, so I take the pulse every few days and keep an eye out for possible improvements or possible revenue generators.

9. Grooming the dogs
Very gently and very carefully; that dog’s a walking fluff-ball and loves to be loved on.

10. Pro bono work 
Friends and family often call on me for assistance in my areas of expertise: organizing moves, bargain hunting, setting up relatively new tech (not that I’m any expert, but I do have the time to figure it out), vetting college or med school applications, drafting official letters for Causes, spending time with lonely folk, etc. 

As you can see, it’s not terribly exciting over here, but I keep pretty busy without spending much money.  I am getting itchy feet again, though, I had a quick Chuck-style flash about spending some time overseas last night.  If that could be managed while avoiding airports and flying entirely, I’d totally be in.

6 Responses to “Leisure time and free entertainment”

  1. No big plan for the weekend, just hanging out with Chad. And cursing myself for setting a goal to not buy any new clothes this month.

  2. RC says:

    Man, I hope you meant “a few shows to watch”.

    There’s a decent amount of older SyFy (nee SciFi) shows on there. And there’s usually the last five televised episodes of some of the newer stuff. I’ve mainly been using Hulu to catch up on shows that I had never really started on.

  3. Revanche says:

    @paranoidasteroid: LOL, have you been online window shopping?

    @RC: Whoops!! I did indeed, corrected above. 🙂

    The only real problem with Hulu is when you get into a show they’ve only got the last five episodes listed. But then I can fill in the gaps other ways.

  4. I’ve been spending w-a-a-a-y too much time in front of the computer monitor. Yesterday after getting up from 8 or 9 hours of surfing/blogging/bill-paying/money-counting/pro-bono editing for former employees, I decided that I’ve got to start making DAILY lists of things to do, and the lists need to include fun stuff, or at least get-off-the-duff activities.

    Speaking of the which, it’s past time to take the dog for a walk. 🙂

  5. Miss M says:

    What is this leisure time you speak of? I enjoyed my brief stints of unemployment, I caught up on my sleep, my reading and took great care of myself. I would exercise every day, it was great. If only I could earn a full time salary working half time, that would be perfect.

    We’re going to Michaels for my DIY wedding project, I’m way too obssessed with wedding crap right now. Then out to lunch with my mom, her BF doesn’t like to go out to eat so we indulge her. Have a great weekend!

  6. Revanche says:

    @Funny about Money: Somehow that sounds nothing like leisure time, but it’s not really a surprise. I hope your schedule loosens up soon so you can actually enjoy Bumhood!

    @Miss M: Your unemployment periods sound so stress-free!
    Are you on track with the wedding stuff?

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