Things to do on a limited budget

Our newest IP 10 blogging assignment is to create a list of things to do on a limited budget.  This post will be written in numbered list form.  Please remember proper spelling and grammar, capitalization, etc. as you are writing your list.  This isn't as formal as an English essay, but it should not look like a lazy text message.  Be as creative as you want with your ideas; we will be going through each other's blogs in the next class period to comment on these posts, share our favourites, and generally give each other a thumbs up for all the awesome brainpower we have displayed.  Woohoo!

Here's my list!

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1. Paint your toenails like Smarties (a different colour for each of the 10!).  Bonus points if you have an extra toe!
2. Paint your toenails like a piano (white, black, white, black, white, white....)
3. Read a book
4. Clean your room, or a spot in your house that has been neglected for a while
5. Learn to play an instrument.  Put on a concert!
6. Sign up to volunteer at an organization that resonates with you (SPCA for animal lovers, Food Bank for humanitarians, Rawlinson Centre for musicians and actors, hospital for people lovers, etc.)
7. Pick up a new hobby like sewing, crocheting, tap dancing, soccer, speed skating... the possibilities are endless!
8. Plan a trip to your dream destination
9. Write a snail mail letter to a friend
10. Edit photos online
11. Go for a walk in a new neighbourhood
12. Go out for coffee at a new coffee shop in town, or at a place that you pass by all the time but never stop at
13. Experiment with fun make-up or hair colours/styles
14. Go through your closet and get rid of what you don't need.  Donate your used items to Value Village, or have a "swap party" with a group of friends.  Everyone brings their old stuff and you trade each other for things you want.  One person's junk is another's treasure!
15. Organize a potluck dinner.  It'll end up a huge meal for a fraction of the price!  Not to mention the awesome company of your super cool friends.
16. Lay in the grass and watch for shapes in the clouds
17. Take pictures of interesting things.  Little Red has some great nature spots!
18. Update your resume and consider applying for a job (this is a great way to increase your "limited budget!")
19. Watch a movie
20. Tackle that big organization project that you've been meaning to do (cleaning out your binders and putting new divider pages in, finding matches for all of the single socks in your drawer, filing your papers away, updating your iTunes account, deleting old files from the computer that you don't need anymore, etc.)
21. Write a poem
22. Learn all the words to a song you like to sing along to (but that you never seem to remember all the words)
23. Learn how to make friendship bracelets from embroidery thread.  Make a bunch for your friends in their favourite colours.
24. Go on a photo/video scavenger hunt with your friends.  Create a set list of challenges before you go, then (in teams or alone) try to find and record everything on your list.  This is a SUPER fun challenge and costs you nothing, except for gas money if you're driving.
25. Have a relaxing spa bath with bubbles
26. Go for a nature hike
27. Put a blanket in the dryer for 10 minutes, then wrap yourself up in it and watch TV on the couch.  This is the supreme lazy, guilty pleasure for those cold winter months.
28. Make somebody a homemade gift
29. Organize a traveling dinner party with your friends.  One person is responsible for making salads and appetizers.  One is in charge of main course.  Another is in charge of dessert.  Another does drinks.  Travel from one house to the other and enjoy a great meal, with the only cost involved being your portion of the meal and gas money.
30. Go for a run to work off the effects of #29.  :o)
31. Or, just get into your pyjamas and enjoy a lazy night at home.  Putter around the house and do whatever you feel like doing.  Glorious!
32. Go for a walk in a field with a friend and have a portrait photo shoot
33. Learn to bake or cook something new using ingredients that you already have in the house.  If you can't find a recipe that uses those ingredients, start experimenting and come up with your own masterpiece (or culinary flop... that's fun too)!
34. Grab some friends and learn a new piece of music in 3- or 4-part harmony.  Record it!
35. Use your digital camera and your creative genius to make a music video with a group of your best friends.  Pretend that you're a famous band and go for it!
36. Practice increasing your typing speed on the internet
37. Write in a journal
38. Plan a surprise party for someone close to you
39. Find some free attractions or events in your city such as museums, galleries, concerts, or tours.  Acting as a tourist in a place that you know so well may just result in you learning something new about your own hometown!
40. Write a time capsule - a letter to yourself, as you exist today, and seal it away in an envelope marked for you to open in 10 years.  Open it 10 years later and smile as you remember how you used to be.  :o)