Ways to Balance a Tight Budget and a Social Life

Want to hang out with friends but short on cash? Here are ways to balance a tight budget so your social life doesn't become an expensive burden, and you can still have fun while spending less!

1. Explore natural scenery more

One the best ways to balance a tight budget and a social life is to take advantage of the free, or very cheap opportunities to explore your surroundings and get outside. Rather than spending lots of money to do an over-priced activity indoors, you could get some friends together and go on a walk in the park or enjoy a picnic together.

I find that visiting the mountains or a lake with some friends is a fun activity that never really gets boring. You'll likely have natural wonders that are unique to the area you live in, so why not take a drive out and stop somewhere beautiful and relaxing.

2. Coffee dates vs full-on restaurant

You can also reduce your social expenses by swapping a three-course meal in a restaurant with a simpler option. Instead, you could meet with a friend and visit your favourite coffee shop or a new one that you'd like to check out.

By doing this, you can reduce the costs dramatically. You could have lunch at home, then meet with a friend later in the afternoon at like 3 or 4 pm. Buying a coffee and a slice of red velvet cake is a lot cheaper than going for a full-on meal at a restaurant.

However, you're still getting out of the house, meeting up with a friend, and having a treat. It can be just as enjoyable, especially knowing that this alternative is much easier on your wallet.

3. Keep an eye out for free events

Yet another way to balance a tight budget and a social life is to look out for free events in your area. These can be great places to check out with your friends, and often involve cultural experiences that you can learn a lot from. But you've normally got to do a bit of looking and researching to find such opportunities. Be sure to do a google search of free events on in your city and/or check the official website of the city you live in.

There are often plenty of opportunities for exploration, such as going to free art galleries in your city or free concerts in the park. Bring along some friends to have fun and see what's going on, and you may end up making pleasant memories and having a new recommendation to add to your list.

4. Don't feel like you've got to go to everything...

As much as it is nice to go out once in a while, you shouldn't feel forced to go to absolutely every event that you get invited to.

Having social plans back-to-back can definitely be quite tiring, so make sure that you give yourself time to rest and recover. This will also help you to save money. For instance, if you just came back from vacation 2 days ago, this weekend might not be the best time to accept an invitation to go and eat out at a fancy restaurant.

At the end of the day, you have to decide what you feel comfortable with, when to say yes to an offer and when to make arrangements for another time.

5. Organize a home dinner where everyone brings a dish

Another option for trying to reduce expenses while still having fun is to organize a buffet or potluck where you invite 3 or 4 of your friends and get everyone to bring a dish. This is a fun and creative idea that involves everyone and can be more interesting than just going to a restaurant.

Having such a dinner at home will also help to cut down costs. You could perhaps set up a theme for the dishes, for instance they all have to include cheese or do a twist and insist that none of the dishes can contain an ingredient like potato. This could be an interesting way to get your friends thinking and have everyone experimenting in their kitchen and sharing the results.

You might even choose to have everyone make a dish from a different country. All in all, organizing a meal at home with your friends is a great chance to perhaps try a completely new dish and have a laugh with your loved ones.

6. Wait till the movie comes out on DVD (or Netflix)

Going to the movie theatre can be quite expensive sometimes, especially if you get invited multiple times in a month. Instead of watching a movie at a high cost and then feeling pressured to buy over-priced snacks at the cinema, you could decide to wait until it comes out on DVD or on Netflix if you have it.

Get together with some friends, preferably ones who haven't seen the movie either, and get some popcorn and snacks ready. It's totally worth the wait when you calculate how much money you've saved and sometimes it is just more relaxing to watch a film from the comfort of your own home and have the "theatre" to yourself, aha.