Friends of mine really like spending time outdoors in nature, hiking trails, finding nice spots to just sit and be in nature.

Interestingly for me, they often carry a hammock with them and when they find the most beautiful of spots, they tie it up across a couple trees and just hang out. Once they had it slung across two trees at the water’s edge and hung there above a lovely creek. They picked it up second hand, and there no cost to head out in nature with it week after week.

Utilize your local public library. Reading is a great hobby and can be done for free at any local library.

Oh, this is such a great topic for a frugal person like me. Sure, I’ll occasionally splurge on a gadget I probably don’t need, "For Research", but most of the time, I try to live simply and frugally.

I try to DIY everything. In my head, every piece of hardware, broken furniture, or random screw has a future use. My default mindset is always repair before replacing. And even if I can’t fix something, I’ll go on a mission to find some other way to use it and look for a used replacement. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad trait, but I do know it drives my wife a little nuts at times!

Still, I take pride in being the guy with the only 20-year-old Toyota on the street, rust patches and all.

Some of my most innovative workarounds in life have come about as a result of the handicap of having to spend less money. Keen to hear similar stories from others here.

They make a budget and stick to it.

I'm in a food buying club with a few dozen others. We mostly buy staples in bulk from distributors and divide things up. We'll get things like 50 pound bags of rice, 5 gallons of oil, etc. A side benefit is less plastic waste since everyone bring their own containers. An even better side benefit is that acquaintances become friends.

- Grocery shopping.

- Ride public transportation.

- Everyday sorts of maintenance (Home/auto).

They are not necessarily "interesting" but I (a low spending person) hove done, enjoyed, and gained from these activities.

I started volunteering at the local food bank. There are no restrictions on who can use the service. Some of the food availability is pretty good. I could see a $100 a week savings if I used the service.

I don’t spend much money on clothes. But bulk cotton t shirts in grey and dark grey. Three pairs of jeans.

Lasts me forever. Presentable for all occasions