50 Ways to Waste Time When You’re Broke and Bored

Is it hard to cure boredom when you have no money to catch a movie or go out for a nice dinner? Not at all, we say! Why blow money when you can make your own fun for next to nothing? Below are 50 ways to waste time when you’re broke and bored.

Outdoors

1. Go people watching. No, not in a creepy way. Sit on a park bench and watch all the interesting people walk by.
2. Mow your yard or do some gardening. The fresh air and exercise will do you some good.
3. Grab a tent, some flashlights and have a camp-out in your backyard.
4. Go for a swim at the community pool or local lake.
5. Take a walk around the neighborhood.
6. Go to a park and play on the swings.
7. Play some sports. Even if you are by yourself, you can still hit some baseballs in the yard or kick around a soccer ball.
8. Go outside and make a sketch of what you see.

Indoors

9. Take some time to catch up on current events
10. Clip coupons. It is a great way to kill time and save money.
11. If you are broke and bored, look for a second job. This will cure both of your problems.
12. Make some helpful lists, such as all the things you would like to do once you aren’t broke anymore.
13. Cook something creative with the things you already have in the kitchen.
14. Pick up the dictionary and learn some new words.
15. Turn on some music and dance.
16. Go window shopping at the mall. As long as you leave your credit card at home, you won’t get into too much trouble.
17. Play Sudoku. If you have never played before, it is very addictive and simple to learn. Sudoku puzzles can be found for free online.
18. Hang out at a friend’s house.
19. Invite some friends over to your house. You may want to warn them that you will be a broke host, however.
20. Go visit your parents. You know they will want to see you and it is always a good place to score free food.
21. Experiment with your make-up while no one is looking.
22. Make some phone calls to your chattiest friends. Make sure they are local, though! You can’t afford long distance charges right now.
23. Exercise. You know you need to.
24. Write a short story and post it online for some feedback.
25. Go on a free tour of a local plant, such as a brewery.
26. Snuggle with your partner.
27. Sing your heart out, even if you are tone deaf.
28. Make some paper airplanes.
29. After you’ve mastered the art of the paper airplane, step it up to origami.
30. Write some complaint letters. Someone has assuredly mistreated you recently, even if it was some snot-nosed kid in the drive-thru.
31. Volunteer for some local charity work.
32. Organize your closet. While you are at it, try on some of your more ridiculous clothes from years ago.
33. Clean the house. It will make you feel better about life once it is done.
34. Do the laundry before it gets away from you.
35. Take a long, relaxing bath.
36. Try to renegotiate your credit card interest rates.
37. Go to the local library. Enjoy the ambiance and pick up some classic literature.
38. Take a nap.
39. Play some classic board games, such as Monopoly or Clue.
40. Play with your pets.
41. Make a collage out of old magazines.

Online

42. Kill time by surfing YouTube. The hours will pass before you know it.
43. Watch some classic films or recent television programs online. Yes, there are free, legal sources.
44. Have some fun with Google - look for a perfect Googlewhack. According to Wikipedia, “a Googlewhack is a Google search query consisting of two words, that returns a single result.”
45. Socialize through your own MySpace or Facebook profile.
46. Read some Craigslist ads. The personal ads, in particular, can be equal parts funny, sad and disturbing.
47. Find a message board devoted to your favorite topic and engage in some discussions.
48. If message boards are too slow for you, find a live chatroom.
49. Play some free, online games.
50. Catch up on some celebrity gossip. Yes, you will want to scrub your dirty soul clean after you peruse Perez Hilton, but a part of you secretly loves it.

Most of the above activities are completely free. You don’t have to max out your MasterCard or Visa to have a little fun. Boredom is, thankfully, usually a passing mood and easily remedied by a little mental or physical stimulation. So, get up and move around or use that noggin of yours! As for being broke, Frugal Panda has plenty of helpful advice for remedying that, too.

Top 50 Frugality Bloggers

If you are looking for advice on frugal living, look no further than the Internet. There are thousands of Web sites dedicated to the subject, many of them blogs. Blogs are often personal accounts that are regularly updated, so they are probably your best source for tested theories on being frugal. Below, we have compiled what we feel are the most useful 50 frugality blogs on the Net.

Family Life

1. A Momma and the Boys Living on a Budget will give you a heads up on cool freebies. The blog also offers a bi-monthly newsletter on frugal living.
2. MotherLoad is a blog written by two moms who wish to impart their wisdom on all things parenting and frugal living.
3. Families.com features a blog on frugality. This site is authored by experienced mothers and fathers, so this is a good place to find articles with a frugal family theme.
4. Shekinah’s Place is a British blog about a variety of subjects related to mothering and homeschooling. There is also a lot of frugal living advice throughout the site.
5. Frugal Living Journal is written by a young couple trying to make it in the world without spending frivolously. However, people of all ages should find their advice very helpful.
6. Biblical Womanhood has a section devoted to frugal living. Although it is geared toward a female audience, men will benefit from this site, as well.
7. Faith Lifts is an inspirational blog for mothers that contains sections on family life, housekeeping and frugal living.
8. Living On a Dime is another family-oriented blog that is written in first person by a married mother of three.

Home and Garden

9. Frugal By Design, although not updated regularly, has some sound advice for “reusing” household items.
10. Ask the Frugal Decorating Diva is a blog that answers all your questions related to decorating the home on a budget.
11. Keeping the Castle offers tips and tricks on housekeeping, as well as frugal living.
12. Kitchen Crafts ‘n’ More is a guide to frugal housekeeping and cooking. There are many interesting tips here about homemade cleaning and beauty products.
13. Mrs. B’s Homekeeping Blog explores one woman’s quest to spend as little money as possible on household items, including groceries and baby products.

Fashion and Shopping

14. Frugal For Life is a very stylish blog that, among other things, reports on frugal pop culture figures.
15. The Frugal Duchess is a popular blog about having fun and being fashionable on a limited income.
16. Mighty Bargain Hunter is a blog devoted to frugal shopping, as well as general personal finance topics.
17. Domestika’s Blog proves that you can be a diva without spending like one. Look for gardening tips here, as well.

Technology and Business

18. Lean Blog should interest business professionals who want to maximize their expenditures.
19. Frugal Coder Blog may be of interest to any computer professionals who are looking to save some cash.
20. Budgeting Software Journal will be of interest to computer professionals, technology buffs and anyone else who wants to learn about the latest software news.

College

21. The Frugal Law Student intends to help law students with their sometimes crippling debt from attending school.
22. Frugal101 is devoted to the college student who needs to save money wherever they can.

Food and Drink

23. The Frugal Oenophile’s Wine of the Week may be of interest to you if you enjoy drinking wine but don’t want to spend a fortune on it.
24. The Frugal Family Kitchen contains many recipes and frugal cooking advice.
25. Frugal Cuisine will help those of you trying to eat on as little as $2 or $3 a day. It also features many delicious, yet sensible recipes.

Financial Planning

26. My 1st Million at 33 will help you learn about frugal living, even if your sights aren’t set as high as becoming a millionaire.
27. FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) Finance is dedicated to helping people achieve financial stability. Everyone could benefit from the advice found here.
28. All Financial Matters will help you decide what to do with the money you save by living frugally. Topics include asset allocation, 401K, IRA and more.
29. Get Rich Slowly is one of the premier frugal living blogs. Updated regularly, it focuses on personal finance tips and seems to have a lot influence on other frugality bloggers.
30. My Money Blog covers all things related to finance, but their frugal living section may be the site’s finest asset.
31. Free Money Finance covers many personal finance topics, focusing specifically on how to grow one’s net worth.
32. Easy Budgeting will help you plan a budget that works for your particular lifestyle.
33. Time to Budget is a blog that covers many tips and tricks for creating a budget and preparing for the future. As the author states, it is time to “stop borrowing money!”
34. Debt and Budgeting is a personal online journal by a married mother who is trying to get out of debt. This is both an informative and inspiring blog.
35. Getting Out of Debt is written by a mother of seven who is attempting to climb her way out of debt. She shares her experience with her frugal readers.
36. Consumerism Commentary refers to itself as a personal finance blog, but it should also be sought out as a guide to frugal living.
37. Money Smart Life delves into all aspects of personal finance, including how to stretch your dollar as far as it will go.
38. Wise Bread’s subtitle is “Living Large on a Small Budget”. Indeed, the advice found here will help you to enjoy life on a tight budget.

General Frugality Advice

39. A Frugal Living Blog by a Frugal Guy has to be one of the longest blog titles on this list. Don’t let the silly name fool you, this is a great resource for practical advice.
40. Zlittle Frugal Living features advice on frugal gardening, coupon clipping, weight loss and more.
41. My Frugal Life is a hub for blog entries by ThriftyFun users. Anyone can join this site and post.
42. Frugal Living Blog from About.com is updated by a freelance writer who specializes in frugality. Her tips and tricks have also been featured in many major magazines.
43. Frugal Traveler is a section of the NYTimes Web site. It focuses only on travel tips and is updated regularly.
44. The J-Walk Blog is an odd site about, among other things, banjos and computers. There are also many entries about frugal living that may interest you.
45. Frugal Village is a well-written blog that is updated regularly and covers a broad range of frugal topics.
46. Neat Living is all about keeping your life simplified, orderly and frugal. If your life is a bit messy, look to this site for advice.
47. Pat Veretto’s Frugal Living Blog is the work of a freelance writer who specializes in frugality and money management.
48. Simply Thrifty teaches us to be money-wise and to embrace the smaller details of life.
49. Frugal Upstate contains the musings a woman in upstate New York who is trying to live within her means.
50. Boston Gal’s Open Wallet is written by a single woman trying to make it in the city with a frugal attitude.

There are certainly more than 50 noteworthy blogs on frugality, but the above list contains the sites that stand above the rest. Not only are these sites worthy of bookmarking, you may want to subscribe to any RSS feeds that they offer. Reading about different perspectives on frugal living will alert you to new tips and strategies. After all, being frugal takes work and it never hurts to change your game plan now and again.