Cheap/Free Activities

[FinanceDude]

Join a community band. Little or sometimes no money to join, and you get to play an instrument. Some will even teach you an instrument.

[FUEGO]

Video or computer games. A used or refurbished previous generation video game system from a few years ago (think xbox or playstation 2) can be had, with games, for under $100. Days upon days of fun and a wide variety of game types. Games for these systems are very cheap - many can be had for $10-15 new or much less used.

If you want to spend a couple hundred more, the current generation of games are available (xbox 360, playstation 3, and wii) with games costing closer to $25-50.

In terms of cost per hour of fun, video games must have a very low cost.

[bbbamI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urchina "It is not economical to go to bed early to save candles if the result is twins." -- Chinese proverb

Guess this is true for most folks, but around bbbamI's house it would be a miracle....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords - Oh, it may seem cheap or even free at first...

Well, there's always the barter system....

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO In terms of cost per hour of fun, video games must have a very low cost.

Agreed, if you have one that you keep playing again and again and don't tire of.

Then again, I've also paid $50 for a game which held my interest for a couple of hours and that was it.

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude Join a community band. Little or sometimes no money to join, and you get to play an instrument. Some will even teach you an instrument.

It was twenty years ago today
Sgt Pepper taught the band to play...

[Midpack]

Wow, thanks everyone, some very interesting ideas we had not considered. And some funny stuff (as expected) too. But looking forward to any other responses.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 Then again, I've also paid $50 for a game which held my interest for a couple of hours and that was it.

True enough. Maybe a subscription to a rental game service similar to netflix would help determine whether a game was "worth" $50 before you buy it. I'm still having fun with games that came out years ago that I am just now getting around to playing. Obviously the prices go way up if you want today's games today instead of a year or two later.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO True enough. Maybe a subscription to a rental game service similar to netflix would help determine whether a game was "worth" $50 before you buy it. I'm still having fun with games that came out years ago that I am just now getting around to playing. Obviously the prices go way up if you want today's games today instead of a year or two later.

I saw Animal Crossing for the Wii at my daughter's house in Oregon a couple of weeks ago, when I visited her. I could tell that I would be nuts about it, so I bought it for myself as soon as I returned. I love it! Yes, it cost $49, but I have already spent many hours playing. I never finish games very quickly so it will probably keep me happy for a long time. Basically, all you need is one game that you really love and it will provide hours and hours of entertainment (unless you are one of those video game whiz kid types who finishes games in a day).

[NW-Bound]

I find it interesting that there are more folks interested in games, either for PC, Wii, Nintendo, or Playstation.

Is it just me who lost interest in games many many years ago? Am I not the young at heart that I think, but really a curmudgeon before his time?

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I find it interesting that there are more folks interested in games, either for PC, Wii, Nintendo, or Playstation. Is it just me who lost interest in games many many years ago? Am I not the young at heart that I think, but really a curmudgeon before his time?

I don't know - I'm still in the "under 30" crowd, so I grew up playing video and computer games of some sort from a very young age. However my interest in video/PC games waxes and wanes due to competition on my limited time from other sources (family, friends, work, other interests, etc).

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO I don't know - I'm still in the "under 30" crowd...

Sure, but W2R is a few years older than I am. Several other members in the early 50s (my age) also like games. I guess I am not the norm...

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Sure, but W2R is a few years older than I am. Several other members in the early 50s (my age) also like games. I guess I am not the norm...

I think a certain percentage of people my age (60) never got into video games (or computers, for that matter). Others like them more. I never got into playing "pong" in bars way back when, but I have enjoyed computer games since I got my TRS-80 Model 1 in the early 1980's and discovered "Hellfire Warriors" (black and white, very primitive and using arrow keys... best played in the dark). I am somewhat choosy about games that I like but I don't see myself suddenly casting off a diversion that I have enjoyed for over a quarter century, at this stage in my life.

[Notmuchlonger]

My FIL who will be turning 85 Friday enjoys playing puzzle games on the computer. He also likes to play deuces wild.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I find it interesting that there are more folks interested in games, either for PC, Wii, Nintendo, or Playstation. Is it just me who lost interest in games many many years ago? Am I not the young at heart that I think, but really a curmudgeon before his time?

nope, it just sounds like your interests changed.
i played arcade games like PacMan, Galaga, Centipede etc in bars. i never got into the home based video gaming thing. Boring...
however...dh2b bought us a playstation 3 last year for the blue ray player and for us to try out some games. we got a few road race types, and Stardust which is a spaceship and asteroid field shoot em up. we play occasionally, mostly during our long long winters. i really like the road rally type games. it cracks me up when i crack up the cars, so i intentionally "floor" it to see if i can make the sharp turns. i could care less about the score or how far i get.

[NW-Bound]

I was interested in games too. Shortly after we got married in our early 20s (kids, really), we bought an Atari 2600. We would spend so much time playing it in the evening.

Then, same as everybody else, I migrated to PC games as they got more and more sophisticated. When I was about 35, my interest started to wane, my wife's before that. It could be that I found real life and history more interesting, and also somber. That could have been what turned me into a curmudgeon, although my family background was also a bit different than most.

[W2R]

I really don't know what to tell you, NW-Bound, except that probably you just don't enjoy computer games right now. Or maybe you just aren't picky enough about what games you want to play!

Life is full of interesting and fun things to do. If you have more fun playing some other sort of game, then more power to you. If you don't enjoy games of any kind any more, then I would say that maybe you have lost the childlike capacity to play and have fun. If so, that is a little sad.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I was interested in games too. Shortly after we got married in our early 20s (kids, really), we bought an Atari 2600. We would spend so much time playing it in the evening. Then, same as everybody else, I migrated to PC games as they got more and more sophisticated. When I was about 35, my interest started to wane, my wife's before that. It could be that I found real life and history more interesting, and also somber. That could have been what turned me into a curmudgeon, although my family background was also a bit different than most.

a theory if i may - we both w*rked in a very serious profession, i.e. the techie world. it got to me many times, but i was always able to ignore the pressure to be conservative, responsible, and SERIOUS.`i had some frivilous compadres but laughter was rare and definitely frowned upon.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire If you don't enjoy games of any kind any more, then I would say that maybe you have lost the childlike capacity to play and have fun. If so, that is a little sad.

That's what I am afraid of. But then, I am always an outsider. I went through college not attending a single party. I only hung out with a couple of friends.

Actually, I am more outgoing now than I ever was. Yet, I have changed. I do not remember the last time I read fiction, even the genre I used to read like Tom Clancy's, one of which Dex brought up in another thread. I read purely non-fiction works for the last several years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 a theory if i may - we both w*rked in a very serious profession, i.e. the techie world. it got to me many times, but i was always able to ignore the pressure to be conservative, responsible, and SERIOUS.`i had some frivilous compadres but laughter was rare and definitely frowned upon.

But I am not at work now ...

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound But I am not at work now ...

and ain't that grand!
so i guessed wrong. ok, it's back to the hypothesis stage...

[NW-Bound]

Well, it could be "battle fatigue", though to be fair, my jobs at megacorps weren't any more stressful than what others experienced. When I was with small business ventures, and worked hard for no pay, that was caused by my own choice. I accepted that risk going in.