Weekending

We had such a full fun weekend that was way overdue for my quality tank to refill. 
Friday night, I surprised Jackson, built a fort, and surprised him with a bowling and arcade date. 
Saturday morning, we got up early and went to Nolensville to shop at some of the antique shops. We went in one of my favorites and there was a table set with a 12 piece place setting of China. I have been collecting pieces here and there of my Kate Spade china, but it is so expensive that it'd never be a complete 12 piece set for less than $1,000. Jackson was insistent that I get it, so I bargained that he would use it for both my birthday and part of Christmas. It's absolutely beautiful, and I would have kicked myself for not getting it. 

We also bought my sister an adorable pillow with a cow on it for Christmas. She's obsessed with cows, so she will love it. 

Sunday, we went to church, had lunch at his mama's house, and headed to the park for Family Fun night. We then headed home to watch the Walking Dead. HOLY MESS! I cried. 

Dating Mr. Hinners

As many you have read, our main goal for 2016 is getting as much of our debt paid off as possible.  We have big goals for our money down the road – I’ve got my eye on a 15 acre plot with a Gatlinburg-esqe cabin on it – and none of those plans will be possible unless we are out of our 35k hole.  My biggest fear when taking the plunge to pay off our debts was that we were going to have to forfeit our lifestyle.  We have made many changes to our lifestyle to make room for more money. I got a new, higher paying job back in January (that I love, by the way), Jackson works overtime to get some extra money, and we cut back on our eating out habits. We also have ‘allowances’ for spending now.  We each get $40 a month to spend or save to splurge later.  I’d been saving mine for a while, hence my five great purchases last week. ;) The big thing I didn’t want to let go of was dating. Living in Nashville, everything is tourist aimed, and it costs to do almost everything.  

Recently we were challenged to think of all of the ways we spend time with our family and friends inexpensively.  We have gotten really good at finding and creating free or cheap quality time adventures that are still just as awesome:

Painting pottery (the key to this one is having the punch card. If it’s something you do often, enroll in their rewards to make saving money easier!)

Nap -no really. We love taking an afternoon snooze. and it's free. :) 

Make breakfast together.  Pull all of the candy out of the pantry, slice all the fruit in the fridge, and throw it all into a pancake or two. 

Drive. And keep driving. We play the "Flip a Coin" game on our country back roads.  When we get to the intersection, we flip a coin: Heads, we go right; Tails we go left; if you drop it you go straight.  We have found some of the most beautiful fields to play in that way. 

Make S'mores over a candle. Or in the microwave.  

Play a board game. We have recently learned to love Settlers of Catan, Mexican Train Dominoes, and golf (the card game).  Exploding kittens is another fun one that we usually save for family game nights.  

Take a walk. It's free and it's good for you. We walk around our complex all the time. We usually catch a bonus sunset.  

Have a movie date. Not at the theater... that is way too expensive.  Charge your phone, drive down to one of the fields you found while taking a drive (preferably one where your data works), park the truck, pack the truck bed full of blankets, and watch the movie. :)

Hiking or walking on the Greenways often end in playing in the water down by the river.

Build a fort in the living room. Arrange all of your furniture so you can string your blankets and lights and pile pillows in there, too.  Grab a Redbox, your laptop, and have a movie date in your fort. :) 

As overwhelming as it can be, we also like to sit and assess our financial progress. Our plan for this weekend is to sit down and do some retirement planning using the Retirement Plannerfrom Personal Capital. 

What are your favorite free and cheap quality time ideas?