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I love picking up trash. It’s fun, makes the world a little better, and costs practically nothing to do.

This cheap way of having fun got me thinking. People spend a lot of money on entertainment. Cable television, dining out with friends, bar hopping on a Friday night—these fairly innocuous diversions can blow a giant hole in one’s budget. So for those who would rather cut back on their entertainment budgets and have more money for their Roth IRAs, I’ve decided to explore some cheap entertainment options. But rather than come up with a list of said options, I’ve decided to present three frugal strategies for fun. Lists are cool, but they’re incredibly author-centric. Strategies, on the other hand, are for everyone. That said, here we go.

Combine Things that Have Never Been Combined Before

When I was in high school, a buddy of mine in gym class took a volleyball and started launching it toward a wall-mounted pull-up bar. The distance between the pull-up bar and the gym wall was just wide enough to accept a volleyball. He effectively turned this apparatus into a basketball hoop. But your aim had to be very precise. If you were off by an inch, the volleyball would be rejected by the pull-up bar apparatus.

Intrigued by this rather odd combination, we decided to make a game out of it. Player One would stand ten feet away from the pull-up bar and shoot free throws. If a shot fell through the hoop (the space between the pull-up bar and the gym wall), Player One would score a point. Player Two would stand a foot or so in front of the pull-up bar and look for rebounds. If he jumped in the air, grabbed a rebound, and slam-dunked the volleyball through the hoop, he would score a point. He would also switch positions with Player One and become the shooter. The first player who got to ten points won.

It was a bizarre game, but it was a blast. In fact, it was so much fun, we would even cut class on occasion to play it.

So one way to have some cheap fun is to combine two cheap or free things that seemingly don’t belong together. Years ago, my buddies and I did this with a volleyball and a pull-up bar. Today, I’m doing it with litter and vlogging.

Try to Do Something that Is Way Beyond Your Competency

Several years ago, I came across a gymnastic ring exercise called the muscle-up. The muscle-up is basically a pull-up that transitions into a dip. It’s very hard to do—especially for a 50+ dude who weighed more than 200 lbs at the time.

My goal was to do just one. And I accomplished that mighty feat in April of 2015, more than two years after my quest for the muscle-up had begun.

Now don’t ask me why, but shortly after I did my first muscle-up, I gave myself another goal. I wanted to do ten muscle-ups in a row by April of 2016. It was an insane goal. After all, it took me more than two years just to get one under my belt. And now I was supposed to orchestrate a tenfold increase in my rep count in less than twelve months? Crazy.

So how’d I do? Was I able to do ten muscle-ups in a row by April 2016? No. I failed. But I didn’t fail by much. I got up to nine muscle-ups in a row. And here’s the critical takeaway: the feeling of accomplishment was amazing. By shooting for a goal that was so audacious, I was actually guaranteeing my success. Reasonable failure in this case (five to nine muscle-ups) was an achievement I couldn’t have possibly fathomed two years earlier. I was going to win whether I did ten muscle-ups or not. And winning is a lot of fun.

Create Something

A few years ago, Mrs. Groovy and I were looking for some artwork to adorn a wall in our den. We visited the usual retailers (Pier 1, World Market, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc.), but found nothing that appealed to our aesthetics and our wallet.

So rather than leave our den wall naked, I decided to create some artwork myself. I went to Michael’s and bought a blank canvas, a brush, a stencil, and some paint. Below is my contribution to the art world. Not exactly a Jasper Johns, but it’s aesthetically pleasing (at least to my eyes, anyway) and suits my den wall quite nicely. It was also easy on my wallet and fun to do.

a picture of an American flag that I painted on canvas

Okay, groovy freedomists, enough of my yakking. There’s three great strategies for having fun on the cheap.

Let’s turn now to this week’s installment of Talking Trash with Mr. Groovy.

Another Installment of Talking Trash

I had a very weird week. It began by reading an article in The Atlantic about a Filipino family that immigrated to the United States in 1964. Nothing unusual about that. But here’s the kicker. This Filipino family immigrated with a slave. That’s right. A slave. In the below excerpt, the author, Alex Tizon, poignantly recounts what life was like for his family’s indentured servant.

“We called her Lola. She was 4 foot 11, with mocha-brown skin and almond eyes that I can still see looking into mine—my first memory. She was 18 years old when my grandfather gave her to my mother as a gift, and when my family moved to the United States, we brought her with us. No other word but slave encompassed the life she lived. Her days began before everyone else woke and ended after we went to bed. She prepared three meals a day, cleaned the house, waited on my parents, and took care of my four siblings and me. My parents never paid her, and they scolded her constantly. She wasn’t kept in leg irons, but she might as well have been. So many nights, on my way to the bathroom, I’d spot her sleeping in a corner, slumped against a mound of laundry, her fingers clutching a garment she was in the middle of folding.”

My Family’s Slave is a harrowing tale of cruelty and is not for the faint of heart. But it’s definitely worth your time.

Next up in my week of weirdness came a hulking pervert. I won’t go into the details here. I talk about it in my latest installment of Talking Trash. I’ve also included a video of the hulking pervert at the end of this post. Very disturbing.

Finally, my week of weirdness ended with something even more disturbing than a hulking pervert. Do you know what a romper is? Well, I didn’t. But, now, because of Kickstarter, I do. And I don’t feel good about this newfound knowledge. In fact, I feel demeaned. Again, I won’t go into the details here. Just check out the latest installment of Talking Trash and the RompHIM video below the pervert video. May God have mercy on our souls.

Final Thoughts

Okay, groovy freedomists. That’s all I got. If you get a chance, let me know what you do for cheap fun. Have a wonderful weekend. Grease for peace.

Very Strange Love Scene from a 70s Television Show

The Feminization of the American Male Continues

 

40 thoughts on “Picking Up Trash: And Other Cheap Ways of Having Fun

    1. Hey, when are you and Garrett making a cameo? I got some great trash runs set up for you guys.

  1. I feel like male rompers are trendy because they’re so stupid. I feel like you get them to be funny and I hope they don’t last past this year. Heck I think they look stupid on women as well. But clearly I don’t know what fashion is.

  2. LOL, we’re thanking God that they finally took The Incredible Hulk off the air on MeTV’s Sci-Fi Saturday Night and replaced it with Battlestar Galactica. That’s our cheap/free entertainment. 🙂

    LOVE the flag pic that you painted – it’s phenomenal!! And that romper video made me a bit sick to my stomach. I think I’m going to go out and get some more free entertainment and try to get the romper images out of my head by washing the truck. 🙂

    1. Haha, Laurie! My sentiments exactly. First, skinny jeans, and now the rompHIM. Meh. What good will possibly come from making American males even more effeminate?

  3. In 2016, my resolution was to do a plank a day and add 15 seconds per month – going from 2 minutes in January to 5 in December. I didn’t manage – not even close. BUT – I did succeed in holding a 5-minute plank at the end of December. Something I had never done before. (And I’m over 50 too .) Setting goals too high is not a bad strategy : )

    1. That’s awesome. I haven’t done planks in a while. The last time I did, I was able to do one for a minute–barely. I like your idea of increasing the duration 15 seconds every month. I think I’ll give that a whirl. Maybe I can get to 3 minutes by the end of the year. Thanks for stopping by, Ruth. And thanks for sharing your plank achievement. Five minutes is a very impressive time.

  4. What a week you had and those videos, too funny!

    During the summer we spend lots of time at the family cottage on a lake for a great deal of fun. Lots of hiking, kayaking, and other outdoor activities.

    We also enjoy doing upcycling projects – which actually involves all 3 of the things you mentioned. We combine things that weren’t before, sometimes we are trying new things that stretch our skill levels, and it’s creating something new.

    Great job on the artwork by the way and bless you for continuing to pick-up trash!

    1. I was such a moron when I was younger. When I was in college, I didn’t believe you could have a good time without getting drunk. When I was out of college, I believed that fun was perfectly correlated with spending money. The more you spent, the more fun you would have. Oh, man, what a fool I was. Anyway, I finally woke up, and now I see the joys of simple things. Give me a hiking trail over a shot contest in a bar any day. And you are so right about creating things, Amy. Man was born to create. By subduing that impulse, we cut ourselves off from one of the surest paths to happiness ever conceived. Meh. Thanks for stopping by, Amy. Anyone who gives a thumbs up to one of my humble paintings is all right by me.

  5. Dukes of Hazzard and the Incredible Hulk made up a good number of my Friday nights as a kid. 🙂 I’ll skip the romper.

    Volunteering my time and walking my dog have been some good free entertainment for me recently.

    1. I’m shocked, shocked I tell you, that there’s no love for the romper. Maybe there is still hope for America. Thanks for stopping by, my friend.

  6. 9 muscle-ups, not bad at all! Almost the entire population can’t do 1, so that’s quite a feat. And yeah, I’m seeing a lot of stuff everywhere about male rompers…I doubt it’ll gain any traction. It just looks wrong. My wife agrees =)

    1. Thank you, Tim. Nine muscle-ups is pretty cool. I took the winter off because my rings are in the garage and it was just too cold to workout in that unheated space–at least for my old bones, anyway. Well, I just started up my muscle-ups again a couple of weeks ago. I could only do four in a row. But, hey, if I get into it this summer, maybe I’ll try another push for ten. Thanks for stopping by, Tim. It’s always a pleasure hearing from you.

      P.S. Your wife has a good head on her shoulders. For the sake of mankind, the male romper must die a quick, painful death.

  7. I combine free fun and picking up trash. My town has a transfer station (read: dump) and I’m always finding stuff there to upcycle or create a piece of furniture out of. Doors, dressers, pallets, scrap wood, etc. I either steal an idea from Pinterest or just nail things together until I think it looks cool. Sometimes I slap some paint on it and sell the transformed trash.

    1. LOL! I haven’t heard the word “dump” used in years. When I lived on Long Island, our town had a “transfer station” too. And I love the way your mind works, Brian. I’ve grabbed some pallets recently and have started experimenting with some pallet furniture. I’m making two end tables out of pallets and plumbing pipe. So far they look pretty cool. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. It’s always great hearing from another trash transformer. Cheers.

  8. OMG that romper video was hilarious! Thanks for the suggestion. 🙂 “Wanna get romped?” Hilarious!

    The only people I see in rompers are usually under 3 yrs old, like our son when he would wear his. 🙂

    As far as cheap fun stuff we like doing “picnic movie nights” where we put a blanket down in the living room floor on friday nights and have dinner on it like a picnic while we watch a movie. Usually either redbox or something free from Amazon Prime.

    On a side note, our 3 yr old mentioned (out of the blue) “if you take care of the world, the world will take care of you.” So in an effort to help take care of the world, the kids want to pick up trash over the summer and are shooting for 1000 pieces. I had to tell Mrs. SSC about your talking trash series and how it inspired other bloggers to do the same. There’s now 1 more set of people picking up trash, and I’m pretty sure it won’t stop after the summer since we walk to and from school so much.

    1. Could the male romper be this year’s Snuggie? That’s scary. Or maybe the male romper will be a big hit at this year’s FinCon get-together? Could you imagine Joe Saul-Sehy in a male romper? Now that’s scary. Anyway, I love your “picnic movie nights.” What a great idea. And I love the sentiment of your son. “If you take care of the world, the world will take care of you.” Made my week, my friend.

  9. I like free concerts and community events for cheap fun. The thing is so does everyone else, so be prepared for a crowd!

    As for the male rompers, you won’t catch me wearing one, but there have always been trends among the younger generation that the older generation doesn’t like. Back when I had long hair and bellbottoms, my father absolutely hated it. So I say let them wear what they want to wear.

    1. Haha! I hear ya, my friend. Rompers are certainly foul. But are they any fouler than skinny pants? And you’re absolutely right about bell-bottoms, If they didn’t bring down the United States, we have nothing to fear from male rompers.

  10. I tend to play old computer games and write blog posts apparently. Games tend to get released for free over time or I have a prior copy from long ago allowing me to play a rom version. Like music I don’t like games newer then the early 90s.

    1. Hey, Mrs. PP. I had a great day on trash patrol. During my first take, I found a lot of great trash. I even found this tarp embedded in the ground that I had to wrestle out. It was beautiful. A great action scene. But I started mangling my words worse than normal and had to do another take. Damn! No one ever told me this vlogging stuff was hard. Have a great weekend.

  11. Those videos!! Thanks for the entertainment, Mr. Groovy. I remember my dad watching the Incredible Hulk when I was young – that creature scared the bejesus out of me. Now I know why.

    Oh, we love cheap/free weekend entertainment!!! Last weekend, we hiked, biked, fished and gardened. It was perfect! 🙂

    1. Haha! I think the Hulk scared the bejesus out of a lot of kids back then. The series started in 1978 when I was a senior in high school. The next year I was off to college, so I never watched it. For some reason I found keg parties more interesting. But when I watched it the other day, I couldn’t believe my eyes. That mannequin scene was very creepy. Thanks for stopping by, Amanda. And thanks for sharing your examples of good, cheap fun. I love it.

    1. Hey, Erik. I did a lot of experimenting over those two years. Here’s what finally got me over the hump.

      1. Weighted pull ups. I needed to get stronger so I could pull my chest above the rings.

      2. I started doing assisted muscle-ups with resistance bands. This helped me develop a feel for the movement. Here’s a link to a good YouTube tutorial.

      3. I lost a lot of weight. When I started my quest for the muscle-up I weighed 215 lbs. Then in the early part of 2015, I stopped drinking sugary drinks and I cut way back on the carbs. The weight started falling off. When I got down to 185-190, I got my first muscle-up.

      I think if you start doing these three things, and focus most of your effort on losing weight, you’ll conquer the muscle-up in no time.

      Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Let me know if this helps. Cheers.

  12. Have you ever tried geocaching? You can do it for free if you have a GPS unit and an internet connection. GPSs are cheap, and I know you got the other one. 😉

    There’s a whole world of acronyms and terms for people who are hardcore into geocaching. One of them is CITO – Cache In Trash Out. The idea is you go to an out-of-the-way place to find the cache, and bring a bag to pick up trash as you go along. It’s a good way to clean up and see some pretty cool places right in your own backyard.

    I once found the end of a multi-mile giant 15′ diameter pipe in the middle of Alaska starting at the top of a hill. There wasn’t any barriers around it or anything. I always wondered how many squirrels fell in and never came out again.

    1. Wow, Lindsay. I never heard of geocache or CITO before. Thanks for pointing them out. I especially like the CITO one. Just bookmarked a couple of CITO sites. Perhaps I’ll incorporate a CITO event in one of my future Trash Talking videos. Life keeps getting better and better. I owe you one, Lindsay. And your 15′ diameter pipe adventure sounds awesome. Do you have any pictures of it?

  13. I’m a redneck (okay, maybe not really. But sometimes!) so I burn stuff for cheap fun. Well, Jon builds the fire, but I watch.

    We built a big fire pit in our backyard last spring, and at least once a month or so we have a bonfire night. Last night Little Bit ran around the back yard, chasing fireflies and making up songs that her dad and I are supposed to rate (but not below a 7 on the 10 point scale evidently.) Jon tended the fire, and I played DJ and danced with Little Bit between her sets.

    1. Aw, that’s awesome. Perhaps one night Mrs. Groovy and I will join you guys. And we’ll bring the marshmallows, and we promise we won’t give Little Bit a score below 7.

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