Weekend Spending Diet

After more than a decade of decadence, we all need a little capitalism cleanse so we at Splendora came up with 6 easy ways to save, yes you read that right, save money so that later after you're safely sitting on a pile of cash you can splurge on some smart shopping.

1. Do your spring cleaning early. Clean out your closets and deep clean your living space. You'll help more needy people with your castoffs, and keeping your space clean may prevent the spread of cold and flu germs.

2. Get creative with your social life. Call friends and see if you can come up with a potluck meal from the stuff you have in your collective fridge and pantry. Dust off your boardgames or have an iPod Festival where each person takes turns playing songs for the group.

3. Explore your city. There are so many free, often bizarre events happening in your city or town. Find it in your local paper or google for your city's event calendar.

4. Volunteer. If you're lucky enough to have food and shelter then you can volunteer to help others who are less fortunate. Try VolunteerMatch.

5. Make your own coffee and drink tap. Skip the trip to Starbucks on the weekends and vow to give up bottled water forever. It's a crazy habit that does not benefit your health in any way and is also toxic for the environment.

6. Hang out at the library. Don't laugh unless you've been there within the past five years. You'll be amazed at all the wonders that await your every curiosity. We're going this weekend.


FROM OUR READERS ...

JoAnne Claretti Mallano wrote at 6:24am
Have some of your BFF's meet at a BFF's house & do YOGA,PILATES or other exercises.Meeting with friends at local parks taking in the scenery.Stargazing at night with friends.Have friends bring music selections to another friends house to listen to different genre of music. .Enjoying each other's company.

 Tj Traci Jenkins at 12:52am February 28

wine tastings at wine shops, make-up events at Lancome or Space NK (shout out to Nikki!), and my personal favorite -- book signings.

 Joelle Samuel at 1:15am February 28

Exhibition openings, local markets (i.e. antiques, food, accessories), young 'n upcoming artist events…You should check out TimeOut magazine they have loads of free event listings, it's even categorized :)
http://www.timeout.com/

 Natasha Chin at 5:29am February 28

Here's a list of free museums in the Bay Area: http://sanfrancisco.about.com/od/museums/ss/freemuseumdays.htm Also, you can't beat the local library when it comes to free books and dvds.

 Laura Greenfield at 8:01am February 28

Many Meetup.com groups have free events. There are groups for single people, married people, gay people, etc. You get the point. http://www.meetup.com/
Also, a plus, I met my boyfriend by attending a Meetup group's event that happened to be a free event: sake tasting at Takara Sake USA Inc.

 Sara Campbell at 11:19am February 28

people watching, hiking, going to the dog park, coloring

 Vivianne Lapointe at 3:55pm February 28

board games can be fabulous ;)

 Tni Newhoff at 8:51am March 1

Andy Goldsworthy exhibit in the Presidio
Tour of the Pt. Bonita lighthouse
Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park
Watching the kite surfers at Crissy Field
Trolley museum

 Pauline Cheng at 12:04pm March 1

Happy hour at a fave bar with good cheap eats and cool friends.

 Vivianne Lapointe at 8:24pm March 1

Book club!!!

 Brett Culp at 12:49pm March 2

For an intimate evening, sorting digital photos & videos can be a beautiful trip with friends/partners down memory lane. It may not sound exciting, but it can reconnect you to many happy moments & experiences.

 Betsy Gilfillan at 10:49am March 3

there are lots of "flights of wine" parties at wine bars (at least in chicago) and i'm sure there are out in california too...maybe you'll have some luck there? it's usually a great deal - my roomies & i can't wait to go to one at bin36 next week. also DIY mani/pedis with fabulous-colored polishes, or even deep conditioning by leaving conditioner on your hair all afternoon while you work from home! this recession has got me :o) let me know if you'd like some other tips. i'd love to help out & pitch chicago things since that's basically my job anyways - yayyy splendora. xo.

 Stephanie Brandelius Kline at 9:28pm March 4

Volunteering, beach-combing, exploring a new town or park with a camera, hiking open spaces, picnic, book exchange party.