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That's the ne- oh, you already meme'd that.
I guess that's one more reason why many people would rather scroll endlessly on social media, it's free*
Depending on the city you live at, the simplest solution would be to find a sports area and do sports there with others - basketball and football (soccer if you're 'murican) might be the most common and easy to find, as a good number of these are public and free to use
Get a bike that you can bring in your car. Park in a neighborhood or other area with free parking, get on the bike and just go exploring. It is a great way to learn about cool and often free stuff going on. If you can use transit and bring a bike, that's even better.
I've watched expensive music shows from a nearby parking garage using this technique. Outdoor music venues often can't stop the music from escaping into the nearby blocks.
Find a hobby that is easy to do in a park or other public space.
All the best free stuff is usually on the margins, so it takes some recon to figure out what is worth your time. But that's part of the adventure of exploring a city.
Thrifting can cost money if you buy things, but walking around is free. Bigger city = more thrift stores.
Similarly, I love walking having access to ethnic grocery stores. Spices are cheaper, you have access to organ meats, etc… that are also cheaper. It’s fun to walk into a Filipino or Korean grocery store, do a little research and try to cook something with ingredients I’ve never tried before.
My tiny apartment is on a busy street so it’s also fun to do a little people watching. If I walk to the gas station to get a soda ( <10 minutes) I get to see a ton of activity any time of day.
Festivals are pretty frequent and fun to walk around even if I don’t spend anything. I live near a university as well so there’s always stuff going on.
I’ve lived in a rural area before and couldn’t stand it. Absolutely nothing to do other than go walk around Walmart.
I realize im still spending money by being in my house out of town, but still, at least things I buy are owned by me, and im not paying someone else every time I want to do anything. If I want to stay at home all day I have tons of stuff to occupy my mind without going nuts.
This may surprise you, but it's possible to buy housing (that is bigger than one bedroom), stuff for hobbies, and access to entertainment in a city. 🫨
Haha yes, but is far far more expensive and most of them are in HOAs, which are satan incarnate.
Yeah but with the money from our much better paying jobs we can afford both. Also, there's many HOAs in the crappy suburbs that make you grow the same type of grass for no reason.
Maybe it's not a thing in the US, but where I live you can also buy apartments, you don't have to rent them. No garden plant selection and front door color police if you live in an apartment. I mean we also don't have HOAs, it'd be ridiculous. But if you have enough money you could buy an apartment bigger than most people's houses, overlooking the city.
But also, for a mere 250 million dollars, you could have the highest penthouse in NYC which is also ridiculously big. If you move at least a hundred floors down and a bit farther away from Central Park, maybe settle for 1700 sq ft instead of 17000, things get more affordable in the cities too. Still need to have a high paid job of course.
I am also extremely annoyed that there are many amenities which coast money (like no public bathrooms and water fountains, maybe you can guess the country already).
On the other hand you can look for free stuff to do in your city. Things we have here:
Some museums are free
Botanical gardens
Outdoor movies in the summer
City festivals with live music
Public readings
How to get free things or access to low cost things:
Join a cheap club. Sport, boardgame, etc They normally also have the gear for beginners / newcomer’s. Volunteer. This gives you access to people and gear (time in exchange for feeling good, maybe do what you like and make an impact).
Maybe not everything you like you can find easily. I guess you have to dig to find a free rave if that’s what you are interested in. Back in the day I would have suggested looking for Facebook communities in your city.
Crack. The trick is you forget you spent the money in the first place.
I live in a big old house from the 1800s with my fiance and a roommate and a dog, with a little yard but it's tucked away from a lot of the hustle and bustle. My closest neighbor is about 100 feet away.
This is still in city limits. I can just as easily walk, bike, bus, drive wherever to go do fun things. But what you were describing of being occupied at home by hobbies and things to do still applies to me. I've been slowly renovating the house myself over the years. Just been working a lot of overtime lately so it's a bit hard to find the time.
This is in Pittsburgh PA. Most of where people live is in similar situations of old 100+ year old multi-bedroom homes. There are some new "modern" or "luxury" apartments going in around town but if you live in one of those you're literally just an idiot or an outsider to the area and think that $1.5k rent for a 1br is "cheap" (my whole mortgage is $860 split 3 ways for context)
Exercise are good ways to learn your city on your own or with friends.
Libraries.
Parks.
I realize im still spending money by being in my house
I have heard that some people spend their days at work...
When you live in a big city you learn where you can spend time on the cheap. Look for libraries, beaches, parks.
If you find the right Cafe/bar/tavern, be kind and tip well a couple times and they won't get sore if you nurse a pint while grinding out the last hundred pages of Dune.
hobbies, most of them still cost something but it varies and you can usually keep or re-sell the equipment, bonus points if you can find someone else to enjoy them with
I'm an Uber nerd andI learn to pirate content. Yes you still need an internet connection and a computer or phone but I can spend days trying to figure out how to install Graphene on my old phone or do something fun or crazy for my home assistant.
Btw, I'm not poor. I just enjoy doing these things.
I'm surprised I don't see people adding the beach to list of free activities, in LA that's a great option as well as a ton of hiking options. I grew up poor here so I'm quite used to all the random things you can do (my favorite might be Getty Villa, a rich guy made that free forever and you can look at really cool artifacts).
Also there are cheap eats in the city if you know where to look, although even my 7 dollar burritos are up to 12 post-Trump. Still cheaper, though. Don't judge a huge place like LA by how much they charge tourists at the boardwalk or something.
Edit: oh and shit like Pie Fest. Our local NPR affiliate hosts and promotes a ton of really neat and often free activities. (They just started their fall drive)
Edit 2: oh and being a live studio audience is free. Probably true in NYC too.
The beach is a full days drive or a half day on a plane away for a lot of cities. I haven't lived near the beach in 30 years.
I spend a lot of time in my workshop. It's not free but upcycling materials into something new is infinitely satisfying and often saves money.
