As the weather cools down and winter sets in, the temptation to retreat inside and stay there except for brisk walks to class is very strong. There are very few things that can carry you through the winter chills like being snuggled up in bed with the heater on, but one of the problems with taking shelter inside and keeping yourself warm is that your world suddenly becomes very small. There’s no floating down the river or going shopping with your friends, so you’re stuck trying to entertain yourself only with the things you have inside your house. Being a uni student, we might not have the cash to fork out for monthly subscriptions to online movies or to order pizza every week, so we’re left with more traditional methods to avoid flashbacks to being stuck inside as a kid on rainy days.
Movie marathon
Hark back to the days before Netflix and lightning-fast internet connections by cracking open your DVD cases and having a traditional movie marathon. You’ll be surprised how much easier it is to choose what to watch when you aren’t scrolling through hundreds of options that you’ve never heard of. Instead, revisit some old favourites and rediscover those movies you saved up for and bought in high school – don’t let that hard-earned pocket money go to waste! Bonus points if you still have your childhood VHSs and are able to get them to work on your old video player. It might take a little work to dust them all off but it will be very worth it to indulge in some retro entertainment.
Bake something
Making your own food from scratch can save you a tonne of money. Plus once you have a stock of the baking basics (flour, sugar, eggs, butter, milk) you will only need a few extras to make dozens of brilliant baked goods. A wonderful bonus to baking your own stuff is that you’re going to need to use the oven, which will warm up your whole house, or at the very least the kitchen, and there’s no shame in sitting in front of the oven to read a book while you wait for your yummy treats to be ready.
Board games galore
Yet another childhood activity that is often forgotten is board games and puzzles. Although on the surface they may seem like a kind of boring activity, but I’m sure that you were obsessed with at least one when you were a kid, and once you get really stuck into a game they can get really intense and competitive! Some of the classics include scrabble, snakes and ladders, or monopoly if you want your board game experience to go on forever (and possibly end some friendships). The wonderful thing about all of these games is that you only need one hand free to play them, and the rest of you can be wrapped up in a blanket.
