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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is about how to plan a great weekend for free.

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Speaker 1: After the holidays and with the clean slate of the

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Speaker 1: new year, brushing up against tax time, lots of people

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Speaker 1: pledge to be smarter about their finances. One common approach

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Speaker 1: is too drastically cut spending. Sometimes people even declare a

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Speaker 1: spending freeze. And sometimes that's wise and it can be

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Speaker 1: fun as a chalent, but if you're not careful, it

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Speaker 1: can also lead to feeling like life is no fun,

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Speaker 1: and a no fun life is not sustainable. I think

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Speaker 1: moderation is often wise. But the good news is that

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Speaker 1: if you spend some time thinking through options and making plans,

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Speaker 1: it is quite possible to dream up really fun free weekends.

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Speaker 1: Here's what you do. First, you need to do some research.

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Speaker 1: Many communities have free events going on that people don't

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Speaker 1: know about because they don't bother to think ahead or

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Speaker 1: look beyond their own TVs. Carve out some time, maybe

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Speaker 1: on a Wednesday, to pick up an arts or events newspaper,

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Speaker 1: or scroll through online Facebook groups or local news sites.

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Speaker 1: Flag a few events that look most promising, when will

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Speaker 1: they be happening. Make yourself a game plan now. Think

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Speaker 1: about who might like to spend time over the weekend

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Speaker 1: with you. Socializing is one of the most fun things

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Speaker 1: people do, and even introverts like myself generally like to

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Speaker 1: see one or two close friends here and there. By

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Speaker 1: proactively inviting people to your free events, you don't put

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Speaker 1: yourself in the position of having to say no when

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Speaker 1: other people invite you to more expensive things. You might

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Speaker 1: also take the initiative to invite people over for cheap

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Speaker 1: get togethers. A pot luck costs almost nothing if you

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Speaker 1: pull your contributions together from what already in the house,

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Speaker 1: assign food and drink options to your friends, and you'll

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Speaker 1: have a grand party with basically nothing going out the door.

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Speaker 1: As you plan ahead, you might also think of how

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Speaker 1: you can be of service. Volunteering is a great way

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Speaker 1: to do something purposeful and socialize, and of course, since

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Speaker 1: you're volunteering your time, you're generally not paying to do so.

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Speaker 1: Done right, this can even get you into things you

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Speaker 1: might normally pay for, such as ushering for a community

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Speaker 1: concert that you can then see for free. Exercise is

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Speaker 1: a great mood booster and running or walking tends to

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Speaker 1: be free. Organize people to go for a hike together

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Speaker 1: on a local trail, bring your own snacks and water

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Speaker 1: so you're not tempted to load up, or even bring

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Speaker 1: a picnic. To make it a bigger occasion, you might

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Speaker 1: also make this the weekend to cash in on any coupons,

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Speaker 1: gift certificates, or IOU's you happen to have. Use that

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Speaker 1: Starbucks gift card you got in your stocking, or the

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Speaker 1: coupon for a pedicure you wanted, a sign an auction,

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Speaker 1: call in a favor from the neighbor you babysat for

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Speaker 1: last week, and finally think about freeways to spend your downtime.

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Speaker 1: If you've got a library card, go to the library

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Speaker 1: and satisfy any shopping urge by selecting a huge haul

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Speaker 1: of books or DVDs. If there's no convenient time to

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Speaker 1: drop by, see if your local library is plugged into

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Speaker 1: the libby app so you can borrow ebooks for free.

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Speaker 1: When you've got something really interesting to fill your downtime,

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Speaker 1: you're going to be less likely to serve the web,

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Speaker 1: where those ads for online shopping opportunities can so easily

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Speaker 1: find you. Then, at the end of your free weekend,

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Speaker 1: spend some time reflecting what did you like most, what

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Speaker 1: didn't work out. You don't need to try a spending

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Speaker 1: freeze every weekend, but with a little bit of foresight,

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Speaker 1: you can have a ton of fun without spending a lot,

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Speaker 1: and that means more cash stocked away for fun in

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Speaker 1: the future too. What's your favorite fun weekend activity that

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Speaker 1: you can do for free. You can let me know

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Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

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Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com.

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Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows, M