The “May 24″ weekend is coming to an end, and for me, it’s been a fairly economical one. I often go somewhere on long weekends, but decided just to take it easy this time.  I still managed to do a lot, but not spend very much. I’ll give you the highlights, and hopefully this will help give you ideas of how to fill your long weekends without busting the bank.

• I read. To me, there’s nothing more enjoyable then spending a lazy afternoon reading. I borrowed the book from my sister-in-law, so it cost me absolutely nothing to enjoy this pleasure.
• I went with my sister-in-law and niece skating. I know this seems like an odd thing to do when the weather is nice out, but it’s a great time to go if you have an arena open. It’s not busy, and it’s a nice way to cool off in the afternoon. My sister-in-law kindly paid, but I did spring for chocolate milk for my niece on the way home. Total cost: $2.50.
• Make my super awesome potato brunch dish. Total cost – less than 5 bucks.
• Watched the latest episode of Sherlock and the movie “Out of Sight”.  No additional cost on top of my regular cable bill, so I’m going to count this one as a zero cost.
• Had some friends from out of town drop by. I’d originally planned to go up and see them, but they were coming through for her Mom’s birthday, so this saved me a trip, and some serious bucks! We took their son to the park, and he tried hard to play with the cat (she wasn’t too interested). Total cost – less than 50 cents for a few glasses of apple juice.
• Take advantage of other people’s fireworks! I had a great view from my upper floor windows of several fireworks displays, and it didn’t cost me a cent.
• And of course, writing blog posts.

I realize this is all making me sound very cheap (ahem..frugal!). I hadn’t planned to go this weekend quite so cheaply – I just wanted to take it easy and enjoy myself.  I think the point I’m trying to make is – while it’s certainly okay to go away and spend money on a long weekend, if you choose to stay in town, there are plenty of fun and cheap ways to spend your time.

What’s your favourite way to spend a long weekend?