in reality it may only be a week, but spring break is so much more than that. The way we as students treat spring break is the same way that CVS treats Christmas, a long and tedious yet ultimately rewarding process.
It starts a year out with the big dreams. The Cancun beaches, the Canadian Ski Fields, the Eastern European pub-crawls. This is what I like to refer to as the dream state, the time where money is no barrier because we have an entire year to save for the weeklong holiday!
Stage two is during fall semester where your dream holidays start to take shape. Friends combine plans while picking out resorts and looking up flight prices.
The latter part of stage two, however, is what usually leads people into stage three, the most realistic stage of the process. This is when you figure out what you will actually do. Most people cast away their plans for Puerto Rico's all-inclusive weeks and trade them in for road trips around the East Coast and a week at their friend’s place at home.
But now that the flights are booked, the cars are rented and the spending money is set aside, your bank account looks like it’s been through hell and back. You tell yourself that you can survive a month with just $10 but you are undoubtedly freaking out. Your lifestyle is going to have to change.
This brings us to the final stage before spring break begins: The Financial Slump. All your money is spent and you have to figure out how to keep up your budding social lives with a not so budding bank account.
Do not fear, living on the cheap for a month is not the end of the world and not as difficult as you may think it is. But just in case, I’m here to let you in on a few of my ideas for how to spend your weekends without spending large.
1. The $4 Wine Night
You are probably thinking this is not original, and that you can find wine for $3 at any Wholefoods, and you’re not wrong. However, you cannot find good $3 wine at Wholefoods. Don’t get me wrong, it does the trick and we can’t afford to have a 30 year-old imported wine from France.
But the $4 wine is that one ever-so-necessary step up. All you need is a $3 bottle of wine and a $1 bottle of Sprite, or a personal favorite of mine: ‘Gold Emblem Sparkling Black Raspberry.’ You can find these at any CVS or 7/11 nearby and it only takes a second to pour yourself a glass of wine and top it off with your “mixer” to give yourself a refreshing yet sophisticated adult-like drink.
2. The Pasta Night
This one is a winner for a Friday night when you and your friends wanted to check out that great restaurant nearby that you know you cannot afford. From previous experience, this cost me and four other friends around $5 each and we had a massive meal, a few $4 wines and some cheesy garlic bread on the side.
Make use of what you already have in the kitchen; If someone has a bottle of sauce and another person has a box of pasta you are already halfway there. Get someone else to bring a few peppers or a zucchini to chuck into the pasta and if someone grabs a few baguettes you can make this great easy Garlic Bread recipe from Rachel Ray!
3. The Poker Night
Maybe you don’t know how to play poker or maybe you don’t have any chips to play with, either way though you have an excuse to spend a Friday night in with a few friends and try out something a little different. Poker chips from CVS cost no more than $5 and everyone has a deck of cards lying around somewhere.
You may be surprised to find out that people actually love the idea of a night in playing a game with friends. It may not be dancing at a local club or going to your neighbors' party, but it’s a great way to spend a few hours hanging with friends over a few beers and a card game.
No longer do you need to shell out for all the Cards Against Humanity expansion packs, play a round of blackjack or a few hands of Presidents and Assholes. Someone grab the chips, someone make a dip and someone bring the cards and you got a whole night planned!
Even if none of these ideas appeal to you, just know that you shouldn’t be afraid to admit to your friends that you don’t have any money right now. They are probably in the same boat as you so don’t feel the need to tap into your spring break fund just to keep up appearances.
There is no direct link between how much you spend and how much fun you have on any given night. Skip that club for a night, say no to that expensive restaurant, it is only one month of no money and your future self living it up on spring break will thank you for it!
