How To Be Constructive On A Thursday Night

For a lot of young folks Thursday nights start the weekend party.

When I was in my twenties in college and after college, my friends and I were out and about either in a nightclub participating in the atmosphere or providing the atmosphere since I was a musician back then.

When you’re young it’s very easy to do this because you’ve got that never-ending energy that keeps you going for days on end with very little sleep. This also explains why some consider every night a weekend night. Reminds me of one of my daughters.

These activities also might explain why you don’t have any money to save automatically or invest automatically. Well, a good replacement for these Thursday night outings and saving a bunch of money is to get involved with a volunteer program of some sort or go help out every Thursday night at your local homeless shelter.

I did this almost every Thursday night for two years in my thirties. I would go straight from work which was only about a mile away from the local homeless shelter. Mostly it was to wash dishes and organizing the supplies in the basement of the shelter. I also made sure I was there for Thanksgivings as well where you mostly wash dishes.

A lot of times people who volunteer think they’re going to do some wonderful part of the job like serving the homeless food and possibly make it on the local news displaying their goodwill for all to admire, but typically people are needed to do the most mundane jobs – like washing dishes or organizing supplies in the basement. They’ll probably remind you that they need help all year round and not just one day or night a year.

So, go find something to volunteer for on Thursday nights when you might typically spend money. If you have spent money foolishly on Thursday nights, take that money and save it automatically online or invest it in your Roth IRA like we’ve talked about in the three actions.

Another good idea to do with the money you save by not going out on Thursday nights is to start writing down now, in August of 2007, what you’re going to spend on holiday gifts this year.

Make a list of all the people you need to buy gifts for and use some of your Thursday night money that you save NOT going out and partying but for holiday gifts. Keep in mind that the presents you buy and give won’t be remembered as much as the time and attention you provide people during the holidays. This should help you determine how much to spend on holiday presents. Especially if you have kids. They will NOT love you less if you don’t buy them the biggest and best present of all.

Try asking the people you gave presents to last year what you gave them or what they received from so and so. Some folks can’t even remember. Then ask them what kind of memorable moments they had during last year’s holidays. Hopefully they remember the time shared with you and other loved ones.

Think and list what kind of memorable moments you want to create this Christmas that don’t include buying and giving expensive gifts.