One of the many issues students run into with their friends is that they may struggle to find things to do while saving money. Bowling lanes are at $30 per hour, most sit-down restaurants cost around $20 a meal, trampoline parks are paid for by the hour, and shopping inherently costs money. Yet, even so, there are still plenty of options for friend groups who want to hang out without worrying about cost.
Teens often don’t have much money, so creativity is important when planning things to do with friends. An easy place to start is by planning an activity at a friend group member’s house, like a game night or dinner. Senior Claire Vallie does a couple of different activities with her friends in her neighborhood.
“We like to go on walks, or we play spoons, which is free,” Vallie said.
Beyond neighborhoods, there are other alternatives. Some students may have friend groups that have an interest in sports, so they can spend time practicing together. Senior Tony Casilla-Sanchez spends a lot of time running with his friend group from track.
“Since I’m a big runner, and I like to run with my friends, we like to explore,” Casilla-Sanchez said. “I go to trails, like the Lewis & Clark Trail, the Katy Trail, [and I] go to parks like Forest Park, Legacy, etc.”
Yet, there are many more issues than cost. There are issues like the weather, which can often spoil outdoor plans that friend groups may come up with. Junior Ethan Oketch and his friends turn to other alternatives when the weather is bad.
“[We like to hang out] whenever it’s warm, [but] usually during the wintertime, we don’t really hang out as much. But, once it’s warm, usually we’re outside,” Oketch said. “[We hang out] online all the time, usually just playing games, [talking] about school, [or] life.”
Still, there are more cheap activities friends can do. By creating a single premise, such as looking for a specific kind of item, they can create ongoing games with each other. Vallie has one such game her friends play.
“Sometimes, we go on Nee-doh hunts,” Vallie said. “Those are only $5, and we can never find them, so we don’t spend [much] money anyway, or we just go and window shop.”
Beyond cost, there are other problems students may encounter when planning hangouts. Being a student is a large time commitment, so students may need to make hard decisions about their schedules.
“I first look at what’s most important, which is my academics. [Then I] look at my athletics. After that, I look at plans with friends, because I always prioritize those [first] two things,” Casilla-Sanchez said.
While there are plenty of local places familiar to the student body, there are some that are less well known that remain cheap. Busch Wildlife Sanctuary has many different locations; from the Lewis and Clark trails to their archery range, students are given many different activities to do outdoors. There are many local creeks in the St. Charles area as well, including one in Laurel Park where people can go rock hounding (looking for special rocks like agates and geodes). Another place is Bing Field in Alton, Illinois, where walk-on play is held on the weekends. For around $20, people can bring their kit and play airsoft or paintball for the entire day. Alternatively, students could visit one of the many local board game shops on open play evenings, where they can join games of Warhammer 40k, Dungeons and Dragons, Halo Flashpoint, and many more. In all, there are many different places for students to hang out and find a new passion.
