—
Growing up, I was fortunate to have parents who would do anything to provide for their kids. Both my parents had jobs with decent pay but still, my dad had to work part-time to feed a family of six.
We even managed to upgrade our home living from a 4-room flat to a 5-room executive flat.
Everything was well. Until it wasn’t.
The economy crashed and my dad lost his job. Slowly, we receded into an uncomfortable living with an unstable income. My siblings and I were on the financial support group in school where we were given food coupons.
On the days that my friends would eat fast food, I had to skip lunch (or buy lesser food) just so I could have enough to join them. And it sucked.
But we weren’t unhappy. My parents found ways to make ends meet. We may not have as much as others but we were united.
We enjoyed our family days on weekends by the beach. Every few months, we would take a short family trip to neighbouring places such as Malaysia or Batam. Sometimes we would need to sleep over our relatives’ homes in order to save money but it was fun!
Being raised in the city, going to the rural parts of Malaysia created a certain family bond. Imagine being crammed into a small taxi with 5 other members for six hours. Oh, the horror!
Through it all, we enjoyed each others’ company. Looking back at all those years, I don’t remember the type of presents my parents bought or the once in a while branded goods.
I cherished the times we spent and the activities we did together.
I started this article with a question: How to live your life when you don’t have much?
By being present with your loved ones.
Time is the only currency we can’t earn back once it’s lost. If you were to lose all your money, you can easily get it back in a month. But if you lose out on the time you could spend with your family & friends, you can’t get that back.
So what if I want to hang out with my loved ones but we have little to spend?
Here are some activities that my family and I have done. I hope this helps you find some inspiration.
- Picnic
- Kite Flying
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Watch TV together
- Game night
- Roadtrip
- Painting your home
- Home-cooked dinner where nobody touches their phones
- Everyone helping out in the kitchen to prepare for lunch/dinner
- Baking a cake
- Cycling around town
- Exercising together
- Walking in the park
- Going to community-hosted Family Day events
There are a lot more activities that you can do for cheap or with little cost to spend. Just be creative and have fun!
—
This post was previously published on www.medium.com and is republished here with permission from the author.
—
Photo credit: Shutterstock