How to Manage Your Weekends…

First, give yourself a break!! It IS very difficult to jump straight into the adult world and deal with all the boring tasks that go with it. So start by making it a plan to enjoy your Friday night after work and all day Saturday. This means, being responsible in what you plan on these days but refrain from cleaning, shopping and paying the bills.

Everyone needs a little down time. Choose what you do on your “off days” so that you do not run yourself into debt or exhaust yourself to the point that you can’t do the “adult” things on Sunday. You don’t have to go out every weekend, and you shouldn’t. If something comes up at work, and friends plan to go out on the town… join them. But if this is a usual affair each week, you need to conveniently find yourself with other plans every other week. You can’t and shouldn’t be forking over your hard earn money towards partying every weekend…eventually you will be out of money and be stuck at home with “mom and dad!”

Planat least one fun weekend a month and make it a goal to get to that weekend. It will give you something to look forward to on those hard days of being an adult. Plan a hiking event or sports activity that you would not usually do. Spend the day at the largest bookstore in your state. You get the idea…do something you think you might like that requires you to plan it out. It might be a drive out to a lake or a visit to a local museum that you always wondered about. With this said… it should not cost you a ton of money! This should be something you could do for under $50.

Next, plan a bi-monthly outing. This might cost you more money but you should be saving money towards it (more on that later.) This is a weekend that allows you to travel out of town or to attend a major concert. Try to limit yourself to $200. You will most likely go over budget, but if you try to keep this amount in your head, you’re not going to plan a trip to Paris and find yourself disappointed when you don’t have the money to go. (Save the BIG trips, like Europe and Asia etc., and cruises until you are more financially stable and stable in your job as well. Contrary to what you might think, “thirty” is young and you will find you have a far better time at that age traveling then in your twenties.)

RELAX:Now what should you do when you aren’t doing your one special weekend or your bi-monthly outing, you might ask. It’s simple, start by knowing that every person needs to have time to relax. Whether that is sleeping in a couple of hours on Saturday morning, laying by the pool, or reading on the couch you need to find time that is just for you (even if you live by yourself.) This is especially true if you are in a committed relationship where you are together all the time. You need to let your special someone know what your plans are before the weekend arrives, that way there are no hard feelings when you say you are going to take a nap or head out for a drive. Your “alone time” doesn’t need to be more than thirty minutes even, you just need time to be by yourself and breathe.

BE ACTIVE: It’s important that you be active on your weekends. A good way to do this is to get involved with a Recreational program in your area, or join a group on Meet Ups. The Internet is a great way to find out what activities there are in your area. DON’T be shy! Chances are that the people you will be meeting will be just like you. If group activities are not for you, exercise! Take a bike ride or go for a walk. Being physically active will help your mental state and will give you energy that you would not normally get just sitting around at home.

ENTERTAIN: Perhaps one of the greatest problems with being new to the adult world is the awkwardness of entertaining at home. As a new adult you have to change your thinking on how you will have friends over. No more “pre-gaming” should be your motto…(okay, we’ll let you have just a few.) Entertaining at home is more in the lines of having a few friends over from work for a BBQ. Or one might have a group of friends over to have cocktails and play games. It sounds terrible, I know. But this is the way you begin entertaining in the adult world. You’ll be surprised how much fun you and your guests will have. Keep in mind that if you do indeed entertain at home, that budgeting for food and drink is imperative. My suggestion is to ask your friends to bring something to offset the costs of feeding or providing all the drinks for the night.

SUNDAY… This is the ADULT DAY. I’m sorry to say it, but this is the day that most adults get their “home” work done. This day should always be routine for you. Why? It should be routine so as not to add stress before you start your workweek. My suggestion is to get up at a reasonable time (before ten) and know exactly how you are going to conquer your day. Perhaps you attend church, have lunch, then get down to business. Make Sunday your laundry day. A perfect day to throw a load of laundry in while you clean your bathroom/s, dust, sweep or vacuum, and pick up your kitchen. Set a timer on your watch or phone for thirty minutes to remind you that you need to check on your laundry so it actually gets done. Most “cleanups” take no more than 1.5 hours to complete if you haven’t destroyed your home in the course of a week.

Once you are done with all of your chores, you should have time for football, watching your favorite television series etc. And guess what you can do while you are sitting there on the couch…you got it! Fold your laundry. During commercials put them away. Walla, you are done! Unless of course it is that Sunday where you need to get your bills paid. Lesson ONE! Never do you bills late in the day! IF it is bill pay Sunday, make sure you take care of them while you are still energetic and can complete them quickly. You don’t need to be stressing about money right before you go to bed anyhow. By 5pm you should have everything done and should be able to have dinner and enjoy a quiet evening before getting ready to start the next week.

Don’t let things pile up during the week or you will feel the weight of the world on you when the weekend arrives! You can do it. It just takes planning and staying on a routine.