Kind of thing · 5 ideas
Shopping & browsing
Browsing is a legitimate way to spend an afternoon, as long as it has a limit: one store, one hour, one purchase or none. Thrift stores, bookstores, record shops and plant nurseries reward slow looking in a way a mall doesn't.
- Typical price
- $0–30 with a cap. The cap is the point.
- How long
- One to three hours.
How to do it cheaper
- Set a dollar cap before you go in. $20 at a thrift store buys more than you think.
- Thrift chains run half-off color-tag days; the tag color changes weekly.
- Used bookstores and record shops have a dollar bin. Start there.
- Browse first, buy on the way out, if at all.
- Plant nurseries mark down the sad-looking plants. They usually recover.
Works for
The ideas
$0–20
2–3 h
Shopping & browsing
A thrift store crawl with a $20 cap
Three stores, one afternoon, twenty dollars. The cap makes it a game instead of shopping.
- Best when
- Weekday afternoons, when the racks have just been restocked
- Cheaper
- Thrift chains run a half-off color tag each week. Ask which color.
- Skip it if
- You need to find something specific. Thrift is for finding what you didn't know you wanted.
- Bring
- A measuring tape if you're looking at furniture.
$0–20
1 h
Shopping & browsing
One hour in an independent bookstore
The staff picks shelf, a chair in the back, one book bought or none. A full reset in sixty minutes.
- Best when
- Any afternoon; evenings often have a free author event
- Cheaper
- Browse free, buy used, or note the title and put a library hold on it.
- Skip it if
- You'll buy five books and read none. Cap it at one.
- Bring
- A list of what you've been meaning to read.
$0–25
1 h
Shopping & browsing
A record store with a listening station
Flip through a crate, put something unknown on the headphones, buy it or don't. An hour disappears.
- Best when
- Weekday afternoons; new arrivals land on Fridays
- Cheaper
- The dollar bin is where the surprises are.
- Skip it if
- You don't own a turntable and won't admit it.
- Bring
- A name of one album you've been meaning to hear.
$0–20
1 h
Shopping & browsing
Browse a plant nursery
Greenhouses, damp air, rows of things that will probably survive you. Leave with one plant or none.
- Best when
- Weekend mornings, especially in spring
- Cheaper
- The markdown rack of sad plants is $2–5, and most of them recover with water.
- Skip it if
- You already have a windowsill of dead ones. Buy a pothos.
- Bring
- Nothing. They'll give you a box.
Free
2 h
Shopping & browsing
The mall, for the air conditioning
On a 100°F day the mall is a free, cold, indoor walk with a food court at the end. Don't overthink it.
- Cost
- Free to $15
- Best when
- Weekday afternoons in a heat wave
- Cheaper
- Walk the loop, skip the stores, eat from the cheapest counter.
- Skip it if
- You're going to buy things to justify being there. You don't have to.
- Bring
- A light layer. Mall AC is set for people in motion.