Campout Afton State Park Bluffs

Price: $5 (per group)

Location: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/afton/index.html

Afton State park is just past Woodbury, Southeast of the twin cities. It costs $5 per car to park there or $25 for a year long pass. Camp along the bluffs of the St Croix River. They have firewood, water, toilets, everything else. The views are spectacular. Fall is a good time to go to see the treeline across in Wisconsin. You have to hike about 1/2 mile from the parking lot to get to the camp site. Bring a cooler with some beer and look for a triple rainbow.

View Larger Map

Radio/TV Contests

I never thought of myself as a lucky man but boy do these radio/tv contests pay off. Over my contest playing career I have won:

Chance to participate in a Deadpool (KQRS)
4 tickets to the Trail of Terror (K102)
The Bourne Trilogy on Blue Ray (KDWB
Preshowing of 21.(KDWB)
A sweatshirt and a Nerf Ball (KDWB).

All of the contests a very simple. Most of them you just have to enter your name phone number and email address. Some you have to call in and others you have to submit entries online. Either way it is a good way to find free things to do. KDWB has by far the biggest variety of things from Taylor Swift tickets to Lil Waynes new CD. Just go to the website of your favorite radio station or TV channel and look for "interactive" or "contests" and click around until you find something interesting. I would suggest staying local because your odds of winning a trip to the Final Four from CBS Sportsline are slim.

River Walk

Walk along the river by the Minnesota Science Museum. If you go early enough you can grab a hot dog and soda from a street vendor.

Price: $0 ($4 if you grab some food)

Location: St Paul Downtown

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Beer Tasting

Local Beer Stores
Everyone brings a different kind of local beer and does a blind taste test with each kind of beer. Pretty straight forward.

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Bridge Jumping!

This might sound Crazy, but if you're safe and make sure to be careful it can be a very exciting event. Yes, there is a chance you can get hurt. And yes, there is a chance that you can get in trouble, but that is often requried if you are cheaper than $7.

When I speak of bridge jumping, I'm not speaking of jumping off bridges that are millions of feet high with a parachute to catch you. I'm speaking of finding a nice size bridge that isn't near a busy road where it's safe to jump off and land into a deep pool of water. You could get in trouble with the local police, but I'm not sure what the punishement is. Just go to a small enough town where this is commonplace.

Other ideas like this:
- cliff jumping, if you can find a cliff around.
- building a rope swing into the lake.
- building a zip line to the lake.






BE SAFE!!!

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Indoor Gardens

Price: $5

During the winter... you can take a quick vacation by visiting local indoor gardens. You can use your extra $3 to buy a plant.

Minneapolis Metro suggestions:

http://www.linders.com/gardencenter

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wagners/177563190391

Cheap and Fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Home Run Derby

America's pasttime doesn't have to mean "watching baseball."  Why not get a tennis ball out and pretend you are actually a good hitter.  Studies have shown that hitting a tennis ball with a bat correlates with reduced stress level....alongside dilusionary visions of athleticism.

Location: Parks

Price: $0

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Free Samples Lunch

Price: 0$ (kind of)

Location: Multiple

This idea is kind of a cheat for PoorMan's weekend because it requires a membership. However, if you become a regular, you end up paying for the membership. Costco always has free samples and tons of them. Just come in during lunch time and walk up and down a few times and you should be set. If you are still hungry you can alway hit up the $2 pizza or $1.50 enormous hotdog. To make it a little more fun, try and figure out who the "regulars" are.

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

COMO ZOO

Hey now this is a cute idea for all you fellows out there that need a cheap date idea. It's called a ZOO and there's one in St. Paul, MN that you can go to for free!!! But if you're feeling a little to cheap they'll accept donations that keep the ZOO running. The Como Zoo offers many attractions such as Lions, Tigers and Bears and many other interesting animals. There is also tons of gardens to walk through and mini golf if you're looking for a little competition.

So take a drive out to the wonderful COMO PARK ZOO and enjoy yourself. The location of the zoo is show on this map.

And after your done witht he ZOO enjoy a Burrito and Drink at Burrito Loco which is only 5 miles away!

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Movie Maker

Price: $0

Xtranormal.com

This site, you can make movies with animated characters by just typing in what you want them to say. They sound like robots, but that almost makes it funnier. The platform they have you create it in is very simple. You can create a free account, but you may have to pay to share it with others.

Team Trivia

There are a lot of bars and restaurants around the metro area that offer free team trivia. Beer and apps are typically heavily discounted and prizes for the winners are a big bonus. Here is a running list of the options:

Burrito Loco- Dinkytown (Weds. @ 8 and 11) (.29 wings, $2 drinks)


View Larger Map
McCoy's- St. Louis Park (Tues. @ 9)

View Larger Map
Old Chicago- Eden Prairie (Tues. @ 9)
http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&q=old+chicago+eden+prairie&fb=1&gl=us&hq=old+chicago&hnear=eden+prairie&cid=0,0,12165390026755528090&ei=d4SGS6SJOY-Ytgf9iYytDw&ved=0CAkQnwIwAA&ll=44.858226,-93.432519&spn=0.008959,0.022724&z=16&iwloc=A
Old Chicago- Eagan (Weds. @ 8)

View Larger Map
Scoreboard- Minnetonka (Weds. @ 9)

View Larger Map
$0-$7

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

BARGO! TUESDAYS (9pm- close) at LYNDALE TAP HOUSE

It's called BARGO and yes it as fun and easy as real BINGO but it's FREE. This is a perfect idea for a group of friends that need to catch up or are just looking for a night out but nothing crazy. Drinks at Lyndale's Tap House in Uptown are well priced and on this wonderful night you can get $3 dollar effen Vodkas, domestic taps or Captain Morgan to help enjoy your time. The BARGO starts at 9pm and lasts up until closing. You can win prizes and if it's not your LUCKY day, no worries, you didn't have to pay to play any way.

Check out this website for other drinking nights around Minneapolis.

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Serene Biking

Minnehaha Falls

Walk around or ride bikes. Bike rental is $8/hour.

Volleyball Courts (outdoor) in Hennepin County

Location: Many
Price: $0
Set up a game of Volleyball at plenty of parks in Hennepin County.  Here is a map of all of them according to the County.


View Larger Map

Cheap and fun things to do in Minneapolis St Paul

Mystic Bus

Mystic Lake Casino Bus Routes

You and a friend take the free bus out to Mystic and put your combined $14 on one hand of blackjack. If you win, you can buy some drinks or decent food. If you lose, eat some of the free popcorn or peanuts at the bar and take the bus home. Good luck.

Price: $7
Location:

View Larger Map

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Thrift Store

Sometimes the best ideas just come from going to the thrift store. UNIQUE in Burnsville is probably the best one I know of around here. The other day I walked around and was able to find some old golf clubs for about $1 each and some old tennis balls to play poor man's golf. If anything, its very good people watching.


View Larger Map

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Why you don't mess with the Law

Go to the Hennepin County Courthouse downtown.  Monday-Friday you can go watch an actual trial. Go to the front desk…ask what is happening that day (criminal trials are especially interesting), and you can sit in the audience and watch.

Price: $0

Location: 300 6th Street South, Minneapolis, MN

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Farmers Markets

Farmers Markets

Every Thursday in the summer Nicollet Mall has a Farmers Market. Park your car at the 50th street station (free street parking), then take the train to Nicollet Ave. This will cost $1.75.   Also, Saturday mornings in downtown Hopkins.  There are tons of them.  There are also plenty of samples.

Price: $0 (buy what is in season to stay cheap)

Location: Multiple

Small-town tour

Some of the best summer weekends are due to small town street dances. Its sometimes hard to find out where these are and what weekends, but almost every small town in northern MN and western WI have them around the 4th of July. The best way to find these out is by calling the local city governments of counties. I've been trying to figure out how to get a list of different ones for every weekend one of these summers.

Typically there will be:
-cheap beer
-outgoing crowd of people
-cops drinking with 16 yr old locals
-live music / dancing
-exposed love-handles
-no one you know (which is essential to being crazier than usual)

Last time I was at one of these at a bachelor party, we traded a can of beer for a dog. Luckily we found a someone willing to take it from us at the end of the night.

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Off to the RACES!!! Go Horsey GO!

It's Thursday evening and you don't have anything to do, and you're sick of going to the same bar or just going home to rest. Try giving the horse track a chance. Canterbury park in Shakopee, MN has a great deal on Thursday Nights to provide great entertainment for those that enjoy sports and animals. The race track will grant you access to the park for 1$, allow you to eat hot dogs and nachoes at a 1$/piece, all while being able to place dollar bets on a few horses while they race around the track. If you're not sure what to bet on, just stand around the parade area to over hear some experts picking their horses. Or better yet, be bold and pick the horse with your favorite name... WHO knows, you could pick the big underdog winner and go home with some extra cash. BUCK NIGHT starts on JUNE 16th and runs through AUGUST 25th. So call up some friends and tell them to head out to the races. You'll be glad you did!

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul