Sometimes you just need to be perked up — & sometimes your wallet’s feeling a little bit lighter than you would like. In these situations, what you need is a shot of cheap glee. Here are some ways to get it:

Go & get a decadent ice-cream sundae. Make it count by waiting until you’re really hungry. If you want to really appreciate it & you’re able, check your local ice-cream parlour’s website & decide which flavours you’re going to get beforehand. Then get them to pile it up with whipped cream, hot fudge sauce, nuts, sprinkles, etc., find a good spot to do some people watching & devour the entire thing. (This is my favourite store.)

Buy a bright pen (pink! blue! green! purple!), make some postcards, write little haikus to your friends. Put a stamp on it, kiss the back, & pop it in a post box.

Put on some comfortable shoes, take your digital camera for a walk & do a colour study. Red, pink, orange, black, lilac, whatever — whenever you see it, take a picture.

Take some of your favourite pictures from a magazine & get them blown up to poster size at a photocopying shop.

Go to the supermarket & scour the dairy/deli section for camembert cheese on special. (Usually they reduce the price when it starts to become ripe.) Buy one that appeals to you — I suggest a round one, I like them the best. Find somewhere nice to sit. Take the cheese out of its box & unwrap some of the white paper. Then nibble at it, like a mouse. No knives or other implements allowed. Just eat it. It is the best thing ever. I can easily eat entire blocks of cheese like this, it is totally delightful.

Take a yoga class — ESPECIALLY if you’ve never done it before! Just show up to a beginner’s session in comfortable clothes & go for it.

Eat really good pepperoni pizza in bed while watching something totally awful.

Scour Ebay for bargains. REAL bargains, not “this-would-be-a-bargain-if-I-were-Richard-Branson” bargains! You can find new stuff from MAC cosmetics, samples of perfume, great nailpolish (like Essie & OPI), bulk candy, beautiful typewriters, wigs, Polaroid cameras, furry legwarmers… you get the picture!

What are your tips for making merry on a budget? (Most of mine involve food!)