During the summer, activities can get boring quickly. Have you looked through articles and articles trying to find fun things to do, but everything is so expensive? Yes, shopping, theme parks and concerts are fun, but you might not always have hundreds of dollars to spend or someone to drive you 90 minutes away to participate in those pursuits. Here are seven fun (and easy) things to do with your friends this summer that won’t break the bank.

1) Go for a bike ride along the beach.

There are great, cheap bike rental places at Venice or Santa Monica Beach, if you prefer, for as little as $20 per day. There are so many cute restaurants for when you are done with your bike ride. In Venice, there are two restaurants that I would highly recommend. The first is Casablanca, which is a Mexican restaurant on Lincoln Boulevard. The other is The Rose Venice, which is a fresh, healthy restaurant with an amazing lobster roll.  

2) Have a beach day!

My favorite beach for swimming is Zuma Beach in Malibu. It’s a very nice location with cute shops. There are 28 restaurants near Zuma. Some fun activities for the beach include surfing, boogie-boarding, volleyball, frisbee and my personal favorite: searching for sand crabs!

3) Hike Temescal Canyon with your friends and family.

Temescal Canyon is a 3.4-mile hike with beautiful views of nature and the beach. It’s near Will Rogers State Beach. When you are done, you can walk to the Pacific Palisades Village, which has shops, restaurants and an amazing farmers market on Sundays. It is only 1.2 miles away or a four-minute drive from the start of the hike.

4) Go thrift shopping and pick out an outfit for your friends.

You can do this when you need an outfit for an event or just for enjoyment and to test how well you know your friend’s style. Have a budget of $25 and see what good pieces you can find from local thrift shops. Some local thrift shops include Goodwill, and my favorite, Crossroads because you can buy and sell clothes.

5) Do a baking competition together.

See what you can come up with in a certain time period, and no need to buy ingredients if you don’t want to. Make up your own version of Chopped and have some friendly competition.

6) Have a movie marathon!

Trade off picking movies, shows or videos. Then, make some popcorn or whatever snacks you enjoy. If you can’t think of something to watch, then try this random genre generator.

7) Finally, hit up an escape room.

An escape room is a great way to connect and learn new things about each other and your unique styles of leadership and thinking. There are so many escape rooms in L.A. with a variety of themes. If you get stuck, here are plenty of tips to help you out.

I hope you enjoy trying out some of these activities and that these help fill your summer days!