15 Cheap or Free Things to Do — Especially at the Start of the Semester

For most of us, the start of the semester means: rent just transferred, book list still open, financial aid arriving next week at the earliest. And yet you don't want to spend three months shuttling between the shared-flat kitchen and the lecture hall. The good news: the equation "little money = nothing to do" isn't true. A big chunk of what makes a semester enjoyable costs nothing or almost nothing — you just have to know where to find it and pull yourself together once.

Here are 15 ideas, sorted by occasion. Some you do alone, when you need to clear your head; many work better with people. I've deliberately only listed things that realistically work on a tight budget — no "trip to Lisbon for 19 euros" fantasies.

Free culture: there's more of it than you think

Cities are full of free offerings that simply get overlooked because nobody advertises them. Once you know where to look, half your calendar fills up.

• 1. Museums on free days. Many venues have fixed free time slots — often the first Sunday of the month or a specific weekday evening. On top of that, with a student ID you usually pay only half price anyway. Check the venue's website; it's rarely shown prominently.
• 2. University events open to everyone. Lecture series, guest talks, film screenings, poetry slams, university concerts — a lot of it is public and free, even for people outside your subject. Your student council's mailing list and the notice board are worth their weight in gold.
• 3. The library as a hangout. Sounds boring, isn't: many city and university libraries have reading cafés, game collections, language tandems and free workshops. And you can borrow films, audiobooks and sometimes even concert tickets there for free via lending portals.

Nature and movement: the cheapest reset there is

When your account is empty, getting outside is almost always the answer. Being outdoors is free, and an afternoon by the water or on a hill often ends up feeling better than the expensive night at the bar.

• 4. A hike or a long walk. Find a route using a free map app and walk it with a person or two. A backpack with sandwiches and a thermos instead of a mountain hut stop — costs you almost nothing and clears your mind.
• 5. A picnic in the park. Everyone brings a little something, put a blanket down, done. It's the classic among things to do with friends because it scales: it works just as well for two as for twelve. You'll find more ideas in our post on activities with friends.
• 6. Going for a swim. While the weather still cooperates: a lake, a river or an outdoor pool in the final week of the season. Free at the lake, often at a student or after-work rate at the pool.
• 7. A bike ride to the surrounding area. If you have a bike (or can borrow one), the countryside around your university town is the cheapest trip there is. Destination: a café, a viewpoint, a neighbouring village — the main thing is moving and having something to see.

At home and in the shared flat: where a little becomes a lot

The cheapest venue is the one you don't pay admission for. A good evening in the flat regularly beats a mediocre evening at the expensive bar.

• 8. Game night. One or two board or card games are enough for a whole evening. If you don't own any, borrow them from the library (see above) or, in many cities, from a game library. Bring your own drinks — the rest is free.
• 9. A cooking night on the leftover principle. Everyone brings whatever they have on hand and you cook one big dish together. Cheaper than eating out, more sociable than cooking alone, and you rescue food along the way.
• 10. A film series or series marathon. Pick a theme (all films by one director, the worst trash films, whatever), make your own snacks, power through. Costs zero euros if you pool your subscriptions.
• 11. A skill swap. One person can cook, another can cut hair, someone plays guitar — teach each other something instead of paying for a course. Works surprisingly well and is a good reason to see each other regularly.

Student discounts and free events: use them systematically

Your student status is worth real money — but only if you actually use it. And many events are free from the start because they're funded through grants or advertising.

• 12. Max out your semester travel pass. Your pass often covers a much larger radius than you think. Just ride two stops further than you're used to — the neighbouring town, a lake, a lookout mountain. Travel costs: zero, because it's already paid for.
• 13. University sports instead of a gym. Almost every university offers sports courses for a few euros per semester or even for free — from climbing and bouldering to dancing. Considerably cheaper than any gym, and you meet people.
• 14. Free city and cultural events. Street festivals, open-air cinemas, freshers' weeks, flea markets, free concerts, gallery openings with a free drink — there are especially many of them at the start of the semester. Where to find them? Your city magazine, notices and local event listings. It's worth checking in regularly for events in Konstanz or events in Munich.
• 15. Sport in the park instead of a gym. A running group, calisthenics at an outdoor rig, a round of basketball or volleyball on the public court. Costs nothing, and most groups are happy to see new faces — just ask.

So what actually costs how much?

To give you a sense of where your money really goes: a rough classification of typical student evenings. The numbers are estimates and vary from city to city — but as a ballpark they hold up.

Activity	Approximate cost per person
Bar/club night with a few drinks	approx. €30–50
Cinema with snacks	approx. €15–20
Cooking or game night at the flat	approx. €3–8
Picnic / day at the lake	approx. €0–5
University sports (per semester)	often €0–20
Hike / walk	€0

You can see it quickly: a single classic night out costs roughly as much as an entire semester of university sports. That doesn't mean you should never go out — just that the cheap options can easily carry the bulk of your free time without it ever feeling like doing without.

How to roughly plan this across the semester

If you take just one thing away from this text: make the cheap activities the default and the expensive ones the exception. Roughly imagined as a distribution:

That's not a hard rule, just a rule of thumb. The point is: if your standard weekend is cheap anyway, you can treat yourself to that one good evening a month without any panic setting in at the end of the month.

The real hurdle isn't money

Honestly, most of it doesn't fail because of the budget but because nobody takes the first step. Everyone wants to "do something again", but no one writes the message to the group, and in the end everyone stays alone on the sofa. Especially at the start of the semester, when you're meeting new people, the invitation matters more than the perfect idea. "Who's up for the lake tomorrow?" is more than enough.

That's exactly where S'Up comes in: the app exists to turn "we should sometime" into an actual meet-up — spontaneously start a picnic, a game night or a hike and see who comes along. No swiping, no dating, just meeting people in real life. If you want to be less alone and more out and about at the start of the semester, sign up with no obligation on the S'Up waitlist. And even if you don't: pick one of the 15 ideas and message someone today. That's the real trick.