That last week of the month before pay day is always rubbish - student days of living off 9p noodles start becoming a little close to home. However, these days, that final week is more or less a constant situation for many of us. So if you've jacked in private jets and personal trainers in favour of Lidl and the Megabus, fear not. Here are three of our writers' favourite ways to have fun on zero budget.

Want a new wardrobe, but don't want to spend a Kate Moss sized fortune on it? Samantha Feerick has found a way to get her new garbs for free...

The recession has made it difficult to keep ourselves looking original on every night out without not wear the same outfit twice a month. Without this costing us huge amounts, it’s hard to keep on top of a new wardrobe all the time.

However, we will begin to see a new craze of clothes swapping - AKA swishing! You may have heard of it, but don’t panic if you haven’t, it’s as simple as it sounds.

www.bigwardrobe.com has made it even simpler, and gives us many clothing opportunities. Upload some piccies of your unwanted bits and see who fancies them; you can then either do a swap with them for something of theirs, or sell yours to them, earning you some extra pocket money.

Online isn’t the only way you can take part in this though, and I would strongly recommend heading to the website and finding a real life swish local to you. You’ll have a great time running around in a half hour time scale labelling clothes you fancy with your name, and then waiting to find out what you get in exchange for your clothes! Then you head home feeling detoxed, having not only got rid of some of your unwanted items but with some free new outfits for your wardrobe.
 
Clothes swapping is such an exciting way to shop without worrying about your bank balance - log on now and get swishing!

Katie Hoffmann recommends grabbing your man and jumping straight in the sack...

Ask a man about cheap or free fun things to do in a recession and you're guaranteed to hear "sex" without a moment's hesitation. But maybe there's something to that one-track mind approach in these testing times. Sure, you need some things to get started, but it's not nearly on the level of gear needed for taking up something like, say, cycling in the countryside. A bloke and a bed will do. Or, if you're so inclined, a sofa or any other part of a house.

Because you see that's the thing. The more you get into the groove, the more trained your eye will get. A quickie in the kitchen before a late brunch? Check. But also check any possible housemates won't catch you in the act or find incriminating evidence. In fact, make a game of it and see how close you can cut it without getting caught. A lazy Bank Holiday weekend spent in bed "watching movies" because of the inevitable rain? There's a pause button on DVD players for a reason. Total cost £5 for the video rental.

Getting him excited about busting the recession with some quality time together ought to be a no-brainer. The time you save not spending money down at the pub could be spent training him in making you very happy indeed. In all honesty, fears caused by the recession may have
hit your love life. If he's a keeper, there is no time like now to reclaim your relationship and get it back on track. You've got each other, and that's a lot for love(making). Not having the funds for as many external distractions may actually work in your favour.

And you save on your gym membership if you keep at it enough to have it count as exercise. It really is a winner. Think about it!

For when you need a purer pleasure, now's the time to rediscover all those novels that you didn't read for your degree, says Philippa Wheeler...

In these skint times of recession we hark back to those simple things that we forgot when we suddenly got jobs and had money to splash out festivals, weekends away, nice restaurants and mad nights out.

I have personally rediscovered my love of reading over the past year. I’ve always been a big reader but I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it and how much I got out of it - even the books that are pure romance trash seem to entertain me on a boring Sunday afternoon.

The beauty of reading as a hobby is you don’t need to spend a fortune to maintain it. Share, swop and borrow without any pre-reading judgement. You’ll be amazed how many conversations you will end up having about a book and then recommending your personal favourites and receiving others' treasured reads. Sharing books with friends and colleagues is also an amazing way to find out new quirks about people you thought you knew, and you may even discover a few cheeky secrets.

Here are a couple of ways to get back your reading obsession without breaking your budget or extending your overdraft yet again...

Join a book club. Find one locally or join an online one such as the rather popular www.richardandjudybookclub.co.uk

You can pick up mega cheap books on www.amazon.co.uk - or if you need to replace your shoe shopping addiction, go to your nearest bookshop and browse until something takes your fancy.

Alternatively, if you can’t afford any new books but would really like a few reads for the weekend then get yourself down to your local library and sign up. Most libraries have a limit, but unless you're going to read ten books in a day they’re pretty generous.

So bye bye massive shopping trips to Topshop to fill my wardrobe with more dresses I can’t afford, I’m headed down to the library to stock up on some reading treats.