So I sat for and passed my exam in September of 2019. It is now March of 2020 and I've completed my goal of 60 PDU's. It is not a hard process at all and can be virtually cost free or minimum cost at worst.
So here is how I did it.
Books!!!!!!!!! Books are your friend when it comes to PDU's Books on leadership, agile, scheduling, etc anything dealing with project management or management in general. You get PDU for the amount of time it takes to read. Now I am certain there is a limit to the amount of time you can claim on one book.
!!!!!!!!!PODCASTS!!!!!!!!!!! Between the PMPodcast and Manage This I gained a ton of PDU's (There are others but these were the main two)
Of course doing the work of a PM.... although you are only allowed to claim 8 max PDU for this.
Giving back.... mentoring, or writing a book, giving a class, writing some content for Projectmanagement.com (my route)
There are other ways but for me it only cost the price of a couple of books that were good reads anyway and some were free available on the PMI site as a member.
The important thing is pace yourself. I have two plus years before I have to renew and Im already done. Key point to take with you is once you're certified maintaining is a breeze if you don't overthink it.
Best Regards
Brandon East, PMP
