But, I’m going stir crazy…what to do!!

Here are some ideas to get your started.

1. Knit a scarf. So many cute opportunities to make friends while knitting these days, like Coffee and a Yarn in Newtown or Knitting groups.
2. Arty indoor stuff, the Vivid festival is such a great idea, but every time I went to go it was raining and really cold. Its inside activities that thrive in winter, try going to some art galleries you haven’t been to before and instead of watching TV find a cheap show on at the theatre or support some local music at 505.
3. Sort your life out. Winter clean up…if you’re like me and have loads of stuff you should have thrown out years ago, here is your chance!. Have you done your tax? claimed all your medicare rebates…boring I know.
   
4. See it as a great opportunity to save. Less going out = more money in the pocket. Then in the hope that this will work, plan a trip away while you are sitting on the couch (also known as saving).
5. Look into renting or buying a cheap camera. Overcast weather is great for taking photos and then after a few hours shooting you’ve got hours of enjoyment afterwards processing them in photoshop then putting them on Facebook. www.sydneycamerahire.com.au/
6. Twitter. Getting bored? Join twitter, its pretty amusing.
7. Night classes. Its not easy going to a class at night in the freezing cold, but if you can figure out a way to make it viable then why not, its not like anyone’s social calendar is chockers in a Sydney winter. sydneycommunitycollege.com.au -  www.cityeastcc.com.au - www.macquariecc.nsw.edu.au - www.cce.usyd.edu.au - www.mwcc.nsw.edu.au - www.hkcc.nsw.edu.au.
8. Missing the heat?   Bikram yoga is done in a 35C heated room…A new one has opened up in Petersham, $17 for 2 weeks…Sydney doesn’t seem to have too many sauna’s, unless you are part of a gym, but that would be a good idea if you can find one.
9. Bake stuff. The body burns more calories in the cold weather as its trying to warm you up…so by this reasoning its a good time to enjoy baking cakes, cookies etc.
   
10. Cheap movie tickets.
11. Paint something! buy some mini watercolours or cheap acrylics and go to town, don’t worry if you don’t know how, its therapeutic.
12. Opp shops.  I recently bought the best jumper I’ve ever owned for $8 at an opp shop. I figure a lot of their clothing comes from the elderly, and in the old days they actually made warm clothes with good natural materials – wool, rather than acrylic.
    
13. Lastly, embrace it. It’s only cold in Sydney for three months of the year, the only opportunity we have to wear boots and scarfs  and of course, join our UK friends in whinging about the weather. Get into it!
    

Going to see a live performance is really fun and oddly artistically satisfying. Yet, Australian’s don’t tend to go to the theatre very often.

Why?

1. Do we think it too expensive?

2. Are we too lazy?

3. Are there not enough of them located close to home?

I can’t fix points 2 and 3 tonight, but I can give some suggestions towards point 1.

Darlo Theatre
Darlinghurst theatre, is pretty cheap at $30-37 a ticket, however if that’s still too much you might want to consider volunteering. All you have to do is collect tickets on the night (you still get to to watch the show), and then as a thank you they will give you two free tickets when you’re done, so you can go and see it again with a friend.

Last minute tix
http://lasttix.com.au/ sends emails once a week or so with its latest deals, at the moment you can get 50% off the Boy from OZ and Dr Zhivago.

Riverside Theatre
Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre has some great plays and is only $35 for an adult ticket. You can get the ferry here from Circular Quay to make it extra fun.

Hmm, maybe I can sort out point 3…Small local theaters have been around for years, a great way to support your local community and have a cheap night out.

Some major ones are below:

Hunters Hill: http://www.huntershilltheatre.com.au $25 a ticket

The Guild Theatre in Rockdale: http://www.guildtheatre.com.au

The Peninsular Theatre in Narrabeen: http://www.peninsulatheatre.com.au

Arts Theatre Cronulla http://www.artstheatrecronulla.com.au

Pavillion Theatre in Castle Hill http://www.paviliontheatre.org.au/Season11.htm

So, no more excuses!

You can’t.

But, you can now buy movie tickets for a decent price!

Cheap online movie voucher options:

• $7 for Greater Union tickets: http://bit.ly/hGNWNt , QUICK, this runs out soon- 3 Feb 2011.

• Buy cheap tickets to most cinemas at Spendless.com.au

• “Always on Sale” has cheap Hoyts tickets when you buy more than one: http://www.alwaysonsale.com.au/aos/brands/139-hoyts/

• MBF member? You can get up to 25% off movie tickets at Hoyts, Event Cinemas, Greater Union, Birch Carroll & Coyle and Village if you are an MDF member, just buy your tickets online when you log into the site.

Other ways to watch cheap movies (not in the lounge room)

• I really like the idea of watching free films at the Art Galley of NSW on Wednesday nights (Art After Hours), but I always end up enjoying the atmosphere of the gallery…the wine and the talks so much that I completely forget about seeing the movie!

• Summer only. Steal a movie. Hang out up the back or to the right of the screen at St George Cinema in the Botanical Gardens (during Summer)… you get a good view and the sound is clear as a bell.

• We all know Tuesdays are cheaper at the cinema, but its also a good day for free movies in the inner west: Madame Fling Flong, in Newtown, has free cult films on Tuesdays. Cult Sinema, at the Annandale Hotel, shows some interesting movies on Tuesdays for a suggested fee of only $5.

• If you live near Randwick...score! you can go to Randwick Ritz , it is always cheap!

Enjoy

The trouble with festivals

1) They are a reminder that I sell my soul for a living. There are so many cool meaningful jobs out there, many occupiers of these jobs go to festivals. I.e Musician, Permaculturalist, Naturopath/Herbalist…  Am I wasting my life!?

2) Camping. Most festivals are in summer. Ah, the Australian summer. Either its pissing down or its a million degrees. Ever woken up in a plastic tent when its 35C outside… sauna!

3) Night parties outside your tent. To whoever plugged their guitar into an amp at 4am on the first night of peats ridge… You suck! When you’re already trying to sleep against the odds…(uncomfortable blow-up mattress, mosquito’s buzzing in the tent, guy snoring next door, couple ‘doing-it’ down the road) a party still going at 4am can really tick you off.

4) Money. Most festivals go-ers aren’t regular campers. They don’t have all the equipment they need so either buy it beforehand or borrow it..then, as they don’t know what they need to bring they are forced to buy it at the inflated festival general store prices.
You bought your own food! great, its a million degrees, there are ants, the festival is out of ice and its too fn hot to cook anyway. And, you can’t bring your own alcohol, drinks are about $6 each.

Pretend hippies. People who buy “hippy” clothes just for festivals piss me off.

Toilets. Everyone dreads having to go to the toilet at festivals. Apart from the fact that they overflow regularly (smelly!! and gross..wear closed shoes) It’s very hot inside a plastic box during a 40C summers day. I guarantee everyone male and female that attended Peats Ridge over the last 2 years would have gone outside at least once during the festival.

The good thing about festivals

They remind us that lots of people are following their dreams and loving it.. We can do that too!

Camping. A good bonding activity and reminder of how good we have it day to day.

Camping ground night parties. I have made some really good lasting friendships from camping ground parties.

Money. If you only get to do one band watching activity a year its certainly good value for money doing this at a festival… You get to see a lot of bands, you’re camping so not paying much for accommodation, you can cook your own food on your campsite and there are lots of things to do day and night. Just expect to spend more than you intended on food and alcohol.

Toilets. This is how things were in the old days. You did smell your own and everyone’s shit. If you can go at a festival you can go anywhere!

The vibe. Lots of lovely happy, relaxed and giving people attend festivals…its worth going just to be around them…even if there is the odd “pretend hippy” roaming around .

Womadelaide and Blues and Roots Festival are coming up!

So what is a tightarse to do? 

…perhaps www.helparoundthehouse.com.au is the answer.

Helparoundthehouse is a bulletin board for anyone wanting some cash (mostly students) to post their availability , location and skills (cleaning, baby sitting, windows, dishes, ironing etc). Some students are as cheap as $13 an hour…A bit unethical I fear asking someone to clean your crap for only $13 an hour. Most are $16-20 per hour.

and…

2) October is Sydney Food Festival time!!

There are a ton of expensive and reasonably priced things to do as part of this festival. I’ve summarised my fav’s from the later category:

1. Night Noodle Markets

11-22 October Hyde Park  from 6pm
Over 30 Asian food stalls in Hyde Park, very atmospheric..lots of fairy lights and shit. Dishes cost between $8-$12. As usual for these sorts of events alcohol is super expensive… you know what to do.

2. Let’s Do Lunch Mon-Fri in October

$35 will get you a main meal, coffee and choice of wine, beer or San Pellegrino at some of the best restaurants in Sydney including: Red Lantern, Hugo’s, Jaspers, Catalina, Aria… a great opportunity to dine like the rich at a tightarse price. Choose your fav dish/restaurant then call them to book – make sure you tell them you’re booking as part of ‘lets do lunch’.

3. Cocktail of the Month

This seems a bit pricey but would make for a fun date activity or a girls night out.. $20 for a creative cocktail and matched canape at some of the grooviest cocktail venues around Sydney including: Cafe Sydney, Opera Bar, Fringe Bar... and more

And here are a few others…

A TOUCH OF ESPANA
Ash Street Cellar, October 11 and 18, 6.30pm-10.30pm.
Tapas and a Spanish movie.

A TOUCH OF ITALIA
Beresford Inn, October 4, 11, 18, 25, 7pm-11pm.
This place will turn into an Italian barra on Monday nights in October with Italian films and food.

Let’s do Brunch

A similar deal as Lets do Lunch – $25 will get you 2 dishes in one of Sydney’s favourite breakfast/brunch spots: My brunch choice of the lot

Then, three things happened. 1) My credit card started getting out of control 2) I started to really think more about the environment and 3) A few years ago a friend introduced me to this documentary (also a book)  Status Anxiety. While i think I always had an inkling for the theories Alain de Botton points out… I’m not sure I fully appreciated them. It really helped me to understand at least one aspect of why being tight can be so hard.  In a world where everything is supposed to be ‘equal’ if you don’t have as much as your friends and neighbours it can increase your anxieties about your own achievements and possessions, leading you to go out and buy more and more often. Something that didn’t happen so much when the caste system was more prevalent (at least in the UK).

Alain de Botton’s solution is to try and recognise the issue and ignore the urge to compare yourself to others, or if that proves too hard, to up and move and get new friends. Sounds very drastic but if it will make you happier… hmm, could it be worth it.

For me reality really hurt at first but the following things made it easier:

- Making some great friends (in Sydney) who were just as strapped for cash. I love all my friends but by chance I have also made some great ones in the same circumstance as me which has helped on so many levels.

- Reading books with really poor people in them. OK, so this may sound a little far fetched… but, reading about people who are much worse off than you can really help put things in perspective. Some examples that come to mind:  Shantaram or the one i’m currently reading ‘A fine balance’ (also set in India). Alternatively you could always laugh at Americans http://www.peopleofwalmart.com

- Volunteer at a homeless shelter. My god, you will feel so happy with your lot in life after a night of this.

Some more practical money saving tips

- Something I’ve only just started doing with some success, after I pay bills etc I hide money from myself in different accounts.

- Keep all possibly relevant receipts for tax time. I’m hopeless at this.

- Keep a jar for your loose coinage, I have one of these but think its perhaps more relevant for boys who don’t have a coin purse. My male friend ends up with about a grand a year from doing this.

- Get good internet and download your movies (legit-ly of course) so much cheaper than DVD shops and late fees!

- Only use the credit card in emergencies.

- Learn to cook - this is a big one and worthy of some serious attention on this site. For example: I am making spag bol tonight. Total cost of this meal: $5!  and it will last me tonight and tomorrow lunch. $2.50 per meal!

- Grow some veggies: lettuce, parsley, corriander – you just need a pot, seeds, sun, soil and to water them once every second day, or everyday depends. It feels good and natural and it does save you money in the end.

- Don’t buy snacks at the movies, holy FK these are expensive! $6.50 for M&M’s! even if you go to the local 7-eleven instead you’ll be saving money.

- This may help one day “You can save up to 30% on your return train fare when you travel after 9.00am Monday to Friday (earlier in outer suburban areas such as Katoomba) or at any time on weekends and public holidays.”

That’s it for now, I’ll be putting more tips up from time to time.

A

I have however been busy researching the cheapest places to eat lunch in the city. I challenged myself on twitter to have $6 lunches every day for a month. At the end of the first week  I was feeling mega shitty, i had a headache, felt a bit dizzy and for once wasn’t hungry. That’s right people, food poisoning. I’d eaten at the cheapest lunch dives in an attempt to bring you an array of good cheap food options and I failed.  I’m not going to mention who I think ‘poisoned’ me, hell it could have been a little bit of all of them . I will say this though, trust your instincts. If it looks a bit dodgy… it probably is!

So, I’ve now come the conclusion that one has four options when wanting a cheap lunch in the city.

1) Bring your own 4 days a week (boring is better than food poisoning… and cheaper) and treat yourself once a week.

2) Leg it to China town. Mmm dumplings.

3) Wait till 2pm then go to Australia Square or Hunter street for discounted lunch bargains.

4-6) Sushi rolls, salad roll from a Vietnamese bakery or get some key ingredients from Coles or Woolies on George st and make it yourself.

Any other suggestions, where do you eat when you can’t be bothered bringing from home ?

Hi all, a few people have asked me about Freecycle which I referenced in a post last week.

Freeycle is for people who have things they don’t need/ want anymore and are looking for the item to be reused rather than thrown away. Realistically it is also for people who can’t be bothered selling or getting rid of their stuff themselves and it obviously attracts people generally just after some FREE stuff. Word of warning though tightarses, don’t be too greedy. You can post items to be offered to the group and ask for items you want..but asking for something too specific. For example:  WANTED: “Panasonic 50 inch flat screen TV ” won’t go down well with the group. Or with me for that matter.

http://www.freecycle.org/ search for Sydney then choose the area closest to you. Inner west and eastern suburbs is “Sydney Central”.

There is also a site called http://www.ozrecycle.com/ which offers a similar thing Australia wide.