The Best Deals ever!

Friends know that I am a frugal person. A serious tightwad. I’m not poor, I just am hesitant to spend money when a better deal may be sought out…..and by better deal, I mean free! Here is a list of things that I have found both enjoyable and FREE in the city:

 A free ticket to the Friday premier of the Sex in the City Movie. Yeah, not joking about this one. I was supposed to go with a group of girlfriends, but I didn’t preorder a ticket in time and it was subsequently sold out. Well in the “free” section of Craig’s List, I found a posting for a free ticket to the Imax screen. Evidently the girl’s plans changed so she just gave me her ticket.

 Free hair cut and dye job. Back in October, I got a professional haircut from a very top end salon for free. I basically showed a picture of the cut I wanted and the girl tried to mimic it. She had several years of experience, but she wanted to get some tips from this master stylist and she could only do that by actually cutting someone’s hair. He ended up doing a lot of the cutting himself since I have curly hair which ups the difficulty level. Well on Tuesday, I went to another high end salon and had my hair dyed/highlighted for free. I was the model for the class and basically the instructor threw out some ideas that I could choose from (all reasonable, no drastic changes or anything, like low lights or high lights or all over color, etc). Then he dyed my hair for the entire class to watch. Granted I was at the salon for 2-1/2 hours, but my hair looks and feels absolutely luxurious. Plus he gave me a huge bag filled with their products to thank me for my time.

 Free pass to the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The first Saturday of every month, the BAM opens its doors to the public. You can tour the museum or listen to any of the guest speakers or DJ’s that they have lined up for the evening. M-Man and I spent 4 hours touring the fascinating museum exhibits and I felt a tiny bit guilty for not paying a thing. All of the other museums have a free day or afternoon, so this is not a new thing. Some of the state/city funded museums also only have a “suggested” admission, so they are basically free. I’ve seen the Cloister Museum, the City of New York Museum, The MET, and the Museum of Natural History all for a total of $5 (basically a $1 here or there, whatever change I had on me).

 Governor’s Island. I’ll write a detailed post later with pictures, but this historic island is full of old estate houses, forts, carnival grounds, and even a prison. Plus everything (except food) is absolutely free, even the ferry ride.

 Free furniture. Again another search through the ‘free’ Craig’s list category scored me two free dressers….I just had to hire a guy with a truck to pick them up.

 Free comedy show tickets. I should write a thank you letter to Craig’s list because I just realized how much free stuff I have gotten from them. One time I was searching for date ideas for M-Man and I when I came across two free tickets to a comedy show. It was in a tiny performance space in the Lower East Side, and we were entertained 90% of the time. I mean, the fire eater from Coney Island was their opening act and that performance is worth at least $10 alone.

 Cringe Readings. I absolutely love attending the Cringe readings every month. Basically people read from their childhood/teenage diary’s, school projects, love letters, etc. It is pee your pants hilarious. I want to dig out my old yearbook and see if there is any material there. The readings are held the first Wednesday of each month out in Brooklyn. The only cost you incur is the $2 subway trip out there.

I am sure I have left out a lot of free activities like movies in the park, GMA concert series, etc. More to come when I have time to sit down and write them all out.