What is the cheapest outing you have gone on? Can you think of any nights on the town for under $30 in your town? If so, share your experience by leaving a comment. Even if you live in another city, I bet a lot of ideas can be replicated elsewhere!
Here’s mine to start.
My first idea for a cheap date on Saturday was to go to an art gallery opening, which often have gratis snacks and wine. But we could not find anything nearby. So I checked out Going.com, a Web site devoted to helping people without a nightlight get one in 32 cities across the country. The recession busters tab looked promising but all the events were far-flung – too costly a drive.
Then Hubby stumbled upon Westside Eclectic in Santa Monica on the Third Street Promenade. The club bills itself as a “comedy mecca for literally almost hundreds.” The 9:30 p.m. show was $10 bucks and we could stay for the 11 p.m. show if we wanted more laughs. $10 a head was more than I wanted to spend but we decided to head over and check it out. Maybe I could haggle at the ticket booth.
We were a bit early so we stopped at Angelato and split three scoops of double chocolate fudge, mint chip and pomegranate gelato for $6.45. (Buying a triple is cheaper than two singles). While we ate we were treated to a free performance by a French woman singing songs on her guitar. A street character wearing a lizard on his sombrero stopped to listen, too.
When we got to the comedy club, it was buzzing. I chickened out about asking for a discount – it was busy, we wanted to go inside – so Hubby forked over $20 while I added my BargainBabe.com flyers to their postcard rack. As we waited for the comedy trio Chick Force 3 to come on I spotted a rack at the back of the club with The Onion, a satirical newspaper.
I went back to get one and what did I discover? Three coolers of free beer. Granted it was Bud Light, Tecate and Miller Light. But free beer is free beer. I grabbed two and returned to my seat to tell Hubby.
Chick Force 3 members Michelle Miracle, Laura Baggett and Abbey Schachner, pictured, were all very funny in their own, distinct way. Having a few beers only made me enjoy it more. Later I learned that *most* shows at Westside Eclectic have free beer. Score!
The total cost of our date (we ate dinner at home and found free parking) was $26.45. Not too shabby! Can you do better?
