Free Flick Fridays

Snowed in and out of things to watch on TV? We've reminded you about free on-demand movies (probably) included in your cable package before. Now Tribeca Film Festival has a blog highlighting some of the better movie picks on hulu (it's not just for catching up on Glee). All that's missing is the popcorn.

Extra Coin from Coinstar

Now through December 6th, you can get an extra $10 (in rebate form) when you turn in your coins to a CoinStar machine.
As always, there is a fee to turn your coins into cash, but the fee is waived if you turn it into a gift card from one of the participating merchants (e.g., iTunes, Amazon, etc.) -- and hey, now you have a gift card for that hard-to-shop for niece or nephew!

Get the promo details here. CoinStar machines are usually located in a Duane Reade or Whole Foods stores; find the one nearest you here.

Via MyFrugalAdventures.com
Photo by Chris_Jones

The Best Deal in NY?

Recession This! isn't quite dead yet, and when I stumble upon a deal like this, it makes me happy to have a place to spread the word. Went out for drinks with friends at the Film Center Cafe over the weekend and we were all bowled over by the $4 hotdogs and fries. For four bucks, you get 2 Hebrew National dogs (with some lovely sauerkraut) AND a heaping pile of fries -- the perfect late night soak-up-the-booze snack. And this place isn't a dive -- it's served on a real plate (a square one which adds to the fancy) and the rest of the menu is affordable too. A few people (okay, including me..) weren't even that hungry but just couldn't pass up the deal! I will be back with hungry and drunk people in tow (okay, maybe just me).

Film Center Cafe is at 9th Ave and 44th St.

When the Lights Go Out

You probably already know that compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, save you loads through increased energy efficiency (60-80% less energy usage than conventional bulbs) and longer life (6 to 15 times longer).

But what do you do with CFLs when they do die? There's mercury in there, so you can't just throw them out. Well, intrepid reporter Jody found out that The Home Depot recycles CFLs!

Also: once you've phased out those old batteries with rechargeable batteries, bring the old batteries to Whole Foods to recycle them (bins at the exit door, next to the #5 plastics recycling bins).

Don't forget these other energy/money-saving tips!

[Photo by Schodts]

Metrocard math

Back in the salad days when you were working full-time in New York and taking the subway every day, you probably just plunked down the $80+ for a 30-day unlimited Metrocard because it was the best deal, right?

Nowadays, there are stretches where you don't get on the subway or a bus for days at a time. Your hours have been cut to a few days a week (or you're out of a job entirely) and you stay at home or at least in the neighborhood most of the time.

But which Metorcard should you buy for those times when you do need to travel? If you put at least $8 on a regular Metrocard, the 15% bonus means each trip costs only $1.96 (the bonus does not increase the more cash you put on the card, so long as it's more than $8). Here's a breakdown of the minimum number of rides you need to take for the unlimited Metrocards to be a better value:

Save Ink, Save Money

Green Print sounds pretty amazing but I haven't tried it yet-- it's software that allows you to print only the pages you need (especially handy when printing things from the web)-- eliminating those annoying extra pages with just a few lines, or deleting images or ads that waste your ink. It also calculates the amount you save by not printing the extra pages.

More on the company here, including the scary statistic that printer ink costs $40 to $80 an ounce, compared to Dom Perignon at only $5 an ounce.

(I hope we haven't posted about this before -- it seems like the kind of thing Franke would have discovered!)

Your Friends and the Recession

Money is never an easy topic to discuss, even when the economy isn't spiraling out of control. And, talking about money with friends is typically a big fat no-no. But, what happens when your friendships are suddenly effected by differences in your incomes? This great article on Slate got me thinking about my friends with and without money, and if I've felt like any relationships were in jeopardy because of the recession. Fortunately for me, most of my friends are poor artist types, so we're all in the same boat. But, I do have friends in other places who own homes, have kids, can afford to go on vacations. Maybe the reason we're still friends is because we don't see each other often. If those people lived nearby, maybe we wouldn't be as close.

Fix Healthcare to Fix the Economy

It's common knowledge that one of the biggest reasons people go into credit card debt is funding skyrocketing medical costs with their credit cards because our health care system is broken. People on the left of the politcal spectrum have been saying this long before Sicko* came out. But even conservatives, like John Maudlin, are seeing that one way to fix our economy is to fix health care. Maudlin compares the ratio of expenditure of Gross Domestic Product to Life Expectancy among several countries and comes up with these figures:

"According to the Economist the total US spend on healthcare is 15.4% of GDP including both state and private . With that it gets 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people, 3.3 hospital beds and its people live to an average age of 78.2

• UK - spends 8.1% of GDP, gets 2.3 doctors, 4.2 hospital beds and live to an average age of 79.4. So for roughly half the cost their citizens overall get about the same benefit in terms of longevity of life.
• Canada - spends 9.8% of GDP on healthcare, gets 2.1 doctors, 3.6 hospital beds and live until they are 80.6 yrs
• France - spends 10.5%, 3.4 docs, 7.5 beds and live until they are 80.6 [years old]
• Spain - spends 8.1% , 3.3 docs , 3.8 beds and live until they are 81 [years old]
• As a whole Europe spends 9.6% of GDP on healthcare, has 3.9 doctors per 1,000 people, 6.6 hospital beds and live until they are 81.15 years old.

...in many cases...the healthcare system is better in the US than in some other countries BUT US citizens must therefore get ill more often than any other country in the West in order to achieve the truly appalling statistic that they are the 41 longest living nation on earth with France, Spain, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Andorra, Holland, Greece and Sweden all featuring in the top 20 longest living nations and the UK and Germany at 22.

This is the big failure of the US system. It is unforgivable. You may get a better chance of recovering from certain diseases but as a whole you will die younger in the US than most developed countries. ... Something is severely broken."

Check out the full article here on InvestorsInsight.com.

Of course, economic growth is stifled because many people put off treatments they can't afford and stay sick, only to get worse and lose their ability to work altogether. Or those lucky enough to be employed and have health insurance stay in dead-end jobs for fear of losing their coverage.

Kinda makes you want to write your congressperson, doesn't it? Check out this post from Consumerist.com for the most effective way to communicate with your elected representatives.

*Watching Sicko is the movie version of this argument, so check it out.

SPF

Summer means lots of things, and one of those things in NYC is cheap theater. See professional fully staged productions of awesome new plays for a measly $10.00 a pop. With eight plays to choose from, new shows every week, and superb casting (Ally Sheedy -- that's all I'm saying) you can escape the heat for a couple hours and get your culture fix. All shows are at The Public Theater, which is real close to lots of cheap eats, so take a date to dinner and a show; I'll bet you'd spend a total of $40.00 on everything if you do it right, and your date will be so impressed with your dating skills in this recession-filled world.
Check it out here.

Housing Works Street Fair This Saturday

Even if you're cutting back on spending, you still need to buy clothes sometimes. And if you've been really good, you deserve to treat yourself to some books and music. Head down to SoHo for Housing Works's bi-annual Open Air Street Fair extravaganza this Saturday, June 6th (rain date June 7th).

This festive, all-day shopping bazaars take place on the quaint (closed to traffic) cobblestone Crosby Street outside of the Bookstore Café and features tens of thousands of $1 books, CDs, and - perhaps the biggest bargain of all - $20 bags of all-you-can-stuff clothing from Housing Works Thrift Shops.

And there's food! Sliders and sweets from The Works. and beer from Puck Fair will be served!

Best of all, all profits from the Open Air Street Fair pay for Housing Works’ services for homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS. In 2007/2008, the two street fairs attracted more than 50,000 people and generated more than $45,000 for those services.

Check out the Housing Works website for full details.

Free Software

We've told you about free PhotoShop alternatives before, and suggested you check out all the options they find on Lifehacker. Well, now there's yet another source for free software: AlternativeTo. [via VeryShortList]

Currently in beta, AlternativeTo allows you to search by platform as well as the specific gajillion-dollar software title you are trying to approximate with a free app.


[Photo by marblegravy]

Fish Tacos

What a delicious summer dish! Here's a quick, cheap, & easy recipe from Martha Stewart's "Great Food Fast". (You probably already have a lot of the ingredients in your kitchen cabinet.)

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons lime juice
salt and pepper
1/4 small red cabbage thinly shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)
4 scallions thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1 jalapeno chile, halved lenghtwise, one half minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound tilapia fillets (or other firm white fish) cut into 16 equal strips
8 flour or whole wheat tortillas
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1. In a large bowl, combine the sour cream and lime juice; season with salt & pepper. Transfer half the mixture to a container; set aside for serving. Toss the cabbage, minced jalapeno, and scallions with the remaining sour cream mixture. Season again with salt & pepper.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil and remaining jalapeno half over medium-high heat; swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper. In two batches (starting with any larger pieces), cook the fish until golden brown on all sides, 5 to 6 minutes. Discard the jalapeno.

3. Warm the tortillas.

4. Fill the tortillas with slaw, fish, and cilantro leaves. Drizzle with reserved sour cream mixture.


Image pulled from the Food Network website.

We Love NPR

It's clear that we here at Recession This! are big fans of NPR, probably because they're smart and they offer a lot of free stuff, like their podcasts, which cover many topics from news to entertainment. My ipod podcast list looks like a love letter to NPR. (My husband says "If you love it so much why don't you marry it?" To which I reply, "Maybe I will." And then he says, "Well, go ahead." And then I say... you get the picture.) I've recently added Planet Money, and I'm hooked. I was reluctant at first; all this recession business really gets me down. Plus, there is so much I don't understand that I didn't want to listen to a podcast that would make me feel even more confused. Fortunately, Planet Money breaks down the economic crisis in an average of twenty minute easy to understand episodes. And, they keep in mind that many of their listeners probably did not study money in school, so it's very audience friendly. The hosts are pretty cool, too. If you want to make heads or tails of our crazy financial world then I highly recommend starting with Planet Money.

Image taken from NPR's website.

Get rid of your car

We all know, driving less is better for the environment. And it's definitely better for your budget. Recession This! readers in NYC and other large cities are probably aware of car sharing companies but perhaps you haven't given it a try. Recently, multiple options for car sharing have become available in NYC. New York Magazine had an article in March comparing 2 new companies (Connect by Hertz and Mint) to the more established Zipcar. Recession This! has not tries either Connect by Hertz or Mint so we can't compare ourselves but several of us are happy Zipcar members.

A Zipcar membership allows you access to over 1670 cars in the 5 boroughs & New Jersey and anywhere else they are available. You can add family members or friends or significant others to your account. There are several different payment plan options depending on how often you want to use the cars. Each plan includes tax, gas and insurance while you drive. For details on how the program works, check out Zipcar's comprehensive site.

I'm here to encourage you to give it a try. We use a Zipcar about once every 2 months to pick up and drop off at our storage unit (the curse of the tiny NYC apartment), drop off stuff at Goodwill (for a tax credit!), take a day-trip out of NYC, pick up free furniture from friends and even to stock up at Trader Joe's in Queens.

If you're curious, Recession This! can offer you $25 in driving credit when you sign up for Zipcar - another way to save a little money! Click the button above or click here to Join Zipcar and get $25 in free driving!

Recession Pampering

Many of you ladies (and some of you men) may be assuming that you have to give up your spa pampering and treatments now that the recession has gotten us all. Never fear - there are still ways to frugally indulge yourself and stay pretty (or handsome)!

Recession This! found this great article about facials on a budget at Skincare-news.com. It's packed with money-saving tips and informational links.

Also, look for your local Spa Week, when local spas feature specials and deals on all kinds of services and products.
Check out SpaWeek.com for more information on deals near you. Don't miss the Steals & Deals page for recent offers and monthly specials.

Consider doing a DIY Manicure or DIY Pedicure at home. Look for deals at an online drugstore or your local drugstore.

Stay pretty frugal and frugally pretty!

Tattoo You

According to the Christian Science Monitor, contrary to conventional wisdom, one non-essential expense Americans are not choosing to forgo is a tattoo:
"Just last week one of my coworkers tattooed an 83-year-old woman getting her first tattoo."

So, if you're looking to pick up a new trade, consider skin-inking recession-proof. But if needles make you squeamish, consider these other alternatives. [from MSNBC.com]


[Photo by King Taco]

Splendid Cheap Eats

Hey Recession This! readers - one of my favorite NPR Podcasts is The Splendid Table hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

Lynn has an infectious love for food of all sorts. She starts each episode with a conversation with Jane and Michael Stern authors of Road Food (an essential book for any road trip). Lynn then has a few features with guest foodies or reporting from important food places & events and she finishes up by taking listeners calls with food and recipe questions.

Even if you don't listen to the show, The Splendid Table website is a great resource for recipe ideas and quick fixes.

And recently, The Splendid Table added a new feature called Splendid Cheap Eats, a collection of Lynn's recipes that use inexpensive ingredients.
The recipes are organized by category and then by main ingredient. Recipes run the gamut of familiar comfort food like Macaroni and Cheese to more adventurous fare like Turkish Braised Eggplant. There's even a recipe for Beer Can Chicken - a perfect summer cook-out recipe. No one can resist the chicken that sits up on the grill!

Happy cheap eating!

photo of The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper from The Splendid Table store

Recessionist Nirvana

Thousands of people are unemployed or underemployed thanks to the recession. If you are one of the many who are scrabbling for a new job, we at Recession This! feel for you -- many of our friends and loved ones are out there with you.

However, if you are out there struggling to replace the job you had with one at the same salary, you might want to read today's post at The Simple Dollar. It explains that "...the magical amount of 'enough' income is much lower than many people think."

While this is not a tip on how to, say, save money by using your freezer*, hopefully it will help you stress less while on the job hunt and help you decide on a job you want to do, versus one that pays what your last (probably crappy) job paid.

*Like how we snuck that tip in anyway? From NYTimes via Lifehacker]
[Photo by J. Star]

NPR Challenge: How Low Can you Go?

NPR's All Things Considered has been running a challenge for professional chefs and home amateurs alike: How Low Can you Go - Feed a group of four for less than $10.
I've heard several of the on-air features listening to the NPR Food Podcast.

So far, they have interviewed and featured recipes from 4 chefs:
Gina and Pat Neely do Mac & Cheese for $9.
Navy Chef Michael Edwards makes a skate dinner.
Chef Ming Tsai prepares Chicken and Corn-Fried Rice.
and (my favorite of the 4) Spanish Chef Jose Andres makes a Chickpea and spinach dish.

The links above take you to a transcript of each interview with the chef as well as the recipe and comments from listeners. The pages also have a link to listen to the story - I have to recommend that you give them a listen, especially the Jose Andreas segment.

AND you too can join the challenge! If you have a great recipe for a meal that can feed 4 people for $10 or less, submit it to All Things Considered here. Let us know if you have enter the challenge and we'll feature your recipe here on Recession This!
Bonus: at the $10 challenge page you can see all of the recipes submitted by listeners in the comments.

Good luck and happy recession cooking!
Image from NPR's How Low Can You Go challenge page

Reduce, Reuse, ReGoogle

Finding yourself with random stuff lying around your house taking up space that you don't want to send to the landfill, but can't sell or foist upon Goodwill? Google a way to repurpose it!

For example, I have a bunch of old mouse pads (culled from the day job) that I could not think of a new use for. A quick Google (actually, I used Goodsearch and gave to my favorite charity without spending my own money [See this previous RT! post]) and I found these myriad ideas:

• Bases for houseplants, etc. to protect your furniture [from Craftster]
• Pads for table & chair legs [from Reader's Digest]
• PDA sleeve and insoles [from eHow]

For general inspiration, you can also do a flickr search or Goodsearch image search of "repurpose" and see what others have come up with. Some folks, like Scavengerjo, even make art of things that have no other life left.

Also check out Brooklyn-based RePlayGround for tips and for kits to help make new things out of old trash.

What do you have sitting around your house that could find new life as something useful?
[Ode to the Modern Housewife by Scavengerjo]