Keeping Up With Culture on a Budget
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In my various travels around the Internet, I stumbled across a cool article giving tips on how to stay cultured even though you are on a budget. Given the continued stagnation of the economy and my ever-present desire to save a buck, I found it interesting and thought-provoking enough to share the highlights with you all.
- The BYOB Movement
Many people have been practicing this particular brand of money saving for quite some time. Bringing your own beverage is a great way not only to save some coin but also to enjoy a particularly special bottle of your own choosing. As mentioned in the article, “restaurant markups on wine can often double or triple the price. So, it’s probably even worth paying the corkage fee (the amount a restaurant charges to serve a wine you bring in yourself).”
However, not every establishment is ok with this practice, and many will have certain rules or regulations’ regarding what is acceptable to carry in with you and what isn’t. Be sure to check first with the owners before making an assumption and causing trouble.
- Choosing a Hotel
While the distances people are willing to travel these days for a summer getaway shrinking as costs rise, getting a discount on your hotel is a great way to make that summer trip a reality. Numerous hotels are offering promotions, discounts and other perks to lure in travelers this year so make sure to poke around the Internet and give hotel searching due diligence. For example:
“Chains such as Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood you can often find special codes or discounts to use when booking that will either reduce the price, or get you some extras along with the rate. For instance, Marriott has been known to offer special rates that get you free breakfast for two or tickets to local attractions, or even free parking at airport hotels while you’re on your trip.”
- Enjoying the Arts
Everyone loves a good trip to a museum or top-flight art gallery, but there is no need to travel far and wide to view, and perhaps purchase, quality art. Many cities and towns have sidewalk art exhibits and local galleries with no entrance fee where you can view local artist’s work. This is a great cheap, local alternative to still get some artistic culture in and as mentioned in the article, “if you attend receptions, you might even get some free food or drinks out of it,” which is always nice!
“[Additionally], a lot of exhibitions show art that’s on sale at reasonable prices, so if you do decide to buy something, you can decorate your house or give a gift while supporting a struggling artist.”
- Exploring your Community
Every community has hidden gems that many people never bother to discover. By keeping your eyes and ears open and doing a little wandering around town you could find tons of great low or no cost activities for you and your family this summer. Some examples include:
“Cities and parks often have free activities you can watch for, from movies to Shakespeare plays in the park. Religious and cultural groups have similar things as well, so keep an eye out. Parades, street fairs or events at malls could be fun, if that’s where your interest lies. Churches regularly have musical performances, as well.”
Your local library is also a great place to go for both free events and resources, like movie rentals and presentations. My mother being a librarian exposed me to lots of these events and it really is a great way to connect with and explore your local community on the cheap.
To read about several more options for keeping cultured on a budget, read the full Street article here. If you have any ideas or suggestions that aren’t covered please feel free to share those with everyone in the comments section.
One problem I’ve encountered with BYOB is corking fees. Most (all?) places, at least here in Canada, charge a corking fee to open your bottle of wine for you, to make up some of the loss they’ll experience when you bring in an outside bottle of wine.
This is, of course, to be expected, but the problem is that many places charge as much as $15 for a corking fee. If I bring a $15 bottle of wine and then pay a $15 corking fee, I might as well just pay the $30 that the restaurant is going to charge me for that same bottle of wine, and avoid the hassle of bringing a bottle with me from home.
Now, if you’re going out for a special dinner, and you have a very expensive bottle of wine (let’s say a $50 bottle) that the restaurant in question either doesn’t offer or offers at a 100% mark up (making it a $100 bottle), you’ll be saving money even with the corking fee.
In my experience, bringing your own bottle of wine doesn’t really help save you money unless you have very expensive taste in wine.
Great point, Adam. At most places that do serve alcohol, bringing your own cheaper bottle of wine and paying what ends up being a 100% corking fee doesn’t really make sense. I was more thinking of this for a great options for some of the ethnic restaurants that don’t serve alcohol at all, where you’ll likely avoid the corking fee entirely. Thanks for the comment though, since my BYOB experience is pretty limited at this point.