Stir-Crazy Foodie Needs Your Suggestions
Life has changed A LOT for Daniel and I in the last couple weeks since he quit his fancy-schmancy corporate job to work at home and start his own business. He’s now designing plastic parts for radio-controlled cars. It’s a niche market, obviously, and the hobby has been his passion since he was 8 years old. He knows it inside and out and the business is looking up already.
After years of rarely seeing each other due to his workaholic ways combined with the extremely demanding hours of the video game industry, we suddenly find ourselves together at home all the time. Often we even have time on our hands! Gasp! This is all very new to us, but of course we love it because we always have fun together.
The only problem is that, thanks to a nice salary at his old job, we both became increasingly accustomed to the finer things in life. To put it another way, I became a total spoiled brat with my Nordstrom indulgences and world-class dinners every weekend. I don’t feel badly about it, though, because we were still saving and paying our bills.
But our time of living the “Good Life” - in the materialistic sense of the word - is over. At least temporarily.
So what do we do with all of these free hours together? I’ve been getting a little stir crazy each weekend because everything I think of to do requires cash and we’re on a Spending Freeze right now, just to be safe as the new business gets off the ground.
The question is: What can two formerly-spoiled food lovers do around town without spending much cash? I’d love your suggestions for local low-budg finds, inexpensive diversions, and such. And even if you don’t live in San Diego, you can still let me know what you do for fun around your town when you don’t want to spend too much money.
Thanks for your help! This “downwardly mobile” - by choice - lifestyle is threatening to get the best of me as I assimilate into our new way of life.
♥ Beth
P.S. But don’t get me wrong - I couldn’t be happier to have my husband by my side every day. Just help get us out of the house!
Wow, I can’t believe you haven’t gotten any suggestions yet!
Having just moved to SD with my wife so she could complete a Post-Doc at Scripps has put us in a similar situation.
We moved from Montreal, Canada, where the average rent is about half of that in SD and some of the best restaurants in North America were within walking distance or a short subway ride (not to mention that eating out cost about half of what it is here too!).
That being said, we’ve gotten used to forsaking some luxuries in the name of car payments, medical insurance and security deposits - your credit doesn’t follow you from one country to another, so it’s like starting out fresh…
Our favourite cheap activities include:
Hiking in Mission Trails Park - a quick trip to Venissimo and Bread&Cie in Hillcrest make for a cheap picnic;
Fish Tacos and Beer on the Beach - pick a beach, any beach, and I guarantee a taco shop and “7-11″ within a stones’ throw away;
Watching the gliders and golf from Torrey Pines Park;
Surfing! - though the initial investment for a board certainly isn’t cheap, it pays off in dividends (especially since I couldn’t work for our first 3 months here);
Live Concerts in Spreckls Ampitheatre;
Indy films at the Kensington Theatre…
I’m sure the wife could think of some more (she’s the penny pincher and I’m the “spend it while you got it”-guy), but that’s what comes to mind.
BTW - I love your site! Keep up the great blogging - if I don’t click here at least once a day it’s an off day
Campy (Ryan)
Comment by Campy — February 22, 2006 @ 1:16 pm
SD’s weather makes it the BEST place for outdoor activities, year ’round. I personally prefer outdoor recreation to anything else, and walking my dogs, hiking, going for picnics or riding bikes is really good for the body, soul and mind…and it’s cheap. When I lived in Florida and Texas, we could only really do outdoor stuff just a few months of the year, so living here is a boon!
Comment by LB — February 22, 2006 @ 5:26 pm
I don’t know what area you live in, but we are in Normal Heights and we get this awesome coupon magazine called Uptown. It shows up in our mailbox every few months, and has lots of coupons for 1 free dinner w/ purchase @ some awesome restaurants. Certainly makes dining @ nicer places a little bit more affordable- if you don’t get it @ home, you can pick it up @ various businesses in the Hillcrest area as well. I remember seeing it in the Uptown Car Wash and it only costs $1.00 (great investment if you ask me!)
Other cheap/inexpensive activities- definitely outdoor activities like hiking, surfing, hanging out @ the beach. I enjoy walking around various shops and window shopping, but it isn’t necessarily my hubby’s cup of tea
Oh, I also really like going to open houses… we’re not in the market to buy anything right now, but it’s so fun to look!
Comment by Joan — February 22, 2006 @ 9:51 pm
Thank you, everyone, for your helpful comments. Keep ‘em coming! Don’t ever underestimate how frickin’ bored I can get sometimes!
Comment by Beth — February 22, 2006 @ 11:28 pm
With me not working (duh), and my husband working out of our house, we spend a lot of time feeling stuck in the house, too. Everyone else has already posted some wonderful ideas, so I’ll just add one: It’s a great time to work on home improvement projects and larger cooking projects where an extra pair of hands is desireable. Good luck!
Comment by Mrs. C. — February 23, 2006 @ 6:07 am
Hi Beth - Now that Hubby’s around, maybe both of you can sneak out to Free Tuesdays at Balboa Park, and have enough for something from a taco shop - like La Posta!
Comment by Kirk — February 23, 2006 @ 8:47 am
Get a really inexpensive kite and go fly it on the beach (that’s what me and the kidders are about to do)
Comment by Catherine — February 23, 2006 @ 10:03 am
My best suggestion would be delete if I posted, so you can guess what that is - but other than that, for food stuffs, I see Whole Foods La Jolla is doing a Local Vendor Food Fair: Meet local vendors from Southern California. They be giving out free samples and talking about their companies and products. Sunday, February 26th 12:00–4:00 p.m.
Of course, area hiking trails are pretty much no cost. How about dog beach in Coronado? Run among the pups.
(Let me know if you discover cheap good eats in the north county inland area - we are cutting back also.)
Comment by Scott — February 23, 2006 @ 11:48 am
Well I had a really fun evening last night at Sbicca’s bar in Del Mar and had some lovely food and wine half price for happy hour, which is 4-7pm weeknights and I think half price wine is on Tuesday and Thursday. I highly recommend it!
Comment by Jenny — February 23, 2006 @ 3:50 pm
Oh, Beth. You have now joined my club. My husband and I have been on a spending freeze for a few months now. It’s difficult but possible. As far as food goes, I cook from scratch as much as possible (that means even pasta and tonight I’m trying tortillas by hand). We started taking walks on the beach once a week which has been extremely romantic and healthy. We both LOVE movies but can’t afford to go so we belong to Blockbuster online which gives us at least 14 movies a month (2 in-store). I love board games and try to get my husband to play but he’s not a huge fan (they’re free, though!). Also, I started looking through publications like San Diego Reader and cutting out coupons and looking at free events to give us options so that we don’t feel like there aren’t any choices for things to do.
Sign on San Diego (and similar sites) have coupons for restaurants. We haven’t used any yet but you never know, they could come in handy.
If you guys really need to get out of the house–let me know and we can go on a foodie outing. We’re huge cheese fans too and would love to check out local cheeses. I think there might even be a dairy farm that makes cheeses near by. That might be a fun outing. Oh, and if you’re strapped for cash–do some wine tasting (usually $7 at the most plus a free glass!) in Temecula or wine stores.
Hope some of those ideas helped. We’re in the same boat so I know exactly what you’re going through. (Especially because I WOULD spend tons of money on food/wine/good beer if I could).
If you ever need grocery recommendations (where to get the cheapest “this” or “that” I’m an expert) let me know. [I’m one of those people who shop at 5+ grocery stores to get the best deals.]
Good luck with the new lifestyle changes!
Comment by Kady — February 23, 2006 @ 4:23 pm
i haven’t read through all of the comments yet, so maybe it’s been suggested already, but hikiing is my the The Mr.’s best way to spend time togetehr and NOT spend any cash. here is SD (we live in N. County) there are many many many lovely places to hike. get your exercise and spend quality time all rolled into one! best of luck to you guys on your new business venture. Cheers! -Lisa
Comment by lisa — February 23, 2006 @ 5:23 pm
Hi,
Love your blog.
Lots of good ideas up already.
There was a time in my life when money was extremely tight but, the desire to do a lot was big. Living in LA at the time there was a ton of free stuff to do, listed in the paper every week, from concerts, to art shows, to book readings, etc.
Even now, I often prefer the less expensive things like art gallery openings and free concerts to the costly restaurant scene. All too often, the restaurants are charging way too much for their so-called “superior cuisine.” (My motto has always been, if I can cook it better, I don’t want to pay to go to that restaurant.)
If you love clothes, and cannot afford the pricey “designer” duds—that are all too often poorly made—how about learning to sew? If you don’t want to sew from scratch, try tailoring and enhancing thrift store clothing. Lots of second hand nice stuff about.
How about starting a food club with friends where you cook at different houses each month? The objective could be cooking fabulous, food that is inexpensive—say $5.00 a dish for a challenge.
Since the advent of the net, finding free entertainment gets easier.
I just Googled “free stuff in San Diego” and got 1,400 sites:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22free+stuff+in+San+Diego%22
Try a different word combo and see if you get lucky.
Good luck with the good life on a budget!
Hedonista
Comment by Hedonista — February 23, 2006 @ 9:03 pm
Hedonista, that’s a good idea; learning how to sew. I just got a sewing machine from my mom and was thinking of attempting to teach myself (maybe even starting this week). If you can sew you can make some really nice stuff. At least you can save money on pillows and the like even if you’re not very good at sewing.
Comment by Kady — February 24, 2006 @ 12:42 am
Mexican food in SD is always a good bet. So is the very cheap vietnamese sandwich. Taking city-wide tours of each could be fun.
Also, there are lots of places around town with excellent happy hours with good drinks and tasty appetizers. UnionTrib’s website has a “best happy hour” section in it’s dining guide (or probably their bar guide). This is especially useful for the person who sets their own schedule.
SD Reader’s website has downloadable 2-for-1 coupons that can be a real steal. Most of the restaurants aren’t amazing, but they’re great for the price. i’m spacing on the cajun place that’s always in ther (it’s in PB), but it’s fun and each dinner comes with like 4 fun courses. And the space can be pretty romantic if you get one tucked in the back (and if there’s no group there). Also, they have live blues from thursday through saturday.
LASTLY: Kensington Grill has a prix fixe menu for early birds. Details on their google-able site. Oh, and they have half-off wine on Wednesdays. AND, it’s right next to the landmark theater. That, btw, is my cheap backup date for whenever I can find a movie playing there that I want to see…
Phew! Good luck.
Comment by Tokyo — February 24, 2006 @ 1:43 pm
OK -don’t go for the really inexpensive kites (see my last blog for details)!
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