Seeing NYC through the eyes of tourists through Tuesday

Mister Redhead’s parents land at La Guardia tomorrow evening, which means the blog updates may be a little sparse until Tuesday. We have a packed schedule. Considering it’s their first time in New York, we’re going to trying cramming everything into five days. The Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Little Italy, Times Square…oh my! I have to admit, I’m pretty curious to see how my Iowan in-laws will react to Big Apple prices. I still have sticker shock, and I’ve lived here for more than two years.

Will report back with any deals I discover on my sight-seeing!

Free event: CupcakeCamp NYC

Like cupcakes? Like free cupcakes? Then check out the CupcakeCamp NYC this Friday. It’s at Happy Ending, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. You can bring cupcakes, but it isn’t required (perfect for a bake-a-phobe such as myself). More details here. I’ll definitely be there, enjoying the sugar rush!

Top 5 Reasons to Love NYC

It’s all too easy to complain about how ridiculously expensive it is to live in the Big Apple. I would know; I do it a lot. But I feel the need to be positive tonight, so here are my top five financial reasons to love NYC:

1. The Metrocard. For an $81 unlimited monthly pass, you can ride the rails (and city buses) all you want. Live elsewhere, and you’re likely making car payments and insurance payments, plus dealing with fluctuating gas prices.
2. People-watching. This is one of my favorite activities in any locale, but it’s hard to top the sights and sounds here in New York. Park yourself on a bench in Central Park with a book or magazine, and watch away—free of charge.
3. Authentic cuisine. Yes, food is more expensive here, whether you’re buying groceries or dining out. At least you’re likely to get an authentic experience if you’re seeking ethnic cuisines, not food-court-esque Panda Express.
4. Cheap travel. Long weekend trip to Philly? $25 roundtrip on the Chinatown Bus. To Boston and back? $34.50. Granted, I haven’t tried either of these yet, but it’s on my list of things to do this year.
5. Summer in the city. Free concerts, free street fairs, free movies in the parks. It almost makes up for the cost of rent!

Weekend roundup: Things that caught my attention

• Wise Bread: “13 Convenience Foods I Think Are Worth the Money” — While I don’t consider fresh veggies like asparagus “convenience foods,” it’s an interesting list with a lot of variety.
• The New York Times: “Uncorked!” – Excess, much? Just goes to show there are many, many worlds within NYC, and this is one I don’t belong to and don’t want to belong to. Ugh.
• Wallet Pop: “Amherst College students bail out their classmates, employees”– Aww, nice sentiment, isn’t it? A drop in the bucket, but still…way to go, students!

How much redecorating can you do with $300?

Today, the NYT Home section deduced that unemployed people need home makeovers to cheer them up…or something. At any rate, they issued a challenge to five interior designers: spend no more than $300 to redecorate one room in the homes of jobless folks.

“It was a tall order, especially for established decorators accustomed to
spending five and sometimes even six figures on a single room. Several pointed
out that even if they found an old set of drapes stashed in a closet, or
scrounged half a can of paint from a client’s neighbor, brackets and hooks and
paintbrushes cost money, and small expenses quickly add up. Of the five
designers who agreed to participate, most wanted special dispensations, like the
right to treat leftover materials lying around their offices as free supplies.”

OK, I know paint, furnishings, and accessories add up quickly. But it’s not like they were tackling entire homes; it was one room. And all these apartments seem pretty upscale to begin with, so it couldn’t have been too hard to make them look nice. Guess how many decorators met the budget? One. Last I checked, decorators are supposed to be creative and resourceful. And who are these people spending six figures to decorate one room? What is wrong with this world??

Besides generally pissing me off, this article also prompted me to look up the receipts for our painting extraveganza after we moved. Over four trips to The Home Depot, we spent $177.27 on paint and supplies for two rooms. Honestly, that’s less than I thought we spent, so I’m pretty happy (and we have leftover paint, if anyone needs some). The only other decorating expense we incurred was new curtains. I tried salvaging our old blinds, but they were way too narrow for our new windows. The new curtains and rods for the bedroom, living room, and kitchen cost about $125. Grand total: $302.27. For the entire apartment. I even bet we could have done a lot more with that $300 if we were set on spending no more than that.

A glimpse at what $300 can do for an apartment: