Weekly Top Five Freebies and Cheapies

Every week, I will scavenge the Internet, US cities, nay, the world to bring you, my beloved, the best freebies and cheapies that life has to offer. (P.S. I promise to include at least one "date" offering for my penny-pinching friends who know that lack of income should never mean lack of love!)

1. Free Music! Rhapsody (http://www.rhapsody.com/) will give you 25 free song plays for a month without (and here is the beautiful part) any registration, information entry, or commitment to sign-up for service. That means you can check out the new Britney Spears album in its entirety guilt free and no one ever has to know.

2. Free Freebies! A one stop shop for free samples of a slew of products, http://www.shop4freebies.com/ is a Recessionista's dream. Be forewarned, you may want to enter that email address you give out to people you aren't really into at the bars, as you may receive a plethora of advertisement emails.

3. Free Culture! For my NYC friends, Le Nozze di Figaro, the comedic Mozart opera is performed for free TODAY, February 20th, at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Julliard. Starts at 8 pm, and be sure to come early or you may end up seat-less and having to actually pay to take your date somewhere.

4. Free Art! If you are suffering through the horrible Midwestern winter and find your pockets are empty, fear not. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago offers free admission on Tuesdays. Bundle up, leave your wallet at home, and enjoy the work of people who probably had less money than you for most of their lives. http://www.mcachicago.org/

5. Free Oscars! Perhaps you won't be taking home a statue this year per say, but that is no reason to avoid watching the ceremony Recessionista-style. Chelsea Cinema will be airing the Academy Awards beginning at 8 pm (Pre-show festivities begin at 7 pm) for FREE! This is a great way to make up to your "Sunday friend" that they have been cast as a "Sunday friend" in the drama that is your life.

Recessionista Tip of the Day: Before you run off to Blockbuster or sign-up for Netflix, chat with your friends about a DVD swap. All of my friends have massive amounts of movies (those who still have VHS tapes shall remain nameless), and despite the common denominators (sigh...SATC, Bridget Jones Diary, Love Actually), we have found that sharing movies is a great way to save money and avoid late fees. Just don't be the jerk that doesn't ever return the movies...