Free Friday Night Flick: Indiana Jones

What: Free Friday Night Flick, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Where: On the Esplanade in front of the Hatch Shell
When: August 21st, Sundown
Bring: Blanket, snacks, friends, cleverly concealed beverages

Free Friday Night Flick: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

What: Free Friday Night Flick, Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Where: On the Esplanade in front of the Hatch Shell
When: August 7th, Sundown
Bring: Blanket, snacks, friends, cleverly concealed beverages

Free Friday Night Flick: Mama Mia

What: Free Friday Night Flick, Mama Mia!
Where: On the Esplanade in front of the Hatch Shell
When: July 31st, Sundown
Bring: Blanket, snacks, friends, cleverly concealed beverage

Free Friday Night Flick: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

What: Free Friday Night Flick, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Where: On the Esplanade in front of the Hatch Shell
When: July 24th, Sundown
Bring: Blanket, snacks, friends, cleverly concealed beverages

Free Friday Night Flick: Get Smart

What: Free Friday Night Flick, Get Smart
Where: On the Esplanade in front of the Hatch Shell
When: July 17th, Sundown
Bring: Blanket, snacks, friends, cleverly concealed beverages

Free yoga on the esplanade! And you thought downward dogs were awkward in a studio...

Make a spectacle of yourself, along with dozens of other unflexible people, when the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) once again sponsors free yoga on the esplanade.

Instructors from Cambridge-based Yoga for Mainstream People will be leading the classes. I went to several of these last year, and aside from the Canadian goose poop and mosquitoes (unavoidable, I'm afraid) found outdoor yoga to be about 500 times more relaxing then the indoor variety. The class attracts a very low-key crowd instead of the more-flexible-than-thou types frequenting most studios. There's lots of ambient noise so you don't have to worry about your body making funny noises (or am I the only one concerned about that?) and you can "Ohm" as loudly as you like.

Monday nights, July 13th - September 14th, 6pm - 7pm, weather permitting. They'll provide a limited number of mats, but you may want to bring your own. The class meets on the Esplanade in front of the Hatch Shell.

Free Friday Night Flicks on the Esplanade

My mom loves WBZ News Radio for 'Traffic on the 3s'. As a career pedestrian, I love 1030AM for their Free Friday Night Flicks on the Esplanade!

This is actually the 24th year that the radio station has sponsored outdoor movies at the Hatch Shell. The movies are all family-friendly, but we all know Pixar flicks rarely disappoint, and who doesn't love Mama Mia? Grab a blanket, snacks, a nalgene/sigg full of wine, a friend or lover (not a stranger, that is creepy), and park yourself at sundown. There will always be a WBZ tent, presumably equipped with quality swag. Cheapskates love swag, particularly magnets and pens.

Here's the schedule for the rest of the summer, and I'll make sure to post breifly on subsequent Fridays to remind you--

July 10: Kung Fu Panda

July 17: Get Smart

July 24: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

July 31: Mama Mia!

August 7: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

August 14: Inkheart

August 21: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (P.S. Crystal Skull's are bull, but if you're into that sort of thing, check out the entire website devoted to the Mitchell-Hedges skull in Belize)

August 28: Iron Man

Free Friday Night Flicks, DCR Hatch Shell, see dates above. Movies start at sundown.

The Pour House - Half Price Nights

I can't believe that in the two years that I have known my friend Bryan, an Illinois transplant, I have only today brought him to the Pour House to experience a half price night. He was amazed when he looked at the menu.

"Burgers and fries for $5? Awesome!"
"No, grasshopper," I replied. "Burgers and fries for $2.50."
"No!"
"Yes!"
"This is AWESOME."

You too can have this revelatory experience at the Pour House on Boylston St. (Another clever play on words: Like Poor House, but they spelled it Pour because they serve beer. As in they pour it from a tap. What we cheapies lack in wealth, we make up for in puns.)

So it's not the best food in town by a mile, but it's certainly not the worst. You can check out their solid pub menu here. And you simply can't beat their half price nights if you're in the neighborhood.

Wednesday: Half-price chicken sandwiches
Thursday: Half-price Mexican!
Saturday: Half-price burgers (You can substitute a veggie burger for $1)

*Just a note. In case you've never worked in food service, it's polite to tip your server based on the FULL price of the items you order. Even for the frugal amongst us, a $0.50 tip on a $2.50 check is just tacky.

The Pour House, 907 Boylston St. , 617-236-1767. Take the Green Line to Hynes.

Brookline's Rose Garden Serenade on Jun 14th

I didn't even know that Brookline had a rose garden (what else have these crafty doctors/lawyers hiding been hiding from me?), but apparently they do and it's large enough for the entire Brookline Community Chorus to perform in. I am not sure what the musical program is but it will most likely be classical. Complimentary refreshments will be served. The sights and scents of blooming roses will abound. It all sounds so incredibly civilized, and like I should be wearing a very big hat.

Be forwarned: I have learned from previous ventures into the Brookline free classical concert scene that you may or may not be the youngest whippersnapper there.

June 14th, 2009 (rain date June 28) 1 pm - 2:30 pm, The corner of Browne & St. Paul Streets

Jazz Lunch at Prudential

A perfect way to impress your crush in the next cubicle with your culture and general sophistication. (I struggle to make these off-the-cuff office references--I work from home. Sometimes I go to the Coolidge Fedex/Kinkos and purposely jam the copier just to have some human interaction.) The Prudential Center is offering free live jazz in the South Garden from 12pm - 1pm on Wednesdays in June and July.

You can see the full schedule of jazz concerts here. Mark your calendar: On July 29th the Beantown Swing Orchestra will play with Jon Stevens of American Idol fame (OMG! OMG!).

Today (in 1 hour and 33 minutes) you can see/hear the Dave Neves Quartet. Naturally, the Pru would like you to hit the shops and purchase some of their food court's culinary delights in return for the free music, but this cheapskate recommends that you brown-bag it. OR you could bring several disguises and cruise by the Panda Express teriyaki chicken sample girl as many times as you can get away with.

Get your Groupon!

A clever idea started by those sensible midwesterners (and they say Yankees are frugal). Groupon delivers one massive coupon to your email inbox each morning. If enough people sign up to buy it that day, then everyone gets it. The idea started in Chicago, and has now spread to Boston, New York, DC, San Francisco, LA, and Atlanta.

The deals are decidedly hit or miss (today's offer -- 50% off a segway tour of Boston? Dubious... ), but they keep it local and occasionally they'll send you some gems. My favorites so far include $20 for 24 classes at Healthworks (an even better value once I realized that no one cared if I took two classes in a row or used the equipment), and $35 for the sign up fee, the annual fee, and $50 of driving credit with Zipcar (expect a future post on the cost-saving glories of being carless).

So sign up, and let the savings roll in (on a segway, or otherwise).

P.S. My brother knows the guy who invented segway.

Scooper Bowl! June 9 - 11, 2009

Alright, so it doesn't touch Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day for general frugality, but at $8 the Jimmy Fund's annual Scooper Bowl is still a pretty good value. It also has a clever name which incorporates at least two puns. But despite linguistic similarities to a certain annual NFL event, there will be no showdown between the vendors. Just a harmonious celebration of sweet, sweet all-you-can eat ice-cream.

Baskin' Robbins, Ben & Jerry's, Bryer's, Brigham's, Edy's, Gifford's, Häagen-Dazs, Hood, and Spasso have all sponsored the event and will be supplying the goods. Take a gander at the available flavors here. There is musical entertainment planned, though I can't vouch for its quality.

You can also get a $15 Scooper Pass which lets you attend up to three times! That's kind of gross, but kind of wonderful. Event proceeds benefit the Jimmy Fund, which supports cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

June 9 - 11, 2009, 12pm - 8pm each day in City Hall Plaza, Boston

Contact: Sarah Neukom
Phone: (617) 632-5008
Or toll-free: (800) 52-JIMMY
E-mail: sarah_neukom@dfci.harvard.edu

Something I wish I'd Done Today: Harpoon Brewery 5-Miler Race Volunteers

Running always seems like such a good idea, until I actually start moving and struggle to breath after a block or two. I am definitely better suited to this sort of opportunity: Volunteer at the Harpoon 5-Miler to Help Fight ALS.

As part of their June Harpoon Summer Session activities, Harpoon Brewery was seeking volunteers to register runners, pass out water, and other easy tasks this Saturday morning. In return, volunteers received a haute couture Harpoon Helps t-shirt, an invitation to the post-race party (free beer & food!), and a warm-fuzzy feeling-- The run raised money for Lou Gehrig's disease research.

So I missed this event, but Harpoon Helps regularly offers similar opportunities for the 21+ crowd. On June 14th, from 11am - 1pm, you can volunteer to help clean up Salisbury Beach. Salisbury Beach is near the NH border, so you'll probably need a car or a friend with a car. You'll help clean up the beach and get the area ready for the throngs of summer visitors. When you're done Harpoon and SurfSide5 will treat you to a BBQ beach party with free food and, yes, beer.

**A friendly reminder: If you drive there-- drink responsibly.

Innaugural Post

Break a bottle of Trader Joe's champagne (or inexpensive sparkling wine) on the bow of this blog-ship-- this is my first post!

May "My [Last] Two Cents" be an ever-changing, ever-useful resource for you in our efforts to navigate city life on a budget. This blog isn't about tightening your belt for 2009 and hoping 2010 is a better year. It's about bucking the trend of conspicuous consumption, and learning to live well within your means. Look forward to posts on cheap eats, free music, volunteer opportunities, travel deals, inexpensive date suggestions, sales, coupons, personal finance tips, and many more ideas to help you live the good life in Boston and beyond.