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Vancouver on the Cheap: Ringing in the New Year

If you were to create a Venn diagram where one circle was labeled "cheap" and the other labeled "awesome", the middle point where they cross over could be labeled "Vancouver on the Cheap".

Got a cheap-living tip you'd like to share? Send it in here or tweet it to @andreaxuaxua (#cheapthing)!

If you were to create a Venn diagram where one circle was labeled "cheap" and the other labeled "awesome", the middle point where they cross over could be labeled "Vancouver on the Cheap". In other words, this is a weekly series on things to do and places to go in Vancouver that fall into that magical category of being both cheap and awesome.

New Year's Eve is always stressful. Which friends are you going to hang out with? What will you wear? Where are you going to go? Will it fulfill the insanely high level of awesomeness that the occasion seems to demand? And of course, will I go broke for one night's party that turned out to be kind of no better than any other party I would have gone to all year round except that we did a count down to midnight and a bunch of people kissed each other and drank champagne?

All good questions. I can't help you decide who to hang out with or what to wear, but I can help you find something to do that's not too expensive.

The House Party

Always the cheapest, and in my opinion, generally the most fun. Counting down to midnight with a group of friends (and friends-of-friends), banging pots and pans, drinking something that you picked out for yourself, and paying zero cover are all things you can expect from the New Year's Eve house party. If you've got a friend who's throwing one, I highly recommend you go. If you don't, consider hosting? It doesn't even need to be a big deal - some of my favourite NYE gatherings included a couple of close friends, a couple of movies, and a lot of junk food.

If you simply must go out, I found a couple of free and a couple of lower-price ticketed events to check out!

Soho Cafe Billiards

This one's FREE! No cover, cheap drinks, and a guaranteed low maintenance crowd. You can tell they're casual because their Facebook event doesn't even have a cover photo. Event page here.

New Year's Eve Karaoke Bash at Pressbox

Maybe free? The only thing I could find on this one was the Facebook event (here) and it makes no mention of cover or tickets. It does, however, make mention of karaoke (check!), dancing (check!), and class (check!).

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Biltmore's Ice Cream Social

$25 tickets for the funnest club night that has ever existed - Ice Cream Social! I'm serious, this only happens once a month which is terrible because it's always the one night I can't go, but who wouldn't want to dance to music from the 50's-70's for the final hours of 2013? I know I do!

Down the Rabbit Hole NYE at Keefer Bar

Advance tickets are $30 and you actually get something besides admission for it - there will be live performances by Sweet Soul Burlesque in between the DJ dance beats. Plus, the Alice in Wonderland theme just sounds fun. Tickets here.