Browsing “Cheap Series”

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. Got a cheap-living tip you’d like to share? Send it in!

I love summer! With the sun comes the true Vancouver beauty we brag about to the rest of the world year-round, a banishment of scarves and coats, delicious patio beer specials, and the nineties music cranking out of every car window. Okay, maybe just my car window, but still. To me, nothing says summer like listening to the songs I listened to while I was a teenager. Which is why I was both intrigued and delighted the moment I saw this little guy plastered to a telephone pole:

Did you see the magic words on there? “90′s dance party” and “No Cover” – all in one poster. That’s right, Vancouver! No cover! That means that you can enter an actual club, dance to some awesome music, maybe have a drink or two, and they aren’t asking you to pay extra money for the privilege of doing so. AWESOME.

The whole night was inspired and created by DJ duo The Gal Pals, also known as Emma and Jamie.

The Gal Pals themselves!

I got a chance to talk to Emma about the launch of FRIENDS Thursdays, and this is what she had to say:

ANDREA: What sparked the idea for FRIENDS night?

EMMA: FRIENDS started off in a very genuine way. Jamie, myself and our friends often put on ’90s music when we were drinking, hanging out, doing karaoke etc. About a year ago we started a monthly night at another venue where we had really awesome local bands play. For our Halloween show we had a Nirvana cover band – One Baby – which was the best. In early March we decided to focus on launching a weekly night at Electric Owl. We haven’t had bands play at this one yet because we’re focusing more on the party and the dancing. Not to say that it won’t happen in the future though…

A: Why no cover? Why not capitalize on the 90′s nostalgia craze?

E: We want to encourage absolutely everyone to come out. Our night isn’t about exclusivity and guest-lists and VIP booths or whatever. It’s been a huge sigh of relief since we launched NO COVER SUMMER last week and the response has been amazing. Vancouver is expensive enough and Jamie and I were always just doing this for fun. I am totally aware that we both need to keep our day jobs. Friday mornings have been tough on both of us.

A: 90′s nights about in Vancouver, why is yours more awesome than the rest?

E: I think the biggest compliment we receive is when people tell us that we look like we’re having fun. Because we are having fun. And everyone else is having fun. I haven’t really checked out the other ’90s nights in the city – I’m sure they’re awesome – but by the end of our night everyone in the room is always dancing. It’s a very non pretentious atmosphere and we really have no shame when playing the guilty pleasures. With the exception of the really annoying shit – like Eiffel 65 or Chumbawamba. You will not hear us delve that far into the realm of embarrassing ’90s.

A: Any drink specials/other cheap things that night?

E: YES! The Owl has given us:
Jameson = $3.50
Vodka highballs = $4.00
PBR Draft = $4.50

She also references that her and Jamie created a drink called “The Ross” involving a Palm Bay and a shot of gin. Alright, folks, this has got to be a strength in numbers thing – start asking The Electric Owl for The Ross at 90′s night and we shall make it happen! Because truly, the only other thing to make this night better would be if my grade seven crush was there and, you know, asked me to dance. Not that I really care or would like that or ever think about him or anything.

FRIENDS No Cover Thursdays
The Electric Owl – 928 Main St
8pm-1am
All summer long

Photo by Scott Loudoun, from the FRIENDS Thursday launch party

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. Got a cheap-living tip you’d like to share? Send it in!

This weekend is packed with activities for Mother’s Day (I already mentioned one last week – Global Mother’s Day tomorrow afternoon at Regent College), but it’s also packed with cheap theatre!

Every year The Firehall Arts Centre hosts BC Buds Spring Arts Fair, a fair celebrating new and experimental theatre works. It’s all by donation to get in, so the price tag is whatever you want it to be, and the weekend is full of theatre, dance, film, and music taking in unusual locations around the Firehall – think the courtyard, bar, lobby, stairwell, rehearsal hall, and yes, even the occasional piece set in the actual theatre.

I have a confession about BC Buds: every year I have intended to go check it out, talked about checking it out, and then not actually gone to check it out. This year, however, I am committed to going. Not just because I want to check out some cheap entertainment, but because this festival provides awesome opportunities to emerging artists. It’s not very often these folks get an opportunity to just plain create something and have it presented at a major venue. Exciting!

Stacy Sherlock and Emily Griffiths in At First I Thought it Was…

There are performances happening all weekend, below is the entire lineup, and you can view the schedule with helpful info like performance times here.

If this list is way too daunting for you, I recommend just going by schedule: pick a time you’re free, see what’s starting around then, and show up. It’s by donation, so your risk factor is pretty darn low. In fact, this could be your chance to live your secret dream of experiencing the thrill of Russian Roulette minus any unfortunate death-like side effects.

Michael Unger in The Johnny Tomorrow Chronicles

Let’s Play Make Believe (music/performance)
Brad Muirhead, Carmen Rosen, Soressa Garner, Hugh Fraser & Katie Rice

Beginnings One
Signal to Noise (dance/media)
Craig Alfredson, Kelly McInnis and Arash Khakpour
The Wolf in the Mirror (theatre/dance)
Andrew Barrett (Impulse Theatre)
Caught (dance)
Lara Barclay, Cai Glover & Crystal Wills – Lamondance

Beginnings Two
JSK – a mini musical (musical)
Brad L’Écuyer & Clayton Baraniuk (Gotta Getta Gimmick)
At First I Thought It Was… (theatre)
Stacy Sherlock & Emily Griffiths (New Colour Productions)

The Tim Sars Band featuring Ross Barrett (music)

Unrelated (dance)
Daina Ashbee, Laura Avery, Maxine Chadburn

Cutting Room Dance Floor (dance)
David Yates & Diane Garceau (Night & Day Dance)

throwing coin squeezing soy (dance theatre)
Ziyian Kwan & Anne Cooper

Goodnight Dollface (video installation/dance)
Lina Fitzner & Caroline Liffman (Light Box)

Georges Aperghis’ Recitations (music)
Dorothea Hayley

4 places and a set of circumstances (dance)
Karissa Barry & Alex Tam

Film Screenings
companion (dance film)
Julianne Chapple & Ed Spence
Twixt (dance film)
Anna Kraulis & Majid Bagheri
(Dancers: Philippa Myler & Lindsey Ridgway)
Daniel (dance film)
Brett Owen
4 places and a set of circumstances (dance film)
Karissa Barry & Leon Feizo-Gas

Studio Age of Anxiety (music/sound)
Wendy Atkinson & David Lester

Tee-Pee Theatre (kids/theatre)
Terri-Lyn Storey & Grandview Elementary students

KidStuff
Downtown Animal (theatre)
Tara Travis, Amy Clausen & Joel De Stefano (Sticky Fingers Productions)
The Johnny Tomorrow Chronicles (theatre)
Michael Unger
Rainbow Star (family storytelling)
Tim Sars & Lisa Sars (Dixiestar Storytelling)

The Toilet Paper Caper (theatrical reading)
Michelle Deines, Kathryn Kirkpatrick, Frances Perras, Sebastian Kroon, Alex Willows, Jeff Gladstone (Working Spark Theatre)

Superhero Boy Band: Seads of Change (music/theatre)
Aaron Malkin, Alistair Knowles & Islando Bocock

Kid Gloves (theatrical reading)
Sally Stubbs, Patrick Keating, Colleen Wheeler, James Macdonald, Andrew McNee & Marlene Ginader

Medicine (theatrical reading)
TJ Dawe

Daina Ashbee in Unrelated

For the record, I’m most excited about Beginnings One with its combo of dance and media pieces, Downtown Animal featuring the always hilarious Tara Travis, and Super Hero Boy Band: Seeds of Change because it will either be the funniest, awesomest show of all time or a total flop, and either way, that’s something I want to see.

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. Got a cheap-living tip you’d like to share? Send it in!

Alright cheapskates, you know how we are often faced with the unsavory choice between doing something that’s cheap or something that is good for society/children-who-live-overseas/the-world-in-general? Big box stores, stuff made in sweatshops, shoddy dollar store wares – they don’t necessarily make you feel like you’re contributing to a better planet, but dang, are they affordable.

Well, on Saturday, May 12th you can go to a free event launching a new non-profit company that does all sorts of good for society, children-who-live-overseas (as well as their mothers), and the world-in-general: Global Mothers.

Global Mothers is a brand new Vancouver-based non-profit organization that is all about connecting women around the world. They work with mothers in developing countries who are skilled artisans, develop products geared towards women and children, and sell them in North America. It’s sort of a “mothers helping mothers” deal, except that you don’t have to be a mother to support their work and enjoy the products. And yes, they were intentional about scheduling their launch party on Mother’s Day weekend. They are thinkers in that particular way.

Artisans Alice and Mercy making Gogo Olive finger puppets

First, the basic details:
Global Mother’s Day
Saturday, May 12th from 12pm-4pm
Regent College, 5800 University Blvd., UBC Campus

Party features:

• Performances by local musician-of-awesomeness Sheree Plett (yep, I am a fan of this gal’s singing, so I’m putting her first) accompanied by Shari-Anne Vis. They will be singing songs and reading from their book Times Two. Performances at 1 and 3pm.
• A mini-market of the lovely artisan products as well as information about the individuals they work with
• A screening of documentary film Buy Good
• An African drumming workshop with Jarrett Vaughan at 2pm
• A Global Kids area to entertain any and all young ones (face painting and instrument making, anyone?)
• Catering by The Banqueting Table (employing DTES women) and Cupcake Bakery

Sheree Plett, photo by James Moes

Okay, now I’ll be straight with you: Global Mothers’ reason-for-existing is not to provide you with cheap gift options, which means that buying their products will mostly leave you in the dilemma of cheap vs. good for the planet. While their launch event provides a sweet free thing to do next Saturday afternoon, and a great way to support this new, local upstart without spending money, their mission of helping empower women overseas kind of overshadows selling cheap stuff here.

However! Co-founder Katie Mogan-Graham pointed out to me that they do sell some lovely handmade banana leaf cards for $6. I know that sounds like a lot for a card, but a) it is under $10 which is generally my limit for stuff to post here and b) if you like giving nice cards (which I do, because often the card is the gift), they cost about $4-5 anyways, and as Katie said, “you can spend $6 on a card or $40 on a dress, and the result is the same: dignity for women around the world.” Bam! Truth.

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. Got a cheap-living tip you’d like to share? Send it in!

Did you know that this is National Dance Week? I’ll admit, I didn’t know until about half an hour ago, but luckily have done some crazy dances already this week in an unintentional celebration. In fact, just last week I learned and taught a group of friends the Napoleon Dynamite dance for a surprise performance, and the whole experience reminded me of how good dance is for the soul – to get all mushy-ushy on you for a second, learning this crazy dance was a fun, hilarious, healing experience for everyone involved. So it feels like kismet that National Dance Week came right on the heels of this wonderful experience!

Sadly, the week is almost over, but luckily it’s capped off with International Dance Day on Sunday, and there are some awesome free events throughout the day at The Dance Centre. You can spend the day watching and learning about dance, dance, and more dance!

dumb instrument Dance, performing at 5pm

International Dance Day Events at The Dance Centre

11am-1pm Raven Spirit Dance: Pow-Wow Boot Camp with Nyla Carpentier.
Participants will learn the history of Pow-Wow styles and intertwine it with building stamina and strength alongside the fast heartbeat of the drum. Ages 16+.
11am-1pm Modus Operandi
An opportunity to view emerging contemporary dance artists from Out Innerspace’s intensive professional training program in class and rehearsal.
12-1pm Contemporary dance showcase
An informal presentation of works featuring Meredith Kalaman (choreography by Noam Gagnon), Give Me Brilliance, and The Contingency Plan/Vanessa Goodman followed by a moderated discussion.
1-2pm Kinesis Dance somatheatro
A studio showing of a new ensemble work in progress by Artistic Director Paras Terezakis.
2-3pm Book launch
Local author Lori Henry’s Dancing Through History: In Search of the Stories that Define Canada. Readings, discussion, and dance demonstrations by artists including the Dancers of Damelahamid.
3-4pm Mandala Arts and Culture
Bharata natyam lecture-demonstration, hosted by Artistic Director Jai Govinda.
4-5pm Karen Flamenco
An open flamenco class, all levels welcome.
5-8pm dumb instrument Dance throwing coin squeezing soy
An interactive public research of the I Ching, the ancient Chinese method of fortune telling. Stationed in the main lobby, Ziyian Kwan and her assistants, Anne Cooper and akaSuzi, will translate questions from passers-by through dance and words.

Company Give Me Brilliance, performing at 12pm. Photo by Thor-sten.

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. Got a cheap-living tip you’d like to share? Send it in!

Question: if you want to have a good, filling lunch for under $5, what neighbourhood would you go to? What’s this? This answer is The Granville Strip? That’s right it is!

Nestled in between the various clubs with $15 cover charge and sex shops is none other than The Famous Warehouse.

Now, I’m no expert on most establishments on the Granville Strip, but I’m pretty sure this place used to be called The Furniture Warehouse and that the interior was exactly the same back in that day. Well, for whatever reason, the name has changed and so have the food prices.

Are you ready? Wait for it… EVERY SINGLE ENTREE IS $4.95.

Don’t believe me? Evidence:

Okay, okay, it’s possible to get a meal for less than $4.95 in Vancouver. Remember Bon’s? Here’s the difference: at the super cheap breakfast places you get a standard meal and that’s it. Here you’re getting a choice of any dish on the menu for $4.95, and the menu has a pretty varied selection of pub-style eats.

I attended The Famous Warehouse with my friends Libby and Lynn, and just look at the dishes we got to eat:

It was filling, it was made with real food ingredients, it tasted great, and the bill was actually $4.95 in the end. According to the website that deal is good all day too. So there you have it: a thoroughly cheap and filling meal, right in the middle of downtown.

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. Got a cheap-living tip you’d like to share? Send it in!

For some reason I was very slow to get on the sushi-lovin’ train. For years I refused to even try the stuff on a principle that I could never quite articulate, but that had something to do with the raw fish. I would declare loudly that I would never even try the stuff, not ever, and I was very proud to say that I hated it without any knowledge of what it was actually like. So that whole thing might have had more to do with my anti-conformist teenage values and my former tendency to reject anything popular than with any qualitative analysis on the value of sushi.

I’m not sure exactly how or when it happened, but I was slowly worn down by four years at UBC, and I eventually tried sushi. Turns out it’s pretty darn delicious.

One of the great things about sushi is that it’s almost always cheap, at least when you’re buying it in Vancouver. Just the fact that something is actually cheaper in Vancouver than elsewhere makes it pretty awesome, don’t you think? I mean, how often do we get to say that? It seems everyone has their favourite cheap sushi spot where they go to enjoy a delicious, filling meal of neatly packaged rice-with-toppings for chump change. This is one of those places.

QQ Sushi hangs out at the corner of Fir and Broadway and is definitely a mecca for cheap eating in the generally pricey South Granville area. First of all, their overall pricing is definitely on the cheaper side of the sushi world, but what’s a really great deal is their specials:

There’s the $5.95 Sushi Special, including a dynamite roll, california roll, yam tempura roll, kappa roll, and miso soup. Then there’s the $6.50 Special Box with teriyaki, rice, sushi, tempura, salad, and miso soup. I’m serious you guys, I’m not even making this up.

Now, you may have noticed that while those meals sound like deliciously cheap deals, they both contain some kind of meat product, which makes them off-limits for the likes of me, and maybe for you too. Don’t fear! They do have a veggie combo, and while it’s not quite as fantastic a value as the specials, it’s still pretty great: $6.25 for a kappa roll, yam tempura roll, and a veggie roll, and let me tell you, the rolls were tasty.

Because I always forget how filling a few rolls can be (just look at that plate!), I topped off my order with a veggie gyoza and wound up unable to finish my meal. Yet my final bill, including veggie combo, gyoza, and a pop, came out to just around $10 including tax and tip. So amazing!

Like many cheap dining establishments, there’s not a whole lot here in the way of decor or atmosphere. I wouldn’t recommend it for a date night, at least not until you’re in that super-comfortable phase of dating where you get really utilitarian about things like where you’ll eat and not changing out of your sweat pants and splitting the bill, but it’s certainly a nice, clean little restaurant with fantastic service.

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. Got a cheap-living tip you’d like to share? Send it in!

These days you can’t throw a chunk of binary code without hitting a daily deal. Groupon, Social Shopper, Wag Jag, Deal Find, Deal Radar, Indulge Living, Living Social, Vitamin Daily Deals, Ethical Deal, and oh my goodness there are still so many more it’s crazy. Daily deals can save you a lot of money if you play your cards right. Here are some Cheap-o-Matic tips on how to rock the daily deal in Vancouver:

Step One: Be Honest With Yourself

Remember, a deal only saves you money if you’re using it to get something you would have bought at full price anyways, so be honest with yourself: are you the type of person who will spontaneously purchase everything that comes their way, or can you rock the self-control and only buy things you actually need?

Now ask yourself: “are spa services and fitness-related classes a regular part of my life?” If you get a lot of manicures, pedicures, hair removal sessions, or use weight loss programs, month passes at gyms and yoga studios, personal training sessions, or dance classes of any kind, you will clean up on the daily deal. Seriously.

Tickets to sporting or cultural events come up somewhat frequently as well – I’ve seen lots of tickets for sports, ballet, theatre, and concerts (hello Hanson, shall we mmmmBop together?). Then there’s the other random offerings like TOSEL certifications, reiki training, and horseback riding – all awesome in their own right, but I can’t guarantee they’ll come up again anytime soon.

Step Two: Sign Up

Sign up for every daily deal service you can find. This brings up our next important question: how stressed out does a full inbox of what will probably be junk make you? If the idea of opening your email every morning and seeing an inbox that looks like this:

stresses you out, then you should probably stop here. Saving a few bucks is not worth making yourself angry every morning – really, it isn’t.

If, on the other hand, a quick scan-and-delete sounds totally acceptable to you, then go for it. Sign yourself right up. You’ll vastly improve your chances of finding a deal that will actually save you money the more offers you have coming in. Plus, you’ll start to see the trends of what deals come up more often, and what companies seem to offer a lot of deals. Then you can play the system and wait until one comes around again before you buy.

For those of you who said no to the full inbox, you still have an option: Vancouver Deal of the Day. It’s a website that amalgamates some (but not all) of the daily deal offerings for Vancouver in one place. So instead of getting email notifications, you can just saunter over to the website every day and see what’s new. Remember, some of the sites keep the same deals up for a few days, so they might not have daily change over.

Step Three: Stay Strong

Now you’re getting a multitude of daily emails, all clamoring for your attention and your hard earned cashola. Be brutal, be strong. Every morning, give the subject lines a quick skim and see if any of the deals sound interesting to you. Delete everything that doesn’t grab you instantly without opening it. Only open the ones you think you might actually want to buy. Then check the fine print – what are the limitations and where is the business actually located? A lot of these sites say they are Vancouver deals, but the businesses can be as far off as Surrey. Sure, it’s still technically the GVRD, but if you buy a one month gym membership for $15 and then realize that it’s a 45 minute Skytrain ride away, how often do you think you’ll use it? Remember: the makers of these websites are using all the fancy writing and psychological manipulation skills they can muster to get you to buy stuff without thinking about it too much. Don’t let them win!

Step Four: Actually Use Your Deals

Obvious, right? You’d be surprised. Remember, it’s easier to actually use your deals if you only purchase ones for things you would have done anyways. Also remember that in most cases, the companies are obligated by law to honour the money you have spent on their establishment, even if the deal has expired. So you might not get the deal you purchased, but you should at least get something for the $20 you threw down and then forgot about if, heaven forbid, the worst were to happen and you let it expire.

And that is it! You are now super savvy in daily deals. Go forth and let enjoy the savings.

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. Got a cheap-living tip you’d like to share? Send it in!

Art! It’s a wonderful thing. I am of the general opinion that everyone in the world should be able to access and appreciate art, and that finances should be the very last thing to get in the way of that. For some silly reason, however, I never bothered to look into free art options in Vancouver. That is, until I heard about The Rennie Collection.

The Rennie Collection is an art gallery located at 51 East Pender in the awesomely historical Wing Sang Building. You may have noticed, if you’re coming into downtown at night, a giant neon sign that says “Everything is going to be alright” – that’s the place. While the building has been restored to be able to house an art gallery, they’ve kept some features from the original building that make the space itself into a sort of architectural installation art.

The neon sign is slightly less “brilliant” during the day, but you get the idea.

A piece of history: the original brick wall preserved inside the gallery.

There is something very unique about The Rennie Collection that I haven’t seen in other art galleries: all visits take the form of a guided tour. Now, that does limit you a little bit, because you can’t just drop in whenever you want to browse around, but it means that you get an in-depth look at the art and the artist, as well as the history of the building.

I love this for two reasons: one, I always associate guided tours with tourist traps, which means they’re probably a little boring and definitely expensive, so I wouldn’t think to take part in one. However (and this is reason two), by centering all visits around a tour, The Rennie Collection is automatically creating a conversation around the art. Instead of the intimidating silence that tends to overpower most galleries making you feel like every whispered comment is being broadcast to a room of people who probably understand the work better than you, there was dialogue and even a bit of a sense of unity among us as a group. Plus, I learned more about the artist and his inspirations and intentions than I ever would have known, allowing me to interact with the art more deeply on a personal level.
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