Cities on the Cheap: Your guide to local freebies and deals

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This blog is co-hosted by two experts on stretching dollars. Karen Datko is a veteran journalist based in Montana who finds the best tips from around the Web. Donna Freedman is a veteran journalist, student, and handywoman in Washington who appears in this video and moderates the MSN Money Smart Spending message board.

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Posted Mar 10 2009, 09:28 AM by Karen Datko

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Filed under: hot deals, savings, Karen Datko, consumer guide, food, free, bargain

A great new resource to help us through tough times made its official debut Tuesday. It's Cities on the Cheap and a network of independently owned On the Cheap Web sites. They guide you to free or discounted food and entertainment and other deals.

The main Web site concentrates on nationwide or regional bargains, like Tuesday's free résumé copies at FedEx Office stores and Tuesday's free fries and drink (with coupon) at Jack in the Box, as well as Blue Man Group concert ticket discounts, BOGO sundaes at Baskin-Robbins, free Arby's Roastburger with purchase of soft drink (you need to print out the coupon for that one, too) and free Irish lessons from Rosetta Stone.

For area bargains on concerts, attractions, restaurants and shopping, consult your local On the Cheap site. If your city -- or one you plan to visit -- isn't listed here yet, keep checking. The On the Cheap network is one sector of the economy that's in growth mode.

Our friend and former colleague Teresa Mears (she's also a fellow newspaper refugee -- a group with an alarming growth rate) told us about this terrific resource. She's the creator of On the Cheap sites for the state of Florida, plus Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and the Florida Keys. (On the Cheap also has separate sites for Tampa Bay, Gainesville, Sarasota and that chunk of Florida known as Disney.)

Here are some samples of great deals we found at On the Cheap sites:

Kansas City on the Cheap: A free Frank Sinatra film series this month at the Kansas City Public Library.
Your Chicago on the Cheap: On March 14, the Chicago River will be dyed green in an annual salute to St. Patrick's Day. You can watch -- for free. Parades are set for March 14 and 15.
Santa Fe on the Cheap: Ride the Rail Runner and get a free discount card for free admission to state museums and monuments. Santa Fe County residents can also ride the Rail Runner for free.
New Orleans on the Cheap: The price of the breakfast and lunch buffets at Harrah's near the French Quarter has dropped from $14.99 to $9.99 Monday through Friday. "Visitors can enjoy made-to-order pasta, gumbo, smoked salmon, and sausage, and jumbo shrimp cocktail at one of the buffet's seven stations," the site says. OK, not cheap but still a bargain. One of many great reasons to visit New Orleans is to eat.

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Comments

In this time of budget shopping, thanks for covering this. Some of my favorite On-The-Cheap websites are RacingOnTheCheap.com and BayAreaOnTheCheap.com.

HenryR (Posted 03.11.09 10:41 PM ) Report Abuse

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