Tips On Frugal Living In The Philadelphia Region

Introduction

• You need to be informed about what you're buying.
• You need to know where and how to get information.
• You need to be able to identify common ripoffs.
• You ought to have a sense of whether particular retailers behave ethically.

Why Be Frugal?

It is also the case that being frugal is an enjoyable hobby.

What areas does this cover?

Contents

Banks

Generally speaking, credit unions offer a better deal with fewer fees than do regular banks. But watch out, even they can play fast and loose with the rules.

Caveat: In the past few years in the Philly region I've noticed a change in the quality of customer experience with two credit unions I've been with.

1. They're no longer as polite.
2. They seem to consider customers to be disposable.
3. They don't stick up for customers when problems occur with Mastercard charges.

Bicycles

Black Friday

Black Friday Scam #1: the fake discount

Black Friday Scam #2: price gouging on non-sale items

Black Friday Scam #3: no stock to begin with

Black Friday Scam #4: appearance of deals without substance

Black Friday Scam #5: dumping junk products

Black Friday Scam #6: she has a pretty friend

Black Friday Scam #7: repackaging of junk

Black Friday Maxims

1. Don't buy stuff you don't need just because you're in the store.
2. Know the true value of products.
3. Don't be wowed by sales on stuff you don't need.
4. Only go to stores with guaranteed stock.
5. Know what a normal warranty length is for what you want to buy and don't accept anything shorter.
6. Don't buy unknown or crappy brands.
7. Don't go to stores that have no sales.

Summary

Always assume they think you can be conned. Caveat emptor.

Books

Regular books (not textbooks)

Most of the time, buying a book isn't necessary, nor buying a new copy. Check out your local library. They probably have what you need or they can order it. Libraries impose a time limit on borrowing, but that is actually good, since it spurs you to read. You don't want to become one of those people who gets books but never reads them.

Also check out your local used bookstore. These stores are struggling agains the juggernauts of Border's and Barnes and Boble. They are run by everyday people like you and profit remain local instead of going to overpaid corporate CEOs.

Lastly, if you are a student, ask your college library when they will be having their yearly free book giveaway. You'd be surprised what you can get if you show up on the 1st day.

Particular bookstores

Borders

Examples of Border's committment to quality:

• In a certain state where the Health Department is lax and/or corrupt, I observed a bathroom that remained semi-flooded and stinking of urine for many weeks.
• At another Border's, I deduced based on careful observation that a cafe worker had deliberately placed gay paraphenalia in the men's bathroom in two places: in one stall, and on the counter that has the sinks -- clearly to be highly conspicuous.
• At another Border's, when I returned an item without a receipt I was told that I could have taken the item to a pawn shop.

Barnes and Noble

Textbooks

Websites

Used

Experiences

• I recently bought a 6th edition of a certain book from a neighbor for $5 instead of buying a new 9th edition for $150. I got an A in the course. Because of the subject, the topic matter had not changed much between the two editions.
• Similarly, for another text I recently bought the 8th edition of it via Craigslist for $25 (had to drive to get it, that was another $10) rather than buying a new 9th edition for $160.
• For a lab book that would have cost me $80, I made an in-person request at my college library that they buy it, and they indeed did.
• I just got another text online via Valore.com for $67 (international edition) that would have cost me $160 at school. The two books have the same number of pages, same content, and their ISBNs differ by only 1 digit.

Vulture salesmen

Professors are actually approached by book company salespeople, who come right onto campus to stalk their prey. Those salespeople even go to community college campuses. They show up and pressure lecturers to use and promote certain books and insist that lecturers get students to use new editions.

It is entirely possible that bribes are involved. After all, it's not illegal. If not cash, there may be free plane tickets or vacations offered. Their department heads may receive money to pressure professors into using this or that book. The university dean may impose pressure since after all, the school makes money from the bookstore. You cannot know what pressures and transactions take place. But you can realize that buying from the campus bookstore is always a ripoff and buying a new copy is usually unnecessary.

The bottom line: Textbook publishers have no ethics. They have a racket that keeps them rich and unnecessarily makes you poorer. Screw them.

Peer pressure

International editions

Libraries

Sometimes they also have an older instructor's edition that you can check out and use for longer periods.

Boycotts

Radio Shack

For decades now, the people who work at Radio Shit have proven themselves to be worthless dolts who know nothing about what they're selling, but who are nevertheless clearly instructed to say anything to make a sale. On top of that, they can be condescending jerks and if you don't buy something, some of them become visibly angry. Radio Shack has a policy of limiting returns. See the section on Return limits.

Bertucci's

At the Bryn Mawr restaurant, which -- it seems -- is run entirely by teenagers, we received dirty silverware requiring immediate replacement. Red flag! We were served by a teenage waitress who had been

• insincere,
• inarticulate,
• uninterested and
• unable to tell us what was good because she didn't know the menu.

Even her apology for the dirty silverware was fake and unfelt. Bertucci's is a restaurant that screams "bad management". Call it Ber-suck-ees.

Target

Ever since Target upgraded its image and started calling itself "tar-zhay" and washing down their floors to get the grime off, their prices have much been much higher and yet they still sell precisely the same low-quality crap as before. Their junk breaks down almost right after you buy it and is almost useless. Truth is, Tar-zhay sells gar-baaazhe.

Cosi (per-store boycott)

Some Cosi's are clean, others are amazingly dirty. I walked into the one in Bryn Mawr for example and immediately was struck by the presence of food and trash strewn all over the floor. You might think somebody just had a birthday party there, but that doesn't explain the fact that the workers looked like they hadn't showered in days and had their shirts hanging out. I walked out right after entering. On the other hand, I went to a Cosi in Philly that was new and very clean.

Panera Bread in Ardmore

Managers keep this store so cold, and the music so loud, that you have to wonder if they haven't taken the Abu Graib torture training course.

Sears Hardware

Sears Hardware has an obnoxious policy of limiting returns by invading your privacy. See the section on Return limits.

Home Depot in Broomall

Home Depot seems to have a policy of limiting returns by invading your privacy. See the section on Return limits.

Pep Boys

Immediately upon entering Pep Boys you notice the stink. Turns out, that stink is carinogenic. There is a sign on the wall of each Pep Boys stating that pregnant women should not spend any time in the store. Pep Boys has a policy of limiting returns by invading your privacy. See the section on Return limits.

Starbucks (per-store boycott)

The sign that a cafe is not run by shady operators is that they allow civilized activities like studying. Unfortunately, in most Starbucks studying is discouraged. They want maximal profits -- and screw the customer that dares get in the way. Even in Washington state, where Starbucks has to compete with superior competition and they are a kind of a local embarrassment, they deliberately discourage their paying customers from lingering. Despite the general state of the company, a few Starbucks are redeemed because they always allow studying. I know of two: The one at U Penn and the one next to Jefferson.

Trader Joe's in Media

Many times when I've gone to this store, I've noticed that the people who work there are unhappy. Some of them are quick to snap at customers. It's not like everyone in the store is a sadist, by any means, but this store does seem to be less well managed than others. This problem has persisted for over a year.

Sterling Optical

Worse than unethical. Their salespeople are highly deceptive in my experience. A true abomination. Avoid them at all costs.

Cafés

The cafe culture seems to have reached its pinnacle in Vienna, Austria. Cafes there are spacious and naturally lit. They don't rush you. Typically a waiter serves you coffee in ceramic -- not paper -- cups. And the coffee is superb, as in most European cafes.

In Viennese cafes it is considered normal that a person might read a novel, work on a writing project, or study for school, even for hours on end while going through multiple coffees. This is perfectly normal. The Wikipedia article sums it up.

The Viennese model spread across Europe and the idea of selling coffee in a civilized or classy way is still present, despite claims of its demise. The point of my bringing up what the Europeans have accomplished is, of course, to say that by comparison most American cafes suck.

Heck, in Europe they even have cappuccino artwork, where the barista uses a spoon to make a nice design in the foam, such as a smiley-face. (See this coffee art video.) Oh, and did I mention that traditionally in European cafes a free small cookie is included with coffee? These are nice touches that cost cafes very little and yet have a big impact.

Alas, the best cafes that America has to offer are merely decent, and not up to European standards. Coffee here is a tool, for the cafe and the consumer. It's not about joie de vivre. What good cafes we have are invariably small eclectic operations. They are almost never corporate cafes or franchises. And unfortunately, around Philly there are very few such decent ones.

I propose that good American cafes have these characteristics:

1. You can study there for several hours without annoyances.
2. The cheap coffee actually tastes good.
3. They have free Wifi.
4. They have free live music a couple days a week.
5. Refills are either free or $0.50.
6. There is a discount for having your own mug.
7. Parking is not a problem.

Out on the West Coast, cafes like this are not hard to find, especially in college towns. Yet with all the pricey universities around Philly we hardly have anything like them. It's pathetic that a great cafe doesn't exist here.

A few places come close:

	Panera Bread	Border's Books	Starbucks	Brew Ha Ha
A.	sort of*	yes	sort of*	?
B.	no!	no!	so-so	?
C.	yes	no	no	yes
D.	no	rarely	no	?
E.	yes -- free	yes	yes	?
F.	no	yes	no	?
G.	yes	yes	usually	yes in Tallyville DE
Total goodness	3.5/7	4/7	3/7	?

For completeness' sake, let's consider what the shittier American cafes tend to be like:

1. They want customers to "move on" to maximize turnover and profits, so they blast the music.
2. They want customers to buy more and more warm drinks to maximize profits, so they turn down the temperature to near freezing.
3. The Wifi is not only not free, it's a rip-off.
4. They are a corporate cafe with no loyalty to the local population, so live music is out of the question.
5. Workers are underpaid, so they don't want to bother with such things as customer service or sanitation.
6. Workers are overly medicated with caffeine and can't keep their cool.
7. No local artwork on display.

Now let us consider Starbucks, Panera, and Borders as regards shittiness:

	Starbucks	Panera	Borders
1.	yes	yes	intermittent
2.	all stores sometimes	some stores always	no
3.	yes	no--it's free	yes
4.	95% yes	yes	no but rare
5.	sometimes	no	emphatic yes
6.	yes	no	sometimes
7.	yes	yes	Only ever the cafe managers' friends' art on display
Total shittiness	6/7	3/7	3/7

Note: Regarding live music, a cafe in Ardmore features local high-school-age bands, which by definition ought to be a free show with possibly free drinks, yet amazingly they charge a $10 cover. Theirs is the 5th business in Ardmore that I've encountered, and the 3rd that seems to be run by greedy cretins.

An American innovation

Nothing like this exists near Philly that I know of. The closest thing are the Swiss Farms drive-up convenience stores, whose employees breathe in far too much exhaust fumes, and whose coffee doesn't even compare to Wawa's.

Saving money

At the popular convenience store Wawa, they have an excellent "Kona" coffee despite their not being a cafe. If you bring your own mug, can be as little as $1. Caveat emptor: Their milk jugs are refilled with remnants of half-empty jugs and are not sanitary. Always seek out the yet-to-be-opened jug.

At Starbucks, get the short coffee in the Venti cup and add milk to it. It's easier on your stomach, it's maybe 10 cents cheaper, the milk is free, and milk is basically good for you. Save another 10 cents by bringing you own mug.

If you buy lattes more for the espresso flavor than for the temperature of the drink per se, you can save money by just buying an espresso in a large cup and then adding cold milk to it. In this way, you get a cold latte for as little as ½ the cost of the warm one.

Similarly, it you normally drink chocolate soy (it's good for the skin), buy an espresso and add the chocolate soy to that to make a cheap espresso-mocha.

If you like cappuccino, save a few cents at Starbucks by getting the "short" cappuccino, which is the size served in Italy.

Some non-corporate cafes may have frequent-buyer cards. Always ask.

Panera bread and some smaller cafes have free wireless Internet. Starbucks, Borders, and B&N shamefully do not.

Caffeine content

Car insurance

Erie	$520/year
Traveler's	$900/year
Everyone else	>$1000/year

Out of curiosity I asked Erie what the bare-minimum insurance would cost me, and they said that for me, as a good driver, it's only $250 per year. I opted for the $520 per year coverage, which is basically normal coverage with low deductibles. With Erie, you should deal with the main corporate office for customer service issues. I got mine through Peterson's.

People say that no matter what company you buy car insurance from, never get Full Tort, it's a ripoff.

Cleaning supplies

Hand soap

Metals and glass

Laundry detergent

Lemon juice added to a load of clothing will supposedly whiten them in the washer.

You can also use no detergent, for two reasons. First, water and the mechanical force of the machine by themselves take out most dirt particles (but not oils), and second, if someone else used the washer before you there may be leftover detergent in the system. Especially at laundromats there is always extra detergent in the machine's compartments.

Here's a page by a guy who figured out how to make his own laundry detergent: Link.

Stains

• For carpet stains, e.g. strawberries. (I recently dropped a bowl of wet strawberries on a carpet and used vinegar to completely remove the stain.)
• Cleaning stains on metal -- use with baking soda and let it sit overnight.

Odors

Also check out the enzyme-based odor removal products at pet stores. They're cheap, natural, and they do the trick.

Toothpaste

Rather than buying expensive Tom's Of Maine toothpaste, which is great stuff, just get the $2 Trader Joe's brand.

Computers-Hardware

Buying

Defective equipment

• The best return policies that I have seen are those of Office Depot; Micro Center; and possibly Circuit City.
• The worst return policy is that of Best Buy.

Rules of thumb

1. Watch the ads carefully week after week. Don't be in a hurry. Wait for a good deal and when it arrives, move fast.
2. Never buy a computer on Ebay, because often the people are scammers on Ebay, even the ones with very good feedbacks. You must understand that the scammers have learned how to boost one another's scores. Assume that whatever gets put on Ebay is damaged. Just because you are ethical and have sold good stuff on Ebay, this doesn't imply that other sellers are ethical.
3. Never buy a computer from a used computer store, because they will sell you junk and then try to ream you on repair work.
4. Never buy a refurbished, remanufactured, or open box item.
5. If you must for financial reasons buy something that is used, buy it via Craigslist so that you can examine and test it in person. Never drive far out of your way to see a computer. Always meet someone at a neutral location like a Starbucks.

Selling

1. In my experience, on Craigslist you can get about two thirds of what you paid new. Buyers will always haggle a lower price, so start a little high.
2. In my experience, on Ebay you get about ½ of what you paid new.
3. Never sell anything to a used computer store, for the same reason that you should never trade a car into a dealer: you'll get ripped off.

Renting

Don't rent or lease. It's a hideous rip-off.

Forums

There seem to be a few forums on the Web where people post deals that they have learned about.
• SlickDeals.net

Computers-Software

I wish I could say that it goes without saying that you shouldn't actually be buying software -- and yet the truth is that many people don't realize even now that most of the major, expensive programs out there are threatened by free equivalents that are just as good, or by free programs that are safer to use now that Microsoft is spying on consumers with Vista.

But that's fine. There will always be newbies. The important thing is that you understand that programmer-activists have taken the time and effort to write "open source" free software that is safe to use and costs you no money. Why? In large part because companies like Microsoft, Adobe, and others have done very unethical things to people and to smaller companies. You wouldn't buy an apple from a farmer who beats his wife, would you? No. Same idea.

Bad software companies piss off programmers, who feel to do something about it so they write good computer programs and give them away for free.

Payware	Freeware
Microsoft Office	OpenOffice
Photoshop	The GIMP
Dreamweaver	NVU
Quark	Scribus

For a more complete listing see my page Free Windows Programs You Should Use.

Computers-Media

What stores?

Many stores have arbitrarily high prices on computer media, not just here but across the US and even overseas. It seems to be understood that people often buy media while in a jam, and are willing to pay any price for the convenience.

Consequently even big box stores have bad prices.

4.7 gig DVD-R / DVD+r discs:

I usually go to a Best Buy or Circuit City for these. Prices at Walmart and office supply stores tend to be higher.

Dual-layer DVD-R / DVD+R discs:

Microcenter has the cheapest blank dual-layer DVD-R discs costing less than $1 per disc. Look for the Windata brand. They also sell DVD-RW at a discount.

DVD-RAM discs:

DVD-RAM discs are meant for long-term storage. But they also happen to work quite well with Linux if you use that. Two stores sell them:

• Circuit City sells five 3X discs for $13.
• Micro Center sells five 5X discs for $13.

Call first to make sure they have them in stock.

What brands?

In my experience, the most reliable brands are Philips and Verbatim. However most brands obtain discs from any number of factories, such that you cannot truly know what the quality is until you:
1. Open the package, making returns less likely.
2. Put the disc in your computer and run a program to read the disc identifier code off the disc.
3. Look up that code at a website where users report their experiences.
For more information on disc identifier codes and quality, visit the popular site VideoHelp.

Copy centers

I could've sworn that only a few years ago copies costed only a few cents per page. Apparently this is no longer the case.

Prices:

Store	B&W	Color
Nuss Printing Rt. 3 at Eagle Rd.	?	35 cents
Staples	7 cents	52 cents
Kinkos	8 cents	97 cents
Office Max	9 cents	89 cents
U S Copy Ctr near U. Penn	10 cents	42 cents if less than 100, 35 cents if 100+

Copying DVDs

There are two Windows programs that let you back up your DVDs in case you scratch the originals. They are both very easy to use:
• FairUse Wizard is free for basic use. It will create a 700 megabyte file which is "good enough". It costs about $10 to upgrade to a fully functional version that can create larger files.
• DVD Decryptor (click on Download link) rips an entire DVD, storing the original files to your hard drive. The program allows you to watch the files using a DVD viewing program or burn an image of the DVD to a blank dual-layer DVD.

Coupons

You have probably learned that coupons are available online these days, which can be convenient. I'm still assessing what sites are best although DealOfDay.com may be OK, and ResellerRatings.com has some good info.

At Border's (bookstore), you can sign up for free to receive emails from them containing coupons that give you about 20% off books. During the sign-up process they may ask you for you address. Just make something up.

Never buy anything at Bed Bath & Beyond unless you bring their 20% off coupon with you. They are aggressively sending those out via mail and putting them in Sunday newspapers.

DIY (do it yourself)

Let's say you want to make something out of wood. I've heard many times now that Home Depot actually sells wood at cost, i.e. without markup. I tend to believe it because their wood is quite cheap. Beware their green-tinted wood, in fact don't touch it period. It's treated with arsenic and just by touching it you can poison yourself. California and Europe have banned arsenic-treated wood.

I have a web page where I explain how to make a bunch of stuff. It's here.

Downloading

YouTube

Clips that are on YouTube or embedded in webpages are meant to be watched. However you may not have the free time just when you find the clip. Luckily, you can download any YouTube film clip from within Firefox after you install RealPlayer. Their software actually permits downloading of film clips from a huge number of websites. These clips never have super video quality.

Usenet

I once met a guy who was very much an addict of downloading movies and music from the Internet. This activity had clearly come to dominate his life and I took pity on him and inquired into his methods. He claimed he was able to download massive amounts of films and music by anonymously paying for a Usenet service, which he used anonymously as well through various wireless connections. He was a foreigner and my impression was that such activities are more prevalent in other countries than in the USA. I would not suggest doing this. Movies just aren't that important. You might watch any given movie once a year, so there is no need to actually possess a copy of it unless you bought the DVD for cheap.

PirateBay

Do not use "torrent" sites like the PirateBay and Mininova.org to download anything. That's rather like walking into the MPAA or RIAA offices and giving their lawyers your ID.

Education

4-year

This region has a great many very expensive colleges, such as Villanova, University of Pennsylvania, et cetera ad nauseum. If you want cheap 4-year universities and community colleges, check out other states. In particular, take a look at California (Cal State), Arizona (ASU) and perhaps Alabama.

That said, PA does have a system of reasonably-cheap state schools that includes for instance Millersville, and a half dozen others. Quality may vary, for instance it is said that at West Chester University, the English professors grade papers by throwing them down a flight of stairs and giving the ones at the top A's. I learned this from a local high school teacher.

You might also want to avoid Indiana University of Pennsylvania, since they are only a few miles downwind from count'em two coal-fired power plants that are massive polluters of mercury. This matters because mercury erodes the brain. Kind of ironic, to have a college near those plants. Related page.

Community colleges

The cheapest schools in the Philly region are the community colleges. Community college credits should be transferable to state schools e.g. Millersville but you should always ask.
• Bucks county: known for its Fine Arts program.
• Delaware county: known for paranoia about anonymous emails.
• Montgomery county: known for?
Take note of the residency issue, however. If you're not residing in the right county or sometimes even the right district of a county, you may end up paying a lot. On the other hand, grants may be available.

Night schools

If you don't need to transfer credits, there are also night schools.
• Haverford Adult School.
• There is one in Chester County for sure.

Art centers

If you want art courses there are some art centers.
• Main Line Art Center
• Wayne Art Center for instance has a ceramics open lab. I think each session is $10 or $12.
• Center for the Creative Arts in Yorklyn, Delaware just across the border.

Electronic gear

Best Buy and Circuit City lead the pack in low prices on everything electronic. Check out their Sunday flyers and check them out on Black Friday.

Rule of thumb: Best Buy has good deals on laptops every 3 weeks.

Energy

Trivia: 25% of the electricity consumed in the USA is used for lighting, because most people are still using wasteful incandescent bulbs. However, compact fluorescents contain mercury which if not disposed of properly only help to ruin the environment for present and future generations. Remember: mercury, like lead, erodes the brain.

For a long list of ways to conserve energy, see my web page on that subject.

Fake IDs

I heard a rumor that college students are going to a copy center on Spring Garden (US something?) and buying fake IDs. Since I personally do not go to bars nor really even drink, I don't approve of that practice, but it is a noteable part of the local culture. Why the police haven't shut that down is hard to say, but one might hazard to guess that it's because they approve of it, since after all dealing with drunk 18-year-old students in University City is a cozy job compared to catching real criminals.

Food

The 12 keys to cheap food are:
1. Know where the items that you buy most frequently can be found cheaply every day. For me this is:
   1. Produce Junction for veggies and fruits.
   2. HeadNut for tea, sugar, cocoa and whole grains.
   3. Trader Joes for oils, cheeses, vitamins and peanut butter; also soap and toothpaste.
   4. Walmart for lunchmeat and perhaps whole wheat bread.
   5. Gentile's for veggies, fruits and eggs.
   6. Asian supermarkets for rice and some tea.
2. Watch closely where the sales are. Relatively expensive stores like Genuardi's can have surprising sales wherein their foods are very cheap. Check the weekly flyers on Sunday. Some flyers are available online e.g. Superfresh's. If you find the right deal, go and buy a bunch of the item and if appropriate freeze what you don't need.
3. Don't travel too far to specialty stores.
4. Never ever pay for convenience e.g. junkfood at Wawa. You can end up paying possibly several times the normal cost.
5. Buy in quantity when possible, especially during sales.
6. Don't buy pre-made meals if you can avoid it. Whether fresh or frozen, there's more expensive than making them yourself.
7. Notice how prices of items that are at chest-level are higher than items that aren't. That's not because they're worth more, it's because manufacturers pay more for product placement there, and they pass that cost on to you.
8. Avoid shopping during crowded times, since most people buy more while waiting. This is why supermarkets let the stores get crowded! You end up staring at things to buy, and inventing whims.
9. Don't go shopping for food when you're tired or hungry -- you will buy more.
10. Buy directly from farmers if they are near (and other producers e.g. get honey from beekeepers) to avoid the middlemen.
11. Always check your receipt for errors. Many stores "accidentally on purpose" mark up items on the hope that you'll never notice let alone head back and demand they fix it.
12. If you have skill and free time, you can save money by cooking and baking basic items. You can make your own basic items like bread, yogurt, salads, cheese, pizza sauce, etc.

Trader Joes

I have found that this national chain of 200+ stores has everyday low prices on many, but not all items. Trader Joe's is also unusual in that many of their products have no preservatives and most products have no trans-fat, which is a heart-killer. TJ's also samples out their food every day so that you can try some items before you buy. Most of their products are also their own store brand and they claim to 'cut out the middleman', although technically they are the middleman.

Trader Joe's has many unusual items that no other supermarkets carry, e.g.

• Really good imported Australian licorice.
• Parmesian-cheese covered French baguettes.
• Bags of fruit leather.
• Affordable cheeses.
• Indians dishes from India.
• Buffalo meat.

Trader Joes is a little different locally than it is where it started, out West. Trader Joes stores in this area don't have as good an appreciation of customers, which is related to the fact that treatment of customers in this region is on average terrible. But they are much better. The following is the run-down of what I believe you can expect:

TJ's stores out West also have:

• Cheap but good wine, as in you can get a $5 bottle that is quite decent. Due to the crazy liquor laws in Pennsylvania and Delaware, which benefit only business people and corrupt politicians at the expense of consumers, the PA and DE stores aren't allowed to sell wine.
• Cheap but decent sushi. Locally it is $1-2 more.

Caveat: Trader Joe's vegetables and fruits are very overpriced. Find a local supermarket or a produce-only store for better prices. I usually go to Produce Junction for fruits and vegetables because their prices are very good.

Quite a few TJ's items are cheaper than the sales prices at major supermarkets. Examples:

• Bag of fresh pizza dough $1 (enough for large pizza)
• Grated mozzarella cheese, 1 pound $4
• Marinara $1-$3.00
• Hummus $1.80
• Ghirardelli bulk chocolate $2 for a huge chunk
• Frozen Indian rice dish $2
• Several Indian meals, ready to heat and eat $2
• Grape seed oil 0.5 liter $3
• Olive oil 2 liter $7
• Peanut butter (100% peanuts) $1.80
• Natural tooth paste $2: it's as good as Tom's of Maine.
• Generic version of Airborne tablets $4
• Parmesian cheese 8 oz. $2.20
• Half-pound of "ends and pieces" of fruit leather: $2.50!
• One pound of tortilla chips $1.80
• Vitamins in general are cheap at TJ's.
• Various spices are around $2 each

One item that is usually much cheaper elsewhere is rice, because TJ's only sells it in small bags. However, their rice is very good quality. For cheap, good bulk rice, go to an Asian supermarket such as H Mart. There is an H Mart near the 69th St. terminal in Philly.

In summary, Trader Joes is often cheaper but you can find many deals elsewhere, too, and not everything there is cheap.

A BusinessWeek article about Trader Joes is here.

Walmart

Some people poo-poo Walmart as the bad-boy chain that destroys local businesses and treats workers like the energy. That may all be true, but it is also the case that most big corporations oppress low-wage workers; most big businesses oppress small businesses. It is also the case that many small businesses treat workers like garbage, too.

Rule of Thumb: Only 1 in 10 businesspeople is an ethical person work respects workers, desires a free market, and would never undermine democracy through corruption or campaign contributions.

Food at Walmart: Several items that they sell are quite cheap despite being the same items that are sold elsewhere. Turkey, ham, canned foods, salt, sugar and other basic items are cheap at Walmart.

Genuardis

This chain is high-priced most of the time and their chains are typically mostly empty. Perhaps as a result of that emptiness, Genuardi's will on occasion have great sales.

Whole Foods

Cons:
• Whole Foods is in general very expensive, although some items are cheap.
• Workers at some of their stores are unapologetically snobbish and occasionally condescending. Others are simply wary of non-rich customers. A few are regular nice people.

Pros:

• Many Whole Foods have an extensive and cheap bulk section. This is especially true of the store near the Art Museum in Philly. For example, their price on spelt flour is $1.40 per pound.
• They usually have an excellent fresh olives section, which is affordable when in season. (I have the impression that in October the prices were almost 2 times higher than in July.)
• They usually have excellent bulk coffee beans.

When visiting WF, be very careful to only buy what you went there to get. They get you on the endless "neat" food items that you don't even need or want. It's like the Monty Python movie The Meaning of Life where the fat man is offered "one more thin little wafer". Don't be suckered into that.

In summary, Whole Foods is essentially a two-part store:

1. a traditional health food store
2. upscale food boutique.
You should only buy from the latter part of the store.

Whole Foods recently sought to merge with Wild Oats, which is/was a more down to earth chain. The Federal Trader Commission didn't like the idea however.

Source: UPI story.

Aldi

This is a chain of stores that sell food in bulk. They seem to have started in Germany and now exist in many countries including the US. Aldi recently purchased Trader Joes.

Although Aldi has some cheap food, be sure to look at the ingredients. I've seen trans fat (partially hydrogenated oils) in several items.

Food co-ops

There seem to be a few local co-ops scattered around. For instance:
• There is one in Media.
• There is one in Swarthmore, just south of Springfield Mall. I looked for it but didn't find it. Their website is here.
• There is one near U Penn, on Baltimore.

Specific food items

Vegetables & fruits

A produce-only store will tend to have the best prices. Around here, there are many smaller ones. I tend to go to Produce Junction because it's close to home. Some prices I recently paid (from memory):

Item	$$
2 pound of grapes	$3
2 pounds of bananas	$1
Small cantelope	$1
Apple cider 64 oz.	$1.75
Container of Cherry tomotoes	$1.25
1 pound of slicing tomatoes	$1
1 pound Plum tomotoes	$2
1 pound raw olives (requires work to prepare)	$2

In Broomall, Gentile's has a good selection of fruits and vegetables. They're about 25% more expensive than Produce Junction, but easier to get to (just off Rt. 3) and they take credit cards whereas Produce Junction does not.

In the city, some say the Reading Terminal Market is good.

Nuts; dried fruit; oats

In this area, the real competition is between
• HeadNut in Ardmore (not on the main drag)
• Whole Foods
• Trader Joes

Bulk rice

"H Mart" near the 69th Street bus/tram station is a Korean store that is known for its bulk rice.

Asia Supermarket at 143 N. 11th St in Center City has slightly lower prices than H Mart.

Spices

Rite Aid has a small selection of cheap spices for $1 per container, whereas almost everyone else is $4 for the same quantity, except Trader Joes, $2.

Spring Run in Kennett Square has bulk spices.

Energy bars

GNC

GNC has their own brand of energy bars that are pretty good. For less than $1 you get 16g of protein.

Cliff bars

Trader Joes and Walmart have the lowest price: $1 each.

Sushi

Based on my experiments, you can make your own vegetarian sushi and salmon sushi for about $0.45 per piece. There are a few Asian food stores around where you can buy the gear. Really the only problem is cleaning the sticky rice remains off the gear afterwards. Look for a book at your local library for trying to make your own.

Flour

You can find unbleached 5 pound bags of white flour on sale at most supermarkets for around $1 per typical bag. However I have heard a few times that highly processed foods like white flour and white sugar have been linked to diabetes.

It is far better to use whole wheat flours, which provides fiber, vitamins, and some protein.

Try experimenting with other kinds of flour, like whole spelt. They can be bought in bulk from health food stores and from Whole Foods. The Whole Foods price on spelt flour last I checked was $1.40 per pound.

Soy milk

Pathmark has a store-brand 64-ounce chocolate soy for $3 that is surprisingly good, nearly as good as more-pricey Silk. Trader Joes's soy is also cheap, but doesn't taste very good, IMHO. Genuardi's sometimes has deals where you can get 64 ounces for $2.50. Whole Food's store brand soy milk is quite cheap but I find it tastes bad.

Advantages of soy:

• Affordable.
• Basically healthy.
• May be good for protecting the skin from the harmful effects of too much sugar in the diet.

Disadvantages of soy:

• Soy contains small amounts of phytoestrogens, which mimic the influence of estrogen.
• Soy has an incomplete set of amino acids whereas milk has a complete set. It's not a replacement for milk.
• I've seen some mention that soy may also contain some lectins that are harmful.

Milk

Price comparison for organic milk by the a half-gallon as of early 2007. Prices have since gone up.

Where	Cost
Whole Foods	$3.00 (store brand)
Trader Joes	$3.30 to $3.80
Superfresh	$4.00
Giant	$4.40

Price comparison for organic milk by the gallon.

Where	Cost
Trader Joes	$5.30
Whole Foods	$5.50 (store brand)

At Trader Joes you can get a gallon of non-organic milk without RGBH for $3.20. This is important, because RGBH is a hormone from Monsanto that farmers use to increases milk yield per cow but that may get passed on to humans and may damage men's prostates.

Turbinado Sugar

This is a real sugar from sugar cane. Conventional white sugar like you find at most supermarkets sometimes comes from corn. Corn is high in Carbon-13 and is dealt with differently by the body. Corn-based sugar may be linked to diabetes.

HeadNut in Ardmore	16 oz for ~$1.25
Trader Joe's	24 oz. for $3
Superfresh	16 oz. for $4

Coffee

I no longer consume coffee, ever since the news broke that coffee consumption results in elevated levels of homocysteine in the blood. Homocysteine is strongly linked to heart disease.

Tea

Health benefits

• White tea, green tea, and Pu'erh (red) tea contain antioxidants that help prevent premature breakdown of tissues by free radical molecules.
• White tea has the highest concentration of a compound called EGCG, which helps prevent cancer.
• White tea and Pu'erh (red) tea have been shown to improve blood cholesterol (they lower LDL) and improve blood pressure.

Stores

HeadNut in Ardmore has bulk teas, many of them for $1 per ounce. They appear to have 20 or more kinds of tea, including white tea and loose Pu'erh tea.

Pu'erh normally comes in a round "cake" format. You can buy Pu'erh cakes for pretty cheap at Chung Wau supermarket near 11th Street in Philadelphia. They sell an excellent Pu'erh cake from Yunnan Tea Co. Ltd that's $7 for a 12 ounce cake.

More on Pu'erh tea

You may have heard that Pu'erh tea is the most ancient variety of tea in China. It is double-fermented, typically sold is dried "cake" format which looks like a tea frisbee, and actually gets better with age because it is actually a live culture. Pu'erh is believed to lower LDL cholesterol.

Cholesterol-Lowering Foods

LDL = low-density lipopolysaccharide = bad cholesterol
HDL = high-density lipopolysaccharide = good cholesterol

I am going to list cholesterol-improving foods and do a price survey soon, as time permits...

Basically, anything with soluble fiber lowers your LDL. The soluble fiber gets into your bloodstream, binds with the LDL to mark it was waste, and thereby helps you excrete it.

Furthermore, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils lower LDL and raise HDL. For instance, olive oil and flax oil.

Lastly, Pu'erh tea has been shown to lower LDL as possibly have other teas.

Free Stuff; Barter & Skills-Sharing

The "Freecycle" system exists for people to give away free stuff and request free stuff. It seems to have groups in each of the Pennsylvania counties in the region. Here's the webpage.

I once heard there is a skills-bartering group near Phoenixville but I don't know the name or whether it ever took off.

For skills-sharing, check out the "Activity Partners" section of Craigslist.

Glasses

Tip 1
Never buy the anti-reflective coating because the cheap one is worse than worthless and the expensive one is too expensive to bother with. The cheap coating will scratch within the first week and break down within a year, and will constantly collect dust and make oils extremely visible.

Tip 2
To find the best frame shape for you, bring a digital camera with you to the store and photograph yourself with a large number of frames, maybe writing down which ones you looked at. Then go home and compare them on your computer. Ask other people to judge how you look. Never make a quick decision in the store.

Boycott
Caveat: Avoid Sterling Optical like the plague. They're crooks. It's not just me saying that.

Gyms

Avoid gyms, they're a money drain and you can exercise outdoors just as well most of the year.

In the long run, buying some free-weights and perhaps a weightlifting bench is far cheaper than joining a gym. You can even use scrap lumber to make your own weightlifting bench, as I did (see here).

If you are single and you're thinking you can meet sexy people at gyms, know this: Most people eventually realize this is Quixotic wishful thinking. Even "meat market" gyms are good for little besides looking.

Instead of gyms, go exercise at

• Valley Forge park
• Ridley Creek park
• Fairmount park (Kelly Drive) near the Art Museum
Jog, walk, or ride your bike.

Once a month, Critical Mass has bike rides in the city.

Haircuts

For Men

Why waste money at a crapshoot operation of the Cuts 'R Us 4 Less variety when for $15 you can buy yourself an electric hair clipper like barbers use and cut your own hair? Or better yet have someone you know do it. You can even buy these electric clippers on sale for $10 or so.

Health care

As in most places in the USA, life is a pain for those of us who don't have health insurance. It's a problem caused by entrenched, powerful corporations that have taken over the political system through legalized bribery called campaign contributions, and through the "revolving door" in which pimps (called lobbyists) become whores (called politicians) to serve johns (called corporations) and the pimps and whores are always trading places. Increasingly the rest of the world is coming to see what a sham our democracy is. For my list of reasons why the Two-Party system is a joke, click here.

Hospitals a la Cosa Nostra

Not surprisingly in our current political system, some hospitals have begun operating like organized crime organizations, especially when dealing with uninsured patients and with the government. (I wrote this before Michael Moore's Sicko came out, which is a must-see movie. Its planned theatrical release was slashed days before it came out by 75%. Why? Here's a big hint: Just days before the release, a wealthy doctor bought a huge stake in the production company. Story at LeslieHayes blog.)
• Sources say that hospitals charge uninsured people up to 12 times what they charge insurance companies of insured patients for the same services. (PBS story)
• Some hospitals deliberately trick uninsured people into thinking they will get free coverage due to their poverty and only later send out a barrage of huge bills.
• When you enter a hospital as an uninsured person and sign on the dotted line they have got you by the balls and they exploit it. You effectively sign them a blank check because they insist they cannot estimate the cost of service beforehand and of course they will never offer to stop offering service just because the price gets too high.
• It is said that in Florida some hospitals will physically detain you until you pay them one way or another. This is probably illegal but locals there say it happens.

Health insurance companies

Insurance companies aren't much better. Doctors send them claims but it is said that some companies declare they will not pay more than an arbitrary amount. One doctor's employee told me that health insurance companies systematically throw out claims, in fact they have a quota of a certain percentage per day of claims that must be shredded.

Pharmacies

In many other countries, for instance India and, I hear, France, pharmacies are allowed to sell any drug they want to the public without a prescription. This is an important freedom since for the poor or people not covered by health insurance, doctors are not affordable whereas drugs may be. (It also contributes to the resistance of pathogens to antibiotics, unfortunately.) In the USA, the requirement of having a prescription guarantees that doctors get business and that the poor suffer. Often the poor simply don't visit doctors or buy medications. The next epidemic will be spread by the uninsured and it won't be their fault.

Collections

Meanwhile the credit and collections companies have effectively become loan sharks due to their having long ago bought the whores representing us in Congress.

Local cheap clinics

Cheap alternatives in Philadelphia County

I've heard there are a slew of free and low-cost clinics in Philly, but you have to be a resident of the county and prove it to get service.

Cheap alternatives in Delaware County

Slim pickings. There is ChesPenn in Chester 610-872-6131 which has a sliding scale ($10 to $43 per visit). You have to show two recent pay stubs or else they will demand that you pay the higher rate. They don't do X-rays.

Cheap alternatives in Chester County

• The Clinic in Phoenixville offers pay-what-you-can assistance. They don't ask for proof of income.

  Free care at hospitals

  You can sign up at some hospitals, Phoenixville Hospital being one of them (possibly also Jennersville) for free outpatient health care if your income and savings are low enough. In the case of Phoenixville Hospital, you do not need to live in Chester County, but your income needs to be less than $30k or so. Caveat: They have outsourced income verification to a private company and that company demands huge amounts of personal information before they will give you a break.

  Health food stores

  Ones that I know of:
  • Trader Joes (Valley Forge, Ardmore, Philly, Media) -- many organic items at decent prices
  • Essene Market downtown Philly -- said to be good.
  • Spring Run in Kennett Square -- small store with some good deals e.g. bulk flours, spices, sesame crunchies. Very good bulk coffee.
  • Great Pumpkin in West Chester -- expensive.
  • There's a health food store in Bryn Mawr that's very expensive. I can't recall the name.

  Health risks to avoid

  You already know the obvious risks, which have been pounded into your skull by the mass media:
  • Smoking
  • Drinking
  • Lack of exercise
  • Drugs

  Here are some that you may not know about:

  Sodium benzoate

  This preservative converts to benzene after you ingest and absorb it, which is a major carcinogen found in gasoline. Sodium benzoate is found in Dr. Pepper and numerous other foods such as soy sauce. It's easily avoided if you know to look for it. So far, shopping at Trader Joe's frequently, I have not seen it in their products but then they are known for not using preservatives.

  Trans fat

  Many people know that trans fat messes with your cholesterol levels. But many don't know that

  1. It causes the inner lining of the heart and blood vessels (the endothelium) to become inflamed, which damages it.
  2. Just because a food label labels says 0 grams trans fat, it can still have some. The regulation says less than 0.5 grams can be called zero. But even that amount is unhealthy. Always look for "partially hydrogenatized vegetable oil", which contains trans fat.

  Any of the petrochemicals in shampoo and some soaps

  They're just bad. The huge number of chemicals and their side effects makes it hard to list them all. You should buy all-natural shampoo such as Aubrey's, available at Vitamin Shop, and 100% vegetable-based soap. Trader Joe's has some reasonably safe soaps.

  Sun-tanning

  Sun-tanning outdoors or at salons damages fair skin causing it to age faster (read: a skanky appearance) and results in a specific kind of DNA damage, called "thymine dimers". That DNA damage can lead to cancer and death. Alternatives:

  1. You could avoid direct sunlight and use safe suntan lotions when outdoors (see below).
  2. If you like dark skin, you might consider breeding with someone with dark skin so that your kids will benefit from having more melanin.
  3. Or, you can wait until a certain company in Arizona eventually comes out with "the patch" that contains MSM (melanin stimulating hormone), which will cause a healthy temporary tan. Such a product is probably in the works, because they're able to make the hormone.

  About 95% of suntan lotions and sunscreens

  Research has shown that suntan lotions that use common petrochemicals do not block half of the UV light that damages the skin. These petrochemicals seem to actually accelerate skin aging. You need to use the kind of lotion that blocks sunlight with either zinc oxide or titanium oxide, which block both UV-A and UV-B.

  However your skin also needs a certain amount of UV-B light to convert cholesterol to Vitamin D. How much depends on how fair-skinned you are. So it is OK to be outside without sunscreen part of the time.

  Women's make-up

  It can be readily noticed that women who use make-up have worse skin than those who don't. This is also true of TV news anchors and actors. That's because companies put materials in make-up that simultaneously damages the skin while creating the appearance of improved skin. Substances like clay and talc.

  Thus women get caught in a viscious cycle of damaging their skin with make-up followed by covering up that damage with make-up, which then damages the skin more.

  Something that is better for the skin is raw shea butter, which contains natural antioxidants, Vitamin A and UV blocker.

  Electrical cables

  All the mass-media fuss about lead in Chinese toys hasn't uncovered a more glaring fact: Electrical cables contain lead as well. Not the metal of course, but the plastic covering. Touching cables results in lead getting into your body. Always wash your hands after touching cables.

  Nonfat milk [men only]

  Recent research suggests that nonfat milk increases the risk of prostate cancer, whereas either whole milk or green tea decreases it. Sources:
  Reuters story re nonfat milk
  Reuters story re green tea

  Home remedies

  Use the following remedies at your own risk. I have not tried doing these myself.
  • Some people say that hot sauce helps with joint pain and stomach pain, when used in small amounts.
  • Some say that red peppers cure a sore throat.
  • Some say that lemon juice is a good disinfectant for wounds.
  • Some people believe that cheap Epsom salt added to your bathwater will ease muscle pain.
  • If you don't like the pain of a bee sting, which is caused by the injection of an acid, put a base on the wound site. Technically, ammonia will work but I wouldn't use it. Maybe baking soda?
  • Tip: If you have a cold or flu, rather than buy Airborne for $6+, go to Trader Joes and get their equivalent for $4.

  Internet access

  At home

  I've been subscribed to both Comcast and Verizon.

  The much talked about low-cost wireless service for Philadelphia and surrounding neighborhood has yet to materialize as of now.

  With Comcast, you must buy cable TV in addition to Internet, and unless you take advantage of a limited-time deal like I did ($30 per month or so), you will find yourself paying $60/month. I do not watch TV except via the Web, so cable TV is a burden for me.

  With Verizon DSL, the cost is $25 per month for their lowest access speed, which is more than sufficient. I find that it's the speed of the servers that I access that determines how fast of a response I get. Verizon is more than fast enough.

  Note, Comcast does not block Skype, which is the cheapest service for making phone calls over the Internet.

  Verizon makes using Skype a pain, because every 3 minutes or so they block all network traffic for about 8 seconds.

  Piggybacking

  Many people, rather than buying into Internet service, first check if their neighbors' wireless box is within range of their laptop and if so, if it has security enabled. If it doesn't, they just piggyback onto their service, unannounced. I don't suggest you do that however, because there are programs that will snoop on data being transferred and do things like steal Yahoo passwords and reconstruct image files.

  Elsewhere

  Some cafes offer free Internet access with a wireless connection. Panera in particular does. Places that do not include Starbucks, Borders, and Barnes & Noble. Brew Ha Ha seems to offer free access.

  Many universities have free wireless access, but you have to sign up for it or learn the common password.

  Some public libraries have free Wifi access.

  Kitchen wares

  Avoid those expensive retail ripoff kitchen stores whose names shall not disgrace this webpage. I declare that they are beneath you. You are a savvy consumer. You are not easily duped. You dare to be shrewd. They, however, prefer suckers. They prefer the easy kill and become angry if the gazelle gets away.

  And witness the un-frugal soon-to-be-married types, out there at the ripoff stores setting up wedding accounts at fancy kitchen crap stores, so that their friends and kin can buy fancy crap for them as expensive gifts. They are the unwise. They are separated from the consumerist pack and are easy prey.

  Where else to go then? You can find good deals at a restaurant supply store. There you can buy decent quality durable cookware that lasts for a respectable number of years and yet is inexpensive.

  In this region I've found one store so far that sells restaurant quality cookware to the public. There must be many more.

  Restaurant Equipment Sales in West Chester, 623 East Gay St., 484-905-5195. It's right by the McDonalds.

  Rolling pin

  I decided that rather than buy a fancy rolling pin, I would go to Home Depot and by a 2 foot long piece of 1 inch dowel. Of course, I bought the virgin wood. Never use treated wood for anything -- it's skanky and may have arsenic on it.

  Wok

  Kitchen Kapers has one for $30, but Asia Supermarket in Center City at 143 N. 11th is reputed to sell many decent woks. (FYI, Mandarin for wok is chao-guo.)

  Crepe pan

  Kitchen Kapers sells a pan for making crepes for about $20. That's actually a pretty good deal, although it doesn't include the traditional, narrow wooden spatula. For that, go to Lowe's hardware and buy a 1" wide, 1/4" thick piece of wood and just sand down the sides, then cover it in a decent oil like walnut.

  My guide on how to make crepes is here.

  Tea ball

  Places like RiteAid have doodads like these for cheap.

  Copper-plated wares

  It's worth pointing out that the fancy copper-plated pans that some people pay serious coin for are not a miracle or anything. Copper plating using electrolysis is a very simple, everyday process. You just need some CuSO₄ (copper-II-sulfate) and a big battery. However you do have to have a responsible plan for dealing with the remaining waste chemicals, which precludes people from doing electroplating at home. I have only done electroplating myself in a lab environment.

  Risk from nonstick (Teflon) cookware

  To prevent future health costs, avoid anything nonstick. Using nonstick gear results in Dupont's C8 chemical getting embedded throughout your body. C8 is considered the next "ticking timebomb" chemical like DDT and Dioxin, a disaster waiting to happen. DailyNewsCentral story. WeitzLux page. Note, C8 is even used on the inside of paper coffee cups such as those used at Starbucks.

  Mattresses

  You should avoid any mattress store where items do not have a visible, fixed price. If you go into a store and the salesman wants to haggle with you and sizes you up as if you were buying a used car, just leave.

  Futons

  Pearl of The East in Philadelphia and in Berwyn on Rt. 30 seems to have good deals on futon mattresses, and will even sell you a cotton-only futon if you so desire. I got mine from the Berwyn store.

  Latex foam

  If you win the lottery sometime soon, you should definitely buy an organic latex foam mattress, which is chemical-free and comfortable. Unfortunately a little sprite has told me that you haven't won yet, and that for you even man-made latex is expensive. However I believe I have seen latex mattress pads for around $100. Those would be worth the money.

  Conventional Foam

  In general, I do not suggest that you buy raw foam. The chemicals used to manufacture it are numerous and you simply cannot be sure that they are safe unless is it pretty well aired out.

  Risks from fire retardant chemicals

  Because the whores in Congress keep selling their souls to the corporations (the "johns") it turns out that chemical companies have gotten passed new regulations that say that all mattresses must contain toxic boric acid and an antimony compound. Previously mattresses contained PBDE, which has been linked to ADD. Sources:

  Washington state page.
  People for clean beds website.

  Moisture

  You're surely seen those small packets that are included in boxes to soak up moisture. Typically they say on them "do not ingest" or the like.

  A simple cheap alternative to moisture control in a small space is to include a small amount of rice e.g. inside of some sort of non-airtight container. Rice is known for soaking up moisture.

  Movies

  From the Internet

  You can watch many TV shows and documentaries on the Internet these days. It's a wonderful resource. You can also download any film clip from within Firefox web browser if you first install RealPlayer.
  • Google Video (lets you search many movie sites at once)
  • Apple's movie trailers site
  • YouTube (personal clips, TV shows, documentaries)
  • Revver (personal clips mostly)
  • LiveLeak

  Rentals

  Libraries are the place to go for cheap movie rentals. Here is the price comparison. Notice what a ripoff the video stores are.

  Where	Cost
  Colleges	Often free for students & employees
  Free Library of Philadelphia	Free for 7 days
  Delaware County Library System	$1-2 for 3-7 days - varies by library
  Chester County Library System	$2 for 7 days
  Hollywood Video	$4.23 for new titles, ~$3.20 for old
  MovieGallery	$4.23
  Blockbusters (AKA Ballbusters)	$4.55 for 2 for 7 days

  Some libraries have frequent-renter cards so that you can get the nth video for $0.

  Movie Theaters

  I have found the Yahoo Movies listings to be fairly reliable.

  Artsy theaters

  Philadelphia has a number of eclectic movies theaters, such as
  • The Ritz theaters, which are downtown
  • The theater in Narberth.
  • The Roxy.

  Regarding the Ritz, beware downtown parking! The city and parking lots conspire to take your money any way they can. The parking meters in Center City run until 10pm. If you're able to choose between going downtown or elsewhere, choose elsewhere.

  Are there free places to park downtown? Yes. But you will walk perhaps 8 blocks to get to the theaters.

  In the suburbs, eclectic theaters are harder to find. I know of three:

  • Ambler Theater
  • Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville.
  • Bryn Mawr Film Institute

  Mainstream theaters

  I don't know of many conventional movie theaters in Philly.

  In the suburbs, AMC's rules for cheap matinee tickets recently changed ... again. Shows before noon are now $5, and shows before 4pm are $7.

  Avoid Regal Cinemas:
  The prices there are simply far too high, unless you have a rare and harm to find coupon. They pretend that $8 is a "bargain" matinee price and that $10 is an acceptable normal ticket price. Shame on them their greed and heinous exploitation of the public.

  IMAX

  IMAX theaters are expensive, but they may be worth it once a year. I know of two IMAXes:
  • United Artists King of Prussia at the theater next to Best Buy. Tickets are pricey for IMAX, maybe around $13. Theater info.
  • At the Franklin Institute, called the Tuttleman IMAX.

  Museums

  • Rodin museum, $3, which has a better selection of Rodin's works than does the Rodin museum in Paris, is near the Art Museum.
  • Philadelphia Art Museum, $0.25 on Sunday, which is "give what you can" day. On other days the entrance fee is over $10. Sunday parking is free in the big parking area just north of the museum. Or just park on Kelly drive.
  • University of Penna. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, free on Sundays from 1pm to 5pm. (I'm not sure about the parking situation.)
  • Mutter Museum. Minimum $8 to enter (students and seniors) but worth it. This museum presents a fascinating array of body parts, with terse and occassionally missing descriptions. Note, you are officially prohibited from taking photos inside the Mutter.
  • Franklin Institute: Forget saving money on this one. It's $13.75. FYI, volunteering to get free entry is not a viable option.

  Office products

  For office doodads like binders and pens, I find that Staples is the place to go because they are more likely to make the things I need their "loss leaders", i.e. items sold at cost. However, you have to go when they have sales. That is the key. It's feast or famine. An example: I bought a set of six paper notebooks for $0.70 when they were the loss leader; the next week, when parents were buying for school kids, they were on "sale" for $2.

  Caveat:
  I discovered recently that Office Depot plays bait-and-switch. They advertised an item online as 69 cents in store, but when I got to the store it was $1.70. Turns out the same item had two SKU numbers, and the saleswoman didn't honor the lower price.

  Personal hygiene

  Toothpaste

  To save some money, brush your teeth with baking soda. It's inexpensive and really does a good job. The whole point of brushing is to remove the film of bacteria (called plaque, consisting mostly of Streptococcus and Actinomyces) and baking soda is a perfect abrasive for that purpose. As for fluoride, it's a poison and it is only in toothpaste because chemical companies needed a way to get rid of an industrial waste i.e. fluoride. No, really. Watch the film Fluoride Deception for free online.

  Shampoo

  For hair care, I hate to say it but 99.9% of the inexpensive hair care products out there are nasty petrochemical crap that you shouldn't put on your body let alone on your head. Many of them have a certain chemical called methylisothiazolinone, which is a neurotoxin that crosses the blood-brain barrier and kills brain cells. (Source.)

  The only truly safe line of shampoos and conditioners that I have found is by Aubrey Organics, priced at $8 per bottle, which you can get at Vitamin Shoppe as well as Whole Foods.

  A cheaper and mostly nontoxic shampoo can be bought at Trader Joes.

  Restaurants

  I'm more the "cook at home type", but I have been to a few good restaurants, and a few bad ones.

  Good

  • Silk Cuisine: one of the best Thai places I've gone to, would go again.
  • Yokohama in Exton, PA. Very good, would go again.
  • Italian restaurant in Broomall, forget the name. Provides good restaurant-grade pizza. Employs at least one actual Italian from Italy. Restaurant feels cramped.
  • Shogun in Havertown: decent. It is possible to spend less here if you are crafty about it.

  Bad

  • P.F. Chang: It's a fake Chinese chain restaurant run by disinterested teenagers. I went to the one in Glen Mills: so-so food & shitty service.

  Ugly

  • Bertucci's: Italian-themed place run by disinterested American teenagers in Bryn Mawr: very shitty service, so-so food. They provided dirty utensils.

  Return limits

  You may have noticed that several chain stores in the area demand that in order to process a return, even with receipt, and even if the item is unopened, they now demand to get your name and address and may require that you show an ID.

  A normal consumer who has their wits about them will wonder, What the hell? It's an injustice. In America after all, the customer is king. Why would they need to get an address even if you have a receipt and the item is unused?

  It turns out this is a way for stores to limit the number of returns that you can make. They keep track of your returns and if you make too many they refuse to take the item back. I suggest boycotting stores an that engage in this outrageous behavior.

  I was told at one store that the chain has a belief that some customers are repeatedly buying and returning items. However this is basically mentally ill, because the stores that are most obnoxious with such policies are not the ones you would expect.

  I'm not talking about Best Buy, for example, where it is true that back in the day customers would buy a video camera to record a wedding for a day or two, then return it the day after.

  No, actually the perpetrators include:

  • Radio Shack
  • Sears Hardware
  • Pep Boys
  • Home Depot in Broomall
  • Also, Walmart

  At these stores, even the tinyest return results in a demand for name and address. They are as afraid about the return of a 10-cent hex nut as they are a $100 appliance. Typical brain-dead American management, one might surmise.

  But in my opinion, this is entirely about profit and about conditioning consumers through pain, fear, possible humiliation and invasion of privacy to behave in ways that corporate weasels prefer.

  You see, all these stores sell stuff that people don't really need, but buy anyway. They happen to many sell items that have to do with projects, and we all know that people often start a project and then decide not to finish it.

  Therefore I deduce that these companies have been profiting for years off of consumers' tendency to "gear up" for projects that never get completed. When the customer comes to their wits and realizes they should return the item, they're subjected to this strange punishment by customer service.

  Skin products

  If you're going to put something on your skin, you should make sure it is as health-giving and non-toxic as possible. Three items that fit that profile that I know of are:
  • Olive oil for skin protection, preferably stale since that blocks more UV.
  • Raw shea butter for skin protection and possibly repair.
  • Aloe vera for any burns, preferably directly from the leaf.

  Raw shea butter

  The benefits of raw shea seem to be:
  1. It contains anti-oxidants.
  2. It contains Vitamin A.
  3. It contains substances that block some UV.
  There is an African-paraphenalia store on South Street, whose name I forget, that sells the raw shea butter, for something like $10-$15 per pound.

  Telephones

  As for cellular companies, I've had bad experiences with cell phone service from Verizon, AT&T Wireless (now Cingular), and Sprint. Each tried to rip me off in one way or another. Verizon's customer service was particularly abusive, and I ultimately had to contact the Federal Trade Commision and FCC to complain about them, as I describe here.

  Virgin

  I have not signed up with Virgin, because I read the fine print for their prepaid calling rules. Notice that as of 2008, if you don't buy more minutes before 30 days have passed since you last bought minute, then there is no roll-over of unused minutes. Talk about harsh.

  T-Mobile

  I have not signed up with T-Mobile but I may. Their prepaid calls are expensive but any minutes you buy are good for 3 months.

  iPhone clones

  A company called CECT makes a bunch of cheap so-called iPhone clones such as the P168+ that works with T-Mobile. They are mainly being sold on Ebay for around $150. People seem to like them, but be careful to demand that you get the one that has a 1.3 megapixel camera. There is a newer version called the Sciphone that has Java and an FM tuner.

  Skype

  I currently make phone calls using Skype. It lets you make phone calls from your PC using a headset. There are two types of calls:
  1. To landline and cellphones it costs about 2 cents per minute plus something like 5 cents connection fee. If you call overseas e.g. China the connection fee is more like 10 cents.
  2. To other Skype users which costs nothing (free).
  There is no monthly fee or activation charge, but you've got to buy a headset of some type. I got one for $8.

  I originally discovered Skype while overseas and used it mostly to make free phone calls back to the USA to another Skype user. Only Skype-to-Skype calls, which are from one computer to another computer, are entirely free and provide very clear sound.

  Last year Skype was running a special where you could get unlimited free calls in the USA & Canada for $30 for the entire year. But no longer. In 2008 they are pushing Skype Pro.

  Non-Skype computer-to-computer only

  In these days of illegal spying by an oppressive American government that thinks that trampling the US Constitution is a good idea, you might want to consider using a non-corporate computer program for talking, and enabling the encryption feature. You can never be certain that a Skype computer-to-computer call isn't being recorded, but with this program you can be reasonably sure.
  • Speak-Freely

  Transportation

  Not Owning

  Renting by the hour

  Car ownership is damn expensive. If you live in the city, you might consider not owning a car at all, or using Philly CarShare for running errands. You rent their cars by the hour.

  My expenses

  Here are my car expenses at the moment, noting that my vehicle is paid off.

  Item	Cost
  Fuel	$100/month = $1200 per year
  Insurance	$530/year (Erie Insurance)
  Maintenance	Maybe $200/year average
  Total	Roughly $2000/year

  Chinatown bus

  If you need to go to New York City or Boston, consider taking a Chinatown bus. They're cheap. Their stations seem to be located on 11th St. downtown. I haven't taken it but others claim it has worked out for them. Best thing to do is to google for it, since there are several bus companies and they do have websites.

  Vehicle Maintenance

  Keeping your vehicle in good running order is important for saving money by avoiding avoidable maintenance issues.

  It is also important for achieving fuel efficiency. For instance, check your tire pressure regularly. Note:

  • Check the pressure when the tires have not been driven on for a few hours.
  • Adjust for differences in outdoor temperature from 'normal' by using the following rule of thumb: 10 degrees difference Fahrenheit means 1 psi of tire pressure.

  Vehicle accessories

  Truck bedliner

  If you own a truck, here's how you can prevent scratching: Put a piece of cloth upon the truck bed, then on top of that put a piece of veneer, i.e. very thin plywood 1/4 inch thick. Doing this costs a lot less than a molded plastic bed-liner or the spray-on plastic coating.

  Fancy stick shift knob

  If you have a stick shift, rather than buy a fancy shifter handle, go to Home Depot and buy a $5 bed post knob. Remove the bolt and drill the hole and put it on the stick shift shaft. If I recall, the drill bit size required is something like 7/16".

  Driving Techniques

  My truck is rated to get 25 mpg. By being careful however I have achieved as high as 32 mpg.

  Speed

  The first rule to getting good fuel efficiency is to drive at 55 mph. Yeah, it seems boring at first, but remember the rule that the wind resistance against your car is 40% greater at 65 mph than it is at 55 mph, yet your engine is most efficient at 55. And your engine at 70 mph is pushing against 62% more wind resistance than at 55.

  Hills

  The hilliness of this region means you can use up a lot of gasoline by just going a few miles. This is less of a problem in the city of Philadelphia, which is fairly flat, but in the suburbs it can be quite hilly. The only way to avoid the inefficiency of the hills is to get going fast on major roads such as the I-95 or I-76 to build up some momentum.

  Rush Hour

  It's best to avoid rush hour entirely if possible. Major arteries such the I-76 become blocked at these times. You will end up using a lot of gasoline just waiting.

  The trick to driving during rush hour is: learn the back roads. You may be surprised that some are virtual straight shots and yet are barely used during rush hour. Most people perhaps assume back roads take longer, or perhaps are too lazy or too tired to learn the back roads. Regardless, what they don't know is to your advantage. But obviously on snowy days you should avoid back roads.

  Public transportation

  One solution to the problems of driving is to use public transportation, which here is called Septa -- the name sounds like septicemia.

  It happens that the Septa bus system has buses that go pretty far, e.g. from downtown all the way out to King of Prussia mall or to West Chester. If you use the buses, buy the tokens since they're cheaper. Septa buses have not been a problem for me, but I don't use them very much, either.

  Many of Septa's commuter trains seem to suck. The R5 and R6 are very much complained about. Why? Some possibilities:

  • I have myself seen 40-minute rides turn into 2 or 3 hour nightmares because trains break down, or the power lines fail, or various control systems malfunction.
  • Septa is often very slow to fix problems when they occur. If you get stuck on the tracks, you will usually wait a long time to get going again.
  • There are no bathrooms on Septa trains, so if you get stuck on a train and need to use the toilet, too bad.
  • Septa avoids taking responsibility for anything. No matter how tragically late they made you, there's no redress. Maybe if you beg they will give you a voucher. But I've heard they even reject their own vouchers.
  • Septa trains often sway violently left and right. This makes reading on the train a pain, and makes computer work nearly impossible.
  • When Septa trains break down, and they will, it will be at some random point on the track and may necessitate waiting for a replacement train to come so that you can change trains.

  People unfamiliar with public transportation may not know that in other cities, both in the US and internationally, most trolleys and trains are nowhere near as bad as Septa's. Take San Francisco, where people laud the BART system as a proof of the Bay Area's higher civilization. Almost all cities' trolleys and trains are better than Septa. The exception, I have heard, is New York which is supposedly worse. Still, Septa's perpetual incompetence is outrageous and unacceptable.

  Trivia:
  The company that makes the trains is called Bombadier. They're based in Quebec. They also make trolleys for several European cities and I have ridden on a couple of them. Those trolleys, for instance the system in Strasbourg, France, are really quite good. Despite all that, Septa's trains suck.

  Trivia

  Malls

  • Some time ago there was a suicide in King of Prussia mall. A distraught woman jumped from above the food court and fell to the foot near eaters.
  • Springfield Mall was the site of a shooting spree by a crazy woman named Silvia Seegrist in the 1980's. CrimeLibrary story.
  • Mall rents locally are said to be insanely high. Mall owners can be very fickle about rents, raising or lowering them on a whim or to make way for a cousin's new shop. Rents even at decrepit malls are said to be $6000 to $9000 per month.

  Contact

  plutarch aaat comcast dottt net
  

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