Fun Things to do for Free.

Even NY has free stuff (Photo: nycdailydeals.com)

You can still have fun and not go broke.  I promise.  Here's some ideas of fun things you can do for free.  We all like free.

1.  Go to Free Concerts.  There are plenty of parks and even venues that have free concerts.  In Chicago, Millennium Park and Grant Park have plenty of free fests and concerts going, you can get the lineups online.  Many suburbs and other cities have concerts once a week during the summer.  My friends and I just got free tickets to see Bush and Chevelle at the Congress Theater.  Like I've said before, create an email account for "junk" and sign up for all the sites that send notifications out about deals in your area.  The FreeThingstoDoinChicago facebook page is great for getting updates on Chicago deals. 

2. Use the Library for Movies, Books and Magazines.  How often do you read a book, magazine or watch a movie more than once?  Ok, maybe we watch movies multiple times, but even so, most movies end up on t.v. at some point anyway.  There is no need to pay for all of these things when you can either rent them from the library or read them at the library for free. 

3.  Go to the Park, Beach or Zoo.  Essentially all parks and beaches are free to go to.  The Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago is free or you can get memberships and have a few visits you will be going there for free.  Don't forget to bring drinks or snacks from home so you won't be tempted to spend any money while you're there.

4.   Go to the Mall...Without your Wallet.  When it's cold out and the beach and zoo aren't really possible, I go "shopping."  First of all, there is amazing people watching to do at a mall.  Secondly, when I go to a store and look around without spending any money, I still get that shopping therapy that us ladies need.  I go into stores all the time and look without buying and it keeps me from feeling broke and like a loser, whether I am or not.  Try it.  Just don't bring your wallet or you'll be tempted to spend.

5.  Get a Sugar Daddy or Sugar Mama.  Need I say more?  Didn't think so.  :)

Weekly Bet Ya Didn't Know: Smoking Actually Makes a Hangover Worse?

(Photo: poolxpertsusa.com)

Yay!  Another reason to stop smoking!  Totally not biased...I, uh, swear.  Anyway, we all know that smoking is terrible for you and that it's a stimulant, so it doesn't actually relax you, that's all in your head.  But now, there's even another reason why smoking is bad.  Smoking cigarettes while drinking actually makes your hangover worse.  This whole issue came up over the weekend when the b/f and I were out with two friends that had recently stopped smoking.  They said that they noticed that they don't really get hangovers now that they stopped smoking cigarettes.  I had to get to the bottom of this and see if they were just delusional!  Well, it looks like they are right.  Here's the deal.

Smoking increases the toxic effect of alcohol.  While it makes sense that this would happen, I never really thought of it this way.  Smoking deprives the blood stream and brain of oxygen, by constricting the lungs, so that intensifies the toxic effect that alcohol has.  Therefore, it is going to make the next morning a little more painful.  This explains why nonsmokers are fineby 9am the next day smokers feel like crap all day long.  Who knew?!   



Sources: http://www.hackwriters.com/quitnow.htm,http://www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire/student_life/hangover_cures.shtml, http://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-a-Hangover