Being Citybroke is about perspective. It’s about seeing glitter in the gutter and a sense of humor when life is giving you everything you don’t exactly want and you’re hanging on for a dream that you sometimes can’t remember.
It’s not sales or survival - it’s an electronic letter from the trenches. It’s what suits who make $60K in at age 24 can’t even imagine. It’s Freedom. It’s Poverty. It’s Broken. It’s Beautiful.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Getting My Act Together for Retirement

I finally got around to opening the Roth IRA I have been thinking about for over three months. I first dropped my 401(k) contribution to 3% (from 6%) - which is the amount my company matches. The extra cash I'm now earning will go straight into the Roth. I opened my account through Fidelity because there is no fee to invest and no minimum balance (unless you want to put your money into funds, in which case there is a minimum balance of $2500). Also, I have gotten on the phone with reps over there about 20 times and they are really helpful. You can do the entire thing online, but the most confusing part was finding the form to give your employer for a direct deposit. That can be found here under "use this form". Let the retirement savings begin!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

McDonald's Knows We Heart Free Food

I'm not sure how many of you remember a few months back when Taco Bell was giving away free tacos - but I sure do and it was as delicious as ever! Well now McDonald's has realized just how much everyone loves free food and is offering their new McSkillet Burrito FREE with any purchase of a drink tomorrow and Friday (Feb. 28 and 29). What's in the McSkillet you ask? Well go here and you can see all the goodies inside, including melted cheese, yum! Make sure you go during breakfast hours, and the drink you buy has to be a medium or a large. If you figure out the cheapest drink you can buy and still get a free burrito, please post below.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Best Mexican in Brooklyn, So Cross that Bridge!

Monday night I recovered from a long weekend of drinking at a fabulous restaurant named Chavella's in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. The restaurant is very tiny - it seats only about 20 people - but everything is freshly prepared and the prices are insanely cheap (I actually felt guilty for at least 10 seconds). Because of the small size you are served promptly AND it's BYOB. What's better?! But if you're not in the drinkin' mood they also have Jarritos, which we all know are delicious. If you don't already live around here, I bet you'll never go, but then you're an idiot. The tamales are great, the tortilla soup is awesomely spicy, and basically everything else I haven't tasted is probably delicious (menu). For five of us to eat (a lot) the bill was $50. (Rumors are the brunch is killer. They deliver.)
I got this image off the blog Brooklyn Skeptic - they also reviewed, and loved, Chavella's

Chavella's
732 Classon Ave (b. Prospect Place and Park Place)
2, 3 to Eastern Pkwy or 4, 5 to Franklin
MAP


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Fresh Directly get'n fresh with Singles


I love Fresh Direct. It's competitively priced yuppy shopping at its best. And when you live on the 4th floor, the delivery service is clutch.

I'm scoping out winter produce when I see they are having a V-Day promotion for the poor saps with no lovebug. I have yet to check out the menu but I'm expecting hi-fat content and generous serving size. If you can rally a few roommates, definitely get your waters/alcohol/TP/milk/canned food delivered. check it out!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Not Living "City Broke"

Well, as our *many* readers may have noticed we haven't been posting much this week. This is for two reasons: iSpend has a new job earning her at least a few hundred dollars more. iSave, frankly, has been a consumer whore, is not being frivolous with her spending and thus has nothing to blog about except how to spend way to much on clothes, the bar, eating out, albums, concerts, groceries, a plane and train ticket, and unnecessary pet stuff like a cat hat (which the cat hates). This all may be due to the fact she drank heavily at least 5 nights last week.

But don't worry! We'll be back on our feet and cheap as hell soon enough. iSpend is staying in tonight to save some cash - always a good move.

Monday, February 4, 2008

The Staten Island Ferry: New York's Best Bar

If you're looking for a cheap beer and great views, go no farther north than Water Street. The Staten Island Ferry not only provides a great view of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, they also offer (if I remember correctly after pounding about 5 of them) Coors tall boys for $3, and Corona bottles for about $4. Beat that LES! Not to mention that the ride itself is free and about a half hour each way - the perfect amount of time to blur your vision enough to make Staten Island seem inviting. Hint: take all tourists here! They will love it.

Take the R, W to Whitehall Street, 1,9 to South Ferry, 4,5 to Bowling Green, or J,M,Z to Broad Street.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Hey Hil, Love the 'Brows

"A little-known fact about Hillary Clinton: She had great eyebrows in high school," writes Marisa Rindone in a Forbes.com book review of the latest book butting into other people's business, Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary: Reflections by Women Writers. This book is full of different women's memories and observations of Sen. Clinton. Rindone highlights "Marie Brenner's memory of seeing Hillary Clinton standing alone on the beach at Hilton Head only days before Monica Lewinsky became a household name...". So does this mean Hillary is not a robot? Let's pick up a copy and find out.

For the full review go here