Cefitfou Hey, cheapskate, there are a ton of ways to save your moolah By Natalie Nathanson ike money? I know I do. During this time of economic slowdown, everyone’s feeling the pinch on their wallets, including students. But a few simple changes to your lifestyle can help you save some money, as well have give you some new things to try! Clothing Rather than going out and buying a new shirt or pair of pants every time you get bored of them, why not try altering them and making something new out of them? Adding metal studs, iron-on patches or appliqués are inexpensive ways to change the attitude and look of your clothing. Ripped your fave jeans and not quite ready to toss them? Not everyone is a fantastic seamstress, but hand- sewing is a simple skill and can easily repair a rip or tear, and might even give it a new look! If you just have to have something new for your wardrobe, why not hit up some second-hand stores? You’re bound to find something that tickles your fancy, and you’ll chuckle at all the large sweaters with giant kittens on them along the way. Not only would you be saving money, but you’ll be aiding the environment by buying recycled clothing. Food Local streets markets provide the best place for fresh and incredibly inexpensive produce. For example, red bell peppers at Safeway could cost upwards of $1.99 per pound whereas at a street market you could find them for as little as $0.78 per pound. Haircuts Haircuts for guys needn’t cost $14. If you’ re indifferent as to how your hair has to look, haircuts are really easy to do at home. A home haircutting kit is fairly inexpensive, and you can get a friend to do it for you. You can take turns, much to worry about seeing as a guy’s hair grows back tremendously fast and within three days mistakes won’t be noticeable. Because of this, it’s really not recommended for girls—well, maybe the brave ones ... Entertainment Rather than meeting up at the bar or club with your friends, why not suggest more house parties instead? The drinks are cheaper and the setting is far more intimate, and best of all you control the music. It sounds cheesy, but having a video or board game night at someone’s house is a great way to have fun. Whipping out the ol’ Nintendo Entertainment System is sure to bring back memories. Girlfriends Along with all the nagging, they can be expensive, but there are plenty of ways to have fun without your wallet getting Going to the movies getting expensive? Renting a movie and having a night in is just as romantic, if not more so because you can snuggle better on the couch. You can make yourself some microwave popcorn and save yourself ten bucks by not buying from the concession stand. Rather than taking your gal out to a restaurant for eats, why not make her a nice dinner yourself? Buy a bottle of wine (she needn’t know the price) and have her over while you cook her a nice meal. The gesture is more genuine and you get the tip! Instead of gifts like necklaces and flowers, write her a love letter (I can hear you guys smacking your foreheads — “Gadzooks! What an idea!”’). She’Il swoon and you’ll look like a knight in shining armour. There are tons of activities to do in Vancouver that are free or inexpensive. Have you ever fed ducks at a pond? It sounds a bit cheesy but it seriously is a fun experience that money just can’t buy. Save up those bread loaf ends and it'll be fun. If you do a somewhat crappy job, there isn’t capt take a trip down to the nearest pond and give it a try! college pro aes SUMMER PAINTERS JOBS COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS is presently looking for responsible / hard- working University or College students for: Full-Time Painting Positions May - August No experience required, we will train you to paint. Positions available in your area. If interested call 1-888-277-9787 or apply online at www.collegepro.com An open letter to spray painters By Nikalas Kryzanowski, Opinions Editor he powerless are always trying to find | ways to emulate power, whether it be dressing tough or through intimidating activities like getting into fights or stealing or spitting. Let them; if they aren’t hurting anyone but themselves then who cares, right? Just like the gang members shooting each other. But the graffiti, oh the graffiti. On every spare wall, the weakling, who has neither the forum, the stature nor reputation to actually make a difference in the world chooses to make their mark. They never say anything of value mind you, just some personal tag that means nothing to anybody. There was a traffic calmer erected in my old neighbourhood. Within days, an “artist” decided to make his mark with some inane scribbling. Oddly though, I guess the city workers weren’t finished as a few days later they painted over whatever he was trying to say. That wasn’t the end of it. The “social activist” had a come back. His crowning contribution to public discourse: “Democracy?” He had decorated this as a counter to the painting over of his meaningless squiggles. Traffic calmers are not your personal etch-a-sketch. If you’ve got something to say then write a letter, talk to your MP or set an example. If you believe in democracy then you’re obviously not the anarchist you probably want to appear as. But if you do claim to be one I suggest that you not call the police when some crack-riddled junkie decides to steal the Mac Book off of the back of your Vespa. If you want to paint, go to Opus and get a fucking canvas! We’ ll even compromise—leave your painted canvas on the side of the road. I’m surprised though at graffiti vandals in general. They tend to respect private property. Are graffiti guys closet capitalists who harbour a deep resentment toward public works? What have they against the commons? Some graffiti is beautiful of course. Commissioned murals on the side of drab grey buildings — Vancouver has plenty of dreary communist-looking, Arthur Erickson-designed, bunker-style buildings that could use a touch of flavour. Maybe Democracy Boy could channel his “creative” energy into working on those? Other beautiful graffiti could include quotes. Anonymous quotes like: “T believe in the sun, even when it is not shining. I believe in love, even when I do not feel it. I believe in God, even when He is silent,” which was found scrawled on a cellar wall in Cologne, Germany during WWII. Or how about “Kilroy was here’’? Seriously though, the kind of graffiti that makes you look like a five year old who’s found a pack of crayons while your mom was on the phone, makes a mockery of the counter-culture you’ re trying to establish, it makes a mockery of any values you hold. Respectable civil disobedience requires an alternate set of values, one that is inherently nobler than the dominant set. Desecration doesn’t count.