Cheap thrills

GREASE IS THE WORD!Eat hot chips on the beach at Dee why Charcoal Chicken shop $2

REPAST EASY Buy a pastizzi at the Maltese Café. $1.50 Time Out’s pick: pea. (yum), 310 Crown St, Darlinghurst 2010. (02 9361 6942). You can also get them at the Pastizzi Café, 532 King St, Newtown NSW 2042. (02 9519 1063)

LUCKY DIP!A swim and a squash at the Icebergs. Soak in the celebrity sweat at the Bondi Icebergs where a swim/sauna is only $3.00. Enjoy the toe-curling briney blue followed by a dry sauna overlooking the waves, with the best view in the world – one Orlando Bloom and Kate Hudson warm to whenever in town. Bondi Icebergs, 1 Notts Avenue, Bondi Beach 2026. $3.00

INDIAN GIVER Dine on incredible Indian cuisine with a interesting mix of local folk in front of the Newtown Neighbourhood Center.Coin Donation

MAKING SCENTS A brisk walk through DJs or Myers can see you sporting a different top dollar fragrance every week for nix. Free!

ART FAIR PRI¢Ed Do the Surry Hills gallery circuit on a Thursday night: free drinks at most galleries. GOLD Coin Donation

MAMAK MEAL! Roti canai with curry sauce at Mamak. It comes on what looks like a military issue metal plate with separate sections for the curry and the moreish flat bread. 15 Goulburn St,
Haymarket 2000. (02 9211 1668) $5.00

FREE LOVE Touch is the first sense we develop and the last we lose. To start a tactile tour of Sydney kick things off in Pitt Street Mall with a free hug from the world-famous Juan Mann (‘one man’). Then bunker in at the beach where our most natural physical embrace with the natural world can consummate itself. Free

JUNK FOOD Enjoy awesomely greasy chinese from the Bondi Junction train station food court while enjoying a spectacular and unusual view of Sydney Harbour. Bondi Junction Station, Bronte Rd, Bondi 2026 $4.95

GOING FOR A SONG Acoustica by the Lake 9 March 2008. 11am–7pm. Bicentennial Park. For an unforgettable afternoon of soulful vocals and chilled-out guitars, relax under the autumn sun (maybe) at Acoustica by the Lake: an outdoor singer/songwriter festival, set among the fig trees of Bicentennial Park overlooking Lake Belvedere. Free

GET SNAP HAPPY Send a City Snap to the Bridge and get a free subscription to Time Out. citysnaps@timeoutsydney.com.au

FREE WHEELIN’ It’s not the Orient Express but there’s a ripper rail route on the Metro from Central to Lilyfield. It goes through Chinatown and Darling Harbour, towards the fish markets (jump off on the way back to pick up dinner), Wentworth Park’s greyhound racecourse, and all the bohemian glories of Glebe en route. $5.00

NET GAIN For a site that lets you browse websites that demand subscription fees to view them, hit www.bugmenot.com. You can find login details to get you past the front door and into the meat of the site. Another cost saver! Free

POOL RESOURCES Spend the afternoon lounging on the deck of Andrew ‘Boy’ Charlton Pool the historic wetland from which Olympic champions (and their splash-happy pals) spring! $5.50 Mrs Macquarie’s Rd 2000 (02 8354 1044)

BANK ROLL Pork and fennel sausage roll at Bourke St Bakery. The pastry sticks to your thumbs, the fennel pops on your tongue and the pork sausage is sweet, rich and melt-in-the-mouth. 478 Bourke St, Surry Hills 2010. (02 9380 7333)$5.00

SAGO MORE Sago pudding from Temasek. How do you start a pudding race? Sago (geddit?) Bad jokes aside, the pudding here is not only sweet and filling, it’s cheap as chips! 71 George St Parramatta, 2150. (02 9633 9926)$3.50

CARN THE JETS!A hot dog at Henson park watching the Newtown Jets run around. $3.00

SYLVANIA ON SILVER Sit under Tom Uglies bridge, watch the sun set over the Georges River while enjoying the chips or a burger in Sydney from Paul’s Famous Hamburgers of Sylvania. $4.50
12 Princes Hwy, Sylvania (02 9522 5632)
 
ALE ON SALE! $4.80 A Coopers at the Palisade HOTEL in the Rocks and a walk through the old streets and wharves. 35 Bettington St, Millers Point (02 9251 7225)

RED DUSK! $5.00bag of cherries watch the sun set in the Botanic Gardens.

SHORT PRICE, LONG NECK Grab a long-neck from the Botany View Hotel, cross the highway to Sydney Park and watch the Newtown Angels play the native game. Free for the footy. The most la-de-da longneck $4.80

MOVIE MADNESS Rent dvds online for less than $3.00 a week from the benevolent celluloid purveyors at Quickflix, and the first fortnight is free. www.quickflix.com.au

RELEASE THE BATS
Take a blanket down to Centennial park and look to the stars whilst watching the spectacular migration of the bats at dusk. Free

THANKS FOR THE TIP Visit Tempe Tip and pick up a retro bargain

FISH FEED
Scoff 6 prawns at the Sydney fish markets. $4.80 Bank St, Pyrmont 2009. (02 9004 1100)

CHEAP AS CHIPS!
$3.50Soba chips at Jugemu and Shimbashi. Crisp and crunchy, these little deep fried soba noodles are a great bar snack – just like French fries only wheatier. Sobalicious. 246 Military Rd 
Neutral Bay 2089. (02 9904 3011)

FREE PARTY !Elefant Traks Free Fridays. Sydney’s favourite independent hip hop record label throw a free party every Friday night, bringing some of the local scene’s most promising and cutting edge acts. Catch people like Blue Mountain’s Hermitude and The Tongue, one of hip hop’s future stars. Beach Road Hotel, 71 Beach Rd, Bondi Beach, 2026 (02 9130 7247 www.elefanttraks.com) Doors 8pm. Free

DO A KITE RUNNER
$2.00 Fly a kite at Sydney park Get down among the dog owners and joggers and fly yer kite proudly..
Sydney Park, cnr of Princes Highway and Sydney Park Rd, St Peters 2042.

AUCTION IN ACTIONEbay Stores – why pay the shop price? Local Sydney-based ebay stores beat store prices and deliver. www.ebay.com.au
 
SCHNITZ HITS steak at Five Os. Coogee’s most popular spot for a cheap feed. Early 90s music thumps through the restaurant and  thuds onto the street while inside are steaks and schnitzel par thrifty excellence. I’ll buy that for a fiver!Level 1, 186 Arden St,
Coogee 2034. (02 9665 3663) $5.00

A LITTLE MEXICAN $3.50Taco Tuesday at Flying Fajita Sistas. You’ll get your choice of beef, pork or chicken all on a soft tortilla for a fraction of the normal price. Feeling frisky? There are $3shots of tequila, too. 65 Glebe Pt Rd 
Glebe 2037. (02 9552 6522)
 
KUNG FU HUSTLE Spend the afternoon wandering through China Town, go to the Chinese bakery and get an egg custard tart or some $5.00  Kung fu slippers Sussex & Dixon Sts, City 2000.

GET PIE EYED ! A pie at Harry’s and a stroll around the Art Gallery of NSW is Sydney utopia, for as low as $3.50Cowper Wharf Rd, Woolloomooloo 2011. (02 9357 3074)

BOOK WORM HAVEN Spend a day amid the nation’s largest book collection, the Mitchell Library (Australiana collection) FreeMacquarie St, Sydney 2000. (02 9273 1414)

FERRY CHEAP Take the Ferry to Manly on a windy day – ride the swell across the Heads just as Bennelong and the first Fleeters would have once in their much smaller canoes. Old salt sensations for $5.20...

FLICKS FOR NIX! (well, nearly) movie session. Sip cheap beer ($2.50/schooner) while watching rare 16mm prints from the National Film and Sound Archive at the Petersham Bowling Club. Last Tuesday of the Month. $3.70 for beer and a movie!77 Brighton St, Petersham.  (02 9569 4639)

FREE READ! Hot Chocolate and a pulp fiction paperback at Gertrude & Alice bookshop in Bondi. $3.5040 Hall St, Bondi 2026. (02 9130 5155)

PURSE STRING BLING Buy some beads and make your own jewellery. $5.00Photios Bros, 66 Druitt St, City 2000.

GRAB CRAB Deep fried crab claw at My Canh. You only get one apiece, but it’s the cheapest crab around right in the heartland of excellent Vietnamese fare. 29-31 Greenfield Pde, Bankstown 2200. (02 9796 7586) $3.50

BARGAIN BINS Go and find a bargain at Glebe Markets, hit the Saturday garage sales or council collection night in the Eastern suburbs.

WALK ‘N’ TALK ‘N’ SIP!Walk from Bondi to Watson’s Bay along the coast path (unlike the Bondi–Bronte this one is usually deserted bar the occasional rock fisherman) past the white Lighthouse, ending up at the Watson’s Bay Hotel, where you reward yourself with a beer. $3.00

NO CREPE Shallot pancake at Chinese dumpling and noodle house You can get these just about anywhere but these guys do a particularly good splendid version as cheap as it is yummy. Thin slices of green onion and thick batter arrives fried, salty and quartered. 396 Anzac Pde,
Kingsford 2032. (0433 171 907) $3.00

CULTURE VULTURESFreefilms by the indigenous visual artist whose videos, digital art and films are still cutting the edges of mainstream white Australia at the AGNSW Art Gallery Rd, The Domain (02 9225 1700)

CUT- PRICE CLIP Get a stylish yet inexpensive haircut at one of Sydney’s many hairdressing colleges. $5.00Moorebank TAFE, See St (02 9942 3580)

FLOWER POWER!Visit the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden at Mona ValeFreeKu-ring-gai National Park (02 9472 8949)

SING SONG SOLD!Free Download of a song. Sure you can illegally download music and not pay a cent, but if you want to make sure your favourite band can a) afford to eat, and b) take advantage of iTunes’ single of the week. It’s also a great way of expanding your music tastes.
 
CAB PAL POOL Cheap Cab Pooling– The European concept of cab sharing is done on the route, however more people are giving shout outs at the pub to see who can cab pool with them. Anywhere, anytime, anyone.

HOT! I SCREAM $2.00 Have a hot fudge McDonalds ice cream sundae sitting in Palm Grove. Darling Harbour, Cockle Bay

HOME CINEMA Pop the telly on the balcony and have a movie marathon with Blockbusters’ five flicks for $10 deal. BYO choc tops. Your place (or a pal’s) $10.00

GRUB YOU RUB $5.00Pan con tomate at Catalonia. A traditional tapas dish which consists of a piece of bread rubbed with fresh, raw tomato and a little olive oil. Shop 2, 31A Fitzroy Street, Kirribilli 2061. (02 9922 4215)

TOP SHOT! Kids can watch the Speedblitz Blues battle South Australia’s West End Redbacks at the SCG for just $1. Fri 7 March. Sydney Cricket Ground, Moore Park Rd, Paddington 2016. 11am. Adult $7.

DREAMTIME ARTFree Get in touch with our nation’s original artists and do a little dreaming of your own at the amazing Indigenous art collection rooms at AGNSW., Art Gallery Rd, The Domain (02 9225 1700)

WORM OUT!Free Take a Worm Farming workshop so you can convert your kitchen scraps to garden gold. Learn all you need to know to start and maintain your own worm farm at home. The workshop is free. The Watershed on 9519 6366. The Watershed Sustainability Resource Centre, 218 King St, Newtown 2042. Sat 1 March. 10am–12pm. Newtown Library, 8–10 Brown Street, Newtown Tue 5 March. 6.30pm–8.30pm.

PRAWN STARS$5.00Steamed chicken and prawn dumplings at Chat Thai Plump little dumplings hit the spot in the cool, dark space that is Chat Thai. Haymarket
20 Campbell Street 2000. (02 9211 1808)

HUSTLE BUS $4.50A MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR through Balmain backstreets to Coogee beach. Just catch the 370 bus.

PHREE PHONE Skype – Cheap phone calls international online. Free Skype to Skype users. www.skype.com

MEAT MARKET! Coles late on a Sunday is where you’ll find cut-price cow, pig, chook and ‘roo. Buy a few days before the use-by date, then freeze it and ride the gastronomic gauntlet!

SALES DOMAIN free! Search a domain name you’re about to buy an item from, and there’s a good chance this site will have coupon codes offering FREEBIES for new users or lots of percentage discounts.

POPPING RITZ $7-$10 the cheapest tickets in town thanks to mad max himself Mel Gibson pitched in his own money to keep this the thrifitiest cinema in Sydney – a Braveheart and a kind one. Randwick Ritz, 39–47 St Pauls St, Randwick (02 9399 5722)

DIP IN GOLD Swim a few laps at North Sydney Pool. $5.50 On this historic site under the span of The Coathanger itself, no less than 86 world records have been set (none of them pricey but all worth their weight in gold). You could be next. 20 Alfred St, Milsons Point (02 9936 8368)

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