matthew's blog

As the time has shifted away from Daylight Savings Time, and we've lost an hour of daylight, San Francisco bicycle commuters are increasingly riding home in the dark!. To alleviate the problems that this can cause (i.e. getting in an accident with a car, pedestrian, or another bike), the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition are giving away 2000 free bike lights.
You can pick up your free bike light from November 14 to December 15, 2011 at any one of the may Light Up the Night stations that the two groups are hosting at various bike-trafficked locations throughout the city.
Now if only someone could get helmets on the rest of the cyclists who insist on going bare-domed!

Looking back, the Cheap Bastard has come to realize that this humble old site, cheapbastardsf.com, has been around a while now! In fact, we've been around long enough that the landscape of cheap is shifting right out from under our feet.

First and foremost, if you haven't noticed already, there's been a huge financial catastrophe which is continuing to unfold before our eyes. The upshot is that a lot more folks are in need of saving money 'case they don't have the money that the once did. On top of that, there's been some inflation too. Not out of control inflation, the actual rate is quite low, but some factors, such as the requirement that businesses such as restaurants provide health care coverage to their workers has caused lunch prices to go up.

If you're familiar with cheap food in San Franciscoo, and we hope you are!, then the burrito probably comes to mind as the iconic food. It's cheap, quick, delicious, and filling! If you're more prone to think of burritos as the dung bags you find frozen next to the microwave in a gas station convenience store, let us change your perprective - a proper burrito is a beautiful thing, food for the masses, the people's meal!

By now, regular readers of the Cheap Bastard's Guide to San Francisco Blog will know that our resident Cheap Bastard, Karen Solomon, is also an accomplished cookbook author (cookbooks, of course, are crucial to the Cheap Foodie Bastard's lifestyle - they offer a way to make delicious food without going to an expensive resaturant). But did you know she also hosts a quarterly food swapping event at local food community resource 18 Reasons?

The ever-popular Sunday Streets is back for 2011.  What is Sunday Streets? It's basically a San Francisco city-sponsored event where certain walking/biking routes are blocked off to moto vehicle traffic. Hordes of people come out to these events and they turn into a mobile ped-powered street party!

We're definitely going to go to as many as we can since, naturally, they're free!

Here the schedule for the upcoming Sunday Streets

Did we ever tell you that the San Francisco Cheap Bastard herself, Karen Solomon, is also a popular cookbook writer?  Yes, it's true, and those of you who bought a copy of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects can attest to her brilliance!

At the very least, we're sure you'd agree that DIY food projects are a great way to save money (and become popular with your pickle-loving friends!) while having fun making delicous food.

If you're visiting a place away from, a place such as our gorgeous City of San Francisco, one of the most difficult challenges you'll face is finding a place to stay.
 
That is, it's challenging if you're trying not to go broke while you're doing it! Sure, you could just cozy up in a nice room at the W Hotel (in fact, we encourage it! But you must pay the cost to stay with the boss) or just give a call to the Holiday Inn and be done with it, but there must be some cheaper ways.
 

Yesterday, my son's nanny told me he was exchausted from navigating the "vortex of douchebags" at Tartine Bakery -- harsh words from someone watching your infant son!  I know what he means (yes, he's a "manny"), but still, Tartine is one of the best bakeries in the U.S., and, as an infrequent customer, does that mean that I'm included in that vortex?

All sobering thoughts (but I keep going back for those awesome morning buns!).

Unfortunately, I really can't vouch for their burgers -- they might be awesome for all I know!

The rain is torrential, positively Biblical (at least by San Francisco standards), what do you do?  Play in the flash flood that formed outside your house?  Slide down the muddy hills in Dolores