cheap

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?

Greetings, Dollar Hounds!  Just wanted to let you know the publishers of CBGSF has finally woken up and smelled the recession.  An all-new, totally revised Cheap Bastard's Guide to San Francisco for 2011 is in the works, and it will be available this fall.
Keeping it real (and cheap),
Your Beloved Bastard,
Karen Solomon

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

Sports Basement on Bryant street will soon be offering free CPR certification in Spanish (it is already offered in English).

We've said it before, but we'll say it again:  Free beats Cheap anytime!  It goes without saying, really, but it bears repeating.  And what's a better way to get something for free than by just giving it up?  We're referring, of course, to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Gas-Free Fridays.  It's not that you need a special excuse to leave the car behind when you're commuting, or otherwise travelling around the Bay, but SFBC's Gas-Free Fridays campai