Where Are the Cheap Nights?

Let's face it, you may be like me, broke on a Saturday night.  You're a few months out of graduation; rent is due, student loans need to be paid on Tuesday, and your bank account is looking more similar to a start-up tech firm's IPO than you would like.  Such is the lifestyle of being Postgrad in Suburbia.

The real question, what can you do?  It's still a bit too cold for a bonfire, and doing something like that definitely takes you back to your awkward high school days, without the entire sneaking alcohol in backpacks.  Plus, your apartment complex (or parents if you are in the unfortunate situation that many of us live) frowns upon or flat out bans fires, no matter how controlled.

You could go to a bar, and enjoy the dearth of specials, winding up dropping a few dollars more than you would like for a bottle of beer that you need to wait 10 minutes to acquire.  Don't get me wrong, I love the bar scene.  I just cant afford to go out with my unemployed/underemployed friends, because their tabs somehow find their way onto my credit card.

You could follow my advice and go to Pride of the Fox Riverfest.  It's mostly free, it's this weekend, and you at least can get a good start to your night.  That will at least get you out of your house until 10 pm.

So now what? Do you hit up your local Steak and Shake, feel far too old when you see class of '13 shirts, and slowly delve into your plate of fries thinking about how easy kids have it these days? Well, if that's the case, I can meet you on Monday at a cash-only bar at 5:30 pm for a glass of whiskey on the rocks.  We can shake our canes at the skater kids in unison.

Okay, enough complaining.  This is a little bit of saying what you could do this weekend for cheap, and asking any of my readers: What do you do in Suburban Chicago if you don't want to spend a lot of money?

A few of the upcoming posts will hopefully touch base on some decent alternatives to dropping a $50 spot at a bar.  I look to be visiting Sky High Sports in Naperville, a trampoline site with dodgeball available by the hour; a few local hookah bars (North Aurora Hookah Lounge, Exhale Hookah Lounge, Oasis Cafe, and Mr. Shesha); and maybe I'll even check out the Cascade Drive-In over in West Chicago, hopefully with a date.