Digital Arts Service Corps - living cheaply

Brainstormed living on the stipend resources

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:36:25 +0000

This list was brainstormed by DASCorps members during the 2010 PSO.

Health and Wellness

Get a bike
- Bikes not Bombs: http://bikesnotbombs.org/
- Boulder, CO has a community bicycle webpage with a comprehensive list of local bike shops
walk to work
ask about reduced rates at local YMCA
Peoples’ acupuncture
Aesthetician/Beauty school students offer reduced rates for massages, haircuts, facials, etc.
Dental schools students similarly offer reduced rates for services (sign up early)
Health food stores have on-site doctors who do consultations
P90X workout plan (share workout)
cheap prescription eyewear: http://www.zennioptical.com/home.php
Planned Parenthood

Living Space

Share internet
Wireless extender (pigtail)
Free and cheap stuff
- http://www.freecycle.org/
- free sections on local Craigslist page
- community drives
Time exchange
Community bulletin boards
Bulk trash nights
Thrift stores
Cinderblocks and wood furniture
Electric blanket
Heating co-op
Shrink-wrap windows
Heating bill budget plan
St. Vincent de Paul emergency aid for utilities

Food

Garden, community garden
Volunteer for food (at farm, etc.)
Food not Bombs: http://www.foodnotbombs.net/
Farmers’ markets will often double food stamps
Cheap prices at farmers’ markets right before closing
Volunteer at co-op
Canning: Ball Blue Book of Canning
Befriend Starbucks employees
Health food stores on delivery day
Dumpster diving
Federal share program
Food banks (staff will also know other places to get cheap food)
Project Bread: http://www.projectbread.org
Buy with me: http://www.buywithme.com/
Groupon: http://www.groupon.com/
Cheapeats
Potlucks
Canned foods
Fishing

Entertainment

Find listservs for free stuff to do
Young nonprofits professional: http://www.ynpn.org/s/936/start.aspx
VISTA Campus
Couchsurfing: http://www.couchsurfing.org/
Four Square: http://foursquare.com/
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/
Skill share networks
Art Walk (free museum nights/ open studio nights)
University lectures
Public library
Reading groups/ book clubs
Public access/ community radio
Volunteer

Budget Ideas

Mint (free through Quicken): http://mint.com
Former VISTA has established doc template that VISTAS can access to create budget-related strategies

Inexpensive Food Resource

Erica Bledsoe — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 20:17:52 +0000

Since living cheaply is a concern for us, I thought I would share this resource that was shared with me. Since there appear to be a few of you that, for many different reasons, don't qualify for food stamps, there is a group called Angel Food Ministries that has no income verification and anyone can purchase their boxes of food. If you read the About Us page, it tells how they got started and what the boxes of groceries typically contain.

It looks as though there are locations all over the U.S. so take a look and see if there is something in your area. The menu is posted for October and changes every month. The only catch is that you have to pay for your groceries approximately 2 weeks before you can pick them up, but for $25, who cares about the wait!! There are add on packs for $18 each month that change as well.

For those of you that do receive food stamps, they accept those as well, so you can get more bang for your food stamp buck.

vista life stuff...

cheryl jerozal — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:54:53 +0000

i really hope we all keep up with our blogs, because i want to be able to keep up with all of you! ok, now for some "vista life" type stuff i've been thinking about / looking into:

*** food stamps ***

according to stuff online, i don't think i am eligible for food stamps since i have too much savings (too much being more than the limit of $2,000). savings in an ira must be included toward this limit, even though according to wikipedia "a debtor in bankruptcy can exempt his or her IRA from the bankruptcy estate" and this seems like it should be a similar situation.

also, higher rent payments (after a certain amount that it is assumed you can pay) leads to being eligible for a higher amount of food stamps. this makes sense in a way -- after all, sometimes (depending on where one's job is) one can't help but get an expensive apartment. but on the other hand, sometimes one can choose between more expensive apartments that are bigger/more convenient/newer and less expensive apartments that aren't. it seems that one shouldn't get more food stamps just because one's rent is higher -- it should depend on other factors such as the average apartment rent in the area.

anyway, though it would have been nice to be able to get better/more food, i am glad i am not eligible for food stamps because i think if i were it would be hard for me to not get them. and i am not sure i think getting food stamps is the moral thing for me to do since i can live decently without them. actually, this is a question i struggle with a lot: how much unnecessary stuff must one have/buy before it is wrong? what do you guys think?

*** health benefits ***

does anyone else think it is strange that we won't get our health benefit cards for a while (what was it, 4-6 weeks)? i think we should at least get our member numbers and stuff like that right away.

i was looking through the guide to the health plan, and some of the stuff was kinda weird. there are a number of treatments that are not covered by the plan even if they were not preexisting, such as narcolepsy and add and aids medicines. i don't expect these omissions to be a problem for me personally, but i wonder how they decide things like that.

one of the "exclusions to covered services" is "Any services related to the treatment of allergies including allergy tests and surveys, injection, medication and treatment (except for emergency treatment including medication and hospitalization for asthma)". so recently i've been having this itching in my ears that i think is caused by allergies but for all i know it could actually be caused by some weird ear disease. if i go to the doctor and then they decide it is caused by allergies, will the health plan not cover the doctor visit even though i didn't know it was allergies at first?

*** cheap stuff ***

for getting things cheaply or even for free, check out the websites craigslist and freecycle.

you guys are great and i hope you have great first days.