Making Your Hometown Feel New

Why get out of Dodge when you can recreate Dodge? There are people you haven’t met, tourist traps you haven’t considered, road configurations you haven’t taken—and at the end of the day, it’s a fine place to live. And it’s up to you to make it so.

Since the start of the recession in 2007, Americans’ overall mobility—that is, the number of people who moved from one state to another—has dropped to its lowest levels since WWII, according to the Brookings Insitution. That’s because picking up and moving just isn’t as simple as it used to be. With unemployment rates still at record highs in many parts of the country and real estate troubles forcing homeowners to stay put while they wait to find a buyer, it’s hard for people to move to wherever it is that they want to be…

Twenty Months of Recession, 15 Minutes of Fame

Seems like half the planet is filming the recession—or trying to. Next month, our friends over at The Recess Ends will unveil the documentary they spent four months on the road shooting. Back in May, NBC pulled its casting notice for what seemed like a downturn-themed Apprentice. We’re not sure what happened to Fox’s controversial “Someone’s Gotta Go” series.

Feel like you missed your shot at being a recession celebrity? There are more opportunities out there…

Comparing Sharing: Should You Rent Handbags, Movies and Pets?

Mom always told you to share. But it turns out her advice might not always be best—at least, not when it comes to saving money during a recession.

According to the Washington Post, companies with a business model based around the concept of sharing are faring well lately, with car services like ZipCar seeing a 70 percent bump in membership since last year and the book-swapping website BookMooch increasing its membership roster by 30 percent.

While sharing sure sounds recession-friendly, we couldn’t help but wonder if it works out as well for the people doing the sharing as it does for the companies themselves. To find out, we’ve did the math on some of the most popular sharing-based businesses.

HANDBAGS
For a monthly membership fee of $5 to $15, sites like Bag Borrow or Steal and From Bags to Riches let users rent handbags for months at a time. But membership fees aren’t all users have to pay, since actually renting the designer purse can cost an additional $20 to $200 (or more!) per month…

10 Tips for Learning to Cook from Scratch

Two years ago I could go for days without setting foot in my kitchen. Work had taken over my life, and I didn’t even make coffee for myself. I had lots of nice things—four sizes of pots, skillets, a stock pot, a wok, baking sheets, pie plates, a slow cooker, a rice cooker, a bread maker, a KitchenAid mixer—but they were just crowding my kitchen.

While fantasizing about a balanced life, I read the book Apartment Therapy by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan. To get the most out of your living space, it advises cooking at least one meal a week at home. So one evening I invited a friend over for dinner, thinking: How hard can it be to make pork chops? My friend, who was raised in Italy and can make gnocchi from scratch, said the pork chop was fine even though it tasted like shoe leather. I was mortified and vowed to change.

So I was lucky—when it became necessary to cut back on my expenses, I was already cooking a few basic dinners a week. Now I take lunch to work, do takeout even less and watch my ingredient costs. Right now a lot of people are considering cooking to save money, and I’m pretty sure many are in the same boat as I was: starting from scratch skills-wise and cursed with a rarefied palate from so much eating out. Here are ten tips I learned along the way…

How to Get Cheap Newspaper and Magazine Subscriptions

Are you a papervore who is still reading newspapers and magazines? Good—we are too. And while searching for frugal ways to renew subscriptions that are expiring in the middle of a recession, we found two new ways to get our favorite publications.

Magazine resellers often give better deals than the publications themselves. Even lower prices can be had on eBay. Yes, eBay. We renewed New York Magazine for $15, versus the “bargain” $40 offered in a mailing. We spotted BusinessWeek for just $10. Hitch is, the selection is pretty random.

Frequent flyer programs are another good bet. For 500 Delta Skymiles points, we got a year’s worth of Fast Company. (Time, Sports Illustrated, W and People en Espanol were among the other titles.) United Airlines’ program offers the Wall Street Journal for just 3,300 miles. If you calculate the value of miles at one cent each, that means you can get a full year of WSJ for $33—which is basically amazing. The regular price right now is $441.

But don’t get mad at us if there are restrictions, like offers for new subscribers only, or delivery only to the continental U.S. As always, check the fine print before you buy.

My Free Edumacation

I am a secret self-improver.

There is a stash of relationship books in my apartment, tucked where my boyfriend is unlikely to stick his nose. One of my favorite vacations ever was to Canyon Ranch, where I spent five hours a day running between yoga and cardio workshops (and hoped nobody saw me in the bongo class). Over the past several years have enrolled in French, Chinese, guitar, tennis, and cooking classes. No, I still can’t cook. Thanks for asking.

One of the bummers about being unemployed is that I don’t have the dough to finance my “personal growth.” And even though I like the idea of being an autodidact, I don’t have the discipline to teach myself stuff from books. But these days, you don’t need money or good study habits—there are plenty of classes available for free, both online and in person. In fact, I’m now tempted to spend the next few months in my own personal summer school. Feel free to crib my curriculum…

Downturn Deals: Luxury Travel for (Much) Less

Is this really the time to be booking an oceanside suite, basking in Italian linen sheets, indulging in butler service on the African plains?

Actually, yes. We’re not telling you to spend cash you haven’t got. But if you’re lucky enough to have time on your hands and dollars to liberate, this is an exceptional time to travel in style. Prices have declined, upgrades are abundant, and even the hottest destinations are less crowded. A fantasy trip that seemed out of reach may now be doable, thanks to deals like these…

Recession Concessions: Lost the Business, Keeping the Cleaners

Ryan M. Salinetti, 33
Suffolk County, N.Y.

Keeping: Cleaners
I’ve kept my cleaning people because I love them and I don’t want to see them suffer the way I have.

Letting Go: Employees, childcare, extras
I have a graphic design business [Breakwater Design Studio] that works with locals and local businesses. They did not just go into hibernation for the off-season—I drive down Main Street and see For Rent signs in the windows. There was a wine merchant who was doing excellent; I worked with him for six months on a website project and now he’s gone. Landscapers—their clients were V.P.s for Lehman Bros., and they were the first to get chopped. I do their graphics and marketing, so I got chopped next. It happened in three weeks. I had to lay people off. I gave up the idea that I could have a business, I moved everything home. It was horrible…

At the End of Your Robe: Best Sites for Discount Shopping

You don’t need to be on your toes anymore to score the best deals on the best clothes—you just need to be online. Over the past few years, some fabulous sites have sprung up that offer bargains that were once limited to sample sales in New York, discount codes, inexpensive basics, and even cash back on clothing purchases. These seven websites will get you in the know and have you saving like a fashion insider.

Gilt Groupe
My favorite online secret. Gilt Groupe offers daily sales on the best men’s and women’s designer merchandise at incredible savings—think Zac Posen, Alvin Valley, Jack Spade.

Traveling Tight: Saving with Stopovers

Once upon a time, before airlines charged for pillows, they allowed travelers to make stopovers for free. That meant you could ski on your way to L.A., or overnight in Paris en route to Italy, without extra charge. For the most part those days are gone—especially on cheapo coach tickets. But the downturn has inspired a few major stopover deals to encourage tourism, and a number of airlines are dropping fees on stopovers.

Stopovers can be an economical way to drop extra destinations into a trip—especially places you might not otherwise hit, like Singapore. The tiny city-state is offering a bang-up deal, the Fabulous Singapore Stopover. Travel to Asia on Singapore Airlines, and get a super-discounted hotel rate…