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BA of the Week: Singer/Sonwriter Justin Farren

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Every week we feature a different person from the community shedding a little light on their life of brokeitude. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something about the human spirit — probably not.

Wanna be a Broke-Ass of the Week? Holler at us here and we’ll send you the questionnaire.

Our Broke-Ass of the Week this time around is singer/songwriter Justin Farren. Apparently the dude is good with his hands. He built his own house and the engine in his truck! I on the other hand can’t even build stuff with Legos.  Justin is playing Monday the 28th at the Acoustic Bistro event being put on by former BA of the week KC Turner. Should be a rad show! Let’s see what Justin has to say:

Name: Justin Farren

Age: 29

Occupation: Musician

What neighborhood do you live in?: Oak Park, Sacramento

What are you listening to these days?: Simon and Garfunkel, Greg Brown, Chris Smither, The Refreshments

Best money saving tip: Learn how to fix everything yourself.

What do you refuse to spend money on?: Parking

Most expensive thing you’ve ever bought: I bought all the materials to build a house. It cost $50,000.

How’d that feel?: Terrifying

Favorite cheap eat: Bananas. Really… they’re 25 cents.

Favorite dive bar: I don’t spend lots of time at dive bars. But, the one that comes to mind is the Press Club here in Sacramento. They’ve got cheap PBR and you never know what you’ll find in the bathroom.

Best deal you’ve ever gotten: A really nice guy gave me an awesome acoustic guitar for free.

Favorite free thing to do: It.

If you woke up a millionaire, what’s the first thing you’d buy?: Breakfast.

Despite not having money, do you still love your life?: Yes. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

Do you own my book?: No.

Best hangover cure: It’s more preventative, but being a true broke ass, I rarely have enough money to get drunk enough to be hung-over.

Are you a hipster?: No.

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Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap

Broke-Ass Stuart - Editor In Cheap

Stuart Schuffman, aka Broke-Ass Stuart, is a travel writer, poet, TV host, activist, and general shit-stirrer. His website BrokeAssStuart.com is one of the most influential arts & culture sites in the San Francisco Bay Area and his freelance writing has been featured in Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveler, The Bold Italic, Geek.com and too many other outlets to remember. His weekly column, Broke-Ass City, appears every other Thursday in the San Francisco Examiner. Stuart’s writing has been translated into four languages. In 2011 Stuart created and hosted the travel show Young, Broke, and Beautiful on IFC and in 2015 he ran for Mayor of San Francisco and got nearly 20k votes.

He's been called "an Underground legend": SF Chronicle, "an SF cult hero":SF Bay Guardian, and "the chief of cheap": Time Out New York.