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BA of the Week: Andrew Grey Johnson

The Bay's best newsletter for underground events & news

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.

This week’s Broke-Ass is Andrew Grey Johnson. Look how excited he is to be Broke-Ass of the Week:

My boyfriend and I just moved to Los Angeles from Portland and are now living in the smallest and most expensive apartment either of us has ever lived in (and he used to live in New York). For extra cash or free drinks I DJ soul and garage rock at whatever bar is willing to let me. I collect maps and, like all 20-somethings, I drink way more than any person ought to. Being a Broke-Ass of the Week has been a goal of mine for quite some time, so with this I feel a huge sense of accomplishment! Thank you!!!!!

I love the enthusiasm! Glad to help you complete one of your goals. Read below for more of Andrew’s tips on brokeness.

Name: Andrew Grey Johnson

Age: 25

Occupation: Associate Production Accountant (no, I’m not a CPA, it’s just a fancy title I give myself to make me feel more important)

What neighborhood do you live in?: K-Town in Los Angeles, CA!

Best money saving tip: Recently I’ve discovered that if you go have dinner at Yang Chow in Chinatown, they give you enough food to feed you for about three days!

What do you refuse to spend money on?: Parking! I’ll circle the block for 20 minutes everyday, thank you.

Most expensive thing you’ve ever bought: My Car, little Giuseppe!

How’d that feel?: Fancy! He’s one of my closest friends.

Favorite cheap eat: The burrito truck on my block, you get all the free pickled whole jalapeños you want!

Favorite dive bar: H.M.S. Bounty! Best and cheapest bar I’ve found in LA so far. An amazing martini for less than $5! Also, their special is a Tecate and a shot of your choice of booze for $5.50!

Best deal you’ve ever gotten: Long ago, I sold some clothes to Buffalo and convinced the buyer that a pair of Target brand pants were actually super fancy designer pants. She gave me more for them than I had originally paid!

Favorite free thing to do: Since I moved to LA, I’ve discovered that I can wander around the Getty Center all day for free!

If you woke up a millionaire, what’s the first thing you’d buy?: Two one-way tickets to New Zealand.

Despite not having money, do you still love your life?: Oh absolutely, my boyfriend is amazing and a total babe, my tiny tiny apartment is really cute and I do fun awesome stuff constantly! (like adding numbers together!)

Do you own my book?: I do actually! A friend gave me a copy 5 or 6 years ago when I was visiting her in SF.

Best hangover cure: Hands down, raw oysters! With a little lemon and a dot of Louisiana hot sauce. And if you know where to go, you can get them for pretty cheap without them making you yarf!

Are you a hipster?: This is a loaded question. If someone were to answer “yes”, that would mean that they really aren’t, and actually just a big ol’ douche. If they answer “no”, then that means that they totally are or something…. Right? I don’t know… I’ll just say that due to the music I listen to, the places I hang out, the people I know and the clothes I like to wear, I have been called a hipster on more than one occasion.

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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.