Broke-Ass of the Week

Broke-Ass of the Week – Bennett Elliott from Brooklyn Bitches on a Budget

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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.

Bennett is a girl after my own heart.  I mean, how could I not like a girl who calls her blog Brooklyn Bitches on a Budget?  The name combines so many of my favorite things AND it uses alliteration.  Bennett’s emails even say “Main Bitch in Charge” at the end of it.  And as everyone knows, Broke-Ass loves the bitches.

Anyways, check out their mission statement:

With sparkle and sass, the Bitches on a Budget run Brooklyn on a daily basis. A group of fierce females trying to survive on as little as possible and trying to remain fabulous while doing so. We’ll share our tips of making broke look good, from how to host a dinner party for six for under $10, to where you can dance your pants off every night of the week, to the best Indian food in the city.

So, I’m pretty sure you should go ahead and add it to your google reader now, or at least right after you read what Bennett has to say below:

Name: Bennett Elliott

Age: 22

Occupation: Blogger and film producer

What neighborhood do you live in?: Williamsburg, Brooklyn

What are you listening to these days?: Atmosphere, Metric, Nina Simone, and the latest from the Black Keys.

Best money saving tip: Try to make broke look good. Walk everywhere, see free movie and concert, and always drink at bars with free food.

What do you refuse to spend money on?: Champagne that costs more than $4.

Most expensive thing you’ve ever bought: This past spring, a group of friends and I took a road trip through the South and ended up in New Orleans. Even when we were sneaking eight people into a motel room and eating one meal a day on the road, it was the best trip I’ve ever taken. However, these days, just splitting a plate of fries can be classified as the most expensive thing I buy all week.

How’d that feel?: The trip? We’re already planning a repeat adventure come November, staying with a voodoo priest for his annual All Saints Day gathering.

Favorite cheap eat: Bushwick Pita Palace. Breakfast sandwiches, falafels, and burritos all under one roof. Plus, the owner also owns the bodega down the street, and lets you drink your beer with your meal if you bought it at his place.

Favorite dive bar: The Subway Bar on Metropolitan Ave in Williamsburg is the ultimate dive. It’s stumble-home distance from my apartment, $5 shot/beer specials, and the most wonderfully badass bartenders I’ve found in all of Brooklyn.

Best deal you’ve ever gotten: Publishing my blog, Brooklyn Bitches on a Budget, on a free server. Talking to other people who are just as broke as we are always results in finding the best deals, from the cheapest dance parties, free backyard bbq’s (who don’t mind crashers, as long as they bring smiles) and the best-kept secret for Belgian fries.

Favorite free thing to do: I run the Williamsburg Bridge every morning as the sun is coming up. It’s such a private moment between the city and I, plus it’s my free alternative to the gym.

If you woke up a millionaire, what’s the first thing you’d buy?: I have a weakness for cowboy boots and cupcakes with pink frosting. Those would definitely top the list.

Despite not having money, do you still love your life?: Would it be nice to afford a cab once in awhile instead of waiting for the L until we’re positive our toes have frozen in their too-thin-for-January socks? Yeah. But nothing can compare with the beautiful (free) view we’re afforded every time we take to the streets to walk that extra twenty blocks en route to the next adventure. Living on a Budget has forced us to become resourceful, optimistic, and much more criminal then we ever imagined growing up in Wonder Bread suburbia. But it’s also allows us the chance to appreciate the simple, free things that often get overlooked: kindness from strangers, magical bartenders who go out of their way to keep our club soda comin’ free all night, and, most, importantly, it’s allowed us to connect with a whole new audience of Bitches on a Budget.

Do you own my book?: I do not. But the next time I see it, I’ll be sure to use my five fingered discount to check it out.

Best hangover cure: Mimosas and an egg-and-cheese for the dirtiest, cheapest bodega with a grill.

Are you a hipster?: What’s the difference?

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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.