New York City Tourism in a Blink

By: Ms. Michael C. Redmond, PhDc
The Economic Crisis of 2009 does not have to be emotionally devastating.

There are two choices that will allow you to continue or even improve your lifestyle.  First, find alternative ways of making money and second alternative ways of having a great lifestyle while saving money.

For the first choice, make a list or five things you really enjoy, are great at and have never been paid to do.  For instance, reading out loud.  Some Colleges and University students, who are blind, receive funding to hire personal readers to help with assignments.  If you wrote talking about your vacations, consider giving a lecture at a local travel agency. Each future vacationer can pay a small fee that goes to you, and the agency can offer the site for free to bring more customers into their business.

Be creative with your list and be positive. Just because no one else has done it yet, does not mean that your idea is not worth putting into place.

The second choice is to save money while having a fun lifestyle. This is not a contradiction.

Many cites in the United States and Canada offer Restaurant Week.  Great restaurants offer severely discounted prices in order to allow new patrons to discover how great their restaurant.  Search on “restaurant week” for the availability in your city.

As an example, Manhattan -New York City’s original dates were Jan 18-23 & Jan 25-30, 2009 and they have now been extended through February 27, 2009. In New York where the prices of better restaurants are normally too high for the average salary, during this period the participating restaurants offer prices such as Lunch $24.07 | Dinner $35.00. Brooklyn-New York City’s dates are from March 24 to March 31 for a $23 prix fixe dinner.

Early Bird Specials are another option.  Or meet friends for lunch instead of dinner and get the same meal for a lot less.

Don’t give up the theater, opera or concerts. Check into your community’s performing arts options at lower cost than professional performances.  Many performers are stars waiting to be discovered.

Unless there is a show that you can’t do without, consider dropping Cable or Satellite TV. All of the common TV stations have websites that offer FREE Episodes on demand.  cbs, abc, nbc, abc, fox, etc.  Looking for a special show? Check out the following sites too: in2tv, jost,sling, hulu. 

Most important, start today to make 2009 your best year yet!