Credit-card regulation may have taken effect earlier this year, but don’t rest on your free-spending laurels just yet. The card companies are still out to get you. That’s kinda their job. Although the new rules outlaw many decades-old predatory practices, the companies have quickly come up with sneaky ways around the rules and new strategies for fleecing their customers, thus continuing to earn huge profits and the hatred of all people. We thought it’d be helpful to spell out exactly what card companies can’t do and what we all need to watch out for. 
A credit-card-reform survival guide
Where are the bed bugs in your neighborhood?
Photo from mcbrooklyn
With bed bug rumors creeping all over the place lately, it’s nice to see some of Brooklyn’s infested doing their honest part to stave off the spread. Mcbrooklyn checks in with the Bed Bug Registry today and lists the 228 Brooklyn residential addresses on record as being infested. That’s 228 good citizens who’ve willingly notified the registry of bedbugs in their abodes (or 228 bedbug infestees who’ve been ratted-out—we’re not sure). But in any case, people are talking and that’s only for the best. Because, hopefully, others will report their unwanted visitors, everyone will be well on their way to de-bugged and in the meantime, we’ll all know exactly where to give that extra wide berth on the way to the subway. Here’s the full list of addresses. And if you’ve got bed bugs, please—report them here.
via mcbrooklyn
Free STD tests for the morning after
Getting laid is one of the few forms of entertainment that — even when the summer concerts end — won’t hit you with ticket prices or drink minimums (although sometimes that helps). But because you somehow missed the thousands of free condoms around the city, and health class succeeded in scaring the crap out of you in high school, the biggest cost might be the time you spend Googling the difference between an ingrown hair and an STD sore. Better safe than sorry, so we put together a listing of all the free screenings (and pregnancy testing) centers in the borough. This way, you don’t have to wait until you donate blood to the Red Cross for your next HIV screening, and your sex life can resume.
Where to get a cheap eye exam
Free eye exam
You know that dreadful time: Your prescription is expired, your contacts are way past their three-month life-span and that inevitable eye exam… is just one big, foreboding dollar sign looming on the fuzzy horizon. So, as with any routine doctor’s visit for the insurance-less, it’s time to price-check. What we’re looking for: an eye exam, for contacts, for less than $100. Here’s what we found so far:
Brokester’s guide to wedding gifts under $25
Summer-time means sunshine, heat, cleavage and, if you’re anywhere in a certain age-range, weddings upon weddings. And once that gleaming, perfectly crafted, calligraphy-graced invitation arrives, the financial obligation begins. Because etiquette says that even if you don’t go to the wedding (or even if the couple elopes), you’ll be heading to swankyregistry.com with that $300 stand-mixer staring you in the face. But there are some creative, memorable ways to stay within your budget.
New kids store paying for your hand-me-downs
Time to part with those mini-Guccis and Gap onesies. Monk’s Trunk, a children’s resale shop opening this fall in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, wants to stock its shelves your kids’ old stuff—and they’re paying. If you’ve been saving everything of junior’s out of an over-developed sense of sentimentality, we understand… really, we do. But this is your big chance to get a little in return, because the next stop for this stuff might just be Goodwill. And Monk’s Trunk will even pick it all up.
Where to throw a dance party in Brooklyn for under $300?
A Target First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum?
Every now and again, we’re asked to pool our collective BK wisdom and help out a Brokelynite in need. Brokelyn fan Warren wrote us this week asking where to throw a birthday party on the cheap. His requirements: a dance floor and room enough for 25 to 30 people. So far, Warren’s been quoted $300 or more everywhere he looks, so that’s the number to beat. Our thought? Go with the flow, and bring the gang to a free DJ’d event at a big space: DJ Lady Bird’s playing The Bell House front lounge next Thurs. Where else for Warren’s bash?
What would you do for $5?
Get your own "yes" man for $5
Would you go all Marilyn Monroe for a friend’s birthday for $5? Or maybe even take the ultimate blame at the party? Well, someone will be rakin’ it in for those services-rendered. And they’ll be doing it through Fiverr.com, a new marketplace site for anything and everything that could possibly be worth a good-old Abe Lincoln. Think of an all-for-$5-Etsy, of the mostly-intangible, with a little Twitter-aesthetic thrown in—that’s Fiverr.
A cab-sharing app, no friends required
With subway lines sputtering, we’re always on the watch for new ways to find that cheap late-night trip home. Taxi-sharing’s a nice idea but a) it takes a village to make it truly cheap and b) the city-run version hasn’t made it across the bridge quite yet. So, where to look next? The App Store (obvs), for one of the latest necessary additions to your very existence. This one? Weeels is the name, and livery cabs the game.
Sunday, a free design class for finding your true colors
Flatbush is looking more and more like this weekend’s painting hub. Our interior-design friend Mary Van Vliet, of Olive Design, is holding a free paint and color workshop Sunday in her Ditmas Park studio. Re-designing soon? It’s all about the paint, Mary says. Here’s what she has in store:
Paint is undoubtedly the least expensive way to spruce up and refresh an older home or apartment. I have been working as an interior designer in this neighborhood for over 10 years and one thing most clients, friends and neighbors fear is choosing a paint color! I’ll give you the direction and guidelines you need to go forth with confidence to the paint store.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook