venta

In recent months, I've been trying to save money a little. The nasty downside of this is that I've had to spend less. Spending less means I can't buy myself a new album just because I fancy it, or something new to wear just because I see it in a shop.

As a result, I've been trying to find new, low-budget ways to entertain myself. Just in case anyone else is in a similar situation, I present:

Elizabeth's Guide to 99p Fun

So far, my top recommendation is something that probably won't come as a surprise to many: if you buy them the week they're released, a 7" single costs (in general) just 99p. It's some time since I rediscovered the delights of vinyl, and it's taken me a little longer to remember about singles. Obviously, this option is no Fun if you don't have easy access to a record player.

So, what do you get for your 99p ? Well, a 7" plastic disc and around two songs, or course. Which is, of course, a reasonably good deal in itself. It's cheaper than you'd get from iTunes, and you get to satisfy the sneaky capitalist streak most people have which makes them enjoy handing over money in exchange for a new and shiny object.

A couple of weeks ago, I bought the Hard-Fi single Tied Up Too Tight. I got a single I liked. I got an extremely bright yellow 7". I got a cover ofThe White Stripes' Seven Nation Army on the flip side. That's a pretty good deal for 99p.

More recently, I bought The Secret Machines' The Road Leads Where It's Led. As I often do, I'd remembered the name Secret Machines and filed it for further checking without actually remembering anything about them - including what the song sounded like. So, I slid the record out when I got home and was immediately surprised to find that one side of it was blank - completely smooth black plastic. Which left me with the dilemma of what speed to play it at - there were no markings, so I opted for 45.

... and I heard a quite fast, high-pitched song which centered around the lyric "...blowing all the other kids away". It seemed interesting enough. Later, it dawned on me that fast and highpitched = should have been played at 33, so had another go. The one lyric I remembered was nowhere to be heard. I tried again, listening carefully. Nope, played at 33 there was only one song on the record, and it didn't contain that line. I began to make signs against witchcraft.

A fourth or fifth attempt suddenly revealed the truth - both the single and the B-side are on the same side of the record, on concentric grooves. When you put the needle down, it's pure chance which song you hear. An interesting idea, though The Secret Machines have probably annoyed DJs up and down the land. However, you've got to admit they provide a lot of Fun for under a quid.

If you're like me, you get through a lot of books. This means either keeping the likes of Borders in business practically single-handed, or parasiting off friends who do that. I'm increasingly disappointed in the second-hand bookshops round Oxford; they seem to me to be too expensive to have the fun of browsing and buying things on the off-chance. 2/3 of the original price may be reasonable for a paperback in good nick, but it's not what I want from a second-hand bookshop.

My solution to this is to browse the odd rack or shelf of second hand books to be found in most charity shops. Not Oxfam - their books are always pricey - but most others seem to aim low in the hopes of shifting stock. The racks are usually full of dubious out-of-date non-fiction, or Cookson-esque sagas aimed at the blue-rinse brigade. However, all is not lost. For around 70-80p you can usually get yourself a charity shop whodunnit, which is ideal. Whodunnits are, in general, inherently disposable items. Most are fairly inferior, and are something you'd only want to read once. So read 'em, give 'em back; you get your Fun and they don't even need to take up any space on your shelves at home. If you have discovered one of the odd gems, then hurrah, a great book for 80p - and you should tell me about it, too :)

If you're of the frivolous and slightly vain persuasion, then somewhere like Superdrug will provide you with one or two individual sachets of face mask or similar visage-enhacing goop. Even fairly luxurious brands are often under a quid when sold in bite-sized quantities.

Admittedly, that sort of thing is unlikely to be to everyone's taste, but if it appeals, then why not ? They come in all kinds of varities, with professed different properties, different life-affiriming claims and different random fruit extracts. And even if you're not particularly into pampering yourself - you've got to admit that a licence to smear mud all over your face is definitely Fun.

For well under 99p you can buy a picture postcard of your local area (or somewhere more exotic) and a stamp, and send someone a postcard. If the idea of posting daft things, silly limericks or just a quick sketch of your day doesn't sound like Fun, then think of the long-term investments. If you write to someone, they might write back - and hey, three weeks later you get an entirely unexpected slice of Fun dropping through your door.

Similarly, most landlines will let you (especially on a weekend) have a fair old chat for 99p or under. So call someone you wouldn't ordinarily call for a chat - phone your mum, tell her what you've been up to and listen to what she's been doing. Phone a friend you haven't seen in months, or call an elderly relative who'd love to hear from you.

If you live near an amusement arcade (of the seaside kind, not the Noble's kind) you can have up-to-98p fun by changing your money into tuppences and playing on the tuppeny falls. Actually, if you live in London, the Trocadero has a reasonable variety of tuppeny games. You can spin 50p's worth of tuppences into really quite a long playing time on a set of tuppeny falls, and get a bizarre sense of achievement when you manage to win 14p back in one go. I believe

keris and I once managed to kill over an hour in this way (while waiting for a train) with just 50p each.

Since it currently isn't the season, and I don't live near a specialist shop, I've not been able to track down how much a packet of small sparklers would cost. I suspect it might be under a pound (looking at prices online for large sparklers and extrapolating). And really, everyone with even an ounce of sense loves sparklers. Combine with a friend or two and some form of hot drink, and you've got a guaranteed half hour or so of Fun in the garden. A daylight (and even cheaper) alternative is a bottle of bubble mix.

Once you start considering food, there are a whole range of Fun things to be had. I'll stick with just listing one for now: about 70-80p will buy you a bag of chocolate buttons and a couple of bananas, allowing you to make chocolatey baked bananas. Slit your banana (in its skin) lengthwise, but don't cut completely in half. Stuff with buttons, wrap in foil, and bake in a hottish oven for 10-15 minutes. This is, of course, much, much more Fun if you have somewhere you can build a small fire and cook them in the ashes round the edge.

Does anyone have suggestions to add ? Here are the criteria I was applying to what was a suitable candidate to appear in the 99p Fun Guide:

Must be Fun :)

Must cost 1p or more, but no more than 99p
Yes, there are loads of things which don't cost money. And many of them are also Fun. But that's a different category of thing