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These are the kinds of life-experiences that make you simultaneously love life and loathe capitalism (and take the stairs because you have the time and need the exercise - and the elevator is kind of sketchy). Oftentimes, hard things are just the challenge our tired brains and bodies need to tip the scales a little closer to enjoying life. For us, it meant finding cheap ways to entertain ourselves and spend time eating and drinking with our employed friends - resulting in a handful of resourceful strategies for a happy, unemployed life in the Windy City. 5 (very food-centric) Strategies for Happy Living:[ 1 ] Walk instead of taking public transportation. The cost of two train rides ($4.50 at the time) is better spent on two bottles of two-buck-chuck (the bargain wine from Trader Joe’s) to make sangria. [ 2 ] Invest in a good bottle of Brandy. A batch of sangria doesn’t require much Brandy, but it isn’t worth making if it doesn’t actually taste good. [ 3 ] Bargain for bulk fruit prices at the farmers’ market. Cut them up and freeze them. Frozen fruit makes great ice, doesn’t water down your sangria, and keeps forever. Citrus rinds also make excellent projectiles for a casual game of “fruit on the bus.” When one lives in a corner apartment on several major bus routes, targeting bus-roofs with fruit scraps is just the challenge needed to pass a summer afternoon. (Throw early. Buses move faster than you think.) [ 4 ] Host a pizza party and provide the dough. Pizza dough is inexpensive and very easy to make when you have a lot of free time. Let your employed friends bring the sauce and the toppings, and eat like royalty on a pauper’s budget. [ 5 ] Make the dough ahead, at home; but have your party at someone else’s house. An un-air-conditioned apartment is an excellent place for dough to rise, but a terrible place to bake during the summer!
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