Ehm, did you say it was free?

So here goes the first post!  Lately, I’ve been preparing for the GREs (read, not having much fun) and haven’t been able to check out all of the fall festivals, so nothing glamorous to post… yet.  However, I thought this would be a great opportunity to share some of my favorite ways to find out about free to free-ish things in DC.

The best deals are the ones that are delivered straight to your inbox, right? The Washington City Paper has a weekly email of giveaways in and around the District  ranging from three-course meals to concerts and movies.  I religiously  enter into the giveaways and have won movie and concert tickets.  Besides making you feel accomplished for winning something (yes, you can brush the dirt off of your shoulders 2003 Jay-Z style), it’s an awesome way to learn about what’s going on in the city.

For fancy food giveaways, I really like the Tasting Table emails.  Now, their giveaways are more like once every two weeks, but when they do send them out,  they are oh-so-sweet.  Usually it’s s three-course meal to a top 100 DC restaurant.  Their daily emails that are sans giveaways are also great; they tend to be short and full with the latest info in the DC restaurant scene.

Now finding free events that aren’t giveaways takes a little more work.  There are a few blogs that do a fantastic job pulling together all of the information into one place.

My favorite has to be the Washington Post’s Going Out Guide .  My boyfriend thinks that it’s the only thing that I read and well… he kind of has a point!  Besides having their Going Out Guide blog, they have a calendar that you can use check out what exhibits, restaurant openings, festivals, etc are going on in the city.  When I have a specific question, I usually wait until Thursdays at 1pm when I can ask the GOG staff during their GOG chat.  Besides getting the answer to my question, I usually get ideas for other things to do in the city from other chatters’ questions.  Hands down, the GOG is a treasure trove for finding anything I want to do!

When I want to find something that is absolutely positively, no questions asked, probably not sketchy and free in the city, I go to the Free in DC blog. They have daily posts about everything under the sun and the stuff is usually pretty awesome.

Now that you have a guide to more free things in DC, you should check them out and do something fun in the city.  Go.  Why are you still reading this?   Seriously?  Close this Google Chrome tab and getouttahere!