Thriftster: October 1 - 4

Spent all your cash on girlie drinks and shattered dreams again this weekend, didn't you? No worries - Thriftster gives you the lowdown on cheap stuff to do until Paycheck Friday.

Monday: Soothe the remnants of your weekend hangover with the (free) strains of a Rice University music faculty concert from 8-9:30pm at Alice Brown Pratt Hall. Suck it up - if Mozart and Brahms aren't usually your homeboys, you can always make up for things at Tuesday's Del The Funky Homosapien show.

Tuesday: Pretend you're in a stranger's trippy living room at the 'House Painting' installation at the Lawndale Art Center. Then drink $2 Dutch beer at Onion Creek where you can sit on an emerald green fuzzy couch in a place that also looks like a stranger's trippy living room.

Wednesday: Soooo... feeling frisky tonight? Hit Pub Fiction (2303 Smith St.) tonight for their Bid Buy Date Auction fundraising event where you can, yes, bid on presumably eligible bachelors / bachelorettes. This may be one of those rare occasions you get to not feel dirty when paying for a date. For a good cause no less.

Thursday: Be a part of something new and cool - the premiere 'Live... at the world famous Orange Show' concert is happening tonight at 7pm at the Orange Show (2402 Munger St.). Tickets are $10 and completely worth the cash, as you'll be supporting both the Orange Show and SugarHill Studios. Before heading over, hit the new Givral's sandwich shop location near University of Houston (3509 Elgin St.) for cheap Vietnamese goodness.