New York’s a microcosm of the whole world, right? Well, sort of. Sure, the city has it all, but sometimes a change of scenery just does a body good. Like milk. What’s more, is that Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington – the three major cities to the south – often get overlooked when compared to big, bad New York. And that’s a shame. It’s also what we seek to remedy. So let’s head out of town and explore Philly, Baltimore and DC – on the cheap.

Park Slope may possess more baby carriages per square foot than any other location within Brooklyn, but all of those little seedlings signify one thing: Mama and Papa once got it on – - and you can too. Three of the borough’s finest blogs (Brokelyn, Brooklyn Based, and F.I.P.S) are tossing a party on September 30th that will hopefully allow Brooklyn singles’ to meet and, uh, do other stuff.

Last week the Peek, the low-cost e-mail device and one of our favorite gadgets we’ve ever fondled, celebrated a year of existence. To mark the occasion, the little-handheld-that-could sees the addition of a number of free feature updates that may leave naysayers that rag on its “lack of functionality” a little less vocal.

There’s no avoiding it — weddings cost money. You can scrounge through your closet for your go-to little black dress and those shoes that kill your feet after 10 minutes, but the one thing you can’t get around is spending money on a gift. When the recession is causing the average wedding costs to drop $6,000 last year, and probably even more in 2009, brides know money’s tight. With that logic, it’s perfectly acceptable for guests to spend less when the couple is cutting back too. So after my third wedding invitation this year, I knew I had to dig up a gift that was classy, yet affordable, for my recession-friendly friends.

The Fall brings about many wonderful things in New York — excellent weather, Fashion Week, and the highly sought after performances of the Fall for Dance Festival. Held each year at the New York City Center, Fall for Dance features 20 companies from all over the world to perform each night for two weeks. And the best part is that the tickets are subsidized and are each sold for $10. It’s probably the best deal you’ll find every year when it comes to the performing arts.

When you need a new roommate to help cover half the costs of your midtown (or uptown or downtown) studio – because your previous roommate decided to skip out on the lease early to “find” himself somewherein Sumatra – Craigslist is likely the first place you look.

But Craigslist’s network of online communities isn’t limited to helping you hunt down your next live-in archenemy. The global Web site allows you to buy, sell and search for almost anything you can think of – goods, services, jobs, dates – just enter a word, and Craigslist is on the case.

Brooklyn kicks ass in many ways, but now they have one more reason to boast about their awesmeness. Brooklynites have cut back their spending by 28% and the city was named as one of five of America’s Most Frugal Cities according to Mint.

A huge Thank You to everyone who participated in the Broadway ticket giveaway. We had an enormous response from you guys — and it was awesome.

The winner of the Phantom of the Opera tickets and a $100 Dinner Certificate to Tony DiNapoli’s is:

We’ve all heard the typical budget allocations for the rest of the country — 30% to rent, 20% to transportation, 15% for food. But how does this tie in with New Yorkers who tend to average about 50% of their salary or more on rent? Late last year, CNN posted a budget pie chart to show Americans where they should be allocating their monthly income. But we’re going to take a closer look at how New Yorkers are — or should be — budgeting their money.

Make a budget. That’s what everyone tells you to do when you’re trying to save a buck here or there, but no one tells you exactly how to make a budget.

Back in the 10th grade we learned all about balancing checkbooks, something I’ll admit I still don’t do, and how to create a budget. Usually, these budgets insist that your spending habits can be divided into a few groups. There’s a category for your monthly bills, one for your debt, and then the last one is always just marked “entertainment.” This vague “entertainment” category was always jammed pack with the majority of my spending habits. From a night out with my friends to Broadway shows to train tickets back home to Jersey, piling all of this into one category just never worked.