Her plan: free meals, free wheels
Diana Delfin knows how to stretch her dollars and take advantage of Chicago's largess.
The 25-year-old graduate student at Loyola University bikes to her two part-time jobs and takes advantage of an employee perk to eat lunch or dinner at the Blackstone Hotel.
(John H. White/Sun-Times)
"I bike everywhere," Delfin said. "I don't have money for a bus."
Delfin concedes that biking can be dangerous, especially pedaling from the South Loop and across busy intersections on her way to help run an after-school program at the Ancona Montessori school in Hyde Park.
"I ride slowly on sidewalks when I go on quick errands. For longer rides, I leave early," said the San Francisco-area native.
Delfin eats free meals that are employee perks at the Blackstone Hotel, where she works as a barista in the coffee shop.
She also checks out some of her textbooks from the public library, and has set up an Amazon.com account that comes with free shipping.
How are you saving money? Write to psmith@suntimes.com