After making several weekend trips to St. Louis for a year, I learned to google to start using Groupon and took advantage of free events the city has to offer. There are themed weeks and weekends which include some of my favorites; burger week and craft brew week. Living in any city can be pretty expensive
1. Get to know the city
Get to know the different areas of St. Louis and what amenities those areas have to offer. West Central End, The Loop, Dog Town, and The Grove are all great places to go especially if you're hungry). Central West End has countless restaurants, bars, and late-night eats like Insomnia Cookies. Also knowing what bars/ restaurants require you to be 21 will save you some time too.
2. Google what's going on during the week/weekend
St, Louis hosts different weeks like burger week. Different restaurants offered their own unique variation of a burger that were all just $6.00! They also offered a "burger passport" that enabled you to win prizes if you visited X amount of participating restaurants throughout the week.
3. FREE Trivia
Googling "Trivia in the St. Louis area" will pull up pages of different places that offer free trivia. There's an countless categories depending on the restaurant you go to and most places will also offer specials on food and drinks.
4. Download Groupon
Groupon is great and even better when you have a large group of friends that are always up for anything. Many times, groupon will sell four or six tickets to bowling, SkyZone, axe throwing, wine and paint, you name it... Most of the time, things come out to less than $10 a person!
5. Top Golf College Nights
Top Golf is finally in Chesterfield! This reinvented game of golf seems to be one that everyone enjoys. and for a limited time, Top Golf is hosting Wednesday College nights. Show up with your student I.D. and you can rent a whole bay for $15 per hour for your group.
6. If you like coffee shops, you're in luck
They. Are. Everywhere. If you're from a small town too, you're probably not used to seeing more than one coffee shop in your area. Download the Starbucks app so you can be notified during their happy hour's! BOGO!!
7. Become a tourist
Even if they are over-advertised, St. Louis has plenty of free amenities and attractions. Forest Park, the Science Center, and the Zoo are just a few that are definitely worth checking out. St. Louis is also known for its unique personality which carries into the restaurants. So many restaurants offer their own atmosphere with a themed menu so don't just find one that you like and stick to it. Branch out and see what your new home has to offer!
8. Ball Park Village
Beer, baseball. and friends. What more do you need? Keep in mind, they also have a mechanical bull. That just screams a fun disaster waiting to happen.
9. Go "Window" Shopping
You could spend an entire day just window shopping and not spend a dollar. Transitioning to St. Louis from a small town made shopping that much more fun since I had never been to a Whole Foods or Pier One. There's a few outlet malls, Nordstrom Rack, and TMaxx if you're looking to shop for real (but for less).
10. Give Goodwill a chance
Yes, it's a thrift store and yes it is hand-me-downs. But I did get a brand new set of dishes for my apartment there so I'm not complaining. Not to mention, it's a great place to go for those themed party outfits that you'll only wear a Hawaiian shirt once in your life for.
11. Hot Air Balloon Festival
The hot air ballon festival is back this year and you can find an all day pass (once again) on Groupon for $35! Although this event may be more pricey, it’s an all day experience you don’t want to miss!
