I love the Fourth of July, mostly for the fireworks. As a kid, my family always drove to some hilltop to watch whatever fireworks were going off. To this day, I've never paid an admission fee to see the patriotic display.

This year, I was almost tempted to pay the $10 to $15 to go to BC's show, since I love the band Mento Buru and also I'm curious to see Amy Adam's performance (Bakersfield's claim to near American Idol fame).

But, I just can't do it. Why pay when I can go up to the bluffs and watch the show for free?

Also, on Sunday, the Bakersfield Municipal Band will give its final FREE performance of the summer season at 8 p.m. at Beale Park in my very own Oleander neighborhood. I love these things. I can walk there from my house and take a lawn chair. And I'm all for the John Phillips Souza marches! Hand me a flag to wave.

I've heard the Shafter fireworks the day before July 4 (on Tuesday) are FREE also. I don't know if I'll drive to Shafter to check them out, but if you're up for it, the place to go is Shafter High School. They have seating at the football stadium, and you can bring chairs and blankets to the soccer field.

If you know of any other spots to see fireworks for free, please let me know!

Welcome to the first post of my blog, which will feature free and cheap things to do.

I'm broke. My buddies are broke. But that doesn't mean we are going to sit around on our butts and complain.

So here's the first of many tips to come!

Free snacks: My buddy and I were out and about last Saturday and we were hungry. We debated whether to hit a drive thru or run home really fast for a PBJ. But then it hit us: It was Saturday! We were close to Costco!

My mom pays for my Costco membership (another free bonus) so we wove through the crowds for some samples. First we hit the margarita bar. Unfortunately, they didn't have tequila -- they were just demonstrating a margarita mixing machine. The lime and ice drink was cool and refreshing. Then we had some coffee cake, part of a hot dog and some fresh squeezed orange juice to wash it all down.

Costco is a great place to go for a free meal. We were totally satisfied!