Affordable thrills in a recession

By Preet Anand

In today's economic climate, being frugal is the main objective. Saying "Yes we can" over and over again hasn't improved the economy yet, but at least we can still have fun.

I am going to analyze on a dollar-per-hour basis which entertainment options give you the most bang for your buck.

Paintballing: This is a great experience, but unless you have a lot of cash in your pocket, you should move on. At Santa Clara Paintball, it costs $60 for four hours of paintballing fun. At $15 per hour, your money just runs out.

Movies in theater: Even if you buy your tickets from Costco, it is still at least $8 for a movie ticket. Since most people don't like to watch movies alone, that means assuming two people go. It will cost $16 for just two hours of entertainment. At that price, you could buy, not rent, a movie and watch it at home. This form of entertainment comes in at around $4 per hour per person.

Video games: Assuming you have a gaming system, video games generally provide ample entertainment. With games such as Halo 3 and Rock Band providing upward of 15 hours of fun on single-player alone, these have big value.

Taking Super Smash Bros. Brawl as an example, there are at least 25 hours of single-player entertainment for a $50 game. There may be a social cost, but $2 per hour isn't bad, and the cost is marginal for the games that bring your friends in.

Reading a book: Reading is pretty cool. You can jump into your own world and choose what you want to follow. Compared to reading, TV is passive entertainment. If you fall asleep while watching TV, the story will go on without you. If you fall asleep reading, the story waits for you to come back. With Harry Potter as the example, this activity comes in around $1 per hour. The only major issue is that reading is a solitary activity.

Hiking: We're in California, get outside and see something. You can do this with your friends, and your only cost, generally, is transportation. This can keep you in shape and give you time to reflect and see something new. Weather is a consideration, so keep a well-stocked backup idea handy. Hiking comes in at less than $1 per hour.

Conversation: Believe it or not, this is absolutely free, and there is no limit to what you can talk about.

It can be something as shallow as a cup size, or as intellectual as how the drug-approval process is too daunting to accommodate pathogenic mutations.

If you don't know how to try this, check with your professors. Do be worried about those 1-900 numbers. They aren't free, but the people on the other end are willing to talk about whatever you want.

Preet Anand is a junior engineering physics major.