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 LOOKING FOR FREE THINGS TO DO & SEE IN SAN DIEGO?
Check out diegoonadime.com, founded by Junvi Ola. Here, she tells us a bit about her site and what you can find on it...
DIEGO ON A DIME
What cool stuff can I find on your Web site?
Oh, where do we begin? In short, you’ll find all sorts of FREE
or ALMOST FREE experiences to take advantage of in San Diego. From
museums with no admission fees to free bootcamps in the park, we’ll
unveil where to go and what to do if you don’t feel like emptying out
your wallet. (And whoever has the urge to do that?!) It’s all about maximizing all the FREE or ALMOST FREE things to do in San Diego, so you can spend large on something else.
What do you mean by ‘almost free’?
We mean that you will have to spend some money, but not nearly as much as you’d have to otherwise. We promise to only write about deals that are at least
50 percent off the normal price. We scoff at those quasi-deals, the
ones that will give you a mere 10 or 20 percent off or a skimpy $2 off,
etc. Those “deals” are pennies to us and we won’t bother you with them.
How do you know all this stuff?!
We’re here, we’re there, we’re everywhere. Seriously though, ever since
we’ve seen friends and family being laid off from their jobs, we’ve
honed our radar for the FREE things to do in San Diego to show them
that they can still have a life rich in new experiences and activities without breaking the bank.
Thankfully, we have journalistic instincts and the eagle eyes that come
with them. Plus, we enjoy the thrill of the hunt! All we know is that
once we uncover a FREE activity, we can’t wait to tell you about it.
I know something that you don’t…how can I share it with other ‘Dimers?’
Bursting to let someone in on that secret sweet steal you just
discovered? We know the feeling, that’s how we got here! We’d love to
hear of it and we’ll be sure to pass it on (we promise to give credit,
too!). Contact us at Junvi@diegoonadime.com
JUNVI OLA, Founder and writing maven
Tell us about yourself:
I’m a tourism employee by day; urban explorer and wily writer
by night. I’m a theatre-lover, wanna-be camper and an unbashed fan of
coffeeshops, Thai and Lebanese food, and all things shabby chic.
 Pedal Pushing on San Diego Bay
You’ll find me teetering around on my bike, sampling fresh fruit at
farmers markets, browsing book stores, lingering over a glass of
moscato, and scouring thrift shops for cool finds for my place. Above
all, I perk up when I come across something you can do for free and I
race (pedal quickly) home to tell y’all about it.
Why did you start Diego on a Dime?
 Lost in Spoleto, I love our goofy faces in this photo.
A little while back, my friend and I quit our jobs to travel.
Without income and living off just our savings (not to mention the
painful exchange rate), we had to be savvy with every cent. We rented
apartments, rather than pricey cramped hotel rooms. We shopped at the
neighborhood markets to buy food and local wine and cooked meals at
‘home’.
And most importantly, we read up on free or almost free things to do
in each city, like a waterfall hike that led into grassy fields and a
forest in Ebenau, Austria or a free olive oil tasting and food pairing
dinner in Spoleto, Italy. With all the authentic local experiences I racked up, I never felt richer. Because
of our fiscal creativity, I was able to splurge on other things – a
daily crepe and croissant obsession in France, my favorite red coat
from Treviso, fancy dinners in Porto, Graz, and Avignon; and impulse
buys at every H&M I ran into.
Upon returning home with a nearly empty wallet, I asked “Why can’t
I do that in San Diego?” I was born to bustle and depleted funds
weren’t going to anchor me indoors. I knew I could put to practice back
home what I did abroad and enjoy big experiences on a small budget.
Now during these recession-crazy months, I’ve become adept at
knowing where to spend smarter – or not at all – in San Diego so I can
point my friends in the right direction. Knowledge is power and with the info from this site you can still live a full life without the empty wallet.
Show us that you practice what you preach. What are your Top 10 favorite FREE or ALMOST FREE things to do in San Diego?
Shoot, now you have me cornered. It’s like asking who my favorite
sibling is (Well, I only have one sister. But that’s neither here, nor
there, because it’s still a difficult question to answer!) Just know
that my favorite free activities change with every season, every week,
and honestly, whenever I feel like it.
1. Working out every Sunday morning with Charity Workouts, San Diego’s only donation-only bootcamp benefiting a local charity.
 At the La Jolla Tidepools with Bella, my four-legged niece
2. Slowly savoring my favorite cheap eat – a colorful Mexican fruit
salad topped with cottage cheese, honey and granola (Sold for $5 at
frutterias, such as North Park’s Senor Mangos. You’ll find me there at least once a week).
3. Peering down into La Jolla from atop Mount Soledad.
4. Eyeing the art and eating the appetizers at the evening artwalks throughout the county.
5. Driving into Cuyamaca, camping at Paso Picacho and climbing up Stonewall Peak.
 Resting after a 2-mile climb up Stonewall Peak
6. Volunteering for the abandoned pups with the Pit Bull Rescue San Diego.
7. Buying half-off rush tickets to see a play, or even better,
taking advantage of any theater-sponsored ‘pay what you can’ nights!
(Does that count as one or two favorites?)
8. Summer movies in the park (movies are just so much better outdoors, don’t you think?)
9. Poking around the tide pools in La Jolla.
 Pre-film picnic at Screen on the Green
10. Decompressing at Encinita’s cliffside mediation gardens at the Self-Realization Fellowship Center.
Any last words before we go off to enjoy all these FREE or ALMOST FREE things to do in San Diego?
Yes, TIP WELL. If you get something for free, especially at a
restaurant or bar, then you can definitely afford not to be greedy.
We’re going through a recession folks, we’ve got to help each other out.
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