Video games have influenced many things in our culture. Music, movies, fashion, other video games, everything (aside from all the stuff that isn’t covered). If your age falls anywhere between the classification of small male child and large old male child, you probably have an extensive video game collection and a super specific memory of moving pixels. Sadly, video games are expensive, and a good one can run you about 60 dollars or more. Thankfully, you can buy used games, but even those are expensive.
Game stop, because they often do …

Dear Schnorrer,
Every Friday night I have dinner with my friend Elizabeth. Although we maintain a platonic friendship, ever the gentlemen, I always pick up the tab. However, last Friday something unusual happened. Elizabeth insisted that we both order the Lobster (the most expensive entrée on the menu). When I asked why, she told me not to worry, as she would be taking care of the bill. This was a good enough explanation for me, so I obliged. But, later on that night Elizabeth uncharacteristically began flirting with me. When I …

The Suggested Donation Event is a baited operation that has the potential of exposing a schnorrer’s motives, and, in turn, damaging their reputation.
A schnorrer with a bad reputation is called a Mooch, and, say it with me, once a mooch, always a mooch! After an undesirable exposure, the schnorrer must uproot, say farewell, and find a new habitat to start anew. Humans are an unforgiving bunch.
If you find yourself drawn to a Suggested Donation Event, I strongly advise you to consider the following:
1.)   Either have the Suggested Amount of Donation …

Craigslist.com is the best internet site too mooch off of since slice bread. Don’t have enough money for a hair cut, dye or perm? Then go on the “Free” section of Craigslist where you can be a ‘head model’ – an armature beautician experiment for a grade. Want a free tattoo? Go on Craigslist. There are many tattoo artists want to try a new style of art or build up their portfolio for their businesses. Looking for a (used) leather couch, table, and baby crap? It’s on Craigslist. It’s amazing …

To say the corporation is the schnorrer’s best friend may seem a truism hardly worth elaborating. Its customer-is-always-right attitude and its affinity for “writeoffs” are a godsend to the freeloader. But to reach the large bills in companies’ ample wallets, the schnorrer knows you have to move beyond the storefront to the generous bureaucratic bosom that is the Customer Service Department. 
The schnorrer is always on the lookout for imperfections and irregularities in the products he buys. These flaws do not have to be major–a slightly curved baseball bat, a pair …

Here we go again. Another year is almost over. For a lot of people it symbolizes a fresh start and a clean slate. In reality, January 1 is an entirely arbitrary date, but that has never stopped your friends or anyone else from waiting until now to make positive changes in their life.
But with everyone trying to make changes for the better, a natural support network can emerge. So why not help your friends along while making some changes of your own? This is a once a year opportunity to …

Any urbane schnorrer regularly encounters the problem of sobriety, and is always on the lookout for places where a date will consider freeloading cultured rather than boorish. With these simple tips, you may never have to buy a glass of cheap wine again.
1: Consult the local rags
Most free weekly papers have a section for gallery listings. You want the “openings,” where poor schlubs hope that a case of Tecate and some Trader Joe’s cheese cubes will entice you to drop thousands on their post-pre-late-early-modernist drivel. A true schnorrer knows that …

Winter solstice transcends all cultural divides and pulls people together to celebrate the more dismal part of the year. It’s important for us to remember: With the arrival of a challenge, so comes the arrival of opportunity.
I invite you to celebrate this year’s winter rainfall by using it as a chance to replenish your winter wardrobe. Here’s how:
1.)    Tune into with the weather-channel. Don’t just follow the dates, but focus on the hours and minutes of the traveling storms. Consider the rainstorm an accomplice;
2.)    Make plans to visit your friends …

Ladies and Gentlemen, these here are the tried and true rules of haggling.  We must express caution, as it will lead to excitement and adrenalin pumping through your body.
1.  Stop caring what people think of you.
Many people hesitate to haggle because they don’t want to seem cheap or argumentative. But are you really willing to pay top dollar just so you can preserve the esteem of total strangers? You’re only meeting them this once, and you’ll probably never meet them again.
Even if you’re shopping with people you know, they might …