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Step 1
Whole Foods: Assemble a tasty and relatively inexpensive meal from the diverse food items available at the buffet and fresh-food counters at the flagship store downtown. Take it home or eat it in the store's indoor dining area or out on the stone terrace.
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Step 2
Central Market: Go through this upscale grocery's Lamar location on Saturday and you can make a meal out of the free samples they offer.
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Step 3
Paramount Theatre: Watch classic movies in the splendor of a restored 1915 movie palace. The Summer Films Classics Series usually runs from May to September, and the ticket prices are comparable to--or possibly cheaper than--what you'd pay in a concrete multiplex located in the middle of a mall parking lot.
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Step 4
UT Tower Tour: Shell out a mere $5 and you can survey the skyline and surrounding Hill Country and examine the perch from which deranged sniper Charles Whitman shot 45 people in 1966.
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Step 5
Citywide Garage-Sale: Browse among the tables and booths of various dealers in antiques, collectibles and random junk. This event is held nine times a year at the Palmer Events Center. Admission is $5.
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Step 6
Armadillo Christmas Bazaar: Hitch up your sleigh and head over to the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar for a unique way to buy Christmas gifts and avoid the malls. For an admission of $3 during the daytime or $6 at night, you can check out the wares of over 130 local artists and craftsmen while enjoying live music provided by a who's who of Austin musicians. This Austin tradition has been going strong since 1976.
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Step 7
Friends of the Library Bookstore: Feed your reading jones with inexpensive books. Locals donate used books to this shop, which in turn sells them for a low price and channels the profits into the library system.
