How to live in Boston for less than $1,000.00 a day:

Transportation

Owning a car in Boston is a costly luxury, and parking can also be expensive and/or non-existent. So, I've had to rely on public transportation for a good part of my errands and daily commute - the MBTA subway, buses, etc.

However, even riding the MBTA (the T) can be cost-ineffective because the system sucks so bad. Here are some ways to make the commute worth the money and the misery.
 
  • T-riding techniques:
    • Take advantage of the outbound, above-ground Green line. It's free! The D line is especially sweet - it's really fast.
    • Borrow a co-worker's T pass. Harvard, the wealthiest school in the world, with a $20 billion endowment, can't afford to subsidize T passes for the students. Harvard does offer a discount if you buy a whole semester's worth of monthly T passes - which is pretty lame, considering you have to come up with all that cash up front just to save $4.95 off of a $45 monthly T pass. However, the post-docs and technicians in your lab probably DO get subsidized T passes (around 40% off). So, if you have a quick errand to run during lab hours, someone will probably let you borrow his/her T pass. If you need to use the T a lot over the weekend, buy your co-worker a token for the Monday commute, and ride the T to your heart's content. A pass is especially handy on Sundays, when you and a friend can both ride for free.
    • Befriend a token collector. If you're extra nice to a token collectors, they might just let you ride for free. Seriously, you're doing them a favor - how often do you think someone makes a token collector smile?
    • The handful-of-change trick. Walk up to the token booth with a handful of change. Try not to use many quarters - they need quarters, but they don't want to deal with a bunch of nickels and dimes, especially when it's busy. More often than not, the collector will tell you to put the change in a receptacle for reduced fares. The receptacle says "reduces fares ONLY." You have no choice but to put in a reduced fare - say, 35 cents.
    • TOP SECRET - some of the turnstiles take expired T passes!!!
  • The Partners shuttles.
  • Befriend a cab driver.
  • Befriend someone who owns a car.
  • Join Zipcar. Harvard students pay a discounted membership fee, and rates (around $10/hr) are reasonable considering that it includes insurance, maintenance, AND gas, and that semi-regular usage may even cost way less than owning and maintaining your own car. It also comes in handy when your friend's car is buried under four feet of snow, or it got towed for no apparent reason (which happens pretty often in Boston).