This is a blog for poor students (and other frugal people) in the Boston area (and other areas). Being thrifty doesn't mean that you can't eat well. Every week, I'll show you a new way to eat well without spending a fortune. Like the Poor Student on Facebook to see the latest posts first!
The Poor Student has linked all of the Scootin' in Boston videos with annotations to let you see Boston in a "choose your own adventure" kind of way. Let's say you're watching the video of Hammond Street and would like to go straight on Beacon Street to see Boston College, instead of turning onto to Hammond Street. Just click on the annotation and a new window will open with the video of that ride. Of course we haven't covered all of Boston yet, so the coverage right now is limited. However, you can see quite a lot of Boston from the comfort of your desk, in case you're getting ready to visit Boston or maybe you're just nervous about driving around the non-parallel streets in Boston.
(Scroll down to see a map of some of the routes that have already been covered by The Poor Student.)
In this episode of Scootin' in Boston, the Poor Student rides from Route 9 to Kiki's Kwik-Mart (in Brighton) via Washington Street. For those of you who are not familiar with Ribena, it's a British black currant syrup that used to be available in Asian markets. However, the only place in town that carries it in Boston now is Kiki's in Brighton. If anyone knows of other places that carry Ribena, please leave a comment.
The video footage was from a Sunday afternoon ride at the end of August, before the students moved back to Boston. There was very little traffic and it was nice ride.
Franklin Park is where the Franklin Park Zoo and a large public golf course are located. It's also a great place to jog, take a walk, or have a picnic. A lot of people go there on holiday weekends. If you'd like a more peaceful place to see, check out the Forest Hills Cemetery, on the other side of Morton Street.
Circuit Drive/Jewish War Veterans Drive runs through the park and goes around much of the golf course. However, about a third of Circuit Drive is closed to vehicles. In this episode of Scootin' in Boston, the Poor Student rides around the park and shows you the golf course and the entrance to the zoo. The tour starts at the usual location, the corner of Forest Hills St. and Williams St.
Map of the ride, starting on Forest Hills Street, ending at Blue Hill Avenue
In this episode of Scootin' in Boston, we go up Amory street starting from the north (turning of Columbus Ave.) and ending up at around English High in Jamaica Plain, by Doyle's Cafe. Enjoy!
One of the places that I wasn't able to reach easily before I had a scooter was the Save-a-lot on American Legion Highway in Roslindale. There's a strip mall there and if you're in the mood for Popeye's Chicken after getting your groceries, you're in luck! Popeye's is usually busy and I've never seen it completely empty. The staff there are very friendly too.
Anyway, the point of this post is the Save-a-lot. It's not the best supermarket in the area but I bet it's the cheapest. They have everything you need but not necessarily brands you'd see at Roche Bros or Stop & Shop. However, they also have some cool things you might not find easily elsewhere too. For example, they sell plantains and plantain chips. They also always seem to have habanero peppers there, if you can handle that level of heat. If you want to try goat meat but don't want to trek down to haymarket, Save-a-lot also carries goat chunks (ready for stewing) sometimes. I've never had any problems with the meat there. They have all the standard stuff you'd find elsewhere but don't have fancy things like filet mignon or stuff like that. I've gotten a pork loin there and it was great.
Frankly, I go there mainly for the produce and meat. If I remember, I'll get some plantain chips. The frozen foods there are also good deals and there's plenty of cheap bread too. If you're a poor student, this is a good supermarket to load up on basic pantry items. If you need mac & cheese, they carry a brand called "O'day's" for about 50 cents a box or less, depending if it's on sale or not.
Last note: remember to bring your own plastic bags because they will charge you 11 cents for one.
Here's a video that show you how to get there from Forest Hills:
Update: (July 2012) They have repaired Walk Hill St. and it's a nice ride now.
Now that the Poor Student has made 6 videos for the Scootin' in Boston series, we now have a reason to make a Youtube playlist. If you'd like to keep up with this series but don't want to subscribe to anything, just bookmark this page and watch the playlist below whenever you'd like. However, the Poor Student will continue to make individual blog posts to give more details about each video and a map that you can look at while you're watching the video.
In this episode of Scootin' in Boston, the Poor Student rides the Hammond Parkway and West Roxbury Parkway from Chestnut Hill to Roslindale, MA. We go through four rotaries and the speed limit changes a few times. It's a nice ride. Here's the map. Start on Beacon Street and go south.
In this episode of Scootin' in Boston, the Poor Student starts from Harvard Avenue & Route 9 and rides all the way to Waltham via St. Paul Street and Route 20.
In this video, the Poor Student scoots from Bentley to Cleveland Circle (in Chestnut Hill), passing through Waltham, Newtonville, and Newton. To make your tour more interactive, the video has been annotated (as of July 7, 2013) so that you can click on annotated links within the video if you want to turn right onto the Hammond Parkway or Hammond Street. The new videos will open in new windows. This is the route (start from the top-left):
Start at Bentley University
The video starts with a brief tour of the Bentley campus and a trip to the gas station to pump gas. If you've ever wondered what pumping gas into a scooter looks like, check this video out! The Poor Student also shows you which roads are messed up and which ones are well-maintained. Enjoy the ride!
The Poor Student just got a Tachyon helmet camera and can't wait to scoot all over Boston with it! Below, the first two scootin' videos are posted. The first one is going from Jamaica Plain to Super 88 in Allston/Brighton and the second one is the return trip. Check 'em out!
This video series is intended be useful for new students coming to Boston, people who are curious about what Jamaica Plain and other places look like, tourists, people thinking of getting a scooter but don't know what it might feel like to ride one, people who used to live in Boston and would like to see how the place has changed, and anyone else who is too lazy to ride down the streets of Boston themselves. The map of the routes is posted under the videos below. The Poor Student points out various places on the streets too in the commentary.
Enjoy!
JP to Super 88
Super 88 to JP
Start at the bottom right for the trip to Super 88.
The second line is the difference in the return trip.
Recently, a scooter shop in Avon, MA had a clearance sale because it was about to close down. I took the opportunity to take a ride there to see what I could get for my scooter. In their sale announcement, they said that they had Formosa saddlebags for only $29. Online, they're currently $55 (as of Dec. 29, 2011) but sell for up to $99. In the picture, they don't look durable but they are actually made of very good and sturdy material. The seat cover part is neoprene and the bags are made of a strong synthetic material. The velcro strip is quite wide and more than enough to keep the bags rolled up when they're not in use. I sewed a long strip of reflective tape on each bag for safety because they covered up the reflective tape that I had put on the scooter before I bought the bags.
Video review of Formosa Saddlebags - May 11, 2012
There seems to be only one in-depth review of these saddlebags on Modern Buddy and I wanted to add to that review by showing you how much these bags can hold so that you can see how useful they can be when you want to buy a lot of groceries at one time. With these saddlebags, I have an extra two spaces to put my fruits and vegetables. If I carry my backpack, I have a total of 6 places to carry stuff - the hook in front, the helmet hook under the seat, the under-seat storage (aka "pet carrier"), the backpack, and two saddlebags. However, keep in mind that heat-sensitive things should not be transported in the pet carrier because it gets very warm as the scooter is running. It's perfect for transporting take-out food because it will keep your food warm as you're riding home but very bad for things like raw meat or delicate fruits.
Rather than repeating what has already been said on Modern Buddy, I took some pictures and made a video to quickly review the bags and then show you what you can carry in them.
In the smaller bag (over the exhaust)
I wanted to fill up the two bags but really didn't need any more food for the week. In just the larger bag, I managed to fit a large package of goat chunks, 2 lb bag of onions, bag of shredded collard greens, 5 plantains, a bunch of bananas, 2 packages of bacon, bunch of cilantro, and 6 bagels. The smaller bag had a 10 lb bag of potatoes and 2 mangos but could have fit more.
In the larger bag
These saddlebags are made especially for scooters and the seat part stretches to fit most popular models. The most I've carried in these bags is 3 full (and heavy) bags of groceries. I could have put even more stuff in my backpack, put a bag on the hook in front, a bag on the helmet hook, and another one under the seat! Basically, these saddlebags can almost double the amount of stuff you can carry on your scooter. And, as an added plus, they don't look expensive so the chances of theft are lower than if I had fancy leather saddlebags.
(May 13, 2012): I went to buy groceries and managed to carry all of this in the saddlebags:
Approximately 3 full grocery bags of stuff can fit in the saddlebags
The first thing you need to do before getting scooter or moped is to make sure you have either a driver's license or a permit. If you're from another country, you need to convert your license to a Massachusetts license first, before you can apply for a Class M permit, which you need to get if you want to ride a scooter with an engine that is larger than 50 CC. To ride a 50 CC scooter, you just need a Class M permit or driver's license. I waited in line at the DMV for over an hour and was told that I had to get my driving record from Canada before they could convert my license and then let me test for a Class M permit. It didn't matter that my license was expired either. If your license can be converted, then it has to be converted. Whatever. So, I paid $18 to get my certified driving record and had to wait over a month to get it in the mail. When Ontario says that it takes 10 to 15 days to process your order, they start the time when they actually send the thing to the processing place. They sat on my application for almost a month before sending it! Okay, enough about that.
This is a video of a typical ride from Jamaica Plain to Super 88 in Allston:
Ok, so why am I telling you about buying a scooter when this blog is about eating and drinking good stuff for not much money? Well, the point is that one is limited to places around the subway (aka "T-stations" in Boston) if you don't have a personal mode of transportation. A car is just too expensive and bicycles are a little dangerous on some roads. Scooters can give you convenience and help you save money in the long-run. I had a room mate who got into at least 2 bicycle accidents but was fortunately saved by his helmet. He eventually got a motorcycle. For me, I'm just not a big enough badass to get a motorcycle, so I got a scooter. However, I wanted to be just a little badass and opted for the 125 CC scooter instead of the 50 CC scooters, which don't require an M license. The main reason for wanting to get the 125 CC one was because I wanted to be able to keep up with traffic on roads that have speed limits of 30 mph. I know that the 50CC scooters can go up to 30 mph but sometimes the actual speed at which motorists travel on those roads is a little higher. In short, the 125 will give me a few more choices in terms of roads that I can travel on without feeling like I'm holding up traffic. I bought my scooter at Scooters Go Green. Having a scooter gives me a lot more options in terms of where I can go. Public transit only takes you so far and going beyond the central area costs extra. The commuter rail is quite expensive if you go outside Boston. With a scooter that runs 80 to 90 miles per gallon, each trip costs much less than a subway ticket. Some great cheap eats are only bus accessible, which means that you either have to pay extra for delivery or take the bus to get there and back but have cold food. And, if you can get take-out instead of delivery, you'll save on the delivery charge (sometimes $2) and the tip. If you still wanna tip, that's great - I respect that. There are also some places that are only bus accessible or would take 30 or 40 minutes to walk there but only 10 minutes to scoot there. This is when having a scooter is really cool - you get to explore the places that you would never have gone before! For example, I live near a Popeye's Chicken, which would take about 40 minutes to walk there but on my scooter, I can be there in about 10 minutes. There's also a Save-a-lot market near there and I would never have gone without my scooter. If you think about the mileage in terms of how much it costs to scoot one mile, at the peak of $4/gallon at 90 miles/gallon, it's only 4.4 cents a mile! I used to pay $3.40 a day to commute to school but now, it's just a little over a buck a day (it's 12 miles each way). That really adds up. [Update - Jan. 14, 2012 - MBTA proposed fare hikes]
Insurance and Safety
If you have a clean driving record and take the motorcycle course, your scooter insurance could be as low as $100 a year. So, you're not only saving on gas, but also on insurance. Also, I highly recommend taking the MSF motorcycle course for safety (and not just the savings on insurance). It's quite obvious that riding a scooter or motorcycle is more dangerous than driving a car. However, the MSF course will help you lower your chances of getting into accidents because they will teach you everything about riding a motorcycle safely, from what to wear when riding to learning how to swerve safely. It only takes a weekend and you'll save 10% on your scooter/motorcycle insurance for the rest of your life (and maybe your life too). As an extra precaution, I try not to ride my scooter in the rain or snow. I've ridden in the rain before but it's not fun. Sometimes you'll still have to take public transportation but hopefully the weather cooperates enough so that you can realize some significant savings in addition to the added convenience that the scooter provides.
[Update: July 2012]: Recently, there have been a few scooter thefts in the Boston area. If you don't already have one, get a heavy duty chain lock and make sure your scooter is securely locked to an immovable object, such as a light post. One of the scooters that was recovered was in ugly condition when the owner retrieved it.
