by Tan Hui Yee, Danielle Ang, Lynn Lee, Susan Long, Sandra Davie, Radha Basu, Wong Kim Hoh, Chua Hiah Hou

8. Cook at home

HOME cooking or baking parties are making a comeback among youth. Besides the obvious financial savings of eating in, they get to BYO (bring your own bottle), watch a few movies, all without dressing up.

Best of all, the food bill can be split among friends.

Miss Dawn Chia, 20, and her friends first started hanging out at one another's homes and cooking together as secondary school classmates.

'It was a natural progression. We started out cooking the usual instant noodles and cocktail sausages combo back then, but we're slightly better now,' says the psychology undergraduate at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She has since progressed on to stir fries and pasta dishes with her friends.

'If we can filch some ingredients from the fridge, we do. Usually our friends' parents don't mind, just as long as we don't eat up everything,' says Miss Dionne De Souza, 20, a fellow NUS undergraduate.

Sometimes, they organise theme parties to match the day's menu, such as dressing up as quirky Harajuku girls to match the sushi rolls they prepare.

Or guests come as rock stars, dine on home-made hamburgers, then proceed to compete in Guitar Hero on the PlayStation.

9. Crash and cash

MISS Jasmine Ong, 23, is a student on a shoestring budget. Yet, she managed to tour expensive cities like London and Paris last year - without spending a cent on hotels.

The National University of Singapore undergraduate did it by joining Couchsurfing, a free online hospitality network with 600,036 members worldwide, including 2,405 Singaporeans.

It is a trust-based system that thrives on the concept of paying it forward, which allows you to find hosts in 231 countries, locals to show you around, perhaps a place to crash at night - for no cost at all.

Returning the favour of hosting other Couchsurfers in your country suffices as payment.

National serviceman Theophilus Poh, 20, visited Canada for a month as a Couchsurfer. Touring Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal was a breeze, with six Couchsurfers hosting him, showing him around and providing accommodation.

'I brought along only $1,000, half of which was spent on transport. The rest was spent on food and finding accommodation in remote areas,' he says.

He has hosted at least 10 Couchsurfers, ranging from Germany to the United States, in his parents' five-room HDB flat. 'Besides the friendships you make, hosting is addictive. There's no better way to fall in love with your own city than to be a tourist just for a few days,' he says.

10. Home movie

A FAMILY of four watching a movie on weekends now runs up a tab of over $40, not including popcorn.

So why not replicate the cinema experience at home? Try out www.homepal.com.sg, www.videoezy.com.sg, or www.hollywoodclicks.com, which offer DVD-by-mail rentals.

For $36.95, $37.34 and $41.73 a month respectively, you get to watch three DVDs at a time, and keep them as long as you want. No late fees, no due dates, no need to drive out to pick them up. They are delivered to you by mail and you drop them off in the post when done.

If you keep up a good watching pace, each DVD rental works out to $3 or less.

Music store Gramophone also offers unlimited flat-rate rentals at six stores islandwide. For $30 a month, you can rent three DVDs at a time, including blockbusters, documentaries and concerts.

Alternatively, try the DVD dispenser CineNow (www.cinenow.com.sg). It uses pre-paid cards that can be accessed at 24- hour kiosks in 11 locations around the island. Prices are between $3 and $3.50 per day.

Or order in DVDs from www.7frames.com, just like pizza. It delivers DVDs to you within three hours of your telephone order between noon and 8pm daily. Prices range from $4 per DVD or $5 for new releases. Add an additional $6 for delivery.

If you're a bricks-and-mortar person, get unlimited DVD rentals from public libraries for $21 a year under the Premium membership.

At any one time, you can borrow up to four DVDs for 14 days. They cannot be renewed, but reservations for up to eight DVDs can be made at $1.55 per disc. Check out www.nlb.gov.sg/page/Corporate_Library_Guide for more details.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on July 5, 2008.