10 Ways to Spend Smarter

Skip the Cineplex and Download Movies Online

If you can no longer justify paying $10.50 for a movie ticket, hit up iTunes for special deals. Here you can find $3 movie rentals and the free Single of the Week, which is posted every Tuesday. And if you’re looking to expand your music collection, check out the following $12 compilations (simply search for the compilation name). The songs aren’t by the original artists, but in most cases they sound as if they’re performed by a decent cover band at a local bar. (And $12 for 100 new songs on your iPod isn’t a bad deal, considering the originals would set you back $99.)

100 Country Hits, $12: Features occasionally twangy covers of songs by Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Shania Twain, Lonestar, and more.

100 Hits of the 80s, $12: Includes covers of your most embarrassing favorites, like “Footloose,” “Karma Chameleon,” and “Eternal Flame.”

Music From Chick Flicks, $12 (for 50 songs): Download hits from Pretty Woman, Dirty Dancing, Legally Blonde, Muriel’s Wedding―you name it.

At hulu.com, an online video service that offers free downloadable hit TV shows and movies, users can choose from more than 900 prime-time TV hits, as well as classics and movies such as St. Elmo’s Fire and Men in Black. Looking for newer releases? Go to redbox.com to see if the company has a rental kiosk near you. Each Redbox kiosk holds up to 700 DVDs, which, via a touch screen and a major credit card, can be rented for $1 a night. Afterward, return the movies to any Redbox location.