Like most San Franciscans, Ethan Kanat doesn't really go in for celebrity culture. If he ever ran into Lindsay Lohan, he wouldn’t even stop to give her directions to the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic (snap!). Still, he can can get down with local celeb Stuart Schuffman (a.k.a. Broke-Ass Stuart), because he's the antidote to Hollywood marquee excess. Stuart moved to the city after college, worked at Z. Cioccolato "selling candy like a motherfucker," and has since made his way from indie zine producer to website owner to published author to King of Cheap.

Ethan meets up with Stuart in North Beach, his original stomping grounds, and finds there is much fun to be had – whether looking through the bargain rack at the Schein & Schein map gallery, stumbling on an underground record store, hitting up Mario's for a homemade-style meatball sammich, or yukking it up with the cabbies, hookers, club kids, and frat boys at Sam's after hours. And of course at some point they stop by ye ol' Z. Cioccolato for some free candy samples. Stuart's joie de vivre and go-to gems are enough to convince Ethan – it is indeed possible to paint the town red on the cheap. Get the backstory.