From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

I’m a big fan of Rachael Ray’s “$40 Dollars A Day,” where the ubiquitous Food Network star goes to different places around the world and shows you how you can enjoy three meals a day for forty bucks or less. Although, sometimes I feel bad for Rachael because there’ll she be in a beautiful place like Rome and she’s having a crust of bread and an olive for dinner because she’s already spent $39.50 on breakfast and lunch.

But I have to admit in these increasingly troubling economic times, I’ve been thinking of ways to cut costs when it comes to dining and entertainment. So I’ve come up with some things in L.A. that my family of four can enjoy for $20 or less. Unfortunately, the budgets are tight on some of these and I may have to bring along my own bread crust.

Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel. Honestly, ferris wheels scare me to death, but I may have to buck up and try this one out. It’s the new solar-powered Pacific Wheel that’s part of Pacific Park, the amusement park on the Santa Monica Pier. Admission to the park is free, but tickets for the ferris wheel are $5 apiece. That would eat up our entire $20, but we’d be rewarded with some spectacular views of the California coastline. Unfortunately I wouldn’t have enough money left over to buy a barf bag.

The Getty Center. I know, I’ve mentioned this place like a gazillion times, but it still stands out as one of the best deals in town. For only $8 for parking, we have access to all the exhibits and the awesome Getty Gardens. Best of all, the $12 we have left over will buy each of us a snack. Or, if I’m feeling cranky, a couple of cappuccinos for me and a few sugar packets that my husband and two kids can split between them.

Friday Night Jazz at the L.A. County Museum of Art (LACMA). Our kids aren’t big jazz fans, but they still love this. It takes place on Fridays from 6-8pm during April through November in the main courtyard of the museum. It’s absolutely free, which means if we pack some juice and snacks for the kids my husband and I can spend our $20 on a couple of nice cool martinis while we listen to first-rate jazz. All the galleries are free after 5pm, so as soon as the kids started requesting the sax player to play some White Stripes we’d be able to whisk them out of there for a stroll through the galleries.

The Beach. This needs no explanation, really. We’ll pack sunscreen, some snacks, our iPods and a couple of books. The kids will play all day long, and my husband and I will fantasize about buying a beach house when we win the lottery. If you can find parking for free you can spend the entire $20 on incredibly tasty junk food at the snack bar. Sunshine, ocean breezes and deep-fried food – what more could you ask for?

Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Like many museums around town, MOCA has a night where admission is free and theirs is Thursday, from 5-8pm. For $20 the four of us could easily share two of their generous sandwiches and have some sparkling sodas at Joachim Splichal’s Patinette Café. Then we could browse the gallery until closing. Unfortunately the visit would still be a complete letdown to my 12-year-old, since we wouldn’t have any money leftover to spend in the gift shop.

With gas prices as high as they are now, I realize that a measly $20 wouldn’t even cover the gas to get to some of these venues, but even Rachael Ray cheats a bit. You think she’s getting to that restaurant in Greece on a public bus? Personally, I think she goes back to her hotel after being a ‘$40 A Day’ tightwad and orders up three hundred dollars worth of room service.

Photo: Pacific Park Santa Monica

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

1. Give 5 adjectives that you would use to describe the “feel” of your town and its residents.
Diverse. Creative. Vibrant. Open-minded. Fun-seeking. (I know, that was actually seven words. I guess that rules out ‘mathematically-inclined.’)

2. What is your favorite neighborhood in your town?
There are so many neighborhoods I love, it’s hard to choose just one. So I’m going to totally bend the rules and pick two. I’m lawless like that.

My first pick would have to be the neighborhood I grew up in and where my mother still lives in the home where she raised me and my four siblings: South Central. Okay, I chose it mainly for sentimental reasons, but also because I feel it’s an area that’s been given a bad rap that it doesn’t always deserve. It’s the home of the Museum of Natural History, the amazing Watts Towers and the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Not to mention the fact that one of my favorite movies, John Singleton’s “Boyz In The Hood” was filmed on my block. That’s money right there.

My second pick would be the Miracle Mile neighborhood, where I spent most of my twenties and that really defines my single years. It’s well known for the L.A. County Museum of Art, (LACMA) but I’m particularly fond of the stores and restaurants that line La Brea Boulevard; Nancy Silverton’s famous La Brea Bakery and her Campanile restaurant, and the local favorites Café Midi and Purans. And I have some wonderful memories of the late, great Pik-Me-Up Café, one of the first authentic coffee houses in L.A.

3. Which cuisine do you think your town does best? What is the runner-up?
Hands down, L.A. does Mexican food the best. Runner up would be Japanese, and dinner parties with both enchiladas and sushi on the table are not unheard of.

4. What is the best free thing to do?
The Getty Center. For just the price of parking ($8) you’ve got access to the museum, the amazing gardens and my favorite cafeteria in the city. It’s an even better deal if you can cram twelve people into your Prius. Not that I recommend it, but I’m just saying.

5. What is your favorite type of entertainment?
Not to sound lazy or gluttonous, but anything that doesn’t require a great deal of walking and is in close proximity to good food. (Wow – that sounded totally lazy and gluttonous.) Obviously backpacking with freeze-dried rations is out, but I can have an amazing time at the ArcLight Cinemas with their cafés and coffee bars in the lobby, and a nightclub with a good steak on the menu is heaven to me.

6. List the best family friendly activity.
The beach! Fun, free, healthy and relaxing. There’s something for the whole family in there – the kids can run around, play in the water and be as loud as they want to be, while my husband and I can relax and listen to our iPods or dive into a good book. As I mentioned in my answer to #5 above, it doesn’t require a lot of walking and, if I pack a nice lunch, is in very close proximity to good food.

7. What spot would you send a couple, looking for a romantic weekend?
The W Hotel is one of our favorite spots. But keep in mind that for my husband and I, both designers, the sight of a Phillippe Starck sink and a beautiful brushed steel elevator really gets us hot. For you more traditionalists, Shutters On The Beach in Santa Monica is very romantic, and you’ll probably see a few celebrities there, too. What could be more romantic than seeing Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore together? Besides Ashton Kutcher alone, that is.

8. Describe a perfect day…one that captures what your area/city is all about. In 3 sentences or less.
Breakfast at an outdoor café. A few lazy hours at the beach with friends and family. Dinner, a movie and then a stroll down the Third Street Promenade. (This would take place in February, while the rest of the country is freezing.)

9. Tell us about a place that you love to go, whether it is in the guidebooks or not.
Disneyland. And that is the strangest answer coming from me, because in all honesty I loathe amusement parks. But I love going to Disneyland because I’ve never seen my kids happier than when we’re walking through the turnstiles heading towards Main Street or getting on the Pirates of the Caribbean. I hope they remember this when they grow up and return the favor by wheeling me over to Costco once in awhile.

10. What should we have asked, but didn’t?
What is the most overrated activity that I tell visitors to avoid like the plague?

Shopping on Rodeo Drive. Rude people, bad service and will cost you thousands. And all that’s just the valet parking.