This is the first installment of Morningside Lows, an ongoing series about cheap and local goings-on.

$150 in credit is frozen on your Mastercard. African security guards constantly peer over your narrow shoulders. Dirty staffers give you dirtier looks when you ask where you can find High Fidelity (Directors section, under F, for “Frears, Stephen” — duh). That’s right, you rent from Kim’s. And if you do, there’s a good chance that you pay $2.50 to take out videos overnight. But Bwog, in the interest of saving you a non-swipeable dollar, would like to make an impassioned plea for one of our neighborhood’s best bargains: the same-day movie rental.

Though the ol’ Mediapolis recently raised the same-day fee from $1.25 to $1.50 — a 25-cent hike as sad as Koronet’s decision to increase the price of a jumbo slice two years ago — it still remains a great deal.

You get to pick from Kim’s terrific selection of obscure and foreign titles, and in the process, you’ll save a full $13 — counting the subway rides — over a “matinee” at the Loews at 68th. Movies aren’t due back until 11:30pm the day you rent them, making this a perfect value for any Columbia student bored during a weekend afternoon or early evening. Just be sure to check the director’s name before you go.

– C. Mason Wells