Frugal Fragmental Fridays

It has been a long long long time since I posted at Frugal Fridays. There are many reasons for this. The main one being, I haven't had anything especially frugal to share. But since this is not only Frugal Friday at Life As Mom it is also Friday Fragments at Half Past Kissing Time. I thought I could get my lead fragment to be frugal. Let's see how I do.

Fragment 1: Is Groupon for the truly Frugal?

About a year ago I joined Groupon. I remember it was mid April we were visiting Amy's brothers in Madison and Spider Droid had just come back from a hike listening to the spring peepers. Spring Peepers are frogs before I start getting angry comments. I borrowed my BIL's computer and I signed up for group-on.

Since then I have been receiving regular e-mail from them about various deals. It wasn't until today that I actually used one of them. Either the deals are not something Aim (I sometimes call my wife Aim, deal with it.) and I are interested in like a wine tasting or they are not really good deals or and this is generally it we'd have to spend money we normally wouldn't to save money.

The deal I got today is a good case in point. I got an e-mail to get a ticket to a movie called The Lincoln Lawyer which opens tomorrow for $6.00. They said the ticket was a $13.00 value and yes there are movie theatres near us that have tickets in the double digits. But thanks to our local theatre having $6.50 tickets for general admission and going to the early bird shows when we do go to a different theatre we have seldom had to pay so much. The truth is that The Lincoln Lawyer is showing at our theatre this weekend and we can get early bird tickets for $4.50. Even better we have been incrementally increasing the amount of time we have been letting our oldest watch the other 2 and we should be able to go sometime during the day and give her her first 2 hour babysitting gig.

So why did I buy tickets for $6.00 for a show I can see for $4.50? Good question. The answer is I didn't. I had a $5.00 off coupon so I bought 1 ticket for $1.00. Our total movie experience will be probably less than $20.00. A dollar for the movie for me, $4.50 for Aims ticket. Another $4.50 for a kids combo (you don't have to be a kid to get it) which is popcorn and a drink with 3 refills. That puts the total at 10. We will probably give Puppy $5 for the baby sitting so the whole thing will run 15.

This brings up my point: Is groupon worth it for the frugal? Does it help you do things you would normally not do? Or does it tempt you to spend money that you normally would not? Leave a comment and let me know.

All of you visiting from Frugal Friday can go home to Mom now. Unless you want to stay for further fragment. Actually now that I think about it. Fragment 2 has a financial application as well. SO STICK AROUND!

Fragment #2: Giving it up for Lent

This is the second of my Lenten Observations segments. Have you ever lent somebody something and not gotten it back? Have you ever lent somebody something and forgot who you gave it to? Have you ever not gotten something returned and have had difficulty getting over it? I hope so, I would hate to think it was just me.

I have learned very few things wholly by other's examples or advice. Many times I have had to learn through my own experience or mistakes. When I was a teenager a friend of mine lent a friend of his (an acquaintance of mine) a sizable amount of money. He then watched week after week his friend spend money on non essentials while she kept the debt to Him unpaid. This was very frustrating for my friend. He learned an important principle any money he lent out he would consider gone for good. In fact he would not even call it lending he would just give it away if he could. I have followed his principle for almost 30 years now. I have given co-workers money and weeks later (generally when I needed it most) they would pay be back. To me it was found money.

I have found the lesson a lot harder to emulate with things. I gladly give away anything to any one who wants it. Especially my books music or movies. However if it is not returned. I don't forget about it as I do with money. Money comes and goes. But things have a kind of permanency to them. If I front $10.00 to another home school parent for a field trip, I can use a different $10.00 if the need comes up. If the parent forgets to pay me back, I can easily make do without it. I mean I can literally forget about it. But if I lend a DVD about dinosaurs to someone and then forget who. The next time I want to watch it, I can't because I no longer have it. For whatever reason I have a habit of lending things to people that are no longer readily available for purchase or now out of my price range.


Over the past few years I have been convicted to try to let go of this feeling of loss when it comes to unreturned possessions. Strangely enough I know some people who are exactly the opposite of me. They can give away possessions without any problems whatsoever but have a real hard time with unpaid debt. I have decided that this Lenten Season I would "give up" any thing I have not ever received back as lent. Yes it's a bad pun, but a good philosophy. It is more of an internal task to stop trying to remember who I gave things to and just be content with what I have. I have a few things out to people right now. Hopefully with God's help I will not think of these things as my possessions again until when and if I again possess them.

Fragment #3 Am I the only one out there who loves Detroit 1-8-7?

One of my favorite television related websites is the cancel/renew index. Each week it goes through t.v. shows by network and prognosticates what will stay and what will go. generally the shows I like the most are the ones without the staying power. When Detroit 1-8-7 came out this Fall, I thought I found a show that would be around for a long long time. A smart, funny, well filmed procedural with some excellent acting and storytelling. Yet every week, I see at the cancel/renew index that it has little to no chance of a second season. I love watching it on Hulu each week and wondered if there was anyone else who liked it.

Well those are my fragments frugal and otherwise for this Friday. For more Fragments click here.

Don't forget Frugal Fridays!

Saving money in these difficult financial times is becoming a necessity rather than a luxury. One good way to save money is to see what other people are doing. Frugal Friday, a weekly blog meme currently being hosted at Life as Mom, is a weekly collection of money savings tips.

I haven't shared an idea through this forum in quite a while. What I am sharing today is actually rather tongue in cheek. However, I do review the ideas found there from time to time and suggest you do the same.

My money saving idea this week is simply this:

Don't get a hair cut. Get them all cut.

This is a picture of my Son charlie taken two weeks ago. As you can see he is in need of a haircut. My Dad often cuts his hair, so that saves money . Sometimes we just can't find the time to get him over to my Dad's so yesterday I took him out to get a haircut. I had a 2.00 coupon so I saved a little money on the haircut.

My real money saving tip is this.

Extend times between visits.

This cut was all Charlie's idea as attested by his joyous expression. The stylist begged him to reconsider his 1 1/2 top 1 back approach. It will be some time before he needs a hair cut and that saves money!

For some real money saving tips head over to Life as Mom for Frugal Friday.

Next Time: Six Word Saturday

Free Things This Thursday and Friday

It's Thursday and I am pinch hitting again for Michelle at Psalm 104:24 for her wonderful carnival: Three Things This Thursday. If you read my last post you know Free works for me. For today's post I will tell you of three free things I have done or will do this week.

1. Lincoln Park Zoo/Lake Michigan, Chicago, IL

I love zoos. I have been to zoos in four countries on three continents. The Lincoln Park Zoo is one of the few free zoos in the United States. Located off of Lake Shore Drive in Chicago it is just across the street from Lake Michigan. We generally visit the zoo and then spend some time at the beach. This is exactly what we did this Monday. I have been going to that zoo for over 35 years and I still can't get over how I can be looking at a lion, look up and see the Sears Tower.

We packed our own lunch so the total cost of our afternoon at the zoo/beach was money for gas and $4.00 for parking. It did take us around 10 minutes to find a meter, but well worth it.

Now as I have said very few zoos are free, many however, have free days. I have been to free days at zoos in Springfield and Milwaukee in the past year. Check your local zoo's websites to see if they have any free days.

2. Six Flags Great America - Gurnee, IL

Now Six Flags Great America is not technically free. If they were, it might explain their latest financial woes. My two oldest children did earn free tickets to the park in a reading program this past year. I love Great America and was hoping to be able to afford to take the kids there this year. Their free tickets paved the way. I bought a seasons pass which has 4 free ticket vouchers (two are already expired). I will be able to go again twice this year just for the price of parking (twenty five dollars for close to the park, fifteen dollars for far from the park.) Note: you can save much money by bringing food with you and eating in the car. However if you park far from the park, this can be time and energy consuming. Also, Great America will not readmit people after 7 p.m., SO bringing your food will work great for lunch, but make sure you check your watch if you plan to do the same for dinner. We had a late lunch, only going back to the car once.

The water park was also included in the kids' free tickets and my annual pass so we hit that as well. We had a great time on rides like Jester's Wild Ride (sound's an awful lot like a Disney World ride, hmmmm?), Bumper Cars and the Home Town Fun Machine (Video Below). I plan on going at least twice more and using my free vouchers so my next trips should only cost gas and parking. By my math that's 7 people at Great America for the cost of one season's pass ($60.00) and 3 times parking in the cheap seats (45.00) all made possible by kids who love to read!




3. Baseball Game at U.S. Cellular Field. Chicago, IL

I have mentioned in previous posts how I am able to go to take my kids to White Sox games at just the cost of transportation and parking due to their kids club program. The tickets you get are generally on the upper deck and while I firmly believe there are no bad seats at the Cell (The old Comiskey Park had seats directly behind poles), sitting that far away from the action can hinder the ball park experience a little. Especially when your son is keen on catching foul balls.

This Friday, The White Sox are hosting the second annual Double Duty Classic at the Cell. The games are an homage to the old negro leagues and feature an all star game from high school baseball players from inner cities around the U.S. The game is free to the public and free parking is available as well. Charlie and I will be there when gates open at noon and look forward to having a great day and learning more about the negro leagues. Maybe we will even catch a foul ball.

So that's it for me. Those are the free things for this week. Now it's your turn. Blog about three free things (or any three things at all) and click on Mr. Linky. Nobody participated last week, and while we all want Michelle back and running this, we also want her to think that the carnival is in capable hands (she doesn't have to know the truth). If you have any trouble with Señor Linky, let me know and He and I will get things squared away!

It is now friday and I am double dipping at Frugal Fridays. If you want to see what other tips are out there go to Life as Mom. Also, if any of your tips are free things (3 or any other amount) feel free to link it here.




Next Time: An Award for me?

Never Assume.

I did not know that Frugal Fridays had moved. Biblical Womanhood had been carrying it and I felt a little bit self conscious posting there (although I did on an infrequent basis) Now it's at Life as Mom and I am no more Mom than I am woman. Or perhaps not. As the stay at home parent and school teacher my life right now is much more Momish than it was a year ago. I mean that was me getting my sink to shine earlier this year wasn't it?

It seems like a valid assumption that the bigger the size of the package the lower the cost per unit. That's generally why people buy in bulk. While this is generally true, my word to the frugal is never assume.

With three children under 10, and all budding artists, I go through a lot of colored construction paper. Walmart sells the Rose Art brand at 88 sheets for 2.00. They also sell the Rose Art 200 pack. If you did the math you would see that the cost for 200 sheets at the 88 for $2.00 price would be $4.55. You would then assume that the cost for the 200 sheet would be less than that maybe $4.25 maybe $4.50. You would be wrong. My Walmart sells the bigger package for $5.00.

This is not the only instance I have seen this. Michael's sells their craypas ( oil pastel crayons) at a greater cost per unit than their smaller sets. I don't think that this is purposely done to defraud the customers as this is the exception rather than the rule. However, it is not a bad idea to double check when you go for the larger size.

The same thing is true for places like Costco and Sam's club. The discounts, while significant to the same brands smaller packages sometimes cannot compare to off brand labels available at places like Aldi.

So bigger can be better but that doesn't always make it cheaper. For more Frugal Friday suggestions go to Life As Mom.

Next Time: A Message From Springfield.

Eliminate Recurring Charges

It's been a fortnight since my first Friday of frugality (Say that with a cookie in your mouth. To follow the frequency of F's make it a fig bar.)

Last time I was here, I said that a key to frugality is to know when to spend and when not to. Today's post is all about when not to. First, I must say that none that follows is meant to be judgemental or prideful. If you came into my house, and followed how we spend our money, you would see many ways that we either spend or money unwisely, or spend money in a way that you never would. What I am talking about today is about the major ways we save money. These tips are certainly not for everyone.

The main way we save money at my house is on what we have decided to do without, not with what we spend less on. We really only have 5 monthly recurring bills. electricity, gas, home phone (which is bundled with our Internet connection) our mortgage, and our credit card bill. We are on a budget right now that would put us down to 4 monthly recurring bills by the beginning of 2010 when we hope to have our credit card paid off for good.

Now, of course, we fill our tanks and are cars tanks to keep us and them moving. Those are basically pay as you go. We don't have cable. We don't have a monthly cellular bill. We also have a bare bones phone package. We have been married nearly 11 years and in all that time we have not had call waiting, or caller i.d.. I was just at my phone company's website and the cost of those two features is 13.22 per month. That's almost $160.00 for 1 year. And what's the downside? We don't know who's calling us and sometimes people get a busy signal. We are actually not on the phone all that much, and I am pretty good at guessing who's calling by the time of day and other contextual clues. The problem with that is no one is impressed when I guess it's them, they just assume that I have caller i.d.

The one that gets most people, is the no cable. Truth be told we moved our T.V. away from the antenna about a year ago and no one in our family has complained. We watch plenty of television, it's either on DVD, videocassette or watching on the Internet. Many of the DVDs and videos are borrowed from our library at no cost to us. Don't get me wrong we love cable in moderation. Amy and I stayed in a hotel last weekend and there is nothing like watching 4 episodes of Law and Order in a 12 hour period. We just don't like paying for it.

My wife and I do not use our cell phones much. We text each other grocery lists and that sort of thing and when we compare notes with those with monthly plans what we pay averages out to never more than 1/2 of what they pay.

Again, I don't write this to be judgmental, critical, or prideful. I share it because I think, that eliminating or trimming down even one of your monthly recurring charges could make quite an impact on your personal finances. I know it has on ours. Even if we can't watch Law and Order four times a day.

Click here to see other good ideas for saving money at Frugal Friday part of Biblical Womanhood.

Next Time: A final word about encouraging words

Annual/Season Passes: Deal or no Deal?

It's Friday, and that means that frugality reigns in blog world. This is my first foray into Frugal Friday which appears weekly at Biblical Womanhood. At the end of my post I will avail you with the opportunity to scramble over that way and see what other frugal festivities abound.

I think a key to frugality is to know when to spend and when not to spend. Amy (for those who don't know, Amy is my wife. She's my wife for those who do know, as well) and I have often nickel and dimed ourselves out of money rather than the other way around. One area where we have learned frugality is in knowing when to get annual or season passes and when not to. You know how when you are at a museum, amusement park or the like and the ticket person advises you that you could get an annual pass for another 50 dollars. When do you go for the upgrade and when is enough enough? I have a few ideas that have helped us make those decisions.

Know in Advance Your Plan of Use.

As I mentioned earlier this week we are a swimming family. We hit the local pool in the summer time as often as we can. The cost for our family last year was 18 dollars per visit. The cost of a summer pool pass for a family our size was 199 dollars. So the break-even point for us was 11 visits. We can generally manage that in a fortnight. In order to know whether such a venture would work for you, you would have to know how often you would be using the pass. If our family went only 5 times we would be out almost 110 dollars. Ten times and we'd be down only twenty bucks. If we went 20 times during the summer we would save 160 dollars. As a certain bald headed game show host might tell us, "we made a good deal."

Know What Doesn't Work for You.

A few years ago, our family got an annual pass at a Children's Museum. The particular pass allowed us to have free admission to a variety of other children's museums as well as the original museum. It worked quite well for us. Our children were 5 and 3 and the museums were perfect for them. Last summer the children each received a free ticket to attend that museum. They quite enjoyed themselves. But now at 8 and 6, I don't think it would hold their interest for regular visits, although the 2 year old did love it. The cost of the pass we got a few years ago is 110 dollars per year. The cost for me and the children to go by ourselves is $34.00. Break-even would be 4 visits. I am not sure that we have the interest for 2 visits a year let alone 4. Also we generally get 3 0r 4 free tickets to the place every year. So, I think I'd have to say: No deal.


Don't Let Season Passes Force the Fun Out of Your Fun.

My parents, God bless them, take each of their grandchildren on a pilgrimage to Disney World prior to their 10th birthday, so they can still get the children's rates. Emma went last April. My parents got a terrific deal on a multi-kingdom ticket or some such thing. Every day they went to a new place and had a terrific time. When Emma came back, I asked her what her favorite day was. She said the day they stayed at the hotel and played at the pool there all day. An extreme example of this would be subjecting yourself or your family to something you didn't like just to get your money's worth.

Don't Overdo It.

We generally never have more than one season's or annual pass at a time. The year we had the pass at the children's museum, we didn't renew our zoo pass. Also in this vain, we usually don't automatically renew our annual passes. For the zoo, we buy a new one the next time we go after the pass lapses. This way we get the maximum use of the pass.

Play on House Money.

I often will use money I have received as gifts or tax refunds to purchase passes with. This for us increases the savings and lets us use our regular income on regular items. I hope these tips will help you too to have fun on a budget. For more ideas on Friday Frugality click here.

Next Time: What would you ask the President?