I'm not as addicted as he is. I still want presents. Quality presents purchased on clearance for the best possible value for the money, but presents nonetheless.
For Valentine's Day, however, if we celebrate, we do it on the 15th and pick up our cards and candy for 50% off that morning. Besides the obvious benefit, celebrating on the 15th means you beat the crowds as well.
One year, we did celebrate on the 14th. I think it was our first Valentine's Day together before we both realized neither of us really care all that much about Valentine's Day (except for the presents part. I still like the presents part.).
We dressed up and brought a couple of candlesticks to Sylvester's , ordered burgers, and had a candlelight dinner. Then we took a gift certificate to the first evening showing of Chicago. I guarantee you, we beat the crowds that way, too.
I'm not really sure what it is about saving money, but it might be akin to the giggles we get out of timeshare presentations. It feels like winning. Here are these marketing execs who are signing off on millions of dollars in advertising to get me to spend money, and I'm not buying it. Hee! I win.
I do love to win.
If we save enough to pay off our mortgage a la Dave Ramsey and have enough economic freedom to give ridiculously generously, I'll feel like an even bigger winner.
But what makes winning even better right now, is that I don't even have to sacrifice all that much (okay, I still have brown carpet, but it's worth it . . . I think). I just have to find ways to make them pay me to take stuff off their hands. Which is why I like on-line surveys (and CVS). For a a few minutes of my time, Keynote will give me $10 in Amazon GC. And now, I'm getting these
for free. Not even paying shipping.
And now I'd like to give you your first hit for free. Share a money-saving tip in my comments, and you'll be eligible to win a free box of Honey Bunches of Oats. I've got coupons that ask you to send in five non-HBO cereal coupons and receive a free box of HBO. I've already sent in for my free box, and I have more to give away. I'll even fill out the form and send in the non-HBO coupons for you.
4 comments:
I can't pass up a deal like that! My $$ saving tip is grocery related. When we go to the store we always check out the "manager's specials" in the meat section. Last time we were there angus ground beef was on sale but not in the "manager's specials" section. It also had a sell by date for the next day. I asked the meat manager if he could mark it down for me & he told me to go & check the "managers special's" section. I showed him the date & he said he must have missed that package. So of course I showed him another package with the same date. We ended up getting our low fat ground beef for $0.50/lb. I guess my tip would be to check your dates & ask for a reduction. It's going home to be cooked that day or going into the freezer so it's not going to go bad. (We also buy all our salmon the same way. When the manager marks them down we buy all they have for usually $1.99/lb!)
That's an awesome tip! It never occurred to me to ask for a reduction, just to be sad that there wasn't one.
I knew I'd draw you out of the woodwork with an offer of free stuff. ;) Joe can't take all the credit; 20 years of friendship with the bargain-hunter extraordinaire has to have had some effect.
Speaking of bargain-hunting, have you booked your tix yet? Check out Southwest's deals right now.
I just read about this one and it's not technically a money saving tip except that it keeps you from running to the grocery store for last minute ingredients. www.supercook.com
You list the ingredients you have on hand and it will give you recipes that use those ingredients. Very cool.
Looks like you win, Liz. Since mom already has her free box. :) I'll mail out the form this week. You scared off the competition with your "Just ask the manager to make it cheaper" tip.
I'm going to have to check out www.supercook.com, since I have a lot of ingredients on hand these days.
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