Frugal Failures: Shopping and Dining

Hello, everyone! So this is more of a post about frugal failures, unfortunately. Well, some successes, but in general, I think I got out of practice taking that vacation, haha.

So on Monday, I did a shortened version of my shopping rounds: Walmart, Stop and Shop, and Shoprite. Walmart was kind of a disappointment--the result was one tube of Colgate ($1-$1off coupon from P&G 6/29=free) and one tube of Crest ($1.66-$1off coupon from P&G 7/5=$0.82-->ok, the cashier messed this up clearly, but there was a big line and I didn't want to make a fuss). But anyway, $0.41 a tube for brand name toothpaste isn't all that bad.

At Stop and Shop I grabbed a couple of cans of Muir Glen diced tomatoes w/Italian herbs (the whole tomatoes were gone, but these were being discontinued as well). The price for these broke down to: $1.59-50%off-$1off coupon=free. I also picked up a package of Yo-plus vanilla yogurt (2/$4-$1=$1/1). I really like this brand because the cups are so convenient, without having the high price tag of other individual cups that cost at least $0.69-$1.19 each.

Finally, at Shoprite I picked up a bunch of Muir Glen tomato pastes ($0.99-$1off coupon=free) and a bottle of International Delight coffee creamer for $1.66. The latter I got because my mother's birthday was the next day and I wanted her to have something to make her morning special in a simple way. Also, Blue Bunny novelties weren't on sale at all, so that was a big disappointment in this weather.

I guess the other thing I need to start working on is remembering that I don't currently have a source of income. For instance, on my mom's birthday, she wanted to take me and my sister out to lunch. Yes, it would have been very nice, but I would have felt so terrible...So instead I snuck off to talk to the waitress and had her charge the bill to my card. And then, when my mom and sister saw me take the bill at the table to sign off on it, I got so nervous that I left a 25% tip, after, let's face it, pretty poor service. Grrr...The main point of this is that this is something I would normally do without thinking. The difference is that now, for the first time since I was 17, I have no independent source of income. I hate to stop doing spontaneous things like this for my family and friends, but I guess I have to be a little more sensible. Chalk it up to a frugal lapse.

The final frugal failures have been an attempt to go to the free family film festival with my mom(here), only to find it completely overtaken by busloads of camp-kids. Next time we try this, I'll definitely call the theatre ahead of time and ask if they are expecting any large groups! This was replaced by our weekly shopping trip, for which I had forgotten my coupon book...

Hopefully you all are having more success than I have had and I'll learn from my mistakes!

Cheers,
Alison

Frugal Update: Where was I last week?

Well, after such a long hiatus I've been dying to get my life back and get a chance to do an update! As Kathy mentioned in one of her previous posts, I spent a little more than half a week as her houseguest. Definitely the best frugal choice, as she was such a lovely, wonderful friend that she did not ask for any compensation from me and my friend from Toronto who also stayed with her! We enjoyed some new forms of self-entertainment (namely Guitar Hero III, my friend left with a severe addiction!) and some friendly meals together. Other fun things included coupon sharing and swimming.
Besides spending time with Kathy, however, which totally satisfied my inner femme-frugal, I also experienced the not-so-frugal side of Boston. Basically, I spent a lot of time going around the city with friends, who although well-meaning, definitely don't have the frugal ways that I've been trying to cultivate. I was able to encourage them to experience some highlights of Harborfest (Boston's Independence celebration, July 1-11) and the fun of window-shopping/poking around. I would definitely recommend walking around Charles Street (everything there is required to look historic--even the 7-11!) and if you've got the stamina like my group did, you can also treat yourself to a walk through the Boston Commons Garden, which looked very lovely with the roses in bloom.
The week definitely took a turn for the better once we got back home, though. On Friday, my friend stayed with me and we had breakfast and a small lunch at my house, followed by spending the rest of the day at Kathy's family picnic! This was probably one of the highlights of our weekend--it was a lot more relaxed than my house would have been, we went swimming in a rainstorm (awesome!), I got to play with a baby (yay!), and Kathy's brother set off some pretty impressive fireworks. Saturday only had one big expense, which was going to see the movie "Hancock" with Will Smith. Unfortunately, it was definitely not worth the $10.75 it cost to get in--and that was the matinee price! Sunday we enjoyed an amazing chance to view Van Gogh's "Starry Night" and "Cypresses"--completely free. This was preceded by a lovely lunch at a Turkish cafe, which served basket after basket of warm bread.

Now that everything has calmed down there will definitely be more updates! We'd love any comments about your frugal trips or experiences travelling with less-than-frugal companions!
Cheers,
Alison

Soliciting Feedback

In the little less than a month since we have started doing this, we have received almost 200 visitors. To be honest, a fair amount of these are probably myself logging on from different machines, and my family and friends, as I have shamelessly spammed them with the link to this blog. Today, I would like to talk to the rest of you.

I've toyed with the idea of doing a post of all the freebies I've signed up for, but I'm afraid that would get a bit overwhelming on a daily basis. On the other hand, on a weekly basis, there might be so many links it becomes difficult to manage, and some offers may have expired. What do you think readers?

~Katharine
PS - Free sample of Pantene Pro-V color enhancing shampoos and conditioners here. Free sample of Seattle's best coffee here. Free samples of Biore here.

The Carnival of Personal Finance and Technical Difficulties

We were listed over at the Carnival of Personal Finance! Take a moment to check it out. There are some great entries over there this week.

Unfortunately, my internet is down, and Alison is currently my houseguest, so it does not look like there will be any more posts this week. Next week you can look forward to some great content though!

~Katharine