Congratulations. If you can see this, you are on viewing bargainbabe on the new hosting. We’re in the process of switching hosting providers, to provide a better user experience. (And to keep me in the house on a sunny friday).
here’s hoping it is all working.
–bargain hubby.
ps. I think I got it right this time.
A reader named Ellie left a great comment this week that showed how you can turn something simple – a patch of water – into a very cheap, very entertaining afternoon for kids. And you can do it almost anywhere there is a public stream!
There’s wonderful park in Hollywood where I used to take my kids (moons ago!). It’s on the north side of Los Feliz, not too far east of Western Ave. Can’t recall the name of the park. There’s a creek that runs through the park, which sometimes has crawdads and other creatures in it. There are picnic tables and benches, and it’s shady, which is great on really hot days.
We used to give the kids tiny bit of hot dogs attached to strings so they could troll the waters for some kind of “catch.” They never caught anything, but were always ready to try, and loved playing in the park.
I bet my nephews would love to “go fishing” at a stream near their house. And my sister would certainly appreciate a few hours off!
Related:
Frugal activities for kids this summer
Free family movies this summer
Summer camp alternatives to save money
A site I contribute to called Toddler Magazine is giving away a 7-night stay for four people at an all-inclusive Club Med resort on Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. The prize does not include airfare. Sign up for the contest here.
You can enter everyday if you like. The contest ends August 1, 2009.
This contest certainly dwarfs the $25 gift cards to Trader Joe’s or Target that I am giving away! Luckily, you can sign up for both. Win my contest and you can purchase a new swim suit to wear at Club Med if you win on Toddler!
I was so pleased to receive a $2 gift card, above, from Subway in the mail yesterday. I had signed up for it as part of a lawsuit settlement that said the sandwich chain had to give out 142,000 $2 gift cards to California residents in February.
I’m always skeptical when I sign up for freebies online and the company says they’ll mail me a coupon in a bazillion weeks. By that time, I’ve completely forgotten about it. But Subway proved me wrong.
Then I tried to use the card.
I needed a quick bite on the road later that day so I decided to get a $5 footlong sandwich so I could use my $2 card. But at the register the card rang up empty.
“It says the card is inactive or invalid,” the cashier told me. Since when does a gift card need to be activated? Sigh. Be friendly, I told myself. It’s not her fault that the company she works for is @#&$%!
“Well I just received the card today,” I said, pulling out my letter from Subway that came with the card. Lord knows why I had brought the letter with me, but it certainly helped convince her I was telling the truth. “I’ve only had this card for four hours.”
She inspected the letter and swiped the card a few more times. Nothing. I called the number on the back of the card to see if I could miraculously “activate” it. No luck. We tried calling an alternative customer service number. Closed for the day.
The cashier swiped the card again. Still nada. Her co-worker, who was sweeping the floor this entire time, came over to study the error message. It hadn’t changed.
By this time, we had wasted at least 15 minutes (Hubby says more like 30) discussing $2. I didn’t want to walk out after they had made me a sandwich. But I wasn’t about to pay the full price. The only reason I went to Subway was to use the card. Grrrr!
Should I give in and pay full price? Or stick to my guns and walk out the door? I was stuck between my hardened bargain instincts and compassion for two workers who probably earned minimum wage.
Eventually the sweeper pushed a button on the cash register that somehow showed the card had $2 on it. At the same time he murmured to the cashier, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the $2.”
I handed over the bills and walked out with my sandwich.
I hope my savings does not come out of this man’s paycheck. Perhaps the employees did figure it out. Perhaps my problematic card was a fluke and the other 141,999 will work perfectly. On the other hand, maybe this is how Subway squeezes profits out of its franchises, which makes me never want to eat there again.
Has anybody else tried to use their $2 Subway gift cards? What happened?
We’re switching servers today so please hang on! The site may be down for a period of time, so if it comes up blank please check back later. Thanks for your patience and for reading BargainBabe.com.
~Julia
aka Bargain Babe
This is an excerpt of a blog post I wrote about my future. It was published today on the forward-looking website Journalism 2.0.
Four months ago I gave up my job as a reporter, blogger and columnist at a mid-size newspaper to launch my own personal finance blog. I knew in my gut that this career path, though uncertain, held more promise.
I prepared for longer hours and brainstormed creative ways to make ends meet. But I didn’t account for a 180-degree shift in perspective about what it means to practice journalism in the Internet age.
My new perspective came about while attending an intense, week-long training program at the Knight Digital Media Center on the campus of the University of Southern California. I was one of 15 mid-career journalists eager to soak up the business skills needed to practice our craft independent of mainstream news organizations…keep reading on Journalism 2.0.
Get 25 percent off your entire purchase of list price items (pretty sure that means full price) at Borders stores May 28-31, 2009. One per person. You must bring the coupon with you and hand it over. Print the coupon here.
Caveats: you must belong to their (free) membership program. Cannot be combined with any other offer, including but not limited to “buy one, get one 50% off” offers. Excludes previous and online purchases, special orders, gift cards, newspapers, magazines, comics, coupon books, eBooks, digital downloads, vinyl LPs, self-publishing programs, Smartbox products, Rosetta Stone® software, shipping, and all electronics, including but not limited to the Sony®Reader and the Zune™. May not be combined with other coupons, sale pricing, or corporate, classroom, or other group discounts.
Thanks, Tina!
My local Albertsons had a huge sign out front the other day that screamed “We’ve cut prices on thousands of items.” Yesterday I received a mailer trumpeting the same message, with lower prices for frozen burritos (5 for $2), apple juice (now $2.49 ea), and spaghetti sauce ($1.29 ea). I bought a dozen eggs for $1.79 at Albertsons, which means they now rival Trader Joe’s on egg prices. My Ralphs flyer boasted a 99-cent sale on Colgate toothpaste, sliced bread, and eggs. Wow! Are your local grocery chains also lowering prices? The LA Times says chains are lowering prices because discounters are eating up their market share.
Perhaps more importantly…
Loading ...Related:
Milk prices have collapsed, dropping 19% since July (AP)
A Minnesota paper asked readers if they are loyal or following the grocery bargains (The Star Press)
Jim at Bargaineering had a really interesting post about the reports you can get on yourself. He takes it a big step past getting a free annual credit history check! Read his post here.
Speaking of stuff for your kids to do this summer, Regal Theaters is once again offer free movies for kids and parents. Each week for 9 weeks starting in late June, select Regal theaters show G- and PG-rated movies on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Seats are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
Tickets are only available at select theaters’ box office on the day of the show. The line up includes Charlotte’s Web, Kung Fu Panda, Horton Hears a Who and more.
For listings of participating theaters by state, a movie calender and details, check out this Regal page.
Thanks, BrokeSocialite!
A blog I contribute to called Go Frugal has a great post with 10 places to find low-budget wedding dresses. Check it out!
Saving at the pump comes down to two things: getting the best price and driving less. With the start of summer driving season I thought I’d share tips to do both, starting with getting the lowest gas price.
- Check the AAA Fuel Gauge Report to monitor trends. The site lists the average gas price for today, yesterday, a week ago, a month ago and a year ago. You can look at prices nationwide, by state or major metro region. Data comes from 100,000 gas stations.
- Search MSN’s gas map for the best prices near your home or on your route. A green marker tags the lowest price, a red marker notes the highest. You can zoom in or search by state, city, and zip code.
- An alternative to the MSN map is GasBuddy.com, which lists gas prices that have been spotted and entered into the site by users. Search for prices by location, grade of gas, or brand.
Tips to conserve gas (no silver bullet here, folks):
- Carpool, take public transit, or telecommute to work
- Drive sensibly (read: slowly). Speeding can increase gas costs by 40 percent!
- Ride your bike whenever you can, it’ll save you money and get you in shape
- Select the highest mpg vehicle available to you (in my neighborhood a few folks have converted golf carts!)
- Consider buying a hybrid, scooter/motorcycle, or other high mpg vehicle
Some people swear by additives, but I’ve never seen any hard evidence. Do you put anything extra in your gas tank?
The BargainBabe.com email subscriber drive has officially launched! It’s free to participate and you can win a $25 gift card to Target or Trader Joe’s (your choice) for joining. Here are the updated rules for the subscriber drive and giveaway.
1. One new reader who signs up between May 26 and June 9 to receive my free daily OR weekly emails will receive a $25 gift card to Trader Joe’s or Target.
2. One existing reader who already receives my weekday OR weekly emails will win a $25 gift card to Trader Joe’s or Target. If you already receive my emails, you are automatically entered to win. You do not need to do anything to be eligible. You do not need to email me to double check.
3. If I am in your RSS feed, you are not eligible to win. You must sign up to receive my emails to be entered in the giveaway.
4. The drive ends June 9, 2009 so sign up now!
5. Winners will be chosen at random on June 10. I will email those readers to make sure the email address is valid. Readers will have 48 hours to respond. If readers do not respond, alternates will be notified.
6. Winners will be announced on the blog June 13. Gift cards will be mailed to the winners.
Any questions? Leave a comment.
A reader asked for suggestions on how she could entertain her kids this summer on the cheap. I’m not a parent but I did spend many high school summers babysitting and tutoring my younger brothers and sisters. I’m afraid what we did is terribly old fashioned: swim at the local pool, tromp through neighborhood stream, design forts, etc.
So I need your help! What are low-budget or free activities you are planning for your child this summer? Are there online resources you are turning to for ideas? Please leave a comment!
Here are ideas to get your started, including a few from Jen’s List, a daily email for Los Angeles families.
- Check your local public library for free events
- Your hometown department of parks and recreation may have low budget summer camps or one-day programs
- Find out which days are free at your local museums
- Create a scavenger hunt for your kids of items they can find nearby. While they search you get a break!
- Help them set up a lemonade stand
- Check if local retailers are offering in-store “workshops” like the 3-hour sessions Apple offered to 8-12 year olds (they’re pretty much all booked, unfortunately)
- Subscribe to FamilyFun Magazine, which Jen says has great crafts and project ideas using supplies you already have in your home. Each month has fun facts and things to do around a holiday or event that month. A one-year subscription is $10 (10 issues). This month Jen’s boys made a Father’s Day calender using their hand prints to make animals.
- Buy a sprinkler to connect to your hose so kids can get wet and cool off. (Note: if you water use is restricted, opt for a wading pool instead.)
- Kids love bubble machines, a relatively cheap toy. Make your own bubbles with dishwasher soap and water.
- Chalk is cheap and kids are only limited by their imagination and sidewalk space. Hopscotch? Self-portraits? Tic-tac-toe?
- Create a schedule with other parents so each person has a day where they run a “camp” at their house. They plan the activities while other parents get a day off.
“If you think about it,” says Jen, “there is more than you could ever do.”
My Dad knows how to squeeze out the last of everything to save a few bucks. Below is a guest post with some of his minor household frugalities. I may sound like a broken record here, but together they add up.
1. If you like liquid hand soap, buy a large container and refill small dispensers instead of buying new small dispensers. Saves money and reuses the plastic containers. In the Bay Area, gallon containers of soap can be bought at Costco and Smart & Final.
2. To use the last bit of a bar of soap, when a bar gets thin, get out a new bar. Use both in a shower, then press them together. They will essentially fuse, and you get to completely use the old bar instead of having the last thin piece break up and go down the drain.
3. I use liquid laundry detergent. When a container is almost empty, I start a new one. When the new one has some space, I put a large plastic funnel in its opening and invert the old container over the funnel and leave it overnight, so ALL of it can drain out, into the new container.
4. The new plastic mayo containers, that you store upside down, are actually not for the frugal. First, it’s so much fun to squeeze it that I almost always get too much on my sandwich (hey, the designers aren’t stupid; they want you to use as much as possible.) Then, because of the shape, it’s hard to get the last of the mayo out of the container. It doesn’t all run down to the mouth, and without a curved knife (or a very long finger), you can’t clean out the container. Stick with wide-mouth glass jars; eschew plastic.
5. When a tube of toothpaste gets near the end,I use the handle of a toothbrush to squeeze the tube flat and force the contents to the end with the opening. (I admit to never having cut open a tube. Squeezing the end flat is good enough for me.
6. For a few months, I’ve been taking my sandwich to work in a square plastic container (like Tupperware) instead of a disposable plastic sandwich bag. Money saving to me is trivial, but it does eliminate the cost of manufacturing, packaging, transporting, etc the bag; and essentially all plastics are made from oil (unless from recycled plastic.)
7. Then, there’s an idea I’ve had for years but never tried to implement, and I’ve never seen anything like it in a kitchen store. If you remember chemistry lab, there were things called ring stands: a flat base with a vertical rod, to which rings of various sizes could be clamped. If this were a kitchen tool, bottles like catsup and salad dressing could be inverted in the ring and allowed to completely drain. I store nearly empty salad dressing bottles upside-down in the fridge, but you can never get that last couple of tablespoons of think ranch dressing out.
