Giving Up Cable

Okay, not quite. I love the heck out of TV, particularly cable. My DVR tapes over 10 shows a week. I have a sick obsession with multiple shows on Bravo - anything with Bethenny Frankel, or a show that starts with "The Real Housewives of..." I will most likely watch. And then they sucker me in with spinoffs and new shows that look AMAZING.

But I hate paying the piper for my addiction. Every month when the Comcast bill comes, I feel a little nauseous. It also includes our internet service, but $160 a month for reality shows and NBC sitcoms? I am so torn between my want to save money/feel like less of a couch potato and the sheer entertainment value of watching grown women throw wine at each other. And yes, I am that person that calls every few months to negotiate a lower rate by threatening to get a dish or cut my cable. But still, I wonder if even the reduced high cost of cable is worth it.

So when my good friends and fellow TV afficianados Kate and her fiance Joseph brought up giving up cable, I was shocked! They, too, love TV (and they watch better shows than I do) - how could they even consider? But their suggestions of watching streaming shows via Hulu/Netflix and paying 99 cents for others on iTunes really had me thinking...could I do this?

For one thing, it would help prioritize what I really want to watch. The ability for me to tape shows has caused me to delve deeper into the basement with bad TV. Another Kardashian show? Okay. What's this new cooking competition? Sure. Put it on my queue. If I didn't have access to DVR and cable and had to pay per individual show, 80% of what I watch currently probably wouldn't make the cut. Is this show worth 99 cents to watch? Sad that I'm watching shows that aren't even worth a buck.

Are there any other TV addicts out there that have cleaned up and given up cable? How is life on the other side?

Free Night of Theater Returns!

Hey all! Just wanted to pass this sweet deal on! Starting today, tickets went up for grabs across the country to celebrate Free Night of Theater during the month of October. Head to the Free Night of Theater 2010 website to find performances for free near you!

Did anyone participate in this last year?

Holiday Help: Drink and Be Merry!

So, a week until the holiday season officially kicks off! I've got my card table to seat more people (a table and 4 chairs for $40 - thanks Target!), table runner, napkins, decorations, menu...now I just need some drinks! I definitely don't want to break the bank for drinks - I'm keeping my budget at $25 for 5 people. What am I going to do?

First, I'm going to make a seasonal cocktail. I saw Rachael Ray's Thanksgiving episode and thought a pomegranate prosecco drink sounded great! I can't find it anywhere to share, but basically, she took a bottle of pomegranate juice and a few slices of fresh ginger. Let that steep for awhile and add an entire bottle of chilled prosecco. Mix and voila! I found a bottle of prosecco for $7 and pomegranate juice for around $4. For a non-alcoholic version, I bet ginger ale would be fantastic in place of the prosecco, and a whole lot cheaper!

For my wine, I'm going to have a rose (I hear it is fantastic with turkey) and beaujolais nouveau, which also pairs well with turkey. You can find both wines for modest prices. Beaujolais is also a great wine to have because it comes out the 3rd Thursday of November! Perfect timing, don't you think?

I'm leaving beer off because I think it's a little heavy with all the food. I'm sure if my husband's reading this, he's getting ready to go pick up some PBR Light. I bet he'd say nothing goes better with Thanksgiving than PBR Light because it's American, it won a blue ribbon, and it goes with just about anything. I think I'll disagree, but it's a great price point!

Since I love wine, but I'm far from a wine expert, I have a FANTASTIC blog, Good Wine Under $20, and her post for good holiday wines here.

Cheers! Salut! Prost! Happy Holidays!

Free Beer!

Okay, so not exactly, but we have another guest post this week from David Seidman. David is a true frugalisto. He would rather do something himself than pay someone else to do it, and that includes making his own beer and his own business. David mixed his business smarts, his frugal sensibilities and his desire to save people money to create splitts.com, an online matchmaker to help people share large purchases like boats, vacation homes, and even airplanes. If you're interested in finding about what splitts.com has to offer, check it out. Here, David shares his love of the homebrew.

Okay, brewing your own beer (“homebrewing”) isn’t quite free, but it’s a lot cheaper than at the store or the bar. An average microbrew costs anywhere from $1-$3 or more at the grocery store and $4-5+ at a bar, but you can brew it yourself for as cheap as $0.50. On top of that, it’s really simple and you’ll have a lot of fun doing it.

The big sucker punch here is up front – a basic starter package costs about $50, but most people wind up buying about another $50 or so in equipment, and sky’s the limit for fancy gadgets (spouses: great gift opportunities!). Once you have the basic equipment, you’ll spend about $30-40 per 5 gallon batch for good-quality beer. Cheap light beer can be, well, cheaper, and really hoppy or malty beers cost more. Wine is also simple to make but it has a different process that takes longer and doesn’t save you as much money. Also, it gives me a hangover.

So how does it work? Well, it’s a lot like cooking. You boil some water, and while it comes to a boil you steep a teabag-like bag of grains in the water. These give it flavor and color. Once the water’s boiling, you stir in “malt extract”, a syrup made from malted barley, the base ingredient in your beer, and throw in some hops. You boil this for about an hour, adding hops at a few key points along the way. Then you cool it down, pour it into your fermenter (a big bucket with an airlock), toss in the yeast, seal it all up, and put it in an out of the way place for a week or two. Like magic, the yeast will turn the malt into alcohol, and you’ll have beer! Flat beer, though. So the next step is to transfer it into bottles (there’s a gizmo for this) along with some sugar. As the yeast digests the sugar, it makes carbon dioxide, and in a couple weeks your beer is carbonated and ready to drink!

To get started, you can order any of the basic starter packages off the internet, or go into your local homebrew store. In the Seattle area, Larry’s in Kent, Mountain Homebrew in Kirkland and Homebrew Heaven in Everett are all good. They’re used to beginners and can get you all set up. They can also help you pick out a recipe and get all the ingredients. You can make any kind of beer you’re interested in drinking, and once you know what you’re doing you can even make up your own recipes, try crazy ideas (maple syrup beer, anyone?), and you’ll always have beer on hand when you want it. There are lots of great sites on the internet (search for “homebrew”) to help you out, or find a friend who homebrews - brewers are a friendly bunch (nothing to do with the alcohol…) and most people love helping their friends get started. So take up a hobby that actually saves you money! And as the homebrewers’ tagline goes: Relax, Don’t Worry, Have a Homebrew.

Entertainment Books!

So I'll be honest. When I first heard of entertainment books I incorrectly assumed that they would be a waste of money. Sure $25 sounded like a deal, but I thought the offers would be for places I'd never heard of or didn't want to try.

But then I thumbed through and I couldn't believe the savings! Only $25 for all this! The page of coupons for $5 of a purchase at any Safeway practically paid for the book itself. There are also great savings for movie tickets, the Zoo, popular theaters and the ballet. I could go on and on. Not to mention the great buy one get one free coupons at several places you already love to eat at. And because of the entertainment book, I've found some new places to try.

So bottom line, when the opportunity presents itself to get an entertainment book, do it!

I find that because there are so many offers it can be overwhelming, so I go through and take out all of the offers I will use and sort them in new categories that work for me. For instance, I divide the restaurant offers into breakfast lunch and dinner. I also sort them by area. I live a bit north of the city, so I sort them into Seattle and north end.

Also I have categories for groceries, health and beauty, indoor entertainment, outdoor entertainment, etc. I've found this make it easier for me to utilize the offers and the savings.

Bar-Hopping...Broke

This weekend was an expensive one! A birthday party, a girls' night, warm (which of course meant purchasing a new bocce ball set at Target)...one of the best weekends I had in a long time, but definitely not my cheapest weekend ever. I wish I would have followed the advice I'm about to lay out, but here are some good ways to keep your tabs low when out having fun with friends.

*First and foremost, make sure you have a game plan and a ride home. A designated driver, a bus, a taxi...but if you are drinking more than a glass of something, you should not be driving.

*Have a pre-party. Not only are you more likely to get some quality socializing time in at a home versus a crowded, loud bar, but you can also bring grocery store purchased alcohol, which is far cheaper than getting drinks at a bar.

*Get a round of water in between each round of drinks. First of all, you forget how quickly alcohol can dehydrate you. But second, what's the point of just chugging things down? You're there to enjoy your friends' company and a couple of drinks, so you don't want to finish in 45 minutes and completely destroy your budget. You'll still have a drink in your hand, you'll feel better the next day, AND you'll cut your bar tab in half.

*Don't go to a bar with a cover charge, or go before the cover starts. Covers can range from $5-$20 - and most of the time, you don't get anything for that except entrance. By arriving 10 minutes earlier, you avoid paying more money than you have to. Put it towards your cab fare.

*ASK how much drinks are or to see a menu. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten a receipt and been shocked at how much two or three drinks ended up costing. You don't want to be surprised - and having all of the information is your best defense.

*Eat something before you go out. Having a few beers or glasses of wine definitely kicks in the "I need to eat something fried" instinct. Bar food, while almost never good for you, can also be pretty expensive. $10 for a few chicken fingers? Order pizza in at your pre-party or make a delicious spread of crackers, baked cheese and roasted garlic (like my friend did this weekend), but just be sure to eat. You'll be glad you did.

I hope this blog doesn't sound like I'm a big drinker! :) I'm really not - and I usually prefer staying in with friends than going out. But I know not everyone feels that way, and I'm sure most of you would like to save some of your hard-earned money for other things than overpriced drinks. So have fun, be safe, and save your money!

10 Date Ideas for Under $20

As mentioned previously, one of the toughest things to do on a budget is doing something fun on the weekend, especially with your significant other. Many couples go out to dinner, go to movies, travel...but when money's tight, those things aren't great options. Plus, dinners in and rented movies can become boring. Here are some things I love to do (or plan to do) with my husband that brings us closer together without breaking the bank:

- Go out for happy hour. Duh, I know. But my husband and I do this once every week or two, and don't feel deprived. There are a lot of places that have drinks and food on special. One Seattle favorite: Talarico's. Talarico's is a pizza joint that my born-in-NY husband says is the best pizza west of the Mississippi. Slices are bigger than your head for $3 and one is plenty for dinner, and they have Chianti for $5. Dinner always costs us less than $20, including tax and tips.

- Watch "The Soup" on E! It does keep you in the house, but it is the one of the funniest shows on TV and laughing with your partner is the key to a happy relationship. And it's free!

- Play card/board games. Minimal purchase required for endless hours of entertainment. I recently brought out the deck of cards for a heated game of Gin. And I'll never turn down a game of Scrabble - just don't get in fights when SOMEBODY adds "s" or "y" to all of your creative words and gets more points for them (I won't name names).


- For a day date, go for a hike. I found this website (www.localhikes.com) that lists hikes in many U.S. metropolitan areas, but check out your local guidebooks or state websites for other ideas.

- After your hike, have a picnic. Pack some fresh fruit, a baguette, some cheese and maybe some sparkling water/wine (if possible) for a "Parisian lunch".

- Rent a dance video and learn to salsa, samba or waltz! There's some sites online that teach you basic steps (like www.learntodance.com), but there are hundreds of instructional dance videos. If you have digital cable, you can even find them for free OnDemand (usually under "exercise").


- Make dessert together. I personally love making chocolate covered fruit or fondue, but even cut-and-bake cookies are fun when you're in the kitchen with someone special.



- Explore your local festivals. With summer coming up, there are so many things going on in your community. One of my personal favorites happens in Portland, Oregon - the Festa-Italiana (www.festa-italiana.org). Free to get in, great vendors, music, dancing and people watching. This year's festa is happening the week of August 22nd, and you should definitely check it out if you're in the Northwest.

- Go bowling. I challenge you to have a bad time bowling. Funky shoes, cheap beer and dances after a good (or bad) bowl. I have a strike and a spare dance (not that they are very often seen).


- Try something new. Go to a rock climbing wall ($7-$15 depending on where you go), go kayaking ($15-$18/hr for a double), go see a foreign film. The options are endless, and getting out of your comfort zone is fun!





What are some things you do on the cheap to have fun with your significant other? I would love to hear new ideas!

Having Fun on a Tiny Budget? It's Possible!

I think one of the worst things about making more with less is the lack of discretionary income to go and have a drink with your friends, or go to see a movie, or buy that new book. Guess what? You still can do all those things - just make more conscious choices and you might even have more fun than you did before! Here are a few of my tips to still have fun with little to no dough:

1) The library - in my opinion, one of the foundations of a flourishing community. Libraries are the best, and if your library card has been gathering dust since you graduated from school, it is definitely time to dust it off. Anything you'd ever want to read is available, plus you can check out movies and magazines too! FOR FREE! You may have to wait a little bit for exactly what you want, but patience is a virtue, right? Most libraries I know of have online systems where you can check out books, and when it arrives at your branch of choice, they email you when it's available! Check out your city/county library system, and I bet they offer a ton of other entertainment options, like free internet, book clubs, classes, readings and more! If you're not into renting books or DVDs....

2) Bookins.com - this is basically a trading site for DVDs and books that you no longer want, and you keep whatever you like. You enter everything you'd like to trade, mark everything you'd like, and they take care of the rest. All you pay is a flat rate of $4.49 per item. It is a really good way to sell all those copies of "Gigli" you have...but why would you want to do that?

3) Half-priced websites - try searching "half-priced, city name" and I bet you'll find a few sites that sell gift certificates to local restaurants, spas, stores, and more. This is really popular on radio and TV station websites. You can buy a $50 gift card for $25! You still get to order the exact same thing on the menu since it's a gift card, and there are no other restrictions! Great way to save some big bucks and try new restaurants in your area! Just keep checking for things because items can sell out quickly, but are usually refreshed weekly with new places!

4) Netflix - yes, I know you are aware of Netflix, but if you're into renting movies (and if you're into saving money, you are more likely renting movies than going to the theater), you should definitely do it. You can start at $5/month for 1 DVD at a time, which is essentially what you'd pay each time you rent a movie at the store, but you have unlimited time and you just drop it in the mail when you're done. If you rented 2 movies a week, you could save over $30/month - that's over $360/year!

5) Make-Your-Own-Take-Out - if you are not into cooking, I'm sure this does not sound like a way to have fun. However, if you like to be adventurous in the kitchen, this is a great way to save on restaurant bills, delivery charges, tips, etc. Almost anything you love in a restaurant can be made at home for a fraction of the cost. Just search for, say, Outback's Bloomin' Onion (delicious). Although you may have to have a deep fryer...some recipe is out there. Invite some friends over, have some cheap wine - voila! An entertaining evening! You'd probably have more fun in the comfort of your own home than going out anyway, right?

Anything I missed? How do you save money when you're having fun?