Works for Me Wednesday

Every month my husband and I take a date night. Our dates are usually not very creative, mostly we go to dinner and a movie, but that's what we really enjoy doing and we don't get to do it very often because of the kiddos. Before I started becoming coupon savvy or before I really got into the frugal living mindset, we would blow about 50 bucks on dinner at a restaurant and at least 30 - 35 bucks at the movie theatre, because you KNOW my husband cannot live without a couple of tubs of movie theatre popcorn! (Even if we did just eat $50 worth of food!)

Wow - 85 bucks?? And I used to have no problem paying that! I've since decided that I needed to find ways to go to our dinner and a movie and not blow so much money. Since I can't talk Hubs into forgoing his popcorn, it's been a bit of a challenge, but I do believe I've perfected it!

Did you know if you sign up on the TGIFriday's website, that they have a new printable coupon for their club members almost every month? I signed up and I am constantly getting emails with coupons like: B1 entree, get the second for FREE, or for a .01! So - we go and Hubs orders a burger (a lower priced entree) and I generally get a salad (I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their Cobb salad!) and I usually drink water - so basically all my food is free! The last time we went, I think we spent $20 at the restaurant and that included tip. Not too shabby for Fridays. And we walked away satisfied. I have found that most restaurants have a program like this and just by signing up you can get a coupon for a free appetizer or something! Be sure to check out the website's before you head out.

But I've also found that two of our local restaurants post gift certificates on Restaurant.com. Restaurant.com has TONS of sales to get certificates for like 80% off. Last January I took advantage of a sale to get 7 - $10 off your order of $20 at one of our local favorites, which happens to be right down the road from the movie theatre. We generally share our date night with friends, so as long as our party orders $20 worth of food (uh- no problem!) we get the bill cut in half. And share the cost with them. Last time we went it cost us $7 for the two of us! So be on the lookout for local favorite restaurants on Restaurant.com and then watch for those majorly discounted sales.

Our local radio station (WLKM) has an Action Auction program they do every month where you can buy gift certificates from local businesses at lowered cost. For example: In March, they had Cinema 6 movie passes regular adult admission tickets that you could buy for $3.00 each! Regular price of the movie is $6.50 (?) so I stocked up. I bought 14 movie tickets for $42.00 and that's what we use. We can't use them until 2 weeks after a show has been released, but we only go once a month, so that's not a problem! $6.00 a night for the BOTH of us to see a show. Be on the lookout for deals at your local businesses! You just never know what kind of deal can pop up. And, you're supporting your local economy too - granted it's a discounted support, but support none the less.

And finally, the last piece to my frugal date puzzle was to sign up at our theatre's website. I got a Frequent Movie Goer card, to earn points every time we go to a movie towards free concessions, but the best part is that I'm on their email list and along with each week's email comes printable coupons for discounted concessions. And they are GOOD ones too. $3.75 for a large drink & a large popcorn! That's normally priced at $10 or higher! Not bad! I don't eat very much of the movie theatre popcorn, but our theatre is right next to the Family Dollar store, so I generally sneak in some cheap chocolate or nuts! (teehee) Check out your theatre's website for promos, coupons and email lists.

So - our date nights have gone from $80 - 85 paying regular price on everything to the same experience and paying under $20 - for all costs, for the both of us. That's a savings of $65.00! Gee, now I can go on a date AND put gas in my tank. That Works for ME!

Check out more ideas at WeAreThatFamily.com