St. Patrick's Day Freebie!

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Work and commuting has completely consumed me these past few weeks, and I've gotten suckered into playing Realm of the Mad God in what little free time I have. I'll try to squeeze in posts more often, especially with deals I've been finding lately like this one:

This St. Patrick's Day weekend, Burger King is offering free french fries with green ketchup! Green ketchup tastes exactly like red ketchup, but it's another entertaining novelty food item to consume along with green beer, green milkshakes, and green pastry items. The best part is that it's free today and tomorrow, so head to your local Burger King and turn your tongue green!

IHOP National Pancake Day

Just a friendly reminder that today is IHOP's National Pancake Day Celebration. Between the hours of 7am to 10pm, you can go to a participating IHOP and get a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes! Go treat yourself for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or all of the above!

IHOP has been doing their annual pancake giveaway since 2006 and has raised almost $8 million for charity. Make sure you leave a donation in exchange for your pancakes, which will go to local charities and Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Don't forget to tip your waiter, too. IHOP's staff members probably have a busy day ahead of them!

Bon appetit!

How to Host a Cheap Sports Party

Football playoff season is in full swing (GO NINERS!), and I plan on spending it on my couch with some drinks and my favorite finger foods. I know that many of you will probably be getting together with friends to catch the big games, so I thought I would offer a few money saving tips on hosting those football get-togethers!

Tip #1: Stay home instead of hitting the bars. Bar food, pints of beer, and mixed drinks are typically more expensive than throwing your own party. Don't forget other hidden costs like tax and tip! Avoid the crowded bars (and drunk drivers), buy a twelve-pack, and cook up some snacks at home!

Tip #2: Check the grocery store ads for deals. Each week, I check the grocery store ads and plan my meals around what's on sale. Grocery stores tend to stock up on snack type foods around football playoffs season, so there's bound to be some deals. Since I am lucky enough to live near several grocery chains, I use the ads to make a shopping list of sale items for each store.

Tip #3: Potluck or BYOB. If you're hosting a party, you're probably already doing tons of work cleaning and cooking. Reduce your stress by having your buddies bring their favorite snacks or beverages. It'll also reduce the strain on your wallet!

Tip #4: Order delivery or get take-out. If you're turned off by the idea of cooking, then pitching in money for delivery or take-out is still cheaper than going out to eat. Make sure to check your Sunday newspaper ads or discount sites like Slickdeals for coupons. If ordering delivery, call in early, as these places tend to get inundated with orders on football Sundays. Don't forget to tip the person delivering the pizza, since he/she is missing the game!

Tip #5: Use leftover snacks for meals in the coming week. One of my favorite ways to use leftover spinach dip is to stuff it in chicken breast and bake it. You can also shred leftover pieces of buffalo chicken and use them in tacos (with your leftover bean dip, salsa, and avocado dip) or pita wraps. With some creativity, you can turn these leftovers into some tasty meals!

Eating is definitely one of my favorite parts of playoff season. With these tips, you'll be able to indulge in those delicious snacks while having some extra money left over for those bets!

GO NINERS!

Discounted Restaurant Food

One of my vices is going out for food. While I know I can save tons of money with a home cooked meal, I simply like going to a restaurant every now and then and enjoying the ambiance, the people watching, the food, and not having to do dishes afterwards. Unfortunately, with my plans to move out soon, I should probably curtail my eating out habits... or try to get more food for less money!

Deal of the day sites such as Groupon, Townhog, and LivingSocial have increased in popularity these past few years. While I've used these places to get discounts on shopping, I've predominantly taken advantage of the great restaurant offers. Thanks to deal of the day sites, I've been able to try food from places that otherwise would have been out of my price range. My boyfriend and I have also gone on numerous dates to nice restaurants while only paying half price.

Once I'm moved out, I anticipate I'll be more diligent in checking these sites daily for deals. Every dollar spent is an extra dollar to spend on something else!

(not so) Cheap St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Similar to how I typically only eat roasted turkey during Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day is the one day out of the year I eat corned beef and cabbage! In past years, I've gone to restaurants to enjoy this dish. Since I'm currently living at home, I decided to modify a corned beef and cabbage recipe
and make it in my parent's kitchen.

When I've eaten at restaurants on St. Patrick's Day in past years, a plate of corned beef and cabbage cost me upwards of $12. A pint of green beer or Guinness usually cost about $4. Add in (California) tax and tip and you have a St. Patrick's Day meal that sets you back roughly $20.

For my St. Patrick's Day meal, I decided to take advantage of the weekly deals on corned beef, cabbage, beef broth, and Guinness at Safeway. Here's my cost breakdown:

3.06 pounds corned beef brisket * $3.99/pound = $12.21
32 oz. box of beef broth = $2
2.26 pounds cabbage head * $0.39/pound = $0.88
1.06 pounds of baby red potatoes * $0.99/pound = $1.05
0.70 pound of carrots * $0.99/pound = $0.69
FOOD TOTAL: $16.83

After a cash register mishap, I purchased a 4 pack of Guinness for $6.77 with tax included.

GRAND TOTAL: $23.60

$23.60 for a St. Patrick's Day meal for 4 to 6 people seems like a pretty good deal compared to paying $20 per person at a restaurant. Since there are only three people in my household, there will be plenty of leftovers. Maybe I should start cooking every year!

How to Make the Most of Birthday Freebies

I recently celebrated my birthday, which is not only a great excuse to have fun with friends, but my favorite time a year to receive free stuff! In this post, I will share how I go about maximizing my annual freebies. My view is that all my meals should be free or have a freebie the week of my birthday!

Step 1: Start preparing for your birthday several weeks in advance. Many freebies can be used as soon as two weeks before your birthday up to two weeks after.

Step 2: Scour websites/blogs/forums for lists of birthday freebies. The main ones I use are on slickdeals.net and fatwallet.com

Step 3: Sign up for websites that offer birthday freebies! If want, you can even open a new e-mail address so your inbox doesn't get cluttered by a barrage of e-mails when your birthday hits. Remember to sign up early, for these e-mails can start coming as soon as two weeks before your birthday. The year I started, several restaurants gave me freebies for just signing up for their mailing lists, making for extra free stuff on my birthday!

Step 4: Wait and watch as you start receiving birthday freebies in your e-mail. When printing out/writing down your freebies, organize them by expiration date. One year, I missed out on a free meal because the coupon expired sooner than I expected.

Step 5: Enjoy your birthday freebies!

A few side notes:
-Don't try to cheat the system! Many restaurants check ID to make sure it's your birthday. At Denny's, they actually wrote down my driver's license number.
-Make sure to tip for the amount before discount! Restaurant employees deserve full tips for good service!
-Offer to split the cost of buy one/get one free meals with your friend. You can also get your friend to sign up for birthday freebies and pay the full priced meal then.
-Have fun and make the most of your special day!