Dinner and a movie for how much?

The Frugal's tried something we haven't ever done in our 20+ years together. We went to see a movie at a Drive-In theatre.

We both had fond memories of our own family's experiences of packing up the station wagon, getting to the theatre, hooking up the squawking box for sound and then spending the entire movie either yelling at your sister/brother to get out of the way, going to the bathrooms or playing in the playground underneath the big picture screen. Either way.....good times.

Here is a link to a great site to give you the information about a theatre in your area:

http://www.driveinmovie.com/mainmenu.htm

Our experience was to watch "Monsters v. Aliens" by Dreamworks. Great movie. Total price to get in the door was only $16. Stopped off at Papa John's pizza for a free 10" cheese pizza thanks to the Tampa Bay Rays pitchers (10 strikeouts on 4/14/2009)

www.kanesstrikeout.com

Brought in some drinks and chips and set up the chairs. Great time for under $25 total.

So take your family out for some good times and remember what your parents did at the movies!

Have you ever "seen" this ???

The Frugal's have made a few observations regarding the health care industry lately, specifically the dental and optical genre.

When you are in an accident and need to go to the doctor, they will usually prescribe physical therapy, once you go the clinic will verify your insurance benefits and then prescribe or tell you when you will feel better after so many visits. Those visits will usually amount to somewhere around $10,000 in Florida. You may feel better after 5 -6 visits, but the clinic's will tell you that you need to go through the treatment plan, otherwise you may suffer a relapse and you will need to start all over and the insurance may not cover it. What a scam as each and every person that walks through those clinic doors will be depositing a check for $10,000 in the clinic's pocket. That is a lot of $45 ice packs that are reused over and over!

Well the new extortionist scheme in the health care industry appears to be the way of the dentists and optometrists. Since eye care insurance in now routinely offered (don't get me started on the number of uninsured American's there are today; if you are employed, chances are you have access to health care, if you don't then you choose not to have health care)

Our vision plan pays a portion of the exam. Fair enough for a $10 copayment. They will also pay a portion of the eyeglasses. We are finding the optometrist stores will then use that allowable amount as the base of their prices and add their markup on top of the allowable and therefore double dip the price. For example, you see a pair of frames you like. The price on the frames is $325. The actual price is $80. Your insurance provides an allowance of $100 and then you are paying $225 for the pair. You think you got a deal ($100 off), the store allows the insurance company to pay for their overhead. If you want to be smart and you know you have an allowance of $100, be prepared for the Clark Kent style. Not a knock against our optician's business practice, but we choose to do it differently.

The Frugals have been going to the same optometrist for a number of years; Frau Docktor Optiker. We recognized the good doctor's practice and will be putting the following in practice; We will simply be reusing our frames, they are only a couple of years old and our expense will be limited to the lenses, a minor amount in comparison to the cost of the frames. Frugality baby! So the lesson learned here, is you have been going to an optician for a number of years and have purchased eyeware from them, then there will be a surplus of lenses available, versus the frames, should not be a problem to just have the lenses replaced. If you want the frames, utilize your employers Flexible Spending Account or Health Care Account advantage to ease the impact on the wallet. Could be a savings (internally due to taxation) of about 25%.

Hope you have enjoyed this blog and let me know you have been 'watching' it!

Next up; Dentists!

Mark your calendars

Hello all, some savings tips to come your way.

Kohl's 15% or 20% off anything sale this weekend

Dunkin Donuts 50 cent iced coffee on April 21!
https://www.dunkindonuts.com/IcedCoffeeDay/?cid=6776816&jid=15179536&mc=XX&eid=1913222&cmpid=email_ext_000017

Remember Earth Day on April 17th!

TGIF Coupon! One cent appetizers with a beverage purchase at the bar and $1 entree with purchase of an entree! Good times and good through 4/30/2009

Spring Break Staycation

Good morning!

Just a quick Frugal update for vacation ideas. This week has been our Spring Break and we spent the week together as a family to slow down, catch our breath and enjoy each other.

Our plans included a great campout at Little Talbot Island State Park. A smaller sized state park for camping, but the spaces were secluded and well set up. Bathhouses were extra clean. The campground had a kayak launch into the salt marshes and a beach with access 24 x7. At one point on Friday night, it was the Frugal beach as we were the only ones there!

www.floridastateparks.org/littletalbotisland/default.cfm/


Amelia Island and Fort Clinch is nearby. Fort George is to the south and is a cultural gem with exhibits dedicated to the life of the Timicuan Indians.

The Jacksonville Zoo is about 20 miles away. The Frugals were last there over 15 years ago and a lot of work has been done to the zoo and the changes are simply amazing, Congratulations Jacksonville Zoo!

http://www.jaxzoo.org/

The rest of the week has been spent painting and redecorating (in a frugal manner) our bedroom. You cannot appreciate the changes until you do your own bedroom, but the price is well worth it. For less than $100 you can paint the ceiling, walls and trim, rearrange the furniture, put on a new bedset and the room changes from a Master Bedroom to an Owner's Retreat in a days work.

The rest of the week will include deep sea fishing, perhaps a movie and some needed time in the yard. We have had a full week, but a very productive and family focused week at that!

Thanks for checking in!

Frugality beyond your family......

Frugal can apply to more than the individual or family…..

Instead of blogging about any savings we Frugals have uncovered; there are more and more out there as you look, Frau Frugal and I spent Wednesday and one of the kinder’s school at their annual Field Days put on by the PE department. This was the fourth such Field Days we have volunteered and this was by far the best.

The time we spent at the school was extremely rewarding because not only did we help out his school by being a parental volunteer and fill in a need, we spent the day together, doing something we love together, namely being parents. Now with any type of organizational activity, you will have the doer’s and the watcher’s. Frau Frugal likes to refer to the watchers as “helicopter parents’. I thought that meant parents that swooped down and dropped off the child and then flew out of there because they did not have the time to be bothered by participating, but it is a term of endearment for those parents that will ‘participate’ to say they did, but then just ‘hover’ over their child. To get off track, we had one such helicopter parent that was there and actually did the activities with their child while other children waited for their turn. They then came to the provided lunch, got their meal and then left to eat with their child….what a waste.

Our participation allowed the school to rely on volunteers to supplement their staff. By supplementing their staff they are able to fund resources that otherwise may have been allocated to hiring and not always getting the return on the dollar, through performance or skill. Our kinder’s school is fortunate to have such a strong base of volunteerism….oh yeah there is always the same group of parents that are the doer’s but the we hope the ‘watcher’s’ group will grow smaller. (It was nice to see more Herren out there then in the past!)

In addition, the PE department shared their philosophy for character development through their involvement with our kinder. It is simply this…provide an opportunity for the kinder to learn social skills, athletic skills through peer to peer relationships and move around and exercise. All this is done through character development. The kinder will become more self sufficient and rely on themselves to seek out the opportunities as they realize the rewards. Not be dependent on others for the basics….an underlying principle of frugality in my humble opinion…

Open Letter

Thanks for checking in!


This is an open letter to those Homeowner Associations that have absolutely no control or desire to regulate their water consumption watering common areas. We are currently in a drought, or are experiencing drought-like conditions. In my commute, I drive through a number of neighborhoods and cannot believe the absolute waste of water watering the pavement or ill managed sprinkler heads just streaming out water.

The St. Petersburg Times put it pretty plainly: http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/article983732.ece

The Frugals are trying to condition our lawn to survive with minimal water and it just frustrates me to no end to see the abuse and neglect of these associations. We live in a neighborhood with deed restrictions and combined with severe frost burn and insects, are yard is not in the greatest shape. We will probably get a letter, but we would rather get a letter than have to water and water for the sake of "maintaining our property values". I'll stick to weeding the weeds, trying to limit the pests from eating what's left and continue to stew over these selfish associations.

Time to live on a compound for us!

Do your own energy audit....

One way, a frugal way to look at maximizing your energy conservation in the quickest way is to complete an energy audit. Check with your local power company as it more than likely is a free service they offer.

Although, Herr Frugal is not a tax expert, there are some energy savings or tax breaks that are available during filing time. Here in Florida, there are state programs to assist with modifications made to your home to upgrade to current standards.

I was looking around the house and we had replaced our water heater about two years ago. We thought we were doing a good thing by upgrading the size of the water heater. Longer showers! However, what I just discovered, the option we went with is very near the worst of the energy efficient models. A quick fix or assistance to this plan may be a thermal blanket. Another, but don't tell Frau Frugal, but the thermostat for the water heater may go down to conserve a bit.

Will report to you any savings or if the theory is a bust! Leave a comment if youv'e tried this as well. Thanks for reading.