There is such thing as a 'free' lunch..

Over the past year, we Frugals have been keeping our eyes open for deals. Deals in a way, that if we spend a little money, we would be getting more value for our 'mark'.

We live in the Tampa Bay area. In the bay area, we have been fans of the Rays for quite a while.

If their pitchers throw 10 strikeouts in a home game, we can get a free 10" pizza from Papa Johns pizza. (http://www.papajohns.com/) Just go to http://www.kanesstrikeout.com/ for details. So far this season, there have been three 10 strikeout home games; that is a lot of pizza.

Everytime the Rays win, a free donut from Dunkin Donuts with a purchase.

Go to a high school athletic game? Check out the ticket, chances are there will be a free sandwich from ChickFila or some other fast food establishment.

The point here, is take a look at the offers around you during events you may participate.

Long ago in our 'poor' days, (that is beyond frugal), we used to go to car dealerships on the weekend for a hot dog or hamburger. Today, we do that at the Harley dealership. Yum.

When we were in Atlanta, there was Harry's market where you walked the rows of produce and sampled everything delicious. No need for a lunch back then! So keep your eyes out for those lunchtime deals and you will find there is a lot out there to take advantage of! Enjoy!

Farmer's Markets/U-Pick

Herr Frugal must be on a veggie kick. As the weekend is hier, it's time for our weekly grocery shop. We will be going to the big bulk store the bulk items and household staples. Fruits and Veggies are purchased through produce stands or farmer's market.....fresher and less expensive.

In addition, some of the produce is locally grown thus reducing the excess waste in energy. Nothing like purchasing strawberry's that were picked two weeks ago in California, when we have Plant City less than 50 miles away!

Take your family out this weekend or next to go to 'u-pick' farm. A couple of weeks ago we found ourselves at a bleu-berry farm. Absolutely organically delicious! Frau Frugal and I have been enjoying blueberries in our lunch for the past week. Easy to pick, eat and we supported the local farmer.

A great site to find a farm near you: http://www.pickyourown.org/

Found this article that speaks volumes for the markets. Enjoy!

http://www.eversave.com/mc/3/articles/1133/farmers-markets-save-money?ref=307311622&zip=34685&sourceid=46582

Veggie, veggie, fruit, fruit....

Summer is almost here. Don't know about you, but we Frugal's cringe when we are in the produce aisle at the grocery store. High prices, under-ripened fruit and limited selections. A frugal solution; Grow your own! Easy to get started, lots of varieties. We hear more and more in these times our grandparents growing their own Victory Gardens many years ago and the benefits from their experience. Sharing their ideas, seeds and produce with neighbors and friends.

This is not the Frugal garden, pictures to come, but we are trying some new things in the yard. A new "Topsy Turvy" with Bell Peppers, banana peppers, the ever present tomatoes and we are trying pineapple this year. The orange tree has fruit, as does the lemon tree. The freeze did some damage to the Key Lime tree, but we will manage.

On the horizon; Hydroponics's! The yard is ready, we will purchase and install in August/September and should have salad in six weeks. A simple solution that will involve all Frugal's as we enjoy the "fruits" of our labor!

Let us hear about your garden experiences!

Reward points and prizes

So say you signed up for a credit card that 'rewards' points for using the card.....you may think oh boy, look at the rewards! Airfare, electronics, household items are some of the items you can cash your points for....truth is, by the time you have collected enough of those points, the exchange is so inflated, it would have been less expensive to search for a deal for those items, if you needed them at all.

The Frugals are participating in two types of rewards programs. Coke rewards and HP points for computer games.

We have been in http://www.mycokerewards.com/ for a couple of years. Points are accumulated from the bottletops, 12 pack boxes and cases of Coca-Cola products. Prizes are actually useful and rewarding. We have developed a network of support with friends to assist with supplying the codes and keep a sharp lookout for codes in our day to day activities. Check it out! Prizes come very quickly and you pay nothing for the shipping. Yes, nothing for the shipping!

Second are HP game points. Points or coins are accumulated through playing these on-line games. You even get lucky when you come across some free coins from time to time! These games will go a long way on vacation this summer.

So, Herr Frugalmeister has provided a couple of truly free rewards programs that cost nothing to join or redeem and for the large part, have become part of our daily routine.

All that for what??

Happy Saturday, just a quick update regarding some of the 'freebies' out there this weekend for the Frugals.

Today was a busy Saturday for us. Started actually on Friday night for our youngest Frugal's school family fun night. Great time for the kids with a wristband for as many bounce house rides as possible within a 3 hour time frame. Best of all......a live concert by the Shaguars. Here is a link to one of their shows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAQD0_ZC6Ss&feature=related or http://www.myspace.com/theshaguars

Saturday morning started early with set up of a Pancake breakfast for the Boyscout Troop, then off to the March of Dimes walkathon with Frau Frugal. 5 beautiful miles of downtown Tampa starting and ending on the University of Tampa campus. Beautiful grounds established as the Tampa Hotel in 1893. Total freebies on the walk. Recyclable bags, granola bars, water bottles, ice cream and hotdogs after the walk.

Afterwards, since we were in the neighborhood, a stop at our favorite thrift store! 16 items of clothing for just over $48!

Early afternoon was spent with a young Boy Scout and the Horsemanship Merit Badge. His fourth! Good luck down the Scouting path!

Home again and off to Palm Harbor's first Citrus Festival. It blew. Can't beat Waynesville Ohio's Sauerkraut Festival, but not much can. Hang in there PH!

Good times with the family and exercise this weekend and picked up some freebies and swag! Painting tomorrow!

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!