Useful Links

audreyh1 · 04-09-2017, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scuba

YMMV. DH refuses to buy Groupons any more. I think they're great if you buy them for something you regularly do and can just do it for less with the Groupon. However we got caught out one too many times feeling we "had to" go somewhere or do something we really didn't want to do at the time because we had a Groupon that was about to expire.

We have also found that we aren't big on happy hours. They sounded like a good deal until we realized at most places, you're restricted to house wine or well drinks and a limited selection of mostly high carb menu items.

We do try to share entrees or take leftovers home - really helps with weight management, as does eating at home vs out and cutting down on drinking alcoholic beverages. Always a balance, juggling having a good time vs managing weight and spending.

Interesting - yeah, I'm always cautious of such "deals" and only accept them if it's something I planned to do or buy anyway.

It's interesting reading about Groupon and merchants who regret getting involved because they almost never get repeat business from the Groupon customers and they can be overwhelmed by them. Such added volume costs rather than pays and can squeeze out regular paying customers who give return business. Definitely a mine field.

GTFan · 04-09-2017, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Live And Learn

I forgot to mention that 2 years ago I learned how to cut my own hair. No more waiting around for a hairdresser

Since I wear my hair up 95% of the time even if I mess up the cut nobody can tell.

Been cutting mine with a Flowbee for over 25 years now, yeah don't laugh it works great if you have a simple haircut. Paid for itself in the first year.

kcowan · 04-09-2017, 09:50 AM

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Originally Posted by Amethyst

(Why don't you just shower together?)

That takes much longer and wastes water...

Another Reader · 04-09-2017, 10:12 AM

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Originally Posted by RobbieB

I order up anything I want, I fear no restaurant -

I fear a LOT of restaurants. A new pho place opened here recently. I noticed two large box trucks in the parking lot the owners use to store stuff that won't fit in the restaurant. Neither truck is refrigerated. They store boxes of bagged pork in one of the trucks. Several times a day they roll out a gray garbage can and dump a couple of boxes of the bags of pork butt into the can and roll them back in. Calls to the County health department have not resulted in any changes. The owners were "warned." Won't be eating there.

Chuckanut · 04-09-2017, 10:18 AM

I have found that the coupons I get in the mail or stuffed into the local community paper have deals nearly as good as Groupon and I don't have to front any money, and deal with lost value due to expiration dates.

NW-Bound · 04-09-2017, 10:24 AM

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Originally Posted by Another Reader

I fear a LOT of restaurants...

I did not watch much TV (actually none for the last few years), and only learned of Gordon Ramsay and his restaurant TV series from this forum.

Watched a few of his episodes on youtube. The restaurants covered in the series had kitchens that were filthy beyond belief.

NW-Bound · 04-09-2017, 10:32 AM

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Originally Posted by Major Tom

2 Buck Chuck has been going for well over 10 years now, although it's no longer 2 bucks. Here in CA, it went up to $2.49, and is now the shockingly high price of $2.99. I just picked up a bottle for when my SO comes over tomorrow, along with a 6-pack of Simpler Times lager. We're a couple of cheap drunks

The Mystery of Charles Shaw, Better Known As Two Buck Chuck

There is overproduction of wine all over the world. In France, this wine glut phenomenon was called "lac du vin" (wine lake). The EU helped out the vintners by buying their wine for pennies a liter, and distilling it to make ethanol. Pretty sad. A paper reported that even the famous French actor Depardieu was not able to sell anything from his wine real estate a few years ago.

euro · 04-09-2017, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souschef

I agree we stayed at a hotel in Switzerland whose TP had the feeling of newsprint

Fortunately there was a market nearby, and with rudimentary German and a lot of sign language, I got some real soft TP

Reminds me of my childhood. We were not dirt-poor (though definitely blue collar), but we LITERALLY used newsprint as toilet paper.

daylatedollarshort · 04-09-2017, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut

I have found that the coupons I get in the mail or stuffed into the local community paper have deals nearly as good as Groupon and I don't have to front any money, and deal with lost value due to expiration dates.

We use coupons, Entertainment coupons and Restaurant.com certificates, too, and not just Groupons, and I agree all the others do not require any upfront money. I still add Groupons to the mix, though as we go out to eat a couple of times a week and Groupon often has some unique choices not available with coupons or the other deal sites.

These days Groupon lets customers keep at least the value they paid so customers are never out that for most goods and services. (I'm not sure what happens for one of type events like concert tickets.) Also in my experience, at least for restaurants, they have always let me extend the expiration dates or let me turn in expired Groupons for Groupon bucks to use for a different Groupon. I know the keeping the value paid never expiring is official policy. I don't know if the letting customers extend or exchange expired Groupons is available to everyone or they just let me to it because I'm a frequent customer.

mystang52 · 04-09-2017, 11:17 AM

If ever there was a thread where "YMMV," this is it. I won't throw out money, so will look for a sale on an item I intend to buy anyway. But I eat out for breakfast nearly every day - not a major cost as it's almost always just a bagel and coffee. And, DW and I eat out for dinner a couple of times a week; we enjoy it but don't eat lavishly (mainly because neither of us eats large portions of anything).
Re: Groupon I have "successfully" used them for things I would buy anyway. Just the other day I got a $10 Dunkin Donuts coffee voucher for $5. Since I buy my coffee there anyway, may as well save the $5.
Of course, recently I increased my discretionary spending. I resumed playing an old passion of mine - Bridge. I'm re-addicted, and now playing 3 times a week, at $15/session. Yikes, that's $180/month, but it's one of my hobbies, I can afford it, so I see it as money reasonably spent. Like I said, YMMV.

Another Reader · 04-09-2017, 01:00 PM

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Originally Posted by W2R

I love Suave shampoo and use it all the time. It's not only reasonably priced, but also it's great shampoo IMO.

On sale for $1.49 for the 30 oz family size last time I bought it, too.

redduck · 04-09-2017, 04:43 PM

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Originally Posted by panacea

Or turning your underwear inside out and using as a coffee filter!

I don't understand the advantage of turning your underwear inside out. It just seems like a needless extra step.

Marita40 · 04-09-2017, 04:52 PM

I get the Sunday paper and clip coupons. Not things like .25 off paper towels, but things like $6.00 off two packages of haircolor, or the $10.00 coupon for a $50.00 food purchase offered at Target this week, or the $20.00 off a pair of new shoes (which I need) at the local shoe store. These things do add up. Or, better put, they then help offset my frivolous purchases like an occasional designer coffee.

I sometimes like to read Mr. Money Mustache forums or the Extreme Retirement forums just to put frugality in perspective. These are the folk who, for example, dumpster dive for food. Ugh--I can't imagine doing this.

Music Lover · 04-10-2017, 09:48 AM

There is a popular golf coupon book here...for $29 you get about 10 free rounds of golf at several different courses. "Free" as in you must use it with at least one paid round....that works for me as I share the coupons with friends and we pay half each. Last year I bought 2 books and used about 15 coupons with golfing buddies, saving $500 - $600 in total.

Last fall they had a promotion where you could buy up to 5 books for $80 but with a coupon code I got 5 books for $53 or so. So, for $53 I will pay half price for most of the rounds I play this summer, saving close to $1,000.