Organized to save money, energy, and time
Photograph Credit: Brunswick
Looking for a great family activity for this weekend?
Brunswick is offering free bowling for everyone this weekend.
To locate a participating alley near you, please visit Brunswick’s web site.
Photograph Credit: Brunswick
Photograph Credit: MiLB
Our family loves this deal! My oldest daughter talks about the mascot all the time. When we finally get to the game, she hides from him. Did I mention she is 3-years-old? 🙂
Since our family feeds off Kraft Singles throughout the year, I save every wrapper for this buy one get one free ticket deal at our local minor league stadium. Here are my tips for taking advantage of this deal:
Visit the minor league baseball web site to find your local team. If you take advantage of this deal, then use your time wisely and enjoy the game with your family!
Photograph Credit: Baskin Robbins
Mark your calendars for a fun, inexpensive family event!
What: Ice cream for 31₵ per 2.5 oz. scoop with a limit of 3 scoops per person
Where: Participating Baskin-Robbins®
When: Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Time: 5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Why: To honor America’s firefighters
To find a participating location and more information, please visit the Baskin-Robbins® website.
Since our family could not participate in the free cone day at Ben & Jerry’s, we are looking forward to visiting our Baskin-Robbins® for this inexpensive family event. My calendar is marked. Is yours?
Have you been busy? Our schedule has been hopping. (Yes, the Easter pun is intended.) This season is very busy for our family. With a school program and several rehearsals, I was SO thankful for the breakfast help from Chick-Fil-A. Our local Chick-Fil-A hosted a Customer Appreciation Week and served a free breakfast item to each customer ALL WEEK. It was a blessing to visit the drive through each morning to receive the following:
Our busy week ended by attending the school performance. This production was a fundraiser for our school, and we fully supported this event. How wonderful to be able to support a great school!
With the program complete and some time at home, I found myself hosting a spontaneous Easter Egg Hunt. As I was cleaning our home, I put away the St. Patrick’s Day items and unpacked the Easter decorations. My children quickly found the plastic eggs and had had a blast playing with them! On Tuesday evening, the weather was so nice, and the kids were begging to go outside to play. To appease them, I took 30 eggs out to our front yard and “hid” them. Our neighbors were also outside with their young children, so we invited them over to play. We completed 2 or 3 egg hunts with my son taking a turn hiding the eggs. It was fun for all and ended with a good lesson for my children about sharing.
Another Easter activity I plan to incorporate into this weekend is . . .
coloring eggs. I have a number of Easter kits that I purchased inexpensively for my children to enjoy. My daughter loves arts, crafts, coloring, and decorating, so this pastime is right up her alley. Did I mention that I just cleaned my house? Having worked really hard, I would love to keep it clean for a few days. Any tips you can offer on keeping this activity stain-free are GREATLY appreciated.
Wishing your family a wonderful Easter weekend together!
On the way to pick up my son from school, my daughter kept asking if we could go to Zaxby’s and eat lunch with Daddy. I was surprised by my daughter’s request since we were not close to Zaxby’s when the pleading began. By the time we reached the school, the requesting was subsiding.
Upon entering the car and sitting in his booster seat, my son asked, “Can we go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch?” (I’m guessing that the cool, rainy weather brought on the wish for comfort food like chicken.) Since I needed to make a stop at the credit union which is close to Chick-Fil-A, I responded with, “We’ll see.”
After completing our business at the credit union, I searched my restaurant coupon file from the glove compartment to see if I could put a deal together for under $5. I found 2 coupons for buy a medium sweet tea, and get a 4-count chicken strip entrée. Knowing that I could work a deal for under $5, I announced that our next stop was Chick-Fil-A.
The kids were really excited. The rain had stopped as we pulled into the Chick-Fil-A parking lot. We quickly unloaded and entered the restaurant. Armed with my 2 coupons, we waited in line. At our turn, I handed the cashier my coupons. He confirmed that I wanted 2 sweet teas with each of the 4-piece chicken strips. (When a Chick-Fil-A coupon states a specific beverage (i.e. Sprite), most cashiers allow you to substitute for any comparable beverage.) The cost was 2 orders of chicken strips at $3.99 each for free and 2 teas at $1.49 each. I then ordered 4 buns: 3 toasted and 1 plain at $.15 each. My total with tax came to . . . $3.87. (If I had purchased 4 chicken sandwiches, I would have spent over $10!)
The kids and I went to a table chosen by my daughter. The cashier brought our food to the table, and I begun to put our meal together.
When I returned home, I checked the receipt of my great restaurant deal. In addition to my purchase, my receipt had a survey invitation in the center section. After taking the survey on-line, I received a validation code which I can now redeem for a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich. I guess we will be planning another visit to Chick-Fil-A soon. Maybe this time Daddy will be able to come with us.
By thinking outside of the box, using some of the options presented in the 10 Ways to Cut the Expense of Eating Out series, and setting a budget, the kids and I gained nourishment and exercise for under $4 on a spontaneous family activity.
What creative ways have you used to save money on a spur-of-the-moment change of plans?
