DF wanted to see the Metropolitan Opera’s HD broadcast of “Lohengrin,” but also second-guessed that wish. The $25 ticket wasn’t so bad when you consider the opera lasted a little over five* hours, but still…And then there was the popcorn and cold drink that he’d surely need to handle five-plus hours of Wagner. He was on the fence until I suggested a few frugal hacks.
Here are the (many) elements of today’s frugal win:
Senior discount. He got $2 off for being old.
Movie Club. This subscription deal at Cinemark gives me one free movie a month plus a concessions discount. I asked the cashier to apply one of my free movie credits to the Met Opera ticket, which lowered the price from $23 to $10.75.
Ibotta gift card. I redeemed a $20 Cinemark card from my Ibotta account. (For more on Ibotta and other frugal hackery, see “Rewards programs FTW!”)
Cinemark coupon. I got a $1-off concessions coupon by cashing in 25 of my Cinemark rewards points (which you get each time you buy tickets and food).
Movie Club discount. I get 20 percent off concessions purchases with membership.
Once all the discounts and the gift card had been applied, the tab had shrunk to just $1.45. Now you can see why he decided to go.
While I do love to share stirring tales of thrift, that’s not the only reason to write this. The point I wanted to emphasize is that we should never use one frugal hack if we can stack two or more.
Discounts aren’t always posted upfront. Sometimes they’re on a company’s website, or in a small-print ad at the bottom of the weekly flyer. That’s why it pays to ask for them.
Discounts: The frugal way to buy
So ask, already.
Senior discount? Teacher discount? Military discount? AARP discount? (Fun fact: The American Association of Retired Persons reports that folks in their 30s and even their 20s are signing up to get those tasty discounts.)
Then there’s your store loyalty card, the e-coupons you can download to that card, and the reward programs/rebates you can find in the link above. Stacking one or more of these can produce wonderful results.
A few months back I got boxes of Chex cereal for 12 cents each due to fire-sale pricing and two different rebates – and since I used a gift card cashed in from Shopkick, I actually paid nothing at all. Some boxes we donated and the rest have/will become DF’s famous honey-mustard cereal.
Last weekend I found close-dated breakfast sausage for $1.62 a pound and paid with a gift card, making all 12 pounds free. (Man, I love my freezer.) It’s worth noting that the two-pound sausage chubs at the other end of the cooler were going for $10.99.
The “frugal frisson”
Movie snacks help movie theaters stay open, so I do my part. Doesn’t hurt a bit that I’m helpless in the face of freshly made kettle corn. But those snacks would have been $14 (!), and the ticket started out at $25, for a total of $39.
Again, not bad when you look at it as five hours of splendid music** and some of the most crisply ironed shirts and knife’s-edge-creased pants*** DF has ever seen. But I’ve often said that a real frugalist just hates to pay retail.
And I mean it every time I say it. Finding**** deals is loads of fun and lately, inflation has changed deal-seeking from “fun” to “essential.”
Thus I’ll keep stacking discounts both at the theater and everywhere else. Not only does it stretch my household budget, it gives me a little frugal frisson each time I save some dough. It also provides the raw ingredients for that lovely honey-mustard cereal, which is at least as addictive as kettle corn.
Okay, readers: Had any recent frugal wins? Details, please.
*I’ve got him beat, having sat through “Gotterdammerung” at the movies (and found some personal finance lessons therein, too).
**There’s one piece of music from “Lohengrin” that just about everybody knows. Visit this YouTube link and fast-forward to about 3½ minutes in.
***A champion ironer himself, DF admires such things.
****Sites like CouponMom.com aggregate deals plus coupons plus rebates.
Agreed!! I love stacking my savings, makes me feel like a real Thrifty Olympian! LOL
I use Upside for gas, and combine with my gas station fuel rewards for additional savings – then scan my receipt to Fetch for points which I turn into gift cards for future purchases or gifts!
I use coupons at grocery stores, combined with sales + Ibotta + Fetch to get the most bang for my buck!!
For those just arriving: Cheryl paid off her mortgage early, and is also one of my “Meet A Reader” interviewees.
https://donnafreedman.com/cheryl-paid-off-mortgage/
https://donnafreedman.com/meet-a-reader-cheryl-from-florida/
Wow, what are a way to stack! I know I would never be able to do that, as I don’t belong to that many things, but I do ask for AARP discounts, use Swagbucks, Hilton points, load coupons to my shopper’s cards, credit cards, and a couple of other things. Last year for my cancer surgery and later treatments, I was able to score 4 nights FREE at Hampton Inn when the weather was bad. I would have had to go over a mountain, that I got stuck on several times. Each time we sat there for 6-7 hours for the snowplow to plow and salt. Debating on getting a smartphone, but tried my daughters phone once and was too stupid to figure it out. Every penny saved helps!
Good news about the hotel rooms, as potentially having to sit and wait to be rescued wouldn’t have done much to further your recovery.
I am a smartphone latecomer myself, but really glad I got one finally because of all the frugal options. (And I doubt I am taking full advantage of those; no doubt there are more out there that I haven’t found yet.) The phone let me add $225 worth of gift cards to our new washing machine, and has allowed me to get a decent number of grocery items for free. Really love the phone, and will be sad when it stops working.
Recent frugal wins: 1. Found a large bundle of (new, unused) greeting cards (with envelopes!) at a Little Free Library when I was swapping an already-read book for another one. 2. Roommate (who never buys used) was going to throw away some items that could be donated; I asked it it was OK that I donate them to Goodwill and she said yes. So I did, and received the 20% off coupon they give donors. Then, I went inside and bought a really nice blouse for 20% off. It goes great with some slacks I already own! 3. Started taking a water bottle to school where I substitute teach; they’ve installed new water fountains that provide filtered water (free!) for your water bottles, so you don’t have to buy more plastic bottles. The water bottle was an earlier frugal win because they gave it to me (free!) as a “thank you” gift for donating blood. 4. Got 3 estimates for tree trimming: $3,100, $2,600 and only $300. Glad I called the third guy!
I answered the Value Village survey after dropping off some items and received a $2-off-$5 coupon. Yesterday I stopped in and found a great T-shirt to put in my great-nephew’s birthday bag (fits with one of his consuming interests); it also matches the fleece PJ pants I got for $1.84 on a clearance rack. Will tie a ribbon to pair the two and include a tag that says “Man Cave Attire,” as it gets rather chilly in his part of the family home.
Love all your other wins, too. Thanks for sharing.
That is an awesome deal! The last stacking deal I felt the best about was about a month ago. I had been needing some body lotion. I had already added water to my my bottle of Curel to make it last a bit longer:) That’s because when I was shopping, the price of Curel 13 ounce was close to $11! That was a big NO for me. I was grocery shopping at Kroger and found a 16 ounce container of Lubriderm on sale for $7.99. That was a great and acceptable alternative. BUT in addition I had a $3.00 digital coupon and Lubridern was part of Mega sale which took another $1 off. Then I had another $2 off either Ibotta or Shop kick….cant remember. At any rate I ended up paying $1.99 and got 3 ounces more So glad I held out!
That’s a great deal! In my experience, Lubriderm lasts a long time because you don’t need to use as much of it.
Yes! Just started using it and I think that’s going to be the case!
Great frugaling!! Robin it soothes my soul to know you can’t figure out smart phones either. I can all and text but the rest is unknown to me.
Good job. Trying to save anyway I can. I’m late to the smart phone party. It’s sad when your 5 year old grandson says ‘Let me fix it’. I think they are born with that knowledge.
In my case, my 70-something aunt and dad were texting up a storm while I was still using a flip phone.
That was the ultimate in stacking deals!
This is my big stacking deal for the week. I find digital coupons and apps very helpful. I bought Finish dishwashing detergent at the local grocery store, BOGO. This reduced the price from $19.90 for the two to $9.95. I then used $3.50 in digital coupons reducing the price to $6.45. Then I scanned the receipt to iBotta where I received $2.50 in cash back which brought the total for 6 months of dishwasher detergent to $3.95 with a total savings of $15.95.
Dang!
Two recent frugal wins: a youg boarder in my home recently closed his bank account and received a check for 49 cents. He scoffed and was going to just loss it. Instead he gave it to me and I cashed it at my bank. A few days later I was in Walmart just browsing the clearance and found a lovely pair of exercise pants (just my size) and the only pair left —-for 49 cents exactly!!! I did my grocery shopping yesterday with Swagbucks at Target — so no out of pocket cost to me
Thank you Donna for turning me on to Swagbucks sooo many years ago. I hope that you still get the
10% bonus for the referral!!!
What a fun coincidence that was!
If you like movies and have AMC in your area, buy a share of their stock. I get invites to movie previews and have gotten free sodas and a free Oreo popcorn, which actually wasn’t bad. You can buy gift cards at a discount through various sites. Learned about that hack when you mentioned Gift Card Gtanny, Donna.
Such a wonderful way to use your skills, Donna! That’s an amazing deal you scored for your love!