And our winner is....

We had some awesome cheap date ideas submitted--we now have a winner!  The ideas from "single girl in zion" really appealed to our "foodie" side.  Seriously, who doesn't love a good Iron Chef type date or a good hunk of cheese??

So, congrats single girl in zion--you just won a pair of symphony/opera vouchers for your own cheap date!  

And thanks to everyone who contributed their ideas!  We'll be having another contest soon!

How to date on a budget

Lee and I are cheap.  Before we got married, we prided ourselves in all the fun and inexpensive things we would do on dates. Here are a few of our tips on how to date on a budget:

Tip #1.  Arcade games are always cheap.
On one date, we went to the Rose Laundry down the street and did our laundry and played the arcade game, Galaga, that they have tucked into a corner of the laundromat.  Total amount spent = $2.00 in quarters.

Tip #2: Make something together. 
For another date, we decided to reupholster a couple of pepto-bismol pink chairs that I had inherited from a roommate.  Total amount spent = About $3.00 for fabric and $9.00 for the staple gun.

Tip #3: Walking is always free. 
And we had a weekly hiking date on Wednesday nights in the summer.  Total amount spent = Nothing!

And now that we're married...

...we're still cheap!  And we still like to find fun and inexpensive things to do together (Despite what people say, we married people still like to go on dates and have fun!).  Here are a few more tips: 

Tip #4:  Find 2-for-1 tickets. 

For one date as married people, we went to support our awesome singer friend, Carrie, at a Utah Arts Festival concert and had fortunately found a 2-for-1 voucher. We danced to the awesome music of the Soulistics. Total amount spent = $10.00 for 2 tickets.

Tip #5: Digital cameras are loads of fun and cheap!

Another married-people date, we took to the streets and took pictures to create our album called "The Secret Life of Carts".  (Cart Cobain is pictured below.) Total amount spent = Nothing!

Tip #6: Volunteer. And look for free events.

And on Friday, we headed to the symphony.  Well, we actually didn't go to HEAR the symphony--we went to stack chairs.  We volunteered and got some vouchers for the symphony in exchange.  Sweet!  Then we headed next door to the Salt Lake ART Center and looked at the awesome exhibits (The Seven Deadly Sins and Launch-11) for free!

We're always looking for inexpensive date ideas--feel free to share!  Whoever posts the most interesting date idea will win those 2 symphony vouchers.  We will choose the winner on 4/24/10--so get a postin'!

Interview with Sasquatch

This is what happens when boredom strikes on a Thursday evening.




If you find yourself on a Thursday night, bored, and curious about Sasquatch, go here! You can make a movie starring YOU and Sasquatch!

That's Not Good Enough!

Recently Lee and I have been taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University classes.  For those of you who don't know who Dave Ramsey is, he gives common sense financial advice as a personal money management expert.  Weekly lessons cover a variety of subjects on budgeting, getting out of debt, saving and investing, insurance, etc.  Plus, we have "homework" dealing with the week's lesson.

This week's lesson was called "That's Not Good Enough"--it covers how to get a good deal when making any sort of purchase.  Lee and I are pretty savvy shoppers, but the lesson had some great hints on how to make our money go farther:

1. Use the power of cash.
2. Don't be afraid to negotiate.
3. Be willing to walk away.
4. Know where to find the deals.

For those who had never bargained or negotiated, our teacher suggested to "just ask" for a discount.  And our homework assignment was to use these principles if we were making a purchase this week.

So...

Because we had such great success with our little 4x4 square foot garden last summer...

...this year, we're expanding!  In addition to our 4x4, we're taking a little corner of grandma's field to plant corn, potatoes, yams, cucumbers, melons, tomatoes, lettuces, peas and herbies.

Garden expansion = Trip to Home Depot

We needed potting soil, compost, fertilizer, and vermiculite, so we tried out our bargaining chops this morning at the Home Depot.  

We went looking for the advertised 1 cubit bag of MiracleGrow soil for $3.97 in the rows of fertilizers and compost.  Lee noticed that there were rips in some of the bags as we walked around, and he decided to see if he could get a better bargain due to the damaged packaging.  So he simply asked.  

The nice garden center associate told us that Home Depot will sell 8 damaged bags--any type and size--for $4.08.  Yes, people, that is four dollars and eight cents for a total of 8 bags of ANY bag that is torn!  Holy cannoli!

Naturally, we got our 8 (four different types of fertilizers and compost).  And naturally, we got the name brand stuff!  It was awesome!

We hope this money-saving tip will help you gardeners out there.  And we'd love to hear your tips on saving money when making purchases--post a comment and share with the rest of us!