In a past post, I listed some of the ways I have fun with friends on the cheap. One such activity is to visit Whole Foods when they give out samples:
Free Sample Night at Whole Foods — Every Wednesday during the summer, my local Whole Foods offers samples throughout the store, and since the theme changes weekly, we always get to try something new. Typically there are 1-2 fruit/vegetable tastings, 2-4 entrees, and 1-2 desserts. It is not quite enough for a meal, but it all tastes very good.
Cost: gas to get to the store and home, about $1-2.
On a recent Wednesday night trip to Whole Foods, free sample night became free dinner night because I won the raffle for a Whole Foods dinner! My prize was a summer bbq pack for four — 8 pieces of fried chicken and generous portions of potato salad, coleslaw, and salad. My excitement of winning was tempered by the fact that the only food I really liked was the salad.
This brings back the memories of other contests and raffles I won.
11-years-old: Guess the number of jelly beans in the jar.
16-years-old: The raffle prize was a $25 set of glow-in-the-dark stars. When I saw that few people were entering the raffle, I spent $5 to buy up most of the raffle tickets. When I won the 1st and 3rd place raffle prizes, the organizers got upset and only let me keep one prize. Not a problem because I got the glow-in-the-dark stars.
17-years-old: At my father’s employer, children could attend “Take you daughter child to work day” until turning 18. Since both my father and I enjoyed this event, I attended every year I was eligible. My final year attending, I won the “Guess the number of microchips in the jar.” This competition was right after a visit to the “Wacky Wafer Room” and was followed by a cake walk. My dad’s office was so much fun –why did he retire?
26-years-old: Won the Whole Foods raffle of a meal I would never have paid for.
I have a lot of fun with my friends without spending a lot of money. Most of my friends are not consciously frugal, but are living on a graduate student stipend in the northeast (= expensive housing, heating bills, and groceries). Here are some of the things we have been doing this summer.
Movie club — On most Sunday evenings, my movie club gets together to watch a classic movie (my favorites are the BBC productions). It costs $1 to rent a DVD from the library, and we usually share a few bottles of wine (I found a great local NJ wine for $8 that is great with chocolate) and sometimes chocolate.
Cost: $5-10
Free Sample Night at Whole Foods — Every Wednesday during the summer, my local Whole Foods offers samples throughout the store, and since the theme changes weekly, we always get to try something new. Typically there are 1-2 fruit/vegetable tastings, 2-4 entrees, and 1-2 desserts. It is not quite enough for a meal, but it all tastes very good.
Cost: gas to get to the store and home, about $1-2.
Book club — Joining a book club has been great because I have gotten to know interesting people I never would have known met otherwise. We take turns hosting; the host provides an entree (and is reimbursed up to $40 by our sponsoring organization), and everyone else brings sides/desserts/beverages. I limit my spending to $5-$10 when I am not hosting.
Cost for me: $5-10 (+ the cost of a book because I like to keep all the books we read)
Girls Night – Oh how fun these nights can be. The host prepares a dish (dinner or just dessert), and everyone else brings something small.
Cost: $5-10
Theater & Lectures on campus — If you live near a university, check out the performing arts schedule. For less than $10 you can probably get tickets to a student production. During the academic year, Universities invite the community to free evening lectures, so check out those, too.
Cost: free to $10
Happy Hour & a Movie out — Sotto, a local Italian restaurant hosts Happy Hour from 5-7 on weekdays. A filling appetizer costs $5, and a glass of wine is $2.50. A movie at the theater next door costs about $8.
Cost: $15.50 + tax
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