I really love eating out and good food. So I am always looking for ways to save money so I can keep enjoying those things. Today was that day, a day of coupons and savings.

After a crazy week I love to get up on Saturday morning, with my husband and head somewhere and drink tea and eat a quick breakfast and people watch. And there is no better place to do that than Portland.

Months ago when I had purchased a Restaurant.com coupon I was given a $10 gift certificate for free, so I chose Modern Love.

Today was finally the day I could use my free $10 GC.  We made our way into Portland. The only catch with this coupon is we needed to spend $20. Sounds easy? Well, we had to get creative. We got a big cappuccino, a big tea, 2 breakfast sandwiches with extra ingredients (which cost extra) and we topped that all of with a big, really big cookie.  Yep, a cookie for breakfast.

All of that came to $20.60. Had we gone without a coupon we would not have gotten all the extras for sure. Our $10 breakfast was a treat. We took our time and even got to sit outside on this barely sunny, not super warm, fall day.

From there we made our way down to Benessere Olive Oils and Vinegars. I had a Living Social deal that I wanted to use. I purchased my deal, and 3 of my friends bought which meant mine was free and I had $23 to spend. Love this store and these olive oils. I cook with them often.

Once we got home our kids had finally woken up.  I knew I had to take my teenage son driving, so I made him take me to Fred Meyers since they were running a good cereal sale. I got 4 boxes of cereal for $5. Not the best deal out there, but not bad considering it’s over $4 a box regular price.

My son decided he was hungry and wanted to go to Qdoba, which was right next door. My son gets to eat FREE at Qdoba for a year because him and some friends spent the night at a store that was opening. First 25 people in line got FREE Qdoba for a year. And I should mention my husband jumped in on the deal too and went down and spent the night.

As we were leaving my son asked me if I wanted yogurt from the shop next door. He had earned a gift card as a Thank You for volunteering and wanted to share with me. Being the frugal person I am, and not super hungry, I got $1 worth of yogurt, for FREE.

Overall, it was a perfect day. We did a lot and spent a little.

So let’s see how you spend your days cashing in on deals.

It’s summer, my favorite time of year!!  I love the sunsets, I am sure I would also love the sunrises, but I am never up that early.

If you have read my blog at all you know I am super frugal. But I also have things that I think are worth spending money on. Even if you choose to spend money on somethings, and don’t go crazy, you help keep your sanity as you stay on your budget, so you are not always feeling deprived.

Sometimes taking in Summer means spending money to enjoy all it has to offer.

Here are my Top 10 summer splurges, in no particular order ::

1.  Buy Some Camping Gear and go Camping – especially if you have little kids.  It really becomes an affordable vacation.  We did it a ton when the kids were little.  It’s getting tougher with teenagers schedules, but spending all your time outside is so refreshing and getting away from the hustle and bustle just to watch the fire crackle is totally worth it.

2. Get out to the farmers market and buy some local produce. Some will cost more, other things will cost less.  Make a day of it and support a local food vendor while you are there too. Every week the options change making dinner different every week.

3.  Buy that new outdoor table set so you can eat dinner outside – My family knows when weather permits, we eat outside.  I just love it, even if we do have to drag tons of stuff outside.  Deep down they all do too. I am sure of it. (The good news is tables are either really cheap now or you will have to shop Craigslist and yard sales.) Or if you are like me just watch for FREE ones to show up.

4.  Get yourself a bike - Ride with your kids or with a group.  Enjoy the nice weather in a whole new way.

5.  Buy plants for your garden – It’s still not too late. Start planting fall blooming flowers and winter veggies. It helps you to enjoy being outside.

6.  Go out to dinner in a fabulous outdoor dinning restaurant. Of if it’s hot where you are treat yourself to eating out at an air conditioned restaurant of your choice and don’t heat your house. Use a coupon of course. Other great sources for dining coupons is Groupon and the Groupon Now feature, in which they have specials for just a few hours.

Can you even believe I am telling you to spend money???

7.  Buy a pair of good walking shoes – Hit some hikes or even drive to a new location for a more scenic walk. Get yourself moving on these great summer nights.

8.  Go to a drive in movie. Do you have those in your area? We still have a few close by. This is actually cheaper then going to a movie theater. Even if the movie isn’t good, the people watching should be spectacular.

9.  Go berry picking. Splurge on all the good fruits that are in season. Kids love eating their way through and buying way too much fruit is never a bad idea.

10.  Buy yourself a cute tank top so you can enjoy summer.

Sorry I just thought of one more ::

11.  Buy a hammock – I finally bought one summer and I couldn’t be happier. We got it off of Craigslist for $90. It was about a $200 set up, so we got a good deal. Here’s another great deal I found. Texsport Hammock/Stand Crystal Bay Combo as a matter of fact I almost bought this one.

By all means don’t be inside cleaning your house. That can wait until fall, summer is here and you need to enjoy it and enjoy it to the fullest.

I love summer. Even though we have been dealt a bad summer for the 2nd year in a row I am trying really hard to enjoy it between rain storms.

What do you like to spend money on during the summer?

Linked to

Top 10 Tuesday

Finding a great local place in your area is always nice. Great food, great price makes me a happy woman.

Looking for a fun place to go eat that won’t break the bank in Portland?  Head on down to Little Big Burger, located in the Pearl.

This is such a fun, new place in Portland. There are plenty of shops to check out while you are in the Pearl.

You have heard me say over and over I love eating food and eating out. I also love having time alone with my man. Well, this is a great destination that won’t break the bank.

It’s kind of the In-n-Out of Oregon. The menu is very limited and the burgers are great. And since it is the great NW you will also notice that the fries are made with truffle oil, because, why not? Want to read more about this great burger joint?

What is your cheap but great go to place so you can get out, eat and enjoy some time with your someone special?  I also love to travel, so I am always looking for places to eat in other cities.

Another way I try to eat on a budget is watch Groupon and Living Social for good food deals.

Yesterday you saw the LivingSocial deal for Bumblekiss and today we used it. I know we don’t normally go through our coupons that quickely, but it just worked out that way.

This place was amazing and worth every penny, even though we didn’t have to use all that many pennies because of our great coupon.

Want to read about what we got and how good it was? Then read on.

I have used LivingSocial before, so we didn’t get the $5 off that first time users get. But I did watch a quick video and I got the $20 gift certificate for just $8. With our hefty tip and great food and the cost of the coupon we spent just $16. Not bad for a good breakfast, with great service.

Eating out for us is a Money4This, but with group buying sites, it quickly becomes a Not4That, because you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get great food!!

Living Social has a great deal today. Then before you buy, they sweeten the deal even more, check it out.

You get $20 worth of food at Bumblekiss in Portland, for just $10. Take 30 seconds and watch a video and they will give you an additional $2 off. If you have never used LivingSocial before you get an instant $5 credit as well.

That’s right a $20 breakfast for just $8 or even $3.

All you need to do is head over to LivingSocial and sign up to receive these alerts.

I make note of all these things because I love to eat out. LOVE IT!!  But it’s not something we can afford to do too often these days. So I jump on deals like these.

Before I make any purchase I thoroughly check through the menu and make sure 1) I like it and 2) spending $20 will get me 2 meals not just half of one.

Not from Portland, that’s ok, choose your city and start watching for the deal that is just right for you. Heading on vacation soon? Watch LivingSocial in the city you will be vacationing too and watch LivingSocial Escapes for some great travel deals.

We have used both and have been pleased with both.

There are 2 great deals out there that I want to make sure everyone sees. First off Redbox is offering 3 movies for $1. This offer is through Groupon. It still has 2 more days on it, so take advantage of this one. I might just buy more than one, since you can buy them as gifts.

The other deal I saw today in the Portland area is through Mobba and it’s $15 for $30 worth of food at Bastas Trattoria. I checked out the menu and this place looks so good. This offer will get you a free entree for sure as entree’s run $10-$20 a plate.

I am always looking for ways to eat good food at a fraction of the price. I also like to eat at local restaurants, with local food. This place is all about that. So yes, I will support them.

Enjoy your dinner and a movie!!

Amy

I don’t eat at chain restaurants, because I just can’t tolerate them and I don’t eat fast food because it’s just gross.  BUT what I do eat is Mexican fast food chains.  I know, weird, but it’s one thing I will tolerate and do like. Sometimes you need that quick, easy, cheap meal. Plus I like that you can find Baja Fresh coupons and deals like this. Now if Chipotle would just do the same.

Baja Fresh never disappoints and with today’s Sharing Spree it will make the deal even sweeter. Today you can purchase $15 worth of food for just $7.50.

I haven’t shared many of these lately, because not many have caught my attention. But this one I like and it’s a great deal.

Even better, this deal is running for 2 more days. So what are you waiting for? Plus you can buy multiples. Yes I will be buying this one.

Fajitas here I come!!

I have been watching Tippr for awhile and waiting for it to come to Portland.  Finally the time has come.  They are offering a great deal.  If you sign up today you can instantly get $5 in your account.  You don’t even need to buy anything right away, but when you do you will already get $5 off.

So what are you waiting for?  It doesn’t cost you anything, then you just sit and wait for that amazing deal you can’t pass up and believe me it will come.  Who doesn’t like a discount on food, spas, entertainment and more?

Tippr is not in a lot of cities just yet, but scroll down and see if you city is offered and you too can earn $5.

Today I did another field trip with another local blogger, Inspired2Cook.  This is what we found.

Food carts are everywhere in Portland.  As a matter of fact in one of the recent Portland Monthly issues they talked about all the food carts and rated the best ones from each pod.

The food carts are a growing business for Portlanders.  With the economy the way it is it only makes sense. I mean think about it.  Rent is cheap, so it’s an easy start up and the food is cheap to purchase, which is nice for those needing to grab a quick bite and not wanting to spend a fortune.  It’s a win – win for all those involved.

Unsure of which Pod we wanted to eat at, we made our way towards 2 that are within 5 blocks.  One thing we discovered is the number of Thai food carts.  They were everywhere and my favorite part about that was you could get 2 large salad rolls for just $3.  I love salad rolls, so that seemed like a great bargain to me.

Even though the first pod at 9th and Alder was quite large, we continued on to the pod at 5th between Stark and Oak.  I was looking for something that we had read about.  It was the Schnitzel sandwich.  As we began to peruse around we found many great options.  Even after looking I knew I wanted the Schnitzel sandwich.  My friend went off to order some Indian food and grab a Pulled Pork sandwich to take home to her husband, I made my way to Tabor Czech Food.  I ordered the Original Schnitzelwich for $7.

My goal was to find the best bang for your buck.

I found the best bang for my buck right here.  As she handed the sandwich out the window I gasped, or yelled or maybe just both.  It was HUGE.   I asked for a knife to cut it, but she said it didn’t lend itself to being cut, handed me a plastic knife and sent me on my way.

Here is the description of my sandwich……

“A hand tenderized Carlton Farms pork loin that’s been sprinkled with bread crumbs, panfried, and placed hot and crispy into a Grand Central ciabatta roll amid the company of fresh greens, caramelized onions, a spicy re-pepper spread, and homemade horseradish.”

If you are hungry and needing something filling and big, this is for you.  I even shared a few bites with my buddy, but in the end….I couldn’t eat the whole thing.  I could have easily split this with a friend and been plenty full, making it only $3.50 a person.

Linked to Sundays In My City

Another day, another great meal using a very good coupon.  Today we went out to breakfast.  As we arrived and read through the requirements we quickly realized we had to spend $35 to use our $25 discount.  No problem as I love to eat.  We got the coupon from Restaurant.com.  We paid $2 for a $25 gift certificate.

First thing we realized is it was very well priced.  That said it was harder to spend $35 than we thought.  Three entrees, side of bacon and 2 coffees later we had reached $36.00.

We loved this place and will go back, but let me back up and give you our first impressions.  First off the place out front doesn’t look super nice.  Once inside it’s a completely different restaurant.  Clean, sleek, well lit and tables far enough apart you never feel like you are eating with strangers.

This was a one man show, at least on weekday mornings.  He seated us, took phone calls, cooked and brought drinks.  As you can imagine, it can’t all be done well.  After much time he finally came to take our order, we were glad as we had sat for quite some time.  As he got to our table and we began to ask questions, he took a phone call and walked away.  He was gone for like 5 minutes.

We almost walked out at that point, but stuck it out.  Finally we ordered and soon our meals came.  First was the crab omelet.  This thing was stuffed with crab.  It was amazing.  I had the Eggs Benedict and started in while he cooked my second Eggs Benedict this one an Italian one.  Each entree is served with potatoes.  Amazing cooked potatoes with caramelized onions.

Once the second Eggs Benedict came we stopped to stare.  This one is the Italian one, with pesto and Roma tomatoes.  This one was beyond amazing.  I have to say one of the best Eggs Benedict I have ever eaten.  I watched him make the pesto, so it was fresh on the spot.

We left with the pesto still dancing in our mouths.  We were full, happy and ready to return.  And we encourage all of you to as well.

With our restaurant.com gift certificate this whole meal cost us $11 or $13 since we paid $2 for the gift certificate.

Right now you can get your Restaurant.com gift certificate at 80% off.  Meaning you can purchase the $25 for $2 instead of $10.   Just use the code word “SHARE”.  This code and discount will be good through Wednesday, Sept. 22.

The pictures aren’t great.  I forgot my camera and had to use my phone, but I just wanted you to see the goodness.