I’m Not Cheap I’m Smart
April 23rd, 2010
Blackhawks Booty
At Game 1 of the Blackhawks first round playoff earlier this week, I watched the Hawks embarrass themselves as they lost 4-1 and looked absolutely lifeless in the process.
All was not lost though. Every time you walk into a Blackhawks game, you get a packet of cards offering prizes for various scoreboard games throughout the night. There’s the Dunkin Donuts race, where you either get the coffee, the donut or the bagel and if your character wins the race, you get that prize. There’s the Lemonhead race (Lemonheads, Tropical Lemonheads, and Lemonheads & Friends). And there’s the Gummy Bear shootout (Gummy Bears, Gummy Worms, and Fun Bugs).
I often get more than one packet of cards. Sometimes, like on this occasion, the person handing out the cards gives me extras. Other times, also like this occasion, I find a couple on the ground. At the end of my collecting, I had 11 or 12 sets of cards (there are only 3 different types). I ended up with four Fun Bugs, 6 coffees and 6 Lemonheads & Friends. Making the night even better, I was one of the first 50 people to text HAWKS to some Lemonhead related number and I won a sweet t-shirt.
The Blackhawks may have lost, but I most definitely won:
April 23rd, 2010
Amazing Willpower
I love candy.
I love good deals.
So when I find a good deal on candy, dangerous things can happen. I was in CVS the other day and found Easter candy to be 90% off. There were bags of chocolate malt balls reduced from $2.50 to 25 cents; Cadbury Eggs for 8 cents; boxes of Peeps for 12 cents; and much, much more. In the days before or between Operations Stop Being a Fat Fuck, I would have gone nuts. On Wednesday, I restrained myself:
Two bags of chocolate malt balls, one Cadbury egg and one box of Peeps. That might seem like a lot to some people, but were I not in weight loss mode, I probably would have bought 6-8 bags of malt balls and at least 2 or 3 more boxes of Peeps.
My self-control did not end there. I actually took the malt balls to a friend’s place as part of my contribution to dinner. I ate about 3/4 of the Peeps in two days, which isn’t too bad, and I took one bite of the Cadbury egg. Here’s what I did next:
Congratulations to me.
Food, I'm Not Cheap I'm Smart, Operation Stop Being a Fat Fuck | No Comments
January 11th, 2009
Cheap High Quality Vodka
Got an email from Sam’s this morning touting Sobieski Vodka, long available in Poland but only recently available in the U.S.
La Revue du Vin de France, a French wine and spirits publication recently sampled 25 of the world’s leading Vodka brands and Sobieski won with a score of 16.5, beating Grey Goose (15) and Belvedere (14) among others.
Normally, a 750ml bottle costs $10.99. Today at Sam’s it’s $8.99. Even if you can’t pick it up today, you can order it online at the sale price and then pick it up when you want.
January 5th, 2009
Public Service Announcement
The recession isn’t all bad.
For those in Chicago, lobsters at Treasure Island are on sale for $5.99/pound. I had some last night and can vouch for the quality of the lobsters (post on that incredible meal to follow once I get the pictures).
Sale ends tomorrow, January 6.
Anyone who decides to take advantage of this offer should feel free to invite me over for dinner.
December 9th, 2008
Megabus is Mega Awesome
So I’m heading to Minnesota in early February to visit a friend and do some ice fishing. Last February, when I made a last-minute decision to go to the Twin Cities to knock on doors for Obama, I used Megabus for the first time.
Megabus started in England and made its way to the U.S. a few years ago. They operate clean, double-decker buses and operate on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Other than my bus driver almost going off the road on the way to Minneapolis last time (he was tired), the ride was perfect. And it was cheap.
Megabus has an odd pricing system. The first seat on each bus costs $1. Then, as a particular run grows in popularity, the price increases. Pricing is based on an unknown algorithm, and as counterintuitive as it seems to be, it clearly works.
Tickets go on sale a little over 2 months ahead of time but what time they went on sale was a mystery. With some investigative work last week (consisting of me periodically refreshing my browser every couple of minutes) I figured out that tickets are released at 1:30 in the morning (central time). As a result of my hard work, I got a $1 ticket to Minneapolis and a $1 ticket for the ride back. No matter how much you pay for a ticket, Megabus charges a 50 cent convenience fee.
So for $3, I’ve got a round-trip bus ticket to Minneapolis. And that my friends, is smart shopping.