Hunting for Coupons and Sales

I've always been a coupon and sales hound, and I continue to be one in retirement.  Coupons for free items, with no purchase necessary, are one my favorites.   These are usually grocery store coupons for grocery stores within 2 miles of my house.  Then, there are coupons that give you another product with a purchase.  Recently, I got a $16.99 ratchet adapter set for free with a purchase, and I needed it.  Of course, there always the BOGO, buy one get one, free coupons.  My favorite coupon retailer is Costco.  Coupon are automatically applied at checkout for significant savings.

Then there are the holiday sales:  President's day, Spring Black Friday, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Black Friday, yada, yada, yada.  Luckily, when we need a major kitchen appliance, it was during on of these holiday sales.  Recently, I bought an oscillating tool package for about 50% off the individual components.  One of my routine favorites is buying my anti virus software during black Friday.  The normal price is $80 and I can buy for $20.   Since the activation key never expires, I buy a couple and install them as needed.

Is it worth my time to find the coupons and sales?  Do I really save enough money to justify the effort?  Probably not, but I find the effort fun and entertaining, even though my family feels it's too much effort.  But then again, I may score big when we get a new car, since our cars are 14, 23 and 24 years old.

Disclosure: No compensation was received from Costco for this post.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every  Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor purchasing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Less Need to Turn Off the Lights

When I was a kid, I was always instructed to turn off the lights when not using, and reminded when I didn't turn out the lights.  The rationale was electricity costs money and leaving lights on when not needed wasted electricity. True, especially with incandescent lights, which give off significant heat also.

With LED lights, the amount of electricity used for the same amount of light is 75-85% less.   While electricity is still wasted when left on, it is much lower than when I was growing up.   Still an issue, but much less than with incandescent light bulbs.

For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial or frugalness advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Free is a Good Price

I like free stuff.  Especially, if it's something I use frequently or need.

• My tennis club allows family members  or junior members (17 and under) to use indoor tennis courts for free, if they "walk on" a few minutes before and don't make a reservation.  I do walkon with my son 2 times a week, which saves 50-75 dollars a week if I reserve and pay the hourly charge.  We live 5 minutes away from our tennis club.   This more than covers the cost of our membership fee, which includes swimming during the summer.
• My grocery and hardware store occasionally offer coupons for free items to membership customers.  Sometimes awesome products, sometimes minor products but free.   My grocery free items are usually 1-2 dollars and no other purchase is required.  My first free hardware item was $16.99 and it was useful.
• My neighbor and I routinely share tools and help each other with DIY repairs.   I admit, he gives much more than me, but we consider it fair.  My best story about him:  I inherited a snow blower from my in-laws which hadn't been used for 5 years and the gas had not been drained.  As a result, it wouldn't start.  I moseyed over to his garage to borrow some carburetor cleaner.  Instead, he decided to take apart the carburetor, clean it and reassemble it.  It started after he did that.
• My broker financial advisors did a free analysis on when I should start taking Social Security payments.  Two different brokers recommended the same:  take as soon as possible. 
• The tax preparation company I worked in would offer free tax planning advice throughout the year to every client who had paid to do the previous year's taxes.  Despite being free, clients never took my offer and didn't contact the company off season.

OK, some may point out that these aren't really free.  After all, I have already paid a club membership fee, bought some product, or contracted for a service.  I'm just getting extra product or service in addition to what I already purchased.  Fair point, but I still feel like I get it for free because it would be an out of pocket cost if I did it elsewhere.  Feel free to convince me otherwise.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every  Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Benefit of Paying Credit Card Balance Every Week

I've started to pay several of our credit cards every week, before the bill is sent.   I do this because I share 3-4 credit cards with family members.   Since I don't know what they are spending, I check periodically to see the balance on the card, so that I will have enough funds to pay the monthly bill.

Since I check the bill, I decided I might as well pay the balance, even though it is not due yet.  That way I don't forget or miss paying a large bill when it comes.  In addition, I am effectively spending on a cash basis, since I pay the balance every week.

Paying the balance weekly may also increase one's credit score since the percent utilization is lower when the monthly bill is issued.  Bonus!

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor credit card advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Financial Strategies that Helped Me

Here are some simple financial strategies that have worked for us and I'm sharing with my kids.

• Pay yourself first.   Put 5, 10, 15% or whatever into a savings account.  When I first started working, I would pay all my bills and expenses first and whatever was left at the end of the month was my savings.   Except for my first month of working, I was pretty good at having something left at the end of the month.   Later, I realized a better approach would be to take out my savings first, and then pay my bills and spend on expenses afterwards.
• Buy only what we need.  Marketers are adept at getting consumer to buy stuff.  The challenge to sort the needs from the wants.   Do I really need the best smart phone, cable TV, a large screen TV or a luxury car?  The answer is probably not.  Not buying these can reduce spending by hundreds of dollars one time or every month.  A related rule to this is to live below our means.
• Spend cash for everyday expenses. Using only cash is an easy way to limit spending.  Once the cash runs out, the spending stops.  A corollary to this is pay off entire credit card bill due every month.

OK, not everyone can follow these strategies.  But if one can, it is one path to a successful future retirement.

For more on  Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.

This is not financial, saving, spending nor retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Power of NO!

For us, a successful retirement has benefited from being able to say NO.

1.  No Debt.   We have no mortgage, no car loan, no outstanding revolving debt.   That has reduced our "required" payments each month.   My only regret is that I didn't pay off our mortgage right after retiring in 2007.  Instead I stayed invested and lost a significant amount of money in 08/09 that could have been used to pay off the mortgage, which we did in 2009.
2. No Living Large.  I drive a 17 year old truck and a 17 year old car, which we are saving for my daughter to learn driving.  My spouse drives an 8 year old car we bought from her mom, when she moved into independent living.  We take one or two vacations a year with the kids.   We have most of our meals at home, eating out a couple times a month.
3. No Supporting Adult Kids.   Both our kids are still under 15, but many of my retired friends are still providing some finanacial support to their kids, even post college graduation.
4. No Exotic Investments.   I have turned down various investments with "higher yields" and stayed with some stocks and mostly CDs and cash equivalents.   Yeah, we didn't beat the market, except for 2020 YTD, but we generally earned enough to cover annual expenses.

Of course, YMMV, but this approach has worked well for us.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back Fridays for a new segment.

This is not financial nor retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) Underdelivering

Recently, we've had two compact fluorescent lights (CFL) burnout in less than two years.  This was surprising since the package claimed an 11 year life based on 3 hours of usage per day.  The bulbs that burned out were probably used 20 times max a week for less than an hour each time.  When I took the bulbs to a recycle, the bin was full.   I doubt many of these bulbs were 11 years old.

Since CFL bulbs cost 5-10 times more that incandescent light bulbs, the faster than expected burnout will make CFLs much more expensive.
While I haven't investigated in detail, I suspect that fluorescent lights work best when left on for long periods of time, versus being turned off and on several times a day.  The on/off cycling probably wears out the ballast, which is needed charge the gas.  

So I have an experiment running in the master bedroom closets, where the lights are turned cycled several times a day and are not on from more than 15 minutes at a time.  One closed has CFL light bulbs and the other one has incandescent light bulbs.  If my hypothesis is right, the CFL light bulbs will be the first to burn out.

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.

This is not financial or lighting advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2012 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Government's Definition of Spending Cuts

For financial amusement, I've been following the drama on the fiscal cliff and sequestration negotiations.  I have learned amazingly that the governments definition of spending cuts is very different that my definition for individuals.  To me, a personal spending cut is making a conscious decision on what to give up to reduce costs.  For example, I may choose to buy less or to buy a less expensive brand of a product.  In most cases, I need to give up something: amount, quality, or value.

However, I have learned that the government has several more options for "spending cuts:"

1. Pay the provider less for the same product.  The proposed 2% cut in Medicare is to simply have health care providers accept 2% for the exact same services and products.  The providers only choice is to participate or be excluded from Medicare.    Gee, I wish I could tell my grocery store or gas station to accept 2% less and have them participate.  Unfortunately, they will choose not to do business with me anymore.
2. Future promised cuts that usually don't materialize.   A typical government tactic is to claim a savings credit today for spending cuts in the future, even they don't materialize, which they usually don't.  For me, that would mean I could claim a spending cut of $25,000 in 2012 if I delay purchasing a car from 2014 to 2015.
3. Postponing benefits.  Another government spending cut is to delay benefits for entitlements, such as Social Security.  So raising the age for full retirement is considered a spending cut for the government.  I guess this works because starting later means less payments over the programs lifetime, but I don't see how it should be claimed as a current savings.  For example, if I take a major vacation every five years starting at 55 and decide to delay the start until 60, I will take one less major vacation over my lifetime.  But I shouldn't claim a spending cut in the year I decide to delay.

This year I probably saved a few hundred dollars in spending cuts.  However, if I used the government definition, I would claimed tens of thousands in spending cuts since I didn't buy a new car, delayed taking major vacation, and assumed all my providers would accept 2% less for the same products and services.

For more on  New Realities, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial or frugal living advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2012 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Free Emergency Phone Option

Living Without a Cellphone reports that the hard economic times have caused some people to reduce or give up cell phone services.   While the great recession wasn't the reason, I have never had a personal cell phone since I couldn't justify the convenience or the cost.   I even avoided having one at work for several years until my organization demanded I carry one, which I did in my final year before retiring.

People have asked me whether I feel unsafe when driving long distances without a cell phone.  What would I do if my car broke down, they ask.   I tell them I'll do what I would have done before cell phones, walk to the next exit or ask a passing driver to send help.  More likely, a passing driver would likely call in the issue on their cell phone.

However, I do have another answer, which I learned in the 90s when I bought a car with a "car phone."    I never started the service, but had heard that 911 works on all mobile phones, even ones without a service provider.   I tested the 911 service once when I passed an accident about a minute after it happened.  I called 911 and was connected.  For reference, 911 already knew about the accident.

So my emergency phone option is an old Sprint cell phone, with no contract, that I inherited from my dad when he passed away.  I keep it in my truck with the car charger attachment.   So if there is ever a need, I can dial 911.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.


This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2012 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Athletic Shoe Usage Cycle

As I've become older, it seems more important for me to have good athletic shoes for my sports activities. Since I have flat feet, my joints are less sore after vigorous activity when wearing good shoes. However, athletic shoes are often designed specifically for a sport and last less than a year. To mitigate the cost of ahigher frequency purchases, I extend the use of the shoes by cycling them through normal usage. Here is a typical cycle of my athletic shoes:

Exclusive use for a sport. Initially, I wear the shoes for the sport for which they are intended. Tennis shoes are only worn when I play tennis. Running shoes are only worn when I run. As a result, the shoe uppers are still in excellent condition after the soles and cushioning are worn out.

Use for casual activities. After sports use, I wear my athletic shoes for everyday activities such as shopping, attending classes, and running errands. Since the uppers are still in good condition, I can use the shoes for most casual wear activities, including restaurants and parites. In addition, the cushioning is still excellent for everyday walking.

Use for yard work. When the condition of the uppers decline, I start wearing the athletic shoes for yard work, such as gardening, tree trimming and grass cutting. Since the shoes are old, I don't mind if they get muddy or stained. I keep using these shoes until they are worn out or a new pair is rotated in from casual wear use.

By wearing my athletic shoes for multiple purposes, I maximize the useful life of my tennis and running shoes. Thus, I don't feel as bad spending $80+ for specialized sports shoes.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial or sports wear advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Retirees are Cutting Back on Spending

10 Things Retirees Are Doing Without by Emily Brandon of U.S. News & World Report reports on ten ways in which retirees are spending less on average. The list includes:

1. Eating at home more.
2. Lowering thermostat settings in winter.
3. Buying fewer new clothes.
4. Using the library more.
5. Using coupons and waiting for sales.
6. Doing own repairs and maintenance.
7. Reducing debt.
8. Eliminating vehicles.
9. Downsizing home.
10. Reducing ambitious travel plans.

In our case, we were already doing the first seven before retiring and continued doing so in retirement. Where we differ is in the last three categories. For #8, we continue to have two cars and will keep them until a replacement is need. At that time, a single car may be an option we consider. For #9, we plan to live in our current home for at least 15 years which is when our daughter will graduate from high school. Finally, we are considering doing more traveling because we realize life's short and getting shorter.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Look or Ask for a Coupon

During this economic recession, I've noticed many retailers are more generous with coupons. In some cases, a retailer has accepted an expired coupon or provided one on request. In most cases, I'm using a coupon for a planned purchase, one that I would have made with or without a coupon. Thus, a coupon is pure savings.

Here's my plan for finding coupons for future significant purchases:

1. Regularly check coupon mailers. We receive monthly coupon packets and magazines in our area for restaurants and local retailers. Recently, we needed our water heater replaced and the store we selected had a coupon in the mailer.



2. Search the Internet. Our water heater company also had the same coupon on their website, in case the paper one expired. As it turns out, they gave me the coupon discount just for mentioning the coupon on the phone.
   
   Last week, I needed a major car repair and didn't have any coupons from the dealer covering the repair. I searched the Internet, and found a coupon for a 10% discount on the parts which the dealership honored. In fact, when I ordered the parts over the phone, I was given the 10% discount by mentioning the coupon.
   
   A couple of local retailers have told me they have 10-20% off coupons regularly on their websites.



3. Ask for a coupon. When I arrived at the service department, I showed the representative a related coupon and asked if any apply. He responded with, "No, but you can use this $20 off coupon that we have." It was a flyer the dealership had distributed and, even though it was expired, they reduced my price by $20.

Overall, the coupons saved us $25 for a water heater and $70 on my car repair for the company we had already decided to use. Pretty good return for about 30 minutes worth of effort.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Eliminate Recurring Expenses to Save Money

Reducing expenses has always been a tactic and strategy to improve one's financial situation. For us, a good approach to reducing expenses has been to focus on costs that occur on a monthly basis. Here are some examples:

Subscriptions and memberships. We've tried to eliminate products and services that have recurring monthly fee. For example, we do not subscribe to a local newspaper, cable/satellite TV, or a cell phone service. We have joined my company health club, but only pay for the months we actually use it. Also, I have a free subscription to The Wall Street Journal and Barron's through airline miles awards. Our only current recurring monthly subscription is our land line phone and Internet service.

Mortgage or rent. Our largest recurring payment used to be our mortgage, which was about 24% of our monthly expense. A little over a year into retirement, we paid off our mortgage and significantly reduced our monthly expense.

When I first started working, I rented an apartment for about 11% of my monthly salary. Keeping my rent cost low enabled me to begin saving part of my salary immediately.

Debt payments. After graduating from college, we've both had student loan debt, which created a regular monthly payment for 10 years. Fortunately, we've never carried a credit card balance that required a minimum monthly payment.

Additional car. Now that I've retired, we probably could become a one car family. That would eliminate the license, insurance and maintenance costs for a car. At this point, we still like the convenience of having two vehicles. We'll seriously consider going to single car if we should ever need to replace a vehicle.

Overall, I consider eliminating recurring payments an effective way to create a sustainable reduction in monthly expenses. The decision can be made one time, and is often easier to maintain than a expense reduction that may be reviewed on a monthly basis.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Tax Holidays for Back to School Savings

Our daughter will be in kindergarten next year. After attending the parent orientation, I realized we will be in the back-to-school purchasing business for many years. While the cost for kindergarten is relatively modest, I expect the cost of future years will be much higher.

One way to save is to shop during the sales tax holidays offered by various states from late spring to early fall. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have had tax holidays ranging from a weekend to a week in the past. The states include: Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. Depending on the state, purchases of clothing, shoes, schools supplies, computers and even sports equipment may be exempt from sales tax when below certain dollar amounts.

For more specifics for each state, see 2010 Tax Free Weekend Events at About.com.

For more on Crossing Generations , check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Where We Haven't Cut Back

This Great Recession of 2008 -2010 has caused many people to cut back spending and our family is no different. However, even on a tight retirement budget, there are some areas in which we have chosen not to cut back. Here are the areas:

Insurance - We've maintained our all of our insurance policies at the pre-recession limits: health, home, auto, and long term care. The only major policy we no longer have is life, since we are in early retirement. Even though funds are tight, we decided that our current levels of insurance were appropriate and worth maintaining.

Healthy food - We've continue to buy fresh, non-processed, no anti-biotic and no pesticide foods. For us, having good health is a high priority. We believe eating properly is important to good health.

Enrichment activities - We continue to put our five year daughter in various programs to increase her exposure to various experiences. Soccer, tumbling, swimming, language, music and nature are the primary activities. We believe that it is important to expose children to a wide range of experiences in preparation for future learning.

Home maintenance - Having lived previously in a 90 year old house, we realize that deferred maintenance can be compounded into serious problems, that are much more costly. So we are very conscientious on doing maintenance to avoid major problems. Fortunately, we were able to some major cost items, e.g. roof, furnace, air conditioning and exterior painting, near retirement when we still had fund from working.

Paper products - The primary non-essential area of no cut back has been in the area of paper products, such as toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and tissues. We continue to buy the branded, high quality products in these categories. I know a common argument is "why pay premium prices for single use, throw away products?" I've made the same argument myself when I was younger :-). However, we've become accustomed to the better products, and decided not to keep using them. Our compromise solution was to buy in bulk from warehouse stores and on sale.

Although we've made cut backs in other areas, I estimate we are keeping close to our pre-recessions and pre-retirement levels of spending in these five categories.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Want to Retire Early? - They Need an App for That

With the popularity of apps, I think there ought to be some to provide assistance in retiring early. Here are two hypothetical apps I would have found useful on our own early retirement experience:

i-Save - This app would automatically deposit 12% to 20% of net weekly, biweekly, or monthly net pay into a savings account for retirement. For more aggressive savers, it would automatically save 12% to 20% of gross pay. I determined this is how much I needed to save to meet my early retirement goal.

i-LiveBelowMeans - This app would answer Need or Want whenever considering a potential purchase. For us, building wealth required trying to buy only what I needed. As a start, I would err on the side of marking many items as want. For example, I would categorize cable/satellite TV and a personal cell phone as a want, which some might consider strict. On the other hand, I consider health insurance a need.

Of course, having apps would only be a beginning. For us, an enabler for retiring early was making these strategies into everyday financial habits.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial, saving or retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2010 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Why I Don't Shop on Black Friday

Black Friday is an annual event for retailers to entice consumers into stores with special, low price deals that aren't offered any other time of year. Every year, I enjoy reading about the great deals I could get. And every year, I enjoy staying home and avoiding the mad rush. Here are my reasons for not shopping on Black Friday:

4:00 AM is too early to rise. I'm not getting early on to go shopping. To me, it seems ridiculous to lose several hours of sleep for a chance at a good deal. When I was working, Black Friday was a holiday. Now, I'm retired and every day is a holiday:-) I'd rather get the sleep time.

If I needed it, I would have already bought. I follow a principle of buying only what I need. A great sale price does not change an item from the "not needed" category to the "needed" category.

Limited quantities mean I won't be in time. A lot of the great deals often have a disclaimer such as "limited quantities, minimum of (single digit) per store." Thus, only the first few customers wanting to buy the item will get it, meaning my chances are a like a lottery.

So this year, as with previous years, I will be sleeping and missing all the great deals from retailers.

For more on Strategies and Plans Ideas, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial or shopping advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2009 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Eat Out for Less - Off Peak Dinner Deals

Increasingly, casual dining restaurants are offering 33 to 50% discounts on certain menu times at non-peak dinner times, e.g. 4-6 PM on Sunday to Thursday. In many cases, the deals are on appetizers and drinks, but occasionally, entrees are included. Based my experience, the appetizers, entrees and drinks are the same portion size as the full priced ones offered during other times.

For us, this is a great deal. When it's just our family dining, it is an acceptable trade off to eat at the restaurant's specified time to get a much lower price. In fact, we prefer to eat earlier because we have a five year old daughter, who we try to get to bed by 8PM. Also, since we have a young child, we like going to restaurants at times when they are less crowded. Now we get the additional benefit of lower prices.

I believe many of these meal deals are a direct result of the current recession and expect that most will be eliminated once the economy improves. In the meantime, we will be making a conscious effort to dine out early and take advantage of the available off peak meal savings.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2009 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Recession Deals Make It Harder to be Frugal

As the recession continues, restaurants, retailers, and the government is making it harder to be frugal. The cost of many items are coming down, sometimes to a level I find unbelievable. I've been tempted many times, and occasionally give in. Here are some examples of great prices that I've been seeing:

Meal and Happy Hour Deals. I recently wrote about Happy Hour Deals, where beer was cheaper than retail, and Restaurant Meal Deals , with $5 and $7 menu entrees. The discounts continue and are expanding.

Pretty soon it will be cheaper to eat out than to cook at home :-)

Electronics. The main example is wide screen TVs. I saw a brand name 32" LCD HDTV for $437 at Best Buy. Costco had a brand name LCD HDTV for about $450. When I looked at wide screen TVs 5 years ago, the cost was about $2500 for a similar sized model. The same price reductions are happening for digital cameras. I haven't seen any super sales in computers yet, but maybe one is coming soon.

A fully loaded laptop for under $300 might entice me to spend :-)

Cash for Clunkers. It's no surprise that paying someone $4,500 for a $1,000 car might encourage them to buy a new car. A friend of mine in turning in a perfectly good 1997 vehicle for a $4,500 credit towards a new car.

My spouse's car does not qualify for the program. Although my truck qualifies, it is still worth more than $4,500 in a private sale and therefore, I would be losing money on the deal. Besides, we both planned to drive our vehicles at least 4 more years.

Clothing. Although I'm cutting way back on clothing purchases, I still can't help noticing the deep discount prices. Golf shirts on sale are going for under $10, less than what I paid at sales 20 years ago. My spouse just found some dress buys on the 65% off rack, and then received another 20% savings for opening a charge card.

OK, I gave in and bought a specialized running top and shorts, but only for $7 each

While the offers are enticing, I have mainly resisted by sticking with the principle of buying only what we need. So still no wide screen TV or new car for us. However, with the cost of eating out continuing to decline, we may take advantage of dining deals more often.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2009 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Happy Hour Deals - Beer Prices Lower than in a Store

Recently, I've noticed great happy hour prices at some of the restaurants in our area. A local Mexican restaurant has 12 oz draft Dos Equis for 99 cents. A national chain pub restaurant is offering $2 draft pints every Tuesday on a wide variety of imports and domestics. A regional chain restaurant has $1 pints every day after 3PM on a smaller selection, based on information over the phone from the hostess.

In our stores, a six pack of beer regularly retails for $5.99 for domestics to $8.99 for imports. For comparison, the table below shows the six pack equivalent price for the happy hour prices.

	Price Comparison
Location	Happy Hour	Six Pack Equivalent
Store	n/a	$5.99 to $8.99
Local Mexican Restaurant	$0.99 12 oz	$5.94
National Chain	$2 Pints	$9.00
Regional Chain	$1 Pints	$4.50

To note, the calculated six pack price doesn't include gratuity, which would increase the price 15-20%. The regional chain restaurant still has a particularly low price, which makes me suspect the hostess gave me the wrong size glass. However, if the size is truly a pint, $1 is a great deal.

Since it's after 3PM, I guess I'll need to visit regional chain restaurant and personally confirm the information I received over the phone:-)

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial or entertainment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2009 Achievement Catalyst, LLC