The Frugal Dater

Let’s face it, going out to each is just a part of the dating game. And if you’re not a coupon person then there’s still ways to save without anyone knowing (it just might take a little planning before hand).

If you know your favorite restaurants and they’re part of big chains that offer gift cards then there’s ways to save up to 20% in buying unwanted gift cards.

Now if you want to compound these savings then you’ll want to think about lunch dates instead of dinner dates. I’ve seen certain restaurants where the appetizer jump a dollar to three dollars each after the lunch hours (usually ending around 4pm but you have to check with each restaurant individually).

There was a recent article in Smart Money magazine about how more and more people are cutting their cable service. A research consulting group has estimated that over 800,000 U.S. households have canceled their TV service in the past 2 years alone. This should not be surprising with all the free options for entertainment available on line.

According to the NCTA (National Cable & Telecommunications Association) for March 2010 their operating metrics are as follows:

Basic Video Customers – 61.8 million
Digital Video Customers – 43.5 million
source (http://www.ncta.com/Statistics.aspx)

We’re in a new year and with that comes new ways to save.  I’ve found that one of the best things to help you save money is your smart phone. And although I can’t speak for iPhone (I didn’t find it a frugal choice seeing as  you only had one choice of carriers and a small choice of plans) there’s lots of choices when it comes to android phones and apps.

If you’re a droid (or a hero) or any part of the android revolution and your date is as well then you can have a fun interactive time just giving a few simple tips, tricks, and pointers.

The first thing I’ve found is that your phone can be a great conversation starter especially when you want to stear away from the regular questions that sound like a job interview that make everyone so nervous. Ask about their favorite apps they’ve downloaded – this alone can give you a lot of insight into the person they are.

Next ask if they update their apps regularly. If they ask you what you mean, tell them trust the developers are constantly making the applications better so you’re missing out if you don’t get the updates. Then you can show them how by simply going to the marketplace -> downloaded apps and looking at which ones are at the top of the list and show the red update available.

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In our previous postings about take advantage of savings (part 1, part 2) we were talking about how to do a little bit of a paperwork shuffle to get savings that you were most likely missing out on already.

This week we’ll take a look at more of in innards of you financial machine to see if by adding a touch of lube. (now I know all about the system that totally disregards borrowing money of any kind and disregards the FICO score, however in America your credit score seems to be tied to too much to just disregard it.)

Why is it so important to monitor your credit?

According to a report by the U.S. Public Research Interest Groups in 2004, one in four Americans had serious enough errors that would have resulted in a denial of credit.  Even worse, 79% of those surveyed had at least some form of error.

Who’s checking your credit score these days?

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Have you ever gone into a place that has the sign out front saying “Wi-Fi available” only to open up your netbook, laptop, or smartphone and try to connect where you get to the entry page that asks you for your credit / debit card number? This happened to me one time while waiting to meet a friend at a McDonalds that had said Wi-Fi inside on the signs outside the building.

So it’s Sunday and you might have had a weekend full of hitting the bars and are feeling like a bus just ran over you.  (Especially if you’ve taken advantage of our newly updated Happy Hour Guide). Maybe you have the luxery of just sleeping it off, but maybe you have things to do and / or have to go to work.

Well from the Free stuff for Singles dept we’ve tracked down a sample of Drinkin’ Mate Tabs.

The Process is pretty simple – CLICK HERE

Fill out the form – (they will ask a few questions to get some demographic information)

We’re going to continue our series of taking advantage of savings from part 1 here with asking the question of Do you FLEX?

This has to be one of the more timely topics with all the healthcare buzz going around, and we’re going getting into any of the politics here (cause there’s thousands of other blogs ranting and raving about that) but we’re going to take another look at being able to save more of the dollars that you’re already spending.

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Sometimes the most memorable things about a date is the way the other person smelled. And although that can be definatelly used against you if you’re personal hygene isn’t up to par, but if it is and you have a collection

Here’s a free one to add for all the Ladies out there.

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I was talking to a c0-worker at work this week about an article I read in my July copy of Smart Money magazine asking if they knew they were able to  take out the money they were using for public transportation pre-tax from their paycheck.

Employees can now set aside up to $230 pretax dollars a month from their paycheck for public-transportation costs.

What most people don’t understand is the real difference between pre-tax and after-tax dollars. The bottom line is if you can find ways to get the things that you’re already spending money on with pre-tax dollars then you’re essentially giving yourself a free raise.