The Entertainment Book is a region-specific coupon book sold throughout the country. It’s often sold as a part of a fundraiser, where you pay a bit more for the book, but the proceeds go to the school or charity you bought it from.

In July of 2008, my boyfriend ordered the 2008 Entertainment Book for us, and his roommates. We got a super deal – it ended up being like $5, including shipping. I know our savings added up to more than the $5 cost, but now we’re wondering – should we order the 2009 Entertainment Book now, at its higher early-year cost?

Factors to Consider

First of all, we won’t be in the Rochester area all year. The boyfriend is looking at jobs down near DC, and I’m looking at internships all across the northeast. So we’d have to be sure that we’d “earn our money back” by July.

Another question is, “Did we spend more last year because of the Entertainment Book?” Did we go to places we never would have, if it weren’t for the book? Did we overeat or overspend, because of the coupons? I believe the answer is, for us, no. We stuck to our usual ritual of eating out once per week, and we didn’t go out for entertainment more than usual.

The last factor is, of course, how much did we save last year? I wish we’d kept a log of the coupons we used, so that I could offer up 100% accurate statistics (and also, I’m a data junkie). But we didn’t. All I can go by is the expired 2008 Entertainment Book that’s in my hand, and add up the value of the missing coupons.

How Much We Saved in 2008

There were a total of five people taking coupons from our coupon book. Sharing with friends, relatives, and housemates can severely stretch the savings of the Entertainment Book, so I highly recommend sharing.

Here are the coupons that we used between July and November 1st, 2008:

Wild Noodles: Buy one entree, get a second free (BOGO). Estimated savings: ~$7.00
Chinese restaurant BOGO entree: ~$6.00
Three hamburger joint BOGOs: ~$12.00
Three pizza place coupons: ~$18.00
Moe’s Southwest grill: (no idea, roommate used it) Guess: >$3.00
Coldstone Creamery BOGO: ~$5.00
Two BOGO rounds of miniature golf: ~$6.00
Buy $10 in arcade tokens, get $10 free: $10

Total: about $67

Based on this, I’d say that the book is definitely worth purchasing at its full price of $30, but even better… the Rochester one is now on sale for $15 (plus $2.79 standard shipping). As I flipped through the book just now, I also saw coupons for places that I know we visited during that time span, but forgot to bring the book of coupons with us – there were even more savings to be had!

Tips for Using the Entertainment Book to Save Money

1. Books vary widely by area. Check the Entertainment Book website and make sure there are some coupons for places you actually want to go to in your area, before you buy.
2. Flip through the book when you first get it, and pull out coupons for places you visit regularly. Keep these with you and make sure you use them!
3. Let roommates or friends rifle through the book occasionally, but keep the book in your car most of the time. I can’t tell you how many coupons went unused simply because the book was at home!
4. If you have this conversation a lot: “Where do you want to eat?” “I dunno, where do you want to eat?” (Repeat until end of time), then the book may help. If you’re anything like me, it will remind you of places you wanted to check out, or you’ll see super deals that inspire you to try a new place.
5. Don’t eat somewhere just because you have a coupon, or because you feel like you should use more of the coupons in the book. Even with these coupons, most restaurants can’t compete with the price of a home-cooked meal.
6. Check online for coupons, as well. The Entertainment Book has online coupons, and you should also look on the company website. Use the best coupon you have, regardless of its origin!

Do you use the Entertainment Book? How good is the one in your area? Any tips to share for getting even more bang for your buck out of the book?

Every few days, my boyfriend’s housemates come home to a strange sight. Nearly all of them know me from before I started dating The Boy, but even the one that’s been my friend since elementary school can be thrown off by my antics now and then. Because every once in a while, they find me on their porch, playing music to a plant.

The music part is because of an episode of Mythbusters, where they proved the plausibility of plants growing better due to music or talking. On the show, the plants that got the heavy metal music grew the best. But I don’t have much heavy metal, so I just play the plant some Steve Miller Band because, hey, I know I grew up better because of SMB!

The plant is my new frugal baby. The Boy and I went to the store to get some fresh basil for a recipe, and noticed that the supermarket was selling potted basil plants for the same price as fresh cut basil! So we bought the little plant, and nearly killed it. My thumb is not as green as my mother’s, and we put off getting a pot for it and planting it properly for a few weeks.

But finally we got a pot, used some soil that was sitting in his shed, and now the basil plant is big, bushy, and smells delicious. The only thing is… we have yet to cut off any of the leaves and use them for a recipe! There’s a lesson in this, I’m sure — if you’re going to plant your own herbs, start with the ones you use the most!

I have a feeling this might get out of control — last night The Boy looked at me and said we should get a mint plant – so that we can chew on the leaves! I don’t mind getting Little Basil a friend or two, but in order for this to actually be a money-saving thing, we have to make sure that they’re the herbs we find ourselves actually using.

Many other bloggers have picked up the trowel, as well: PaidTwice is experimenting with tomatoes and my fellow Rochesterians at Spilling Buckets are growing buckets of plants!

Point of interest: I’m not a diehard believer that playing Steve Miller Band for my basil plant will do anything for it – it’s just an excuse to be wacky!

Photo credit: Sea Turtle

This is a response to Trent’s post The Backlash Against Frugality, which itself is a response to Anya Kamenetz Yahoo Finance article Staying Frugal in the Age of the iPhone. The long and short of it is that Anya wrote an article about frugality, and the comments left on it are very, very divided. Although there was a lot of positive, the negative comments unfortunately stick right out.

What really stuck out for me were all the comments calling Anya’s life “miserable.” Most of the negative comments took offense to the idea of Anya buying second hand clothes, and not having a TV. (Since when, I wonder, is the television the only bringer of happiness?)

My own situation is not all that different from Anya’s. In fact, in some respects, I’m more extreme. I’ve been Compacting since January – that is, not buying anything new except for food and toiletries. So I started thinking about it – am I more or less happy now, as compared to before I started compacting?

Before I get into anything, I would like to say that this is entirely non-scientific. There are a lot of other things that have changed in this time period (my job, my major, this blog, the house I live in…), so it’s nearly impossible to tell. Still, it’s worth musing on.

The Television
I’ve spoken before about my ability to live without a television, and I stand by it. I now often forget that I can flip on the television and watch live broadcasts – I’m no longer used to the idea and it almost never pops into my head as an idea for entertainment, or even as a procrastination tool!

Not watching TV has given me so much more time, and flexibility in my time. The television I do watch, I watch on DVD or on syndicated internet – I choose when I watch it. I believe I am much happier having control over my TV instead of being bound to its time slots.

Yes, you could argue that a Tivo would offer me the same benefit, but think about it. I already HAVE that benefit – why would I need to buy a Tivo and pay a monthly subscription for a benefit that I already have?

Second Hand Clothes
Easily the second biggest beef negative commenters had with Anya’s article. I have to admit, I haven’t actually bought any second hand clothes… ever. Not even since I’ve started Compacting. I have a dresser and a closet full of clothes, so the need for new ones simply hasn’t come up.

I have no problem with the idea of buying and wearing used clothing. I’m not sure why it bothers other people, but I can’t see it affecting your level of happiness. I don’t think it matters at all where clothes come from – what matters is how they look and make you feel. If a sweater falls really well on you, does it matter that it came from Goodwill?

Not Buying… Things
I have a “things” problem. Even now, after having moved house and scoured my possessions, trying to only bring with me things that really mattered… I still have too much stuff. Most of my stuff is still sitting in boxes, waiting for me to get around to organizing my new bedroom.

Even having not purchased any “things” in the last 9 months, I still have an entirely messy room with too much stuff in it. Getting more stuff is simply going to compound the problem.

Buying Experiences Instead
I’ve been to more concerts and amusement parks. I’ve gone out with my friends on hikes and seen places in my neighborhood that I had no idea existed. I hang around on my campus and enjoy the free or cheap entertainment ($1 for two comedians this Saturday – I’m so in!). I hang out with my friends and play wacky card games.

Spending less money on things means having more money to spend on life. A few months ago, I tried to think about the thing that matters to me most. It’s not my computer (although sometimes it may seem that way), and it isn’t my collection of all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s my friends and my family.

I love my computer because it’s an easy tool for contacting people. I love my car because it takes me to the places where people are. I love talking about Buffy with people even more than I love watching it. The things I value most in my life are those that help me reach people. I’m happiest just spending time with people. Just last night I had the time of my life… grocery shopping with my friends.

Happiness is not confined to objects for me anymore. I know, it all sounds very cliche. But not spending money hasn’t turned me into an awful miser. I feel much happier having a handle on my money, and I really don’t believe anymore than owning “things” is the road to happiness.