Food Coupons/Discount Codes

I guess sometimes the truth hurts?

If you're eating meals at Le Diplomat and  places of that ilk, you're not a thrifty eater.

A couple we're friends with both make six figure, do all their food shopping at Costco, get all their beer from Sam Adams mix packs, cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and dine at ethnic restaurants in strip malls. That's eating thrifty.

hutch wrote:
James Ford you are so annoying when you get on your money management soapbox… just cut it out…nobody likes it…WTF? Who are you to tell people what to do with their money?

Yada wrote:

James wrote:
Nah, no lessons.

Depending on how much you make and what other bills you have, one can certainly afford to dine and drink at the establishments that get mentioned in the Gastro and Beer threads on this board. But I'd hardly call a diet of gourmet DC restaurants and craft beer (and wine and liquor?) as being "thrifty".

atomic wrote:

James wrote:
How much money per year would you say you spend at restaurants and bars?

I bet way more than the average American. Though perhaps your income is way higher than the average American.

Yada wrote:

James wrote:
Just the idea of Julian or Yada doing any coupon clipping/money saving of any kind had me laughing! Particularly for something like Outback.

Yada wrote:

James wrote:
I wonder who will post more in this thread, Julian or Yada?

Doubly whaaa…I wouldn't be caught dead in that establishment.

I'm glad my perceived spending habits make you laugh… but I'm actually quite thrifty. 

I feel like this is headed towards another James Ford life lesson on why you should never spend money. 

James, my mortgage last year = about 7.5% of me and my wife's gross income. I maxed out my 401k and my wife maxed out her SEP account, we invested a additional amount of money in the market, AND… we have life insurance. I don't buy "things." I spend money on doing things I enjoy; drinking, eating, seeing music, traveling. I buy clothes at Target or actually… I don't buy clothes. And based on the picture I posted of myself last week, I obviously don't get haircuts.

I'm glad you're so concerned about my once again perceived lack of thriftiness. I've long tried to stay away from responding to your uninformed posts about finances, insurance, investing, etc. but you really have no clue what you're talking about.

Ha I got you beat.  My wife's mortgage is 4.3 percent of our combined income.  I will have to end up moving when my child is ready for school but right now I am enjoying not having much of a mortgage. 

I like to spend money it is fun.  I like expensive jeans, glasses, shirts, watches, cars.  I like to go to expensive restaurants and order expensive food.  I like staying in 5 star hotels when I am on vacation.    If I wasn't going to spend so much money I could get a job that is fun like being a lifeguard. 

James wrote:
I guess sometimes the truth hurts?

If you're eating meals at Le Diplomat and  places of that ilk, you're not a thrifty eater.

A couple we're friends with both make six figure, do all their food shopping at Costco, get all their beer from Sam Adams mix packs, cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and dine at ethnic restaurants in strip malls. That's eating thrifty.

hutch wrote:
James Ford you are so annoying when you get on your money management soapbox… just cut it out…nobody likes it…WTF? Who are you to tell people what to do with their money?

what's your goal of being thrifty/frugal, JF? one can be frugal or thrifty for decades, and find themselves in a financial situation where they can start to splurge in certain areas, and continue to be thrifty in others.  i call this "investing in yourself".  sounds like yada has been plenty thrifty in his lifetime if he's allowed the luxuries you speak of, and you maybe should be asking him for advice rather than providing yours unsolicited.  

James wrote:


A couple we're friends with both make six figure, do all their food shopping at Costco, get all their beer from Sam Adams mix packs, cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and dine at ethnic restaurants in strip malls. That's eating thrifty.

Sounds like a bunch of losers.  

James wrote:
I guess sometimes the truth hurts?

If you're eating meals at Le Diplomat and  places of that ilk, you're not a thrifty eater.

A couple we're friends with both make six figure, do all their food shopping at Costco, get all their beer from Sam Adams mix packs, cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and dine at ethnic restaurants in strip malls. That's eating thrifty.

hutch wrote:
James Ford you are so annoying when you get on your money management soapbox… just cut it out…nobody likes it…WTF? Who are you to tell people what to do with their money?

I love cheap ethnic food too and I shop at Safeway. I'm sure you criticize your wealthy friends for not cooking their own feijoada like you and your wife.

stevewizzle wrote:

James wrote:
I guess sometimes the truth hurts?

If you're eating meals at Le Diplomat and  places of that ilk, you're not a thrifty eater.

A couple we're friends with both make six figure, do all their food shopping at Costco, get all their beer from Sam Adams mix packs, cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and dine at ethnic restaurants in strip malls. That's eating thrifty.

hutch wrote:
James Ford you are so annoying when you get on your money management soapbox… just cut it out…nobody likes it…WTF? Who are you to tell people what to do with their money?

what's your goal of being thrifty/frugal, JF? one can be frugal or thrifty for decades, and find themselves in a financial situation where they can start to splurge in certain areas, and continue to be thrifty in others.  i call this "investing in yourself".  sounds like yada has been plenty thrifty in his lifetime if he's allowed the luxuries you speak of, and you maybe should be asking him for advice rather than providing yours unsolicited.  

Yeah I worked with a guy likes James Ford.  Cheap as could be.  Drove around in some old clunker, would always bring his lunch couldn't spend money on anything and then got laid off.  It took him 9 months to get a job.  This was right after 9/11 when no one was hiring.  He was wiped out.

James wrote:
I guess sometimes the truth hurts?

If you're eating meals at Le Diplomat and  places of that ilk, you're not a thrifty eater.

A couple we're friends with both make six figure, do all their food shopping at Costco, get all their beer from Sam Adams mix packs, cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and dine at ethnic restaurants in strip malls. That's eating thrifty.

hutch wrote:
James Ford you are so annoying when you get on your money management soapbox… just cut it out…nobody likes it…WTF? Who are you to tell people what to do with their money?

I just don't see what business it is of yours to determine whether other people are thrifty or not or EVEN whether being thrifty is a good thing or not…

Its just bad form.

It has nothing to do with the "truth" as you don't really know anything about people on this board and their finances but the bottom line is its just bad form…

Now if someone invites you to analyze or comment on their finances that's an entirely different matter.

Personally I find your attempts to analyze people's finances and parenting decisions to be offensive and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. I get it where it comes from though…clearly some deepseated insecurities make you need to validate yourself with your great choices as opposed to others…. its a truly insecure weak man that only feels good about himself by putting others down.

Yada wrote:

James wrote:
I guess sometimes the truth hurts?

If you're eating meals at Le Diplomat and  places of that ilk, you're not a thrifty eater.

A couple we're friends with both make six figure, do all their food shopping at Costco, get all their beer from Sam Adams mix packs, cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and dine at ethnic restaurants in strip malls. That's eating thrifty.

hutch wrote:
James Ford you are so annoying when you get on your money management soapbox… just cut it out…nobody likes it…WTF? Who are you to tell people what to do with their money?

I love cheap ethnic food too and I shop at Safeway. I'm sure you criticize your wealthy friends for not cooking their own feijoada like you and your wife.

Why are we having an argument about who is the most frugal?  I don't eat cheap ethnic food though.  I think the one thing you should never scrimp on is the quality of food.  No matter how much money you have if you don't have your health you have nothing.

James wrote:
I used mine way back when, and it was worth it then. I actually logged into my account recently, and found that my previous transaction hadn't invalidated my certificate. In essence, I could have a second (or maybe even more) certificate at no cost.

you will always be able to go back to the website and print yourself another coupon.  i don't believe that WF's computers are reporting back to the coupon website when a voucher is used.  you'll note there is a "mark this coupon as used" button - the website doesn't know if it's still valid.  if you print up another copy want walk into WF with it, it will come up as "used" at the WF register.

growler fills are stupid expensive at P Street.  the $7 discount on a 32 oz probably makes sense.  since i don't have a 32 and want one, i'll probably cash in on this at some point.

atomic wrote:
I like to spend money it is fun.  I like expensive jeans, glasses, shirts, watches, cars.  I like to go to expensive restaurants and order expensive food.  I like staying in 5 star hotels when I am on vacation.    If I wasn't going to spend so much money I could get a job that is fun like being a lifeguard. 

out of curiosity, what expensive jeans do you buy? 

personally i buy one pair of raw denim a year.  i work outdoors about 50% of the time, so when my nice jeans get old, i rotate them to my work jeans rotation.  i'll have a pair of nice denim for 5+ years.  financially it probably works out to be a wash… lower quality jeans i blow through every 6 months or so.

I actually wasn't putting him down. Just saying that he doesn't seem particularly "thrifty" if he's eating at Le Diplomat and drinking at Churchkey. It's fine if that's where he enjoys going. No judgement against him. Bravo to him for going where he enjoys going. but that's not "thrifty".

And bravo to my friends for eating/drinking as they wish, in a more thrifty manner.

I never said that thrifty was good or bad. Personally, I'd rather be thrifty when it comes to clothing or cars or by living in the burbs instead of the city rather than being thrifty on dining or vacations. I guess that makes me like Yada.

hutch wrote:

James wrote:
I guess sometimes the truth hurts?

If you're eating meals at Le Diplomat and  places of that ilk, you're not a thrifty eater.

A couple we're friends with both make six figure, do all their food shopping at Costco, get all their beer from Sam Adams mix packs, cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and dine at ethnic restaurants in strip malls. That's eating thrifty.

hutch wrote:
James Ford you are so annoying when you get on your money management soapbox… just cut it out…nobody likes it…WTF? Who are you to tell people what to do with their money?

I just don't see what business it is of yours to determine whether other people are thrifty or not or EVEN whether being thrifty is a good thing or not…

Its just bad form.

It has nothing to do with the "truth" as you don't really know anything about people on this board and their finances but the bottom line is its just bad form…

Now if someone invites you to analyze or comment on their finances that's an entirely different matter.

Personally I find your attempts to analyze people's finances and parenting decisions to be offensive and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. I get it where it comes from though…clearly some deepseated insecurities make you need to validate yourself with your great choices as opposed to others…. its a truly insecure weak man that only feels good about himself by putting others down.

stevewizzle wrote:

atomic wrote:
I like to spend money it is fun.  I like expensive jeans, glasses, shirts, watches, cars.  I like to go to expensive restaurants and order expensive food.  I like staying in 5 star hotels when I am on vacation.    If I wasn't going to spend so much money I could get a job that is fun like being a lifeguard. 

out of curiosity, what expensive jeans do you buy? 

personally i buy one pair of raw denim a year.  i work outdoors about 50% of the time, so when my nice jeans get old, i rotate them to my work jeans rotation.  i'll have a pair of nice denim for 5+ years.  financially it probably works out to be a wash… lower quality jeans i blow through every 6 months or so.

I average a pair of Levis every few years or so and follow the same model of then wearing said jeans for working in the yard, etc.

How do y'all feel about spot cleaning your Levis vs. putting them in the washing machine? I'm sure you can guess where I stand.

James wrote:
How do y'all feel about spot cleaning your Levis vs. putting them in the washing machine? I'm sure you can guess where I stand.

I don't wash my jeans unless I spill something on them or if they smell like a campfire/some other substance.

You're so funny.

I probably have $1500 worth of beer in my basement. My daughter went to Europe three times and the Caribbean twice before the age of five (my wife was only working part time from home so it was mostly on my dime). My wife and daughter both have expensive Tae Kwon Do memberships. My wife singlehandedly keeps Whole Foods afloat.

Do you carry any credit card debt from month to month? If you do, that makes you stupid.

atomic wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:

James wrote:
I guess sometimes the truth hurts?

If you're eating meals at Le Diplomat and  places of that ilk, you're not a thrifty eater.

A couple we're friends with both make six figure, do all their food shopping at Costco, get all their beer from Sam Adams mix packs, cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and dine at ethnic restaurants in strip malls. That's eating thrifty.

hutch wrote:
James Ford you are so annoying when you get on your money management soapbox… just cut it out…nobody likes it…WTF? Who are you to tell people what to do with their money?

what's your goal of being thrifty/frugal, JF? one can be frugal or thrifty for decades, and find themselves in a financial situation where they can start to splurge in certain areas, and continue to be thrifty in others.  i call this "investing in yourself".  sounds like yada has been plenty thrifty in his lifetime if he's allowed the luxuries you speak of, and you maybe should be asking him for advice rather than providing yours unsolicited.  

Yeah I worked with a guy likes James Ford.  Cheap as could be.  Drove around in some old clunker, would always bring his lunch couldn't spend money on anything and then got laid off.  It took him 9 months to get a job.  This was right after 9/11 when no one was hiring.  He was wiped out.

I neve wash mine either. See, we have more in common!

Though I'd never wear my nice Levis camping. That's what old jeans are for.

Yada wrote:

James wrote:
How do y'all feel about spot cleaning your Levis vs. putting them in the washing machine? I'm sure you can guess where I stand.

I don't wash my jeans unless I spill something on them or if they smell like a campfire/some other substance.

Please point out where I was giving Yada unsolicited advice. The three of us are probably more on the same page than not.

stevewizzle wrote:

James wrote:
I guess sometimes the truth hurts?

If you're eating meals at Le Diplomat and  places of that ilk, you're not a thrifty eater.

A couple we're friends with both make six figure, do all their food shopping at Costco, get all their beer from Sam Adams mix packs, cut coupons out of the Sunday paper, and dine at ethnic restaurants in strip malls. That's eating thrifty.

hutch wrote:
James Ford you are so annoying when you get on your money management soapbox… just cut it out…nobody likes it…WTF? Who are you to tell people what to do with their money?

what's your goal of being thrifty/frugal, JF? one can be frugal or thrifty for decades, and find themselves in a financial situation where they can start to splurge in certain areas, and continue to be thrifty in others.  i call this "investing in yourself".  sounds like yada has been plenty thrifty in his lifetime if he's allowed the luxuries you speak of, and you maybe should be asking him for advice rather than providing yours unsolicited.  

Yada wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:

atomic wrote:
I like to spend money it is fun.  I like expensive jeans, glasses, shirts, watches, cars.  I like to go to expensive restaurants and order expensive food.  I like staying in 5 star hotels when I am on vacation.    If I wasn't going to spend so much money I could get a job that is fun like being a lifeguard. 

out of curiosity, what expensive jeans do you buy? 

personally i buy one pair of raw denim a year.  i work outdoors about 50% of the time, so when my nice jeans get old, i rotate them to my work jeans rotation.  i'll have a pair of nice denim for 5+ years.  financially it probably works out to be a wash… lower quality jeans i blow through every 6 months or so.

I average a pair of Levis every few years or so and follow the same model of then wearing said jeans for working in the yard, etc.

i've never found the right model with levi's, and my few explorations into their premium line have left me underwhelmed for the money. i tried to make them work for a few years, and every time i would buy i pair they would never last more than 3 months.  

stevewizzle wrote:

Yada wrote:

stevewizzle wrote:

atomic wrote:
I like to spend money it is fun.  I like expensive jeans, glasses, shirts, watches, cars.  I like to go to expensive restaurants and order expensive food.  I like staying in 5 star hotels when I am on vacation.    If I wasn't going to spend so much money I could get a job that is fun like being a lifeguard. 

out of curiosity, what expensive jeans do you buy? 

personally i buy one pair of raw denim a year.  i work outdoors about 50% of the time, so when my nice jeans get old, i rotate them to my work jeans rotation.  i'll have a pair of nice denim for 5+ years.  financially it probably works out to be a wash… lower quality jeans i blow through every 6 months or so.

I average a pair of Levis every few years or so and follow the same model of then wearing said jeans for working in the yard, etc.

i've never found the right model with levi's, and my few explorations into their premium line have left me underwhelmed for the money. i tried to make them work for a few years, and every time i would buy i pair they would never last more than 3 months.  

you must be hung like walky.

Further investigation points to you being right.

I think the cheapest fill they had on 32 oz. when I was there was $15. And it was on something pedestrian.

sweetcell wrote:

James wrote:
I used mine way back when, and it was worth it then. I actually logged into my account recently, and found that my previous transaction hadn't invalidated my certificate. In essence, I could have a second (or maybe even more) certificate at no cost.

you will always be able to go back to the website and print yourself another coupon.  i don't believe that WF's computers are reporting back to the coupon website when a voucher is used.  you'll note there is a "mark this coupon as used" button - the website doesn't know if it's still valid.  if you print up another copy want walk into WF with it, it will come up as "used" at the WF register.

growler fills are stupid expensive at P Street.  the $7 discount on a 32 oz probably makes sense.  since i don't have a 32 and want one, i'll probably cash in on this at some point.