photo: vixyao
Cooking at home is the best way to save cash, but it’s nice to go out sometimes, too. Check out Frugal Foodie every Friday for a selection of the latest coupons for casual and fancy fare.
This week: free ice cream, Champagne, coffee and dessert, buy-one-get-one-free smoothies, discounts for donations and $10 bottles of wine, among other deals.
1. Cold Stone Creamery
Visit on Sept. 30 to get a free 3oz. “Kate’s Creation” for the World’s Largest Ice Cream Social. The deal is valid from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., while supplies last. Participating locations only.
2. Jamba Juice
Use a print out coupon and buy a smoothie to get a second one of equal or lesser value free. Participating locations only. Deal good through Sept. 22.
3. New Jersey Restaurant Week
From Sept. 19-25, participating restaurants are offering one of three specials: 20% of your check, a free dessert and coffee with the purchase of an entrée, or a special $35 prixe fix three-course meal featuring “Jersey Fresh” ingredients.
4. Boston Market
Facebook fans who donate $1 to Share Our Strength will receive a print out coupon good for a free side dish of their next visit. Offer good through Sept. 25.
5. The Broiler Restaurant
The Sacramento, Calif., restaurant is celebrating 60 years in business with restaurant specials, including a $19.50 three-course menu that comes with a complimentary glass of Champagne. Other specials will be posted on the company’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
6. Center City District Restaurant Week
Philadelphia’s restaurant week runs through Sept. 17, and again Sept. 19-24. Participating restaurants will offer special three-course menus for $35, and three-course lunches for $20.
7. Lone Star Steakhouse
Save $7.50 off two entrees (except the two-for-$20 special) with a print out coupon. Participating locations only. Offer expires Sept. 26.
8. Restaurant.com
This week, coupon code “SPORK” at checkout gets you an extra 70% off already discounted gift certificates to local venues. The code expires Sept. 19. Restaurant.com usually prices $25 certificates at $10. (Spend $20 to get $50; $30 for $75, etc.) With the discount, you’ll pay just $3, $6, or $9. Each restaurant sets conditions regarding the number of diners, days and menu items a certificate can be used for, so check the fine print before you buy.
9. Taco Bueno
As part of Share Our Strength’s Dine Out fundraiser, Taco Bueno will offer coupon books for $2. Each book contains $5 in coupons for the chain. Offer good through Sept. 26.
10. Il Gatto
Every Monday, this Minneapolis restaurant offers 10 different wines for $10 per bottle, which the Star Tribune notes is less than the cost of many of the venue’s pizzas.
Frugal Foodie is a journalist based in New York City who spends her days writing about personal finance and obsessing about what she’ll have for dinner. Chat with her on Twitter through @MintFoodie.
People often ask me about the secret to this blog’s success. “How did you get so many readers?” they ask. “How can I do the same?”
My answer is similar to Anderson’s. There aren’t any secrets. Write and post great content on a regular basis for a long, long time. In short, you can’t just talk about building a great blog; you also have to put in the work. Simple, right? But it’s not easy.
(I appreciate the folks who come up to me and say, “You know, J.D., I don’t know how you do it. I tried to keep a blog for a few months. It was hard.” Yes, it is. It’s work, just like anything else.)
If there’s something you want to be or do, the best way to become that thing is to actually take steps toward it, to move in that direction. Don’t just talk about it, but do something. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. Just take a small step in the right direction every single day.
If you want to get out of debt, take small steps toward becoming debt-free. If you want to save for a trip to Africa, save a little bit at a time. If you want to get a new job, make moves in that direction. But take action. That’s the most important step.
Action Not Words
Of course, there’s more to getting stuff than just taking action. It’s one thing to say you want to become a commercial airline pilot and another to actually do it. Here are some of the things I learned as I made the move from Talker do Doer:
- Make time for the things you want to do. One of the keys to getting things done is setting aside time for the things you want to accomplish. You have to make time to get stuff done. As the Kevin J. Anderson article I mentioned above demonstrates, you don’t just become a best-selling author or an Olympic athlete. Talking doesn’t make it so. You have to carve out time to do this stuff. You have to put your Big Rocks first and fit the small stuff in around them.
- Have a goal in mind. I truly believe that the biggest reason I used to struggle with getting stuff done is that I didn’t have any sort of plan. I had no goals. Goals give you purpose. It wasn’t until I became committed to digging out of debt that I was able to actually start moving in the right direction. Part of my current problem is that I’ve recently achieved a bunch of big goals, but now have nothing planned for the future.
- Don’t take on too much. While it’s important to set goals, don’t take on too many tasks at once. I try to set just one or two major goals at a time. Any more and I find I can’t pursue any of them effectively. This year, my one goal is to lose 50 pounds. I’m on pace to do that. Why? Because I don’t have anything else on my schedule competing for time. This is my Big Rock.
- Don’t let failures deter you. This is huge. One of the reasons I used to talk so much without acting is that I was afraid of failure. I’m not sure where I learned to be afraid of defeat, but that’s the way I was. And when I did try something but failed, I’d give up. This is no way to get stuff done. Talkers let fear of failure keep them on the sideline; Doers overcome fear and move on, and when they fail, they simply try again.
- Don’t find reasons that something can’t be done; instead, find ways that something can be done. This is a pet peeve of mine. I hate when people come to me for advice, but when I give it, they tell me all of the reasons it won’t work for their circumstances. (This often happens when I suggest people take a second job to boost their income, for example.) One of the biggest difference between successful people and those who aren’t is that the successful don’t make excuses. If something looks difficult or impossible, they find ways to make it happen anyhow.
In the past five years, I’ve learned that I can do anything I set my mind to. Get out of debt? After I stopped talking and started doing, I got out of debt quicker than I thought possible. Losing 50 pounds? Well, I’m not there yet, but I’ve lost over 30 pounds since January 1st — but it didn’t happen until I stopped talking about it and started working hard to make it happen. Learning French? Well, there’s one where my talk outpaces my action right now, and it’s a perfect example of what I mean when I say actions speak louder than words. I don’t study my French as much as I should, so basically all I can do is count and tell you what color my clothes are. (”J’ai deux chemise noir.”)
For five years, my doing slowly increased until this past winter it reached a frenzied pace. I was burning myself out. I was writing and speaking and working and exercising and…well, it seemed like I never had a spare moment. This was the dark side of doing, and it’s what triggered my desire to downshift. It’s what led the pendulum swinging too far in the direction of Starcraft II.
Finding a Solution
So what’s the solution to my current problem? How can I stop playing computer games so much? How can I stop just being a Talker and become a Doer again? Well, making this public confession is a first step. But the thing that I think will really help is the “decision tree” I came up with the other day. Whenever the urge to game strikes, I’m going to ask myself the following questions:
- Have I exercised today?
- Are the house and yard tidy?
- Have I run all of my errands?
- Have I written and/or edited at least two articles for Get Rich Slowly?
- Does my inbox have fewer than 20 messages?
If I can answer “yes” to these five questions, then it’s okay to play Starcraft II or Carcassonne. But if I answer “no” to even one of these questions, I need to have the discipline to let the gaming go. I believe this will help me strike a balance. It’ll help me return to the world of Doing again. Because you know what? Life is a lot more fun as a Doer than a Talker.
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