Happy Festivus!

Xmas eve was spent wine-tasting at Waterford wine and and also Thief Wine at the public market. Roger treated! :) Then we went to Simone's for a Brazilian birthday party.Xmas day, after airing our grievances  (see festivus) I spent a pleasant holiday with my family. First I met my son and his fiancée at the M&I Xmas display-free of course, and free parking! We went to my sister's for a wonderful prime rib dinner-free for us but $150 for them! Maybe that's why we never have that. :) I'm currently at the laundromat using their freeWI-FI, then going to the Chancery to meet up with my sister and neice to watch the Packer's game. Maybe she'll buy the beer! :)

The day after-Thanksgiving

I spent most of Thanksgiving day writing exams-almost harder than grading them! Went to Dan's for a few glasses of wine and talked to his son, daughter and ex-wife.I never get invited to anything with my ex! :) Then went to my sister's for traditional turkey dinner with pumpkin pie, naturally. Roger made drunken cranberries which fit in since we were on our 3rd bottle of wine by then! Today we're going to see Burlesque (Cher) at the bargain matinee, natch. Then to the 3rd ward for holiday specials and entering contests-then to a bar for cocktails (2-for-1) finally going to Ned's for yummy leftovers.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrive!

After teaching last night I met up with Roger and Joe at a Beaujolais Nouveau fundraiser downtown-it was the 3rd Thursday in November, after all! Since it was 30 minutes before the end, I just walked in and didn't have to pay the almost $40 fee-but got to drink my share of wine and had great appetizers. I even tried quail eggs!

Friday morning I sat in on a live WUWM radio broadcast at Chase Tower. I got free parking and they had free coffee and doughnuts. Oddly, they were talking about local, organic food, and Klements was there. I should have had sausage!

Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner

Roger volunteered at the MKE Public Market last night for Chef Pierre Briere-late of Elliot's Bistro. Here's a description of the class:

Come see for yourself as Chef Pierre Briere shows that you really can make entire Thanksgiving dinner, including a 15-20 pound turkey, in less than two hours!  He’ll also share accompaniments to make this special meal complete.  You won’t want to miss this!

So, of course, that was our dinner as Roger got to take home the leftovers for free! Turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie and a bottle of wine hit the spot on a cool, rainy November night!

Halloween

We went to a Halloween party in Brewer's Hill last night. Got our costumes at 60% off at a local shop. Free food at the party, of course. We took wine. Today, Halloween, we're going to see a murder mystery play this afternoon. We got 1 set of season tickets-just have to get one extra. Staying away from handing out that expensive candy this afternoon. :) Dinner at Ned's tonight-great food at the right price-free!! :)

Gallery Night in the 3rd Ward

Thursday night we went to the MKE film volunteer appreciation party-free food and drinks at Moct bar. A warm night so the windows were open. Friday night was gallery night and we wandered through the streets of the 3rd ward having free appetizers and wine at various stops. Ended the night at Transfer pizzeria using one of our groupons. Tomorrow we're seeing Cabaret at the MKE repertory-free tickets we scored.

Milwaukee Film Opening Night

Using my volunteer voucher I attended the premiere of Milwaukee Film. I stayed at the opening night party until 1 am. It was at Discovery World-a beautiful night to be out on the top of the pilot house with a 360 degree view of downtown Milwaukee. Free appetizers, music and drinks made for a great warm Autumn evening.

AIDS Walk Wisconsin

I walked the 5K route today-dreary, rainy on and off, but not drenching. I started the day off with free doughnuts, and coffee at Woody's. Then free nutrigrain bars, and iced coffee and vitamin water-which tasted like old Luden's cough drops! Sure glad I didn't pay for that! Off to a friend's house for pizza and wine tonight. Then back to teaching. Next week starts the Milwaukee Film Festival. Not sure how I'm going to get in free-I need to volunteer a bunch! :)

Fests coninued

Friday we went to Irish Fest-free from 4 until 5:30pm. Unfortunately a typhoon blew in and we got drenched. :( Then spent too much on dinner. Saturday we had free tickets to the MKE Masterpiece car show-of course we had to spend $20 on wine. :)  Sunday I had free tickets to MKE Chamber Theatre's "Jeeves Intervenes". Then had our friend over for dinner-he brought lamburgers, yum. :)

MKE Festivals

Milwaukee has tons of festivals all Summer. Some are free, some aren't, but you can usually get in for low cost if you follow the promotions. Yesterday we went to Wisconsin State Fair with half-priced tickets. Tonight we're going to a free jazz festival in the Third Ward. I've got a bunch of coupons for free drinks I plan on making good use of. ;)

What I'll do for free stuff!

Last Thursday we had torrential flooding. Streets were blocked off. A sinkhole ate a Cadillac Escalade. But... I had free movie tickets to the Downer. Do you think I stayed home? Of course not! We zigzagged through flooded streets to see a free movie. I was drenched, but of course it was worth it!

Storm the Bastille!

I love Bastille Days-pseudo French and free! :) I went Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Managed to get friends to buy me some free beers. :) Had a beignet and some French sandwiches. Weather was mostly good-a little hot, but sunny. Vive la difference!

A Frugal 4th

We went to the rooftop of a friend's downtown apartment on the 3rd and watched a spectacular fireworks display-also free food and drinks! :) On the 4th we went to another friends picnic and Summerfest which was free-although had to buy a beer, but had free parking. Today, the 5th, we're going to another cookout. Lamb burgers and Salade Niçoise, yum. Tomorrow back to reality. :(

Back from Frisco

We went to San Francisco for 10 days-one day in the wine country. We only rented a car for one day when we drove to Napa. We purchased a MUNI pass for 7 days which gave us unlimited transportation ion the cable cars, buses, and underground-a great deal. We used miles to fly to California (although a circuitous route!) and stayed with a friend, so no astronomical hotel prices. Spent a little too much going out for dinner, but that was our only extravagance.

Backsliding or Old Habits Die Hard

Well, last night was all about being a spendthrift and not about being frugal! We had 2 beers at Cafe Hollander and then went to Transfer's sister restaurant VIA: Downer. Had a bottle of wine and 2 appetizers, so that part was OK. But then ordered another bottle of wine and 2 pizzas when one would have been fine for 4 people-it was Dan's birthday. Oh, well-will have to be better today,

MKE Pridefest

We've been attending Pridefest free this weekend. We volunteered at the beer pod for the MKE Gay Arts Center which got us in free and also $5 worth of food coupons. This afternoon was the pride parade-we watched from Gravity Marketing where we sat out on a nice deck under an umbrella and ate free food and drank beer! :)

Edelweiss Wine & Cheese Cruise

Roger scored us 2 free tickets to the Tuesday night cruise from the Onion. Luckily it was enclosed because it was a very rainy night. The cruise was fun, tasting a variety of whites and reds.

Here are the yummy appetizers we had with the tasting:
Smoked Duck and Mango Quesadilla: Cilantro Sour Cream and Salsa
Beef Saté: Beef Skewers with Sesame and Soy Peanut Sauce
Cheese, Sausage, and Cracker Board
Fresh Fruit Platter

http://www.edelweissboats.com/index.php?cPath=27_49

RENT at the Skylight Opera Theatre

We saw RENT last night at he Skylight-free tickets and free parking! Today Roger had cataract surgery and I made use of the free coffee while he was occupied ($14,000 coffe-it's like my $25 car wash and cookie when I have my oil changed. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LjYRTlsZhg

Free Music @State Fair

We saw the Boogie Men (www.boogiemen.com) at State Fair with Derek last night. Parking was free and the music was free. We had dinner before at Antigua (drinks were 1/2 priced). Maybe if we had less drinks we wouldn't have spent $20 apiece. :)

Here I am having a free beer courtesy of Derek. Obviously a candid shot. :)

No Impact Man Project

My daughter told me about this-she just saw the movie. I may try to incorporate elements of this into my philosophy since it can save money. However, I'm not giving up driving to Alterra for coffee! :)

noimpactman.typepad.com

Wow! Free Music in MKE

Check out all the free outdoor concerts:

http://onmilwaukee.com/seasonal/festivals/articles/musicseries.html

MKE Wine Specials

Since we always have a bottle of wine when we go out, I'm trying to keep track of which restaurants have a corkage fee so you can bring your own, or nights where they have 1/2 price wine. Here's my list so far-if you have any additions, please let me know.

Corkage fee: Tess ($15), La Merenda ($0-Mondays)

1/2 price nights

Monday:
  Bartolotta (and Tuesday)
  Bosley (and Tuesday)
  Casablanca (and Tuesday)
  Merenda BYO or 1/2 off

Tuesday:
  Rustico
  Transfer
  Silver Spur
  Metro Bar: T Wine & Cheese W: Wine Flight (4-10)? Haven't been there yet

Wednesday:
  Tenuta's
  Triskele's
  Brocach
  Twisted Fork
  Lulu/Juniper 61
  Ginger

Thursday:
  Crazy Water
   Palms Bistro

Coupons, coupons, coupons

I've discovered GroupOn: www.groupon.com. Everyday you get an e-mail with a coupon local to your area. I've used one for Thief Wine wine bar and we have one for Pasta Tree restaurant. Also I use frequent shopper cards for the places we frequent most-restaurants and coffee shops and some stores. It's amazing how quickly you amass points to get free stuff. :)

A simpler way to save: The 60% Solution

This article really hit home. I'm the person he talks about "having champagne tastes on a beer budget". :) I used the article to set up a budget in Excel. I can share it with you if you want.

MSN Money - A simpler way to save: the 60% solu...

Sound financial advice-don't buy stuff

This is hilarious from SNL-but very true. If only I could follow it. :)

www.smartnestegg.com/blog/2010/3/8/saturday-night-live-dont-buy-stuff.html