I’m psyched!!! I just saved 10% on a purchase that I probably would’ve made anyway at full price! As you might know, we are on a super-strict budget in the Frugal Farmer family as we work our way out of massive amounts of debt. Entertainment is one area in which we try to spend little or no money each money, but it gets hard, saying no all of the time.
So I was excited when my dad called and reminded me of a great website that I had forgotten about called www.kidsbowlfree.com Bowling alleys registered here allow your kids to bowl up to 2 free games a day during the summer. Although often times shoe rental is not included, bowling for 4 kids can be quite expensive, so if I can bowl two games for each kid for the price of renting shoes, I’m in!
As I completed my signup on Kids Bowl Free, I was asked a question:
“Do you want to purchase a family pass for an additional $24.95?” Crap. I didn’t think about that. It’s called “Kids Bowl Free”, not “Kids Bowl Free and Mom and Dad do too”. But for an extra $24.95 the adults in our family could join the kids in bowling at no additional cost (each bowling center has their own family pass deal, though). This may seem like a no-brainer to you, but for a family in our situation, $25 is a lot of money, so I wanted to make sure and think it through before signing up. In the end, though, I decided that bowling with my kids instead of just watching them on the sidelines was well worth $25, but I hadn’t taken the time to go back to the site and purchase the family pass.
So imagine my excitement when I got the following email this morning:
Hi Laurie ,
I just wanted to take a minute and welcome you to Kids Bowl Free 2013. I see that you registered just the other day.
Did you see our optional Family Pass when you created your account? It allows up to 4 adults to bowl 2 games free each day during the summer too.
The family pass is already a great deal but I thought I’d pass along a special welcome discount if you add it to your account sometime in the next 2 days. Use coupon code iPhone10 during checkout to save an extra 10% off. Just login to your account at http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ to apply the special coupon code.
Have a great summer bowling with your family!
Enjoy,
Darin
Woohoo!!!! I’m in!!!!!
Now it may not be a lot to you, but $2.50 is a lot of money when you’re in a boatload of debt and have an almost 60% DTI. And saving an extra $2.50 on that purchase made it all the more sweeter.
Lesson learned?
If you’re contemplating a purchase that you’d not normally make, no matter how big or small, wait it out. Why?
Because it gives you more time to make sure that it’s money you want to spend. Because it helps you to identify the true reasons for the purchase. And because it just might save you some money if there’s an eager salesman behind that Cool Hand Luke façade!
Every little bit can add up. If you saved $2.50 a day that would completely change your debt situation in the long run.
SO true, Glen! That’s one thing we’ve learned is that every penny, whether saved or spent, really does count.
Small degrees of change make a big difference in the end goal! That 2.50 could have easily been 250 and you would have made a smart choice either way. I was saying its a 10 second rule on contemplating but its more depends on the amount you are spending.
Great point, Thomas! Yes, or the percentage of your free income you’re spending. $25 (or $2.50) might not be a lot to a lot of people, but for us, in our situation, we’ve got to watch every penny. No impulse purchasing here. 🙂
Nice work Laurie! We signed up for a similar thing for our little ones, but was too cheap to pay for us. 😉 That’s awesome you were able to get the discount and maybe we could score one like that too.
Check it out John – I bet you could get a deal.
Agreed! The wonders of compound interest make even the smallest amount have great potential.
Don’t they? Thanks Mike. 🙂
Definitely agree. Waiting is a big part of how we shop a lot of the times. Mr PoP has been known to wait and research purchases for years before pulling the trigger, and I rarely buy anything the first time I see it. My usual MO is to try it on, then put it back to wait for a sale or clearance. If I think about it and go back when it’s on sale, then I probably really want it. But if not, then no harm done by leaving it at the store.
That is so smart, Mrs. PoP. We do that too lots, and 9 times of out 10, we forget all about the item we wanted so desperately to purchase a week or two ago.
I am just like Mr. Pop…I do a lot of research and wait a LONG time before making a purchase. This sometimes drives my wife nuts because I keep talking about it but never purchase it…until the right time. I usually get it on sale or clearance…or sometimes I don’t want the item anymore.
Andrew I think that’s awesome! I think it was Mrs. PoP who said “If you forget about it while waiting for a sale, you obviously didn’t want it that bad.” So true!
Great lesson. We rarely need something immediately, and it can certainly make sense to take your time and see if there are any deals out there worth taking advantage of. Glad you guys were able to save some money.
Isn’t it true, Matt? That “immediately” mentality is a huge roadblock to PF success, IMHO. 🙂
Awesome job! Every penny counts. My wife and I try to sleep on any major purchase we make. Not only does it sometimes save us money by getting coupons, but we also sometimes decide the purchase isn’t worth the money when we wake up.
We’ve found that to be the same here too, Jake. Isn’t a great feeling, when you’ve decided after sleeping on a purchase and then choosing not to buy, and you wake up knowing you’ve got “extra” cash in your pocket?
Nicely done 🙂 I guess it makes sense. They’d figured they’d lost you as a customer so they might as well see if they can’t make some money off you.
I know! Isn’t that cool? And the really great part is that they’d never really lost us: we’d more or less figured we would make the purchase, we were just making sure it was an ok thing to do before we slapped down the debit card. 🙂
Sweet! I love a great deal that gets even better with a discount. I love how conscious you are with decision-making these days, Laurie. It’s fantastic to see. You didn’t automatically say yes or no – but that about whether the value you’d get was worth $25. And it’s so true – often times while you wait – you can get that surprise email offering a discount.
Yes, it’s difficult, but always seems to be worth it in the end, whether or not we end up buying. I know we’ll be very, very happy about these years of frugality when the debt is gone. 🙂
I love waiting because you can usually get a discount on things. Retailers want you to finish the buying cycle and they will do what they can to entice you. I leave things in my cart online all of the time and usually end up with a good “sale” price.
Online shopping is great for that, isn’t it? Everyone wins in those situations: the biz gets their sale, and the customer gets a great deal. 🙂
Awesome!!! I love little boosts like that! Go girl! Bowl a turkey for me!
LOL, my goal these days is to break 100 🙂
It often happens online when you put the item in your cart and leave the site. godaddy (web hosting and registration) offers 30% off when you do, that’s huge!
Wow – I had no idea! I’ll have to remember that next time.
If waiting can save 10% or more, I’d do it every time. Even if not, like you said, you’ve had time to see if it’s really a worthwhile purchase.
Yes, I’m loving this new little trick I’ve learned. 🙂
Awesome! And so much fun. They reason you’re killing your debt is because you think about things like this. Most people would just say, “Oh it’s only $25, that won’t make a big difference.” But they are wrong. Keep doing what you’re doing (and keep bowling!) 🙂
Yeah, that’s “it’s only? mentality is what got us into this mess in the first place, LOL. 🙂 I don’t think we’ll ever go there again.
I wait on most purchases that aren’t immediate needs. I did score a great deal on some photo prints earlier this year. I already had the pictures selected but was too lazy/cheap to get them printed. Then they had a random sale, so I jumped on it and paid 50% less than I would have otherwise.
Waiting also works in investing. Sometimes you’ll want to buy into a great company, but not at it’s current price. So you’ve got to wait for that price to drop.
That’s an awesome deal, Myfij! I’ll have to remember that when we start investing too. Thanks for the info!
Nice work! It also happens at stores. If you find something on sale- come back in a week and it might be on clearance!
Great point, Vanessa! We’ll have to try this too. 🙂
That’s great! Heck money is money right? I just read the flyers tonight only to see something I bought last week is on sale next week. That means I can go back and get the adjustment so I’m so happy about that. Have fun!!
OH good! I hate when you can’t get the adjustment – it frustrates me to simply throw cash down the drain like that!
Never heard of kidsbowlfree.com what a great site, thanks. I think you are right, bowling with them is well worth the investment!
Thanks, Jim! Yes, I think it’s a good investment too. 🙂
This is a really cool find. I don’t have kids yet, but will have to pass it on to my brothers.
Good idea! Yes, a very good deal, that’s for sure.