Sunday 19 November 2017

Evenings Out for Free


With next years penny pinching, frugal minded, cost cutting living in mind I recently re-read this book.  In it Kath lives for a year on just one pound a day ... as the title suggests ... she does it to save for a wedding present for her brother, we however, are cutting costs back to the bone to try and pay off our small mortgage taken out after paying off our main mortgage and still secured on this house.

One of the things she does ... apart from yellow stickered shopping and gathering in freebies ... is to look for events offering an evening or day out, where drinks or free food are available and a fun time can be had for absolutely nothing.


So when this invite popped into my emails instead of doing what I would normally do and simply deleting it, because we won't be ordering any Christmas food from Bodnant I made a note of the date and we went.

We really did get a warm welcome, the fizz was delicious and the mince pies equally so.  We had a pleasant mooch about the shop sipping on our fizz, oohhd and ahhd over delicious gift ideas, picked up the offered food order form and left feeling very festive.


Also on the email was this offer for the next evening. 

So we paid our donation to a very deserving charity and had another pleasant evening, this time sampling wines and ports.  I think we more than got our moneys worth and learnt a little bit more about some of our favourite wines in the process.  


During the day we had also called back up to Bodnant to try and have a word with the technical Aga people about something Alan wanted to check out to do with the power of the Aga and our solar energy system. 

There were even freebies on offer here ... I was offered a slice of ginger cake but on enquiring it had butter and eggs in it, so I said thank you but no thanks as I'm a vegan,  'ooh said the lady would you like some chips instead then .... they are really tasty they're cooked in goose fat' 

Haha, she saw the funny side almost as soon as the words had left her lips.


Our next 'evening out' is to the showrooms of the people who supplied the windows for the workshop.  We don't need any windows at the moment .... but Mulled Wine, a mince pie and some Christmas carols will go down very nicely thank you  :-)

We're treating it all as good practice for next year,  if celebrities can turn up to the  'opening of an envelope' to get their faces in the magazines we can turn up for free drinks and food and an interesting couple of hours out.

Have you ever done something similar?

Sue xx


9 comments:

  1. What great invites , I really like the Hope House shop. We stayed in a cottage a fortnight ago in Llandudno and had a great week. I read the Kath Kelly book a few years ago, I found it an interesting read but although she makes great savings , as a single woman her life was different of that having/paying for a family so some things didn't compute. I did admire her bravery with the camping though !

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  2. oohhh is this another challenge in the offing ?? hope you will share it with us

    all the best tess

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  3. A very good idea. Mind you, the way prices of food have risen lately, not sure she would still be able to do it on £1 a day.

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  4. I harumphed my way through her book many years ago amazed at the free stuff going on in a city AND the amount of money she finds laying around! But you seem to have found some good things to do in the countryside too. Any £5 notes on Llandudno prom?

    I'm going to an over 60's free Christmas meal out!! may be the youngest person there. But free was too good to miss.

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  5. Having been forced into an early retirement with debt this is something that I have been seriously researching over the past year. Going to things in the city can be very expensive - but on the other hand - there is lots to do for free.
    We have 3 universities in Toronto and you can attend many exhibits, guest lectures & music presentations for free and refreshments are often served free of charge.
    .The Cdn. Opera Company has free lectures & mini performances a few times per week during the season
    .My favourite music station offers free concerts during tapings at least once per month - with refreshments
    .CARP - an organization for retired persons offers talks etc. for free (just last week I attended a 2hr, writing workshop) - and an absolutely lovely breakfast was included.
    .The library system here often has authors series - and sometimes refreshments are included
    .One of the larger libraries also offers free movies Friday afternoons with Coffee/Tea & cookies to follow.
    .My church has coffee and treats after church every Sunday
    .This church is also famous for their musical presentations - most of which are free
    .I volunteer one evening per week (to help newcomers with their English) and coffee/tea & treat are offered
    .Some shops do have special event evenings with goodies - and you don't have to buy anything
    .The main Art Gallery & Museum both have one evening per week when entry is free
    .If you can get your name on their list then invitations to Consulate events tend to include really good food & wine
    .We have many TV stations here in town and they often want live audiences for some tapings - refreshments are often served afterwards as an incentive.
    .Getting onto Focus Groups can be interesting & refreshments, along with some sort of payment, are usually included
    Sometimes it is even worth spending a few dollars to become a member of something or just go to one or two events & make sure they have your name and often invitations to freebie events will follow.

    A few friends who are about to retire have designated me as their "scout" so that they can investigate all these opportunities once they have the time.
    I'll be interested in hearing about all your adventures in the New Year.

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    1. Margie, what a great list. My U.S. city is much smaller than Toronto but I'm going to look more carefully at what is available.

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  6. I wish that we had such going on here in my small city in Saskatchewan. I think we will attend the Santa Parade, and perhaps take a drive to look at the Christmas lights in the city.

    God bless.

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    1. I always say - "If I'm going to put up with the cons of living in a big city - then I am going to make sure to take advantage of all the pros!"

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  7. I was just thinking how happy I am that you're still blogging. There are so few blogs out there that are enjoyable anymore. I don't mind advertising, but I hate it when I'm relaxed and reading about someone's life and things are constantly flashing and popping up in my face. If one is inclined to purchase something, advertisers don't need to assault one. It's ugly. Your blog is wonderful and I'm always impressed by your neatness, organization and planning.

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