Keep Your Hands and Arms Inside the Car

I hate to admit failure (and disappoint my fans) but I fear that my San Francisco Photo Safari was not a rousing success. It's not that the city is any less colorful...oh no--to the contrary! The city abounds in mimes, skinny old winos who will trade street directions for coin, and free-thinkers of every stripe. But in making my plans, I failed to take into account the very specific personality of my travelling companion.

Bill likes to do his sightseeing sitting down. I am just fine with skirting the sketchier parts of town to go in search of interesting people, places and things. Bill, however, prefers to find a comfortable seat, either on a conveyance of some sort, or on a bench near a refillable soft drink station and wait for interesting subjects to come to him. This method does not yield many interesting results... unless you are looking for German tourists in inappropriately short shorts (the men) or mid-westerners taking pictures of seagulls.

I should have remembered that Bill's favorite ride at Disneyland is the train. He will get on and loop it around and around until he and the conductor have exchanged home addresses and a promise to be bffs 4 ever.

On Tuesday we took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from Pleasanton to the Powell St. station in San Francisco. From there, we walked about a block up the street where we caught the electric trolley. Not to be confused with the cable cars--the trolleys were all built in the 40s and are kind of fun and funky. But they are enclosed and it is hard to snap a photo from inside as you whiz past all the fun on the sidewalk. We got off at Pier 39 where Bill parked himself on a bench. We sat there until the cold wind, rolling fog and lowering temps dictated that I move or freeze solid. ***It has been said that Mark Twain once remarked that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. He didn't say it but he should have.***

My plan was to walk about half a mile to Ghirardelli Square, an area known for its "robot dancers" and the "bush man." We made it as far as Pier 42 with a stop along the way at the Boudin Bakery--the birthplace of San Francisco Sourdough where we enjoyed a bread bowl with clam chowder. As I was reminding Bill that we needed to cross the street and turn up to get to the square, the electric trolley stopped right in front of us (almost like fate) and before I knew it, I was being hustled on board. We rode the trolley to the end of the line which was not where we needed to be. Sensing a fellow lover of seated sightseeing, some Scandinavians asked us if we wanted their day-long cable car passes. They were good until midnight for as much cable car riding as we wanted to do. Almost giddy with excitement, Bill grabbed my hand and hurried me over to the cable car stop. There are two cable car lines. We traded off between the two, riding with no set destination until dark, when we made our way back to Powell St. to catch the BART back to our hotel.

It wasn't what I had planned, but it was fun. We saw a lot of interesting neighborhoods and wonderful old buildings. I remembered a lot of trips to the city when I was a kid growing up and it reminded my why I have always loved San Francisco.

We continued the walk down memory lane on Tuesday evening. We made the short drive over to Fremont, where I lived from the age of 6 until I graduated from high school. With the help of Nancy, our trusty GPS, we found my old high school and the two homes where we lived in Fremont.

We were treated very well at the Marriott (Bill's new home away from home) and I enjoyed walking over to the mall on Tuesday morning to look around. All in all, it was a fun trip. Enjoy a little slide show of the photos I WAS able to get:

Open Up Those Golden Gates!

Bill has invited me to go with him this next week when he makes his bi-monthly run to San Francisco. Don't automatically assume that he's feeling apologetic about something and trying to make amends. He ALWAYS invites me to go with him on business trips. Remember Hawaii..Bill does not like to be alone. I usually decline because of YW activities (it's not a calling--it's a lifestyle) or projects that I need to finish or just because I have an absolute horror of being bored. I know that this will make no sense at all to busy young mothers who, at times, would sell a kidney for a few quiet days in a lovely hotel, but I have nothing that I need to take a break from. I'm at a point where I kind of feel like my life IS a vacation (with the exception of the aforementioned YW activities). I am reluctant to trade my happy rut for a few days in a hotel next to the freeway, with no car, no sewing machine and bad TV. And so I usually politely decline Bill's invitations.

But this time he has added an inducement or two. Last week he was contacted by the Marriott who want to woo him away from his usual Hilton. He normally books about 90 nights a year, so apparently it was worth their while to wine him (figuratively) and dine him (literally) with the added incentives of a great rate and membership at the "Elite Platinum" level which includes a room on the concierge floor, an arrival gift and free food. AND...the Marriott is surrounded by restaurants and shopping. So if one leaves the hotel to go for a walk there is something to see besides a tangle of freeways.

So I have graciously accepted the invitation to accompany him next week to check out the new digs. To sweeten the pot even further, Bill has promised me a trip into "The City" one afternoon. I grew up in the San Francisco area and love taking BART across the bay to do the tourist thing. We will catch a cable car at the BART station and ride down to the wharf. I can already smell the big pots of crabs and the wafting scent of chocolate from Ghirardelli Square. The best part, though, is the people-watching.

San Francisco is a human zoo. It has always been that way. Birthplace of the hippie era, of free love (of every persuasion) and streaking, and home to some of the world's most expensive real estate makes for a fascinating mix of folks. I will have my camera along and, as I LOVE a project, I would welcome your participation in a little game of "San Francisco Scavenger Hunt." Send me your suggestions for interesting things that you would like me to seek out and photograph. If I get any particularly interesting shots I will post them when I return.

Freebie Alert!

Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 12, Arby's is giving away a FREE Roast Chicken Club sandwich with the purchase of a small soft drink. So your whole meal will run you about $1.45! There is no coupon required--anyone can get in on the action. And mark your calendars for August 26. On that date, Arby's will be offering the same deal for a FREE Roast Beef and Cheddar sandwich. It would be smart to call your local store to make sure they are participating. I checked with mine and they confirmed it and said they looked forward to seeing me tomorrow. Do you think they meant it?

I'm Only a Little Crazy

I have half-heartedly clipped coupons throughout my career as a homemaker. I always understood that they were just like money--but I figured that my time was too valuable to spend many hours clipping, filing and driving from store to store. But it seems that my time (and everyone else's) is worth a lot less in our current economy. (What DOES a stay-at-home grandmother command per hour these days?)

If you have checked out Emily's blog, you know that she has gotten into money-saving in a big way. While we were in Arizona, enjoying a soak in the hot tub with about fourteen of our best friends, she talked up the merits of re-thinking the whole coupon thing. She sent me links to an informative series of "how-to" videos and links to some of her favorite online coupon, freebie and sale alert sources.

I gotta tell ya...some of these gals are CRAZY!!!!! They have turned frugal shopping into an art form...a lifestyle...even a career. I was instantly intimidated. I thought that there was no way I could figure all this out and keep up with it. So I almost quit before I even started.

But I hung in there and carved out my own path through the coupon jungle. I will never be one of those gals who buys $470 dollars worth of groceries for $1.27. BUT after my first experiment I can proudly report that I bought $221.74 worth of groceries for $142.66! In other words, I saved $79.08 by being smart about how I used coupons. ALL of it is stuff that we use and a lot of it was stuff for food and household storage.

So if, like me, you want to get into couponing--not in a scary BIG way--but in a very doable MEDIUM way, here is my quick-start advice:

1. Buy the Sunday paper every week and clip out the coupons for everything you normally use or would like to try at a reduced price. The vast majority of these are manufacturer's coupons--not designated for a specific store.

2. Find a way to organize your coupons that works for you. Keep track of expiration dates and keep the ones that expire quickest where you can see them easily.

3. Stop throwing away the weekly store fliers that come in the mail (mine come on Tuesday). Most of these have coupons that are good for a short period, usually a week, at that specific store. Again, cut out only the coupons for the things that you normally buy. Don't forget storage possibilities. I believe I now have a year's supply of liquid dish soap and lunch meat. Many of these store coupons allow you to buy more than one item--purchase the maximum allowed if you feel good about the price.

4. Don't throw away the sale fliers yet! This is where it gets REALLY fun! Actually look through the sales (What a concept!) and match that week's sales with items that you have manufacturer's coupons for. For example--this week there was a coupon for $1.00 off of two four packs of a new product, Velveeta shells and cheese in a microwave cup. I cut it out because this is something that will store well and work great for a quick grandkid meal. Then, I noticed that in the Target flier today, that very product is on sale for $2.79 a four pack. So, with my coupon, I will be able to buy two four packs for $4.38. BUT WAIT--there's more!!!! In last week's Target flier there was a sale of pet products. If I purchased two (which I did) I automatically received a $5 Target gift card! So...my eight cups of microwaveable Velveeta stuff will actually cost me .38!

5. If the store is out of the coupon item, ask for either a rain check or ask if they are substituting something else. At my Walgreen's this past Saturday I had a coupon for up to 4 cans of Chicken of the Sea tuna for .59 each. They were sold out, so the store manager substituted the albacore for me which normally costs $1.79 a can!

In addition to couponing, there is a whole world of freebies. Again, I'm not into anything that is going to take much effort, but I have had a lot of fun (and spent VERY little time) in the last two weeks acquiring the following items ABSOLUTELY FREE: 3 movie tickets, $10 worth of food delivered to my home (FREE) from Schwann's, and all the free tacos from Jack in the Box that I could enjoy. (Not nearly as many as Bill can enjoy.)

Jack in the Box is repeating the taco giveaway this Tuesday, August 11. The coupon is for two free tacos and there is no limit to how many you can print. If you REALLY love their tacos (like someone we all know) you can plan your whole day around this event--tacos for breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, etc. Here is the link:

http://coupon.jackinthebox.com/coupon/two-free-tacos_20090811.php

And here is the link to Emily's blog where you can get more info and link to the sites that give you the heads up on freebies, coupons, sales, etc.:

http://web.me.com/ericcwhite/emerican_made/Home/Entries/2009/7/3_Coupon_Lady.html

Don't let the flood of information out there scare you. Jump into the pool at the level that you're comfortable with and have fun saving money!