You paid how much for your wedding dress?

Having a wedding can be one of the most expensive financial events of a young person's life. And, it seems like all you have to do is mention the W-word, and prices go through the roof. (Full disclosure, I have a wedding coordinating business, and I always think a day-of coordinator is money well spent). 

I'd always assumed that your wedding dress had a bigger markup than almost anything else, and turns out, it's true. Check out this awesome short video from NPR's Planet Money. Reporter Caitlin Kenney took her wedding dress and went on a mission...to find out how much markup she paid on her own dress. This video is short, informative, and fun. Check it out! 

Digital Coupons

I really admire couponers (except when they're in the checkout line in front of me), but I don't have the patience for it, for myriad reasons: our printer is perpetually out of paper, we don't get the newspaper, whenever I cut out coupons I promtly leave them at home (along with my grocery list), and I don't buy that much name brand or junk food, which is what coupons tend to be for, in my opinion.

But, yesterday I was doing some research on new dinner ideas. The Mr. and I are getting a little tired of the same dishes we make over and over again. I found some great recipes on Cooking Light. While I was browsing, I swung by my local grocery store's website (Fred Meyer).

I discovered that, once logging in with your rewards card number, you can download digital manufacturer's coupons automatically to your rewards card! So, I spent 5 minutes or so comparing my list with what which coupons were on sale, loaded them to my card, and headed out to the store.

My biggest win: Crest toothpaste was on sale at 2 for $3.00. I bought one ($1.50), plus my digital coupon for $.75 off, and I got my big tube of toothpaste for just $.75!

Another big win? No coupons to cut, no slowing down the line, no leaving them on the table at home. I saved $8 with only 5 minutes of work. Not bad!

Oh, and I'm testing out these three recipes. I'll let you know how they turn out: Barley and Beef Soup, Asian Green Bean Salad, and  Southwestern Chicken Pasta Salad.

Follow-up: On Plane Tickets

A couple months ago I blogged about a new site I found, Yapta. Check out the original post here.

They send you weekly emails to let you know if any of the flights you've registered on their site have dropped in price. The Mr. and I are going to Kauai this fall, and I had registered our flight information and the price we paid on the site.

Last week, I got an email from Yapta saying the price had dropped. I logged on to the site, and it gave me a direct link to Alaska Airlines' website. In two short minutes, I had a $50 credit for my next flight on Alaska Airlines--the amount that the tickets had dropped! It's linked to my frequent flier account, so next time I go to buy a ticket, I'll apply the credit online.

The one caveat is that this process doesn't work on every airline, but I was surprised at how easy it was to get the credit! The best part? The tickets are now back up to the price we paid for them. It pays to be on top of things!

On plane tickets

Buying plane tickets is a special kind of hell. It's always a gamble. Should I buy tickets now at the current price? Or wait a few more weeks for a lower price, just to risk the flight I want being full? With gas prices as high as they are, and the summer travel season upon us, plane tickets are just not cheap. Period.
In the last month or so, I've bought three sets of tickets--Kauai, St. Louis, and San Diego. I feel like I got pretty good deals, but I'm never sure. 

Most handy travel websites track prices before you buy, and predict if the prices will go up or down. Only one website I've found tracks prices after you buy. Check out Yapta.com. Did you know that Alaska and Jet Blue offer refunds on ANY price drop after you buy your ticket? I had no idea, and I fly Alaska all the time (they must really not publicize this!). Also, AirTran and Virgin offer refunds for price drops over $75, and Hawaiian airlines offers refunds for drops over $100. A lot of other airlines will offer credits for future trips.

All you have to do is create a free Yapta account, and enter your flight dates, times, and numbers for upcoming trips. Enter how much you paid, and Yapta will automatically email you if the price drops enough for a refund! 

Yapta's website boasts that since May of 2007, they have saved their members over $250 million, and that the average annual savings per Yapta member is $334.16. 

I'm tracking all of my upcoming trips on Yapta, and I'll report back if I'm able to cash in. Currently, my flights now cost more than what I paid for them, which at the very least, makes me feel like I got a good deal!

Winter Weeknights

Who says all the fun has to be saved up for the weekend! Here in the Northwest, this time of year, it's dark by 4:45 pm. If you don't want to be relegated to nights on the couch and constant TV/movie watching, it's time to get creative. 

We call these Middle School Dates--bowling, ice skating, museums, etc. But instead of spending your Friday or Saturday night at these places (after all, we discovered that Saturday night is "teen night" at our local ice rink--yikes!), why not make a mid-week event out of it. Check out your local bowling alley or skating rink's weekday prices. You'll be surprised how much money you'll save. Come on, your bowling skills don't magically improve just because it's the weekend.

Bottom Line: Our local bowling alley has $3 games, $3 shoe rentals, and $3 beers on Tuesday nights. We spent a total of $12 each. Had we gone on Friday or Saturday night, it would have been $30/hour per lane, $4 for shoes, and $5.50 for drinks, for a grand total of $24.50 per person. Going on a Tuesday saved us roughly 50%.