Texas State Fair Discounts

The Texas State Fair open this weekend? Is your budget ready? The State Fair is a lot of fun but can also be quite pricey. Take advantage of the special deals below, and stack them whenever possible, to get the most savings possible.

By using my son’s free ticket from school and bringing a Dr. Pepper can on Tuesday, I will save $29. Plus, he will ride more rides with my $20 ride limit, because most rides are five coupons on Tuesdays.

Free Admission

Most school age children receive a free ticket from their school before their assigned fair day. Check with the school if you don’t receive yours.

Bring a Cinemark movie ticket stub for free admission on Thursdays.

Get free admission when you wear any Dickies logo clothing item on Thursday, Oct. 20 only. This is not Dickey’s barbecue. It’s the Dickies clothing line.

Senior citizens get free admission every Thursday.

Canned Food Discount Admission

Pay only $2 for admission any Wednesday when you bring 3 canned goods to be donated to area food banks.

Discount Tickets at Kroger

Save $1.50 on general admission tickets (you pay $14.40) and $10 on season passes (you pay $29.95) when you purchase them at any DFW Kroger location. A season pass includes unlimited admission to the fair in 2011, one buddy pass to be used any time Monday through Friday and one free Cinemark theatre ticket valid Sunday through Thursday only from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31, 2011. Not good for pass-restricted films or IMAX. Kroger also sells a DART combo ticket for $17, which covers general admission to the fair and round trip transportation on DART.

Discount Tickets Online

Save a $1.05 on children and senior citizen tickets, and save $2.05 on general admission by purchasing advance tickets online. Save $9 by purchasing the Garden Getaway ticket online. This special package gets you one general admission ticket to the State Fair and one general admission ticket to the Dallas Arboretum.

Dr. Pepper Discounts

$4 Tuesdays – Pay only $4 for admission when you bring an empty Dr. Pepper can, and be sure it’s empty. They will make you get out of the line and empty it before you can proceed to the admission booth. Also on Tuesdays, most rides are five coupons – a discount of 40 percent to 50 percent per ride.

$5 after 5 p.m. – Pay only $5 after 5 p.m., any night of the week when you bring an empty Dr. Pepper can.

Coke Discounts

On opening day, pay only $5 for admission when you bring an unopened bottle of Dasani water or any Coca-Cola product for donation to a local food bank.

Pay only $5 general admission on Thursdays when you bring an empty 20 oz. bottle of a Coca-Cola product. Be sure it is completely empty, or you will be asked to leave the line, empty it and go to the end of the line.

I am told McDonald’s also has discount offers on its tray liners but have no confirmed that information.

Happy friend food fest! Oh, and by the way, Texas State Fair Coupons NEVER expire. Hold on to your leftovers for next year.

 

How To Buy A Car With Ease

Fall is the best time of the year to buy a new vehicle. By October, most dealerships are making room on their lots and in their showrooms for the next year’s new models. That usually means they are willing to sell what is already on their lots for a lot less money. Take advantage of that savings. If you are willing to shop around, you may drive away with a 2011 vehicle at a 2010 price.

Many people often give up a good deal, because they don’t like to haggle for a good price. They consider buying a car a hassle. If you arm yourself with the right information, you can be in control of the car buying process.

First, get pre-approved for an auto loan. At most credit unions, this is as easy as applying for an auto loan, but not applying for a specific dollar amount. Your credit union will tell you how much you qualify to borrow. Use this as a bargaining tool. It’s pretty hard for a salesperson to haggle with you when you have a limit on what you can spend. It also gives you a price range so you can start shopping.

Second, do your homework. Shop online. Decide what size vehicle you need and what features are appealing to you. Narrow down your vehicle picks to two or three, then read reviews on all of them and see which, if any, received high safety ratings and other industry recognitions. When you know exactly what you want, it’s hard for a salesperson to sell you something different.

Third, get a price quote online. Many dealerships offer this service, and it gives you the control of letting dealerships compete for your business. If they call you with a quote that isn’t favorable, let them know another dealership quoted a lower price and ask them to make a counter offer. You can shop multiple dealerships without leaving your home or office.

Fourth, do the math before you accept special dealer offers, like $199 a month to lease a vehicle, zero percent financing or cash rebates. Leasing a vehicle may be a good deal. Just know there’s a balloon payment at the end of that note, which will need to be paid in full or refinanced, leaving you to pay even more interest.

When dealers offer low-rate financing, there often are conditions attached. The low rate usually applies to specific models, or for specific terms – usually 36 months or less. If you’re in the market for that specific model, or you can afford to pay off the loan in three years, this could be a good option for you.

Cash back incentives can either stand on their own, or they can be tied to a condition like purchasing a specific model or financing with the dealer. Ask before you get your heart set on a different model.

If you have the choice between cash back or dealer financing, think about taking the cash rebate and financing your vehicle at a credit union. That puts money back in your pocket and gives you an option for affordable financing. Neighborhood’s rate is only 2.99 % APR right now for loan terms up to 72 months.

Finally, use a credit union to shop and finance a car. Many credit unions, including Neighborhood Credit Union, have relationships with dealers who offer members-only deals. Plus, you’re borrowing money from a trusted source. That, alone, is peace of mind you just can’t buy anywhere.

 

Five Tips for Saving Money at the Grocery Store Without Coupons

I am not a coupon clipper. I never have been. My dad used to clip coupons for me and mail them to me, but even then, I rarely used them. It just seemed like things I bought never had coupons.

That’s not to say coupons don’t save you money. I have watched many friends save hundreds of dollars on groceries with them. Here’s how I save.

I only buy meat when it’s on sale. The Alberston’s store around the corner has great sales on meat. I buy chicken breast at $1.49 a pound, and I buy steak when it’s buy one get two free. I buy a lot of meat on sale and freeze it. This, alone, save hundreds of dollars over time.

I do the math. If there are two sizes of something, like peanut butter for example, I divide the number of ounces into the price. That tells me how much the jar of peanut butter is per ounce. If a 14 oz. jar of peanut butter is $3.18, it’s costing me $.22 center per ounce. If the bigger jar is 32 oz. for $5, it’s costing me $.15 cents an ounce. Bigger is often cheaper, but not always. Do the math.

I look at ingredients. A few months ago, I was shopping for salad dressing, because it was on sale. I noticed that some flavors had two different bottles on two different shelves. One said “made with olive oil.” The other did not. The one with olive oil was the same price, but it was several ounces smaller. Out of curiosity, I read the ingredients on both bottles. They were exactly the same. Both were made with olive oil. The manufacturer had found a way to sell less salad dressing for more money and still make it appear to consumers that they had two different options. Don’t fall for that.

I buy in cycles. Everything in the grocery store has a price cycle. Just about everything will be on sale within a month to six weeks. That’s when I buy my non-perishable items like toilet paper, snacks for my kid, pastas, sauces, soft drinks, etc. I’m not like those people you see on TV who use their showers as storage areas. I buy as much as will fit in the normal spaces of my home.

I don’t buy what I can make at home. Individually packaged items like applesauce are a lot of money. I can make my own apple sauce with two apples, add no sugar, and package it individually so my son can have it in his lunch box. The same goes for things like pudding, jello, sauces, etc. If it doesn’t take that long to make – and applesauce is super quick – I don’t need to spend the extra money at the store.

What are some other ways you save money on groceries? Leave a comment hear and let’s continue the discussion.

Saving Money on Cable and Phone May Be as Easy as Asking

As hard as this may be to believe, my family has never had cable TV, satellite or the like. We had rabbit ears on our television before analog TV went away, and ever since then, we’ve had a digital antenna in our attic. I am not a big TV watcher and just didn’t want to pay the money for something that didn’t add much value to our lives.

As I was paying my Verizon bill this weekend, however, I came across a deal that would let me add FIOS TV to my existing phone and Internet bundle and actually lower my monthly bill. I added the DVR option for an additional fee that brings my bill to exactly the amount I’m already paying. As much as I didn’t want the extra 190 channels, why would I not get something for free that my husband and son both will use?

A similar thing happened two weeks ago when we finally gave in and got new smart phones. I had been putting this off for a year, because I didn’t want the added cost of a data plan. When our phones were just too old to use anymore, I walked into the T-mobile store and told the lady I didn’t want anything that would increase my monthly bill. She looked up our usage, gave me more minutes than we already have, hooked us up with two smart phones and saved us $7 a month.

All these years, I’ve been putting off upgrading our technology because I didn’t want to pay more money. I completely forgot the golden rule of saving money – sometimes you just have to ask. Often, it really is that easy – especially if tell your cable or phone company that you can’t afford your current service and may have to cancel it to make ends meet. Cell phone companies and cable companies have a lot of competition, and keeping your business at a lower price is often more important to them than giving it away to another company. In fact, my friend sent me this e-mail just this morning:

“After your contract is up the price goes higher. But, if you call them they lower your rate for another year. I have been doing this the past five years. I got my DVR free for an extra year because they sent out mailers offering it for new customers. I called and told them that my DVR trial was over and I wanted to ship it back, and that I thought it was not good business to offer the free year to new customers when I had been a loyal customer for so long. So, they offered it to me for another year for FREE”

If you want to save money on TV and phone bills, call them and ask. If possible, show up and talk to them in person. You may be surprised at what they can save you.