Frugality Pays

Saturday Nate and I went to an ASU men's basketball game for $5 each thanks to Groupon. We met some friends there and had a pretty good time despite my having to wear an ASU shirt that was two sizes too big. Nate said I needed to don some fan garb and gave me one of his shirts. He made up for it by letting me use our Macy's gift card (wedding present). I was going to buy an ASU shirt, but Macy's didn't have one. So I got these shoes instead.

We used a Subway gift card (stocking present from mom) to buy two foot-long subs, a medium Dr. Pepper, and three cookies that I managed to fit into my purse (yes, the drink too) and sneak into the dollar movie where we watched RED.

At work today while the kids finished their homework, I started making dinner. I had the spaghetti at a boil when the mom walked in early to help me with the meal. As soon as I put the glass lid on the pot it made a popping sound and shattered. Awesome. She said it had probably cracked in the dish washer and the heat made it break, but I still felt like an idiot. I came home hungry, and Nate said we were going out to eat courtesy of restaurant.com (present from Liz and Steve). We went to Cafe Lalibela for Ethiopian food. We had to spend a certain amount to use our coupon, so we tried a variety of things -

Shorba: Soup made from lentils, carrots, potatoes, onion and vegetable stock. I enjoyed this dish best of all.

We ordered four kinds of meats that are served with Injera (a crepe-like sourdough bread made from teff and wheat flour). Nate downed it all.
Alicha Sega Wat - Tender beef cubes simmered in butter, onion, turmeric and flavored with various spices.
Doro Wat - Chicken simmered in butter, red chili, onion and a tasty combination of seasoning.
Kye Sega Wat - Tender beef cubes simmered in red chili and flavored with various spices.
Yebeg Alicha Sega Wat - Lamb cubes simmered in butter, onion, turmeric and herbs.

We ordered their homemade cheese, Ayeb, to crumble onto everything. It tasted like a dry cottage cheese. We also had Yekik Alicha, yellow split peas cooked with onion, turmeric and herbs. We had leftovers of both despite their being delicious.


We're now watching the Tostitos National Championship game via the Internet because we don't have TV. We just straight save money on that one.

I still receive emails from Pantrucas in Provo for their Thursday specials. I haven't asked them to take me off their email list because I spend a few seconds every week remembering how yummy their food is and feeling nostalgic.

I don't think Nate or I have ever been crazy spenders, and the two of us together works out great in that area. Because I didn't have a job for several months, we lived on what Nate made from his job. Thanks to occasional gift cards and coupons, we haven't noticed how frugally we've been living... if that makes sense. But gift cards don't grow on trees, and coupons don't knock on your door. We'll enjoy it while it lasts.