Got No Dough - Saving Money in Slim Times

So a week or so ago, I was reading a blog post about U-Pick Farms.  I love the concept and so I started searching for farms in our area.  Turns out there are several within about 30 minutes from here and there was a larger one I decided to look into.

It turns out they have a berry picking date night.  I thought it sounded like a lot of fun and guess what?  There were only two date nights left this summer and one of them fell on my birthday!

So, last Thursday night, my husband and I drove (and drove) and arrived at Riley’s Farm.  We were greeted by women in colonial era clothing.  They gave us two pint baskets and we were told we should pick our raspberries before dinner since it was getting dark.  So off we went, taking a short walk around some of the buildings and through a grass field.  We were completely clueless as to what a “good” raspberry looked like, so it became a matter of trial and error.  The first one I pulled came with the stem, which means it wasn’t ripe.  We found that the deeper the berry, the sweeter they were.  However, some of them came off and smashed in your fingers - a little too ripe.

We finally filled up our baskets and walked back.  They had several tables set up in a grassy area behind the barn.  The centerpiece was a kerosene lantern and the dinnerware was a canteen set.  They immediately brought out our dinner which was wonderful!  We got half of a BBQ chicken, corn bread, salad with raspberry vinegarette, and a baked potato.  You could just taste that everything was made from scratch.  For dessert we got a dish made of peaches and raspberries with chocolate chips and whipped cream.  It was so incredibly beautiful that night and we finished our dinner, the stars came out.

I have not had that much fun in a long time and it was such a simple evening.  On our way to the car I was scared to death by the sounds the goats were making.  Remind me to never own goats!  On the drive back home, as we came out of the hills, we saw a snake in the road.  We had to turn around and go back to see it and sure enough, it was a rattlesnake!  We watched it slither to the safety of the other side of the road.

I would do it again in a heartbeat, and get this…the whole evening only cost $35!  I can hardly wait to do it again next year!

Now if you remember, I am addicted to CVS.  Some weeks I’m more addicted to others, but nevertheless, I check the ad every single week.

So you can imagine how pleased I am with myself since I got not only one $25 CVS gift card this past week, but TWO!  And how much did I pay for these cards?  Absolutely nothing.

Gift card number one came from the points I collected at My Points.  It took a few months, but I finally got the 3,600 points needed for the $25 gift card.  All it took was patience, time and a happy clicking finger to earn this one.

Gift card number two came from a coupon I had for a $25 gift card with any new or transferred prescription.  Well, it just so happened that I got a new prescription last week.  I drove my happy little self down to CVS and proudly handed over my coupon.  Voila, just like that I got another $25 gift card.  Oh, and the prescription only cost me $11 (which I would have spent regardless), so I still came out ahead.

Sometimes in life it just takes a little creative thinking to get some of your necessities.  Using these gift cards in conjunction with coupons and Extracare Bucks, I should be able to get many of the things we need around the house for free.  Literally.