Valentine's Day for the Cheap and Unoriginal

photho by tonguetyed

Ah yes, that's me. I rarely think of a creative Valentine's Day gift. Part of me thinks...Why should I? Isn't that his responsibility. Well, but then again if I don't take control of the situation then I'm just setting up unrealistic expectations.

So for all those who can't think of anything and who are cheap...like me...there is Restaurant.com. Eating out isn't that creative but this website definitely appeals to my inner cheapskate. At this site you can purchase dining gift certificates that you can give or use for participating restaurants. You just type in the zip code or area that you want to go to and taadaa lots of places show up. From upscale to sandwich shops.

Usually you'll pay $3 for a $10 gift certificate. A $25 gift certificate goes for $10. Higher amounts are available at comparable discounts. That's a tasty savings.

Some restaurants put restrictions on when they can be used so look carefully. There's no waiting for the certificate to be mailed, you just print it right away and go eat. Very simple.

I think this will be a fun and low-risk way to try some place new. I like that you can glance at the menu before you purchase. Reservations can also be made online, which should be super convenient for the busy cupid day.

It's also great for traveling since restaurants throughout the country are signed up with the service.

But do the restaurants like it? According to the website, yes. It helps promote there business and get diners in, something they are struggling with right now.

Organic Fast Food Choices

The following is a Friday Encore of a post that originally appeared on May 6, 2008. This post includes updated information.

If you're watching calories there are all kinds of tricks you can use to reduce your fast food fat. But what if you just want to eat well, quickly and cheaply. I've done the prepared food stuff at Whole Foods plenty of times. But you've got to admit it's kinda pricey. And it gets a little dull going to the same spot over and over. (Okay, I know I should just go home and cook.)

A few months ago a new Starbucks drive-thru opened down the street from me. The space is built out for another type of drive-thru right next to it. That space remains empty and I dreamily wish that a fast-organic-vegetarian restaurant would move in. Hey, you've got your dreams, I've got mine.

Well, my dream did come true, but somehow I must have been sleeping through it. In 2006 VG Burgers opened in Boulder. It's not only everything I dreamed of, but it's also vegan and many items are gluten-free. In addition, if you are ever in Los Angelos there is O Burger and Germany just opened a place called Nat. So hurray, while maybe fast food shouldn't be my quest, options could be more numerous.

There are two fast food chains that claim the natural food lane. Chipotle Mexican Grill and Good Times are migrating toward completely natural menus.

Before you get excited and go to Chipotle you should know that not all Chipotle's use all natural ingredients. Stores in California, Oregon and Washington, D.C. receive naturally raised chicken. The company is striving to migrate all stores to au naturale but for now it serves naturally raised chicken, pork, beef and organic beans at some of its restaurants. Chipotle says they are working to find organic and natural suppliers for its other restaurants. Nice business lead if you know any natural farmers.

Meanwhile Good Times has been using natural beef for quite some time. Recently they announced that their frozen custard is now being made with natural cream, eggs, and milk.

So if you're looking to eat up naturally, looks like Good Times burgers and custard might be your best bet.

Free and Almost Free

The Internet is a fantastic resource for bargain hunters, but some are a little more obscure than others. Here are few that I stumbled across this week mostly thanks to other bloggers.

Dining Discounts: Local TV stations sometimes barter air time with restaurants in exchange for gift certificates. This is done through an advertising company called Incentrev. The business gets PR, then the station sells the gift certificates to consumers who get a bargain. Everybody is happy.

You'll find deals in nearly every city. So keep this in mind when you are travelling too. Just go online and use the call letters of the local new and add ".incentrev.com" to the end. So in for Denver's Fox news, for example, you would type http://kdvr.incentrev.com/ into the address line. I guess not all stations are connected with the program though since I couldn't find anything for other Denver channels.

Free Software: GiveawayOfTheDay.com offers free fully-licensed, no-trial, no-shareware professional software. You have to check the site frequently since the free download is only available for one day. And you must download and activate the software on you computer that same day. Oh, and it's only for PCs, no MAC software is featured.

In this case the developer of the software gets advertising and feedback on their product. What's in it for you is that this is usually high-quality and tested software. You're less likely to get junk or viruses--though I won't go as far as to personal guarantee that. You probably won’t find something useful every day, but it’s worth adding the feed to your RSS reader.

Pay What You Want

Now that it's back-to-school season here's a quiz for you. What's the difference in the following sentences?

• Jack will do anything for a bargain.


• Jack believes in paying a fair price.

Here's a personal story that might make the answer more obvious. Several years ago I ventured to Peru for hiking and travel. In the market outside of Cuzco were many vendors selling knitted sweaters, gloves, etc. I'm a knitter so meeting some of these people was important to me. I sifted through the obvious resellers and found a woman sitting on the pavement with just a few items. Since I don't speak Quechuan I used goofy hand language to ask her if she had knitted them. Of course she had. I bought a sweater for a very cheap price, but I didn't bargain. She was so surprised, but I understand how much work went into the beautiful alpaca sweater. Then along came some other American tourists. They were interested in another sweater. They bargained her down to the equivalent of $5.00. Oh such a deal, but there you have a hard working woman who didn't receive a fair wage.

Well there is a couple in Denver with a restaurant that's betting the second Jack will come to dine. It's called SAME Cafe. And at the end of the meal they don't present you with a bill. They just ask you to pay either what you feel the meal was worth or what you can afford.

The name stands for So All May Eat and it opened in metro Denver in October 2006.
Here's a bit from their website:
It is the intent of SAME Cafe to build a healthy community by providing a basic need of food in a respectful and dignified manner to anyone who walks through the door.
SAME Cafe is unique in the lack of a set menu as well as set prices. Daily selections are made using fresh, organic ingredients, and funded by the donations of patrons. Instead of a cash register, a donation box is available for one to pay what they felt their meal was worth, or to leave a little more and help out someone less fortunate. If a diner does not have sufficient money to leave, they are encouraged to exchange an hour of service. Our philosophy is that everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy food while being treated with dignity.

It's a radical concept in a world so driven by money and status, but SAME Cafe seems to thriving. They do it by treating everyone with respect. This isn't some swanky uppercrust attempt to become trendy. SAME really focuses on helping those in need. More from the website:
The Birkys developed this idea through volunteer work over many years. The two were so touched during this service they decided to do something WONDERFULLY DIFFERENT. Over the course of their years working at food banks and shelters they saw the growing number of people needing assistance: hardworking single moms, the elderly who cannot retire, the educated and the uneducated. Some even work 40 hours a week on minimum wage and cannot make ends meet. It is the Birkys' sincere hope that through SAME Café they can make a difference to all who walk through the door, whether it is a person seeking help or a person seeking to help.

Those of us who can afford an meal out can support SAME cafe just by dining their and paying a fair price. And it's nice to know that when times are tough there are kind people to help. So if you're thinking spending Saturday night in the big city before the DNC invades check out SAME Cafe.