A time where you can hang out, relax, talk, and catch up on busy lives.

Regular dates are important to schedule in, especially if you have children.

Spending time together, not money is what really matters.

With this in mind, here are 5 frugal and fun date ideas that won’t break the bank.

1. Neighborhood Walk and Picnic

Just get out and take a walk together. Bring a picnic and have a destination in mind. For instance, find a park where you can “break bread” together. Cheap, quiet, and often quite romantic.

2. Free Music Concerts

Look for free music festivals in your area like “The Mosquito Serenade” or “Music in the Park”. They often feature local bands and singers and usually provide great entertainment. Always a fun night out and totally affordable. Check your local newspaper for similar music festivals in your area.

3. Bring The Movie Theater Home

Buy a box of movie-theater style popcorn, rent a DVD, and have a movie date night at home. Avoid the expensive movie tickets, expensive food, sticky floors, and of course, the dirty bathrooms.

4. Historic Sites & Museums

You’d be amazed by how many local historic sites and museums are in your area. Often these make for great date ideas as they allow you to spend time together and get a better grasp of your local history.

5. Live Performances at Your Local College or Junior College

Most junior colleges and small colleges have a fantastic drama program with several inexpensive plays and music performances throughout the school year. These plays and performances always make for a fun and frugal night out. Check the website of colleges in your area for specific details.

What frugal date idea would you add to this list? I look forward to your suggestions.

About The Author: Kyle James owns and manages a website called Rather-Be-Shopping.com which lists and organizes online coupons for over 800 stores.

Photo Credit: KFoodaddict

Hope you enjoy this Mother’s Day as a mom, with your mom, or thinking of your mom…

with a free Redbox rental, free coffee drinks, and more.

These offers are valid today, Mother’s Day only!

Hurry before they expire.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Enjoy!

FREE Redbox Code

Use code MAY13. Valid Mother’s Day only.

FREE Denny’s Cookie ala Mode

Send mom and e-card on Denny’s Facebook page and you’ll both receive a coupon for a free Cookie ala Mode. 

FREE Simply Fresh Cookbook

Dine at Ruby Tuesday on Mother’s Day and receive a code for a free copy of the Simply Fresh Cookbook.

Buy One Get One Free Caribou Coffee

Use this coupon to get a free coffee drink when you buy one for your mom.

Buy One Get One Free Peet’s Coffee

Use this coupon to get a free coffee drink when you buy one for your mom.

Photo Credit: LWY

They want your business and wouldn’t have this policy unless they weren’t profitable.

A money back guarantee encourages consumers to try something new without regret.

I don’t know about you but I tend to be more loyal to stores that do offer a generous return policy because they care about their customer’s satisfaction.

If a store is losing too much money because of their generous return policy, then they will rescind it or make restrictions. Stores that have done this include Target and Costco.

Years ago, Target would accept items, even if opened. Now they will not accept returns on opened or used products.

With Costco, they have tightened their return policy on certain items like electronics to 90 days.

My goal with Living Richly on a Budget is to provide you with resources so you can make better choices with your money.

Hopefully, this helps you stick to your budget, knowing where you can return things that you can’t use or aren’t satisfied with.

Bloomingdales’s

Bloomingdale’s is a high end store that I’ve shopped at a handful of times, before I was on a tight budget. Their customer service is excellent. They went above and beyond to help me. I was looking for a bag that wasn’t on the sales floor. The salesperson found it for me in the stock room!

I shopped there because I like the comfort of knowing that I can return my items, if needed.

There’s no limit on the number of days to return something. However, for furniture you must return within 3 days. With mattresses, you may return them within 5 years with some fees deducted. Still, that’s generous.

Costco

Costco has an excellent return policy on their membership as well as merchandise. You can receive a full refund on your membership fee at any time you are dissatisfied.

For merchandise, their return policy states: “We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell with a full refund. The following must be returned within 90 days of purchase for a refund: televisions, projectors, computers, cameras, camcorders, touch screen tablets, MP3 players and cellular phones.”

That means you can return anything anytime, even food. The exceptions are electronics which must be returned within 90 days.

Kohl’s

Kohl’s return policy is return any item, any time, for any reason, with or without a receipt. If you have a receipt, you can get a full refund or even exchange. If you don’t have a receipt, you can make an even exchange, take a merchandise credit or get a corporate refund.

Nordstrom

Nordstrom is famous for having a really good return policy. There’s a story about someone returning a car tire (something they obviously don’t sell) to Nordstrom and they accepted it! They have a hassle free return policy and great customer service.

REI

Every item at REI is 100% satisfaction guaranteed. You return or exchange an item by mail or at any retail location, regardless of whether you made the purchase online, by mail, or in a store. Plus, if you are an REI member, you don’t even need a receipt for returns because they have a record of all your purchases! Pretty awesome!

Trader Joe’s

Trader Joe’s will accept returns on opened and unopened items with no limits. They will even go as far as opening a product for you to try, in store, at your request.

Whole Foods

Whole Foods guarantee’s their customer’s 100% product satisfaction or their money will be refunded. Whole Foods will accept returns on products, even if opened, anytime, as long as you have a receipt.

Photo Credit: Portal Abras

They are doing this for the higher contribution limits, the conversion incentives, the inheritance benefits, and the lack of age-based distributions.

But there’s one key factor that prompts many people’s move to Roth: the ability to withdraw contributions without getting taxed, a tremendous feature that traditional IRAs cannot replicate.

However, we can probably expect any tax-free government program to come with considerable strings attached, and the Roth IRA is certainly no exception.

If you do not qualify for a Roth account, or if you do not make your contributions appropriately, you may find yourself unable to reap those tax-free benefits.

So how does one quality? How does someone insure compliance with Roth’s terms? Here’s a quick primer:

1. Yearly contributions must fall below set limits and one’s taxable compensation.

Most people are aware that the Roth IRA comes with set limits above which contributions cannot exceed on a yearly basis. Currently, that limit is $5,000 annually for those who are younger than 50 and $6,000 for those who are older.

But there is one other stipulation here: if you are 40 years old and your taxable compensation is $4,000, then you can only put a maximum of $4,000 towards your Roth annually.

2. Your Roth must be an account or an annuity.

Although IRA stands for “individual retirement account,” a Roth can also take the form of an individual retirement annuity. Both approaches, however, have restrictions on the investments that can be made – restrictions that can vary based on location. And those who take the annuity route must ensure that they are working with an eligible life insurance company.

3. You must meet the income requirements.

The Roth IRA is designed to be ineligible for high-earning individuals. Currently, if you are a single filer and make over $110,000 in adjusted gross income, you are eligible only to make partial contributions to a Roth account.

If you make over $125,000, you cannot contribute to a Roth at all. These are the main rules to follow if you want to open a Roth IRA – and, more to the point, if you want to insure tax forgiveness when you withdraw money from the account.

While a Roth IRA does not make sense for all investors, it can be incredibly beneficial for those who don’t want a tax burden hanging over their head as retirement approaches. Just make sure that you know the rules and are in a position to play by them.

Consideration was given to this article. Disclosure Policy

Photo Credit: PT Money

Celebrate the 5th of May with:

- Free Old Navy flip flops

- Free Amazon MP3 credit for mom

- Free Olive Garden appetizer or dessert

- Free Clinique sunblock

- Gluten-Free Cinco de Mayo recipes

Enjoy and feel free to share these freebies.

FREE FOOD

FREE Appetizer or Dessert at Olive Garden

Get a free appetizer or dessert ($9 value) with the purchase of two dinner entrees, using this coupon. Expires 5/27/12. Source: Deal Seeking Mom

FREE Coffee or Tea at IKEA

Join the IKEA Family program and receive free coffee or tea from their restaurant (love their coffee!), monthly product discounts, and 30 extra minutes of Smaland time. Source: Deal Seeking Mom

FREE Cone Day at Haagen Dazs

Get a free ice cream cone on Tuesday, May 8, 4-8pm at Haagen Dazs. Try any flavor. Source: Deal Seeking Mom

FREE Cinnabon for Nurses

To celebrate Nurses Week, if you are a nurse, get a free Cinnabon May 6 – 12, 2012. Just show your healthcare ID badge. Source: Money Saving Mom

FREE Burger from A&W

Text BURGER to 70626 to get a coupon for a free Papa Burger Single at any A&W Restaurant. Expires 5/10/12. Source: Money Saving Mom

Starbucks Happy Hour

Half off Frappuccinos May6-15, 3-5pm, at participating Starbucks.

FREE BOOKS AND MUSIC

FREE $2 Amazon.com MP3 Credit

Former and current Amazon Mom members got an email on 4/30 for this free $2 MP3 credit. I actually missed this and had to check my email again! Look for the email that says “{Your Name}: Top Deals for Mother’s Day” in the subject line. You’ll see a unique code for the free MP3 credit, which can only be used once and cannot be shared. Source: Money Saving Mom

FREE War of the Worlds eBook

Free War of the Worlds Kindle edition available on Amazon. Source: Deal Seeking Mom

FREE Slow Cooker eCookbook

Like Family Circle on Facebook and download this free ecookbook on 15 Slow Cooker Favorites. Source: Deal Seeking Mom

FREE Cosmopolian Digital Edition

Fill out a short form to receive a 1 year subscription to the digital edition of Cosmopolitan. Source: Deal Seeking Mom

OTHER FREE STUFF

FREE Old Navy Flip Flops and Coupons

Download the Old Navy Snap Appy app for your smartphone. Take a photo of an Old Navy logo (online or actual product). Tap the screen and it will take the photo. Then the app will spin the wheel. Most people get the free flip flops on the first try. There are also other prizes like $5 of any purchase, $5 off $25 purchase and more. Source: Freebies4Mom

FREE Clinique Super City Sunblock

Receive a 14 day supply of Clinique Super City Sunblock when you get a consultation at any Clinique counter at Macy’s. Source: Free Mania

FREE Victoria’s Secret Water Bottle

Sign up to be a member of the Pink Club. Purchase any Pink item and receive a free Drink Pink water bottle. Source: Free Mania

Check out these Gluten-Free Cinco de Mayo recipes.

This post contains affiliate links. Disclosure Policy

Staying under budget and eating well are a big challenge for many of us.

Two tips for saving money are to shop what’s on sale by month and buy fruits and vegetables in season.

Because of the popularity of Grocery Sales Cycles – When Do Things Go on Sale?, I decided to start a new monthly post featuring what’s on sale by month.

The big holidays this month are Cinco de Mayo and Memorial Day.

You’ll find corresponding items for these holidays, like salsa and grilling meats on sale this month.

Print this list as a Word document: What’s on Sale at the Grocery Store in May.

MEMORIAL DAY

• BBQ Sauce
• Condiments
• Charcoal
• Salad Dressing
• Potato Chips
• Dips
• Grilling Meats
• Hot Dogs
• Hamburger Meat
• Marinade
• Salad Greens

PAPER PRODUCTS

• Plates
• Utensils
• Insect Repellant
• Sunscreen

CINCO DE MAYO

• Salsa
• tortillas

SEASONAL PRODUCE

Vegetables

• Artichokes
• Arugula
• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Beets
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Celery
• Chard
• Corn
• Dandelion Greens
• English Peas
• Fennel
• Fresh Herbs
• Green Beans
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Mustard Greens
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Radish
• Vidalia Onions
• Zucchini

Fruits:

• Apricots
• Blackberries
• Cantaloupe
• Cherries
• Grapefruit
• Honeydew
• Peaches
• Raspberries
• Rhubarb
• Strawberries
• Watermelon

Photo Credit: Fried Dough

No, we’re not talking about how you’ll save on interest (though that’s certainly a possibility).

Paying with cash may actually help you be more value-conscious, and make better purchase decisions.

This information comes from research recently published by Professor Randal Rose at the University of South Carolina and Professor Promothesh Chatterjee at the University of Kansas.

The researchers looked at the spending habits of consumers, and how consumers made their purchasing decisions when using cash versus how they did it using credit.

Their results might surprise you. Among the findings:

• When credit cards are accessible as a form of payment, consumers tended to focus more on benefits.
• When cash was the accessible form of payment, consumers tended to focus more on cost.
• Cash customers not only focused more on cost, but they were also more specific about it. They got into details such as delivery or installation costs, warranty pricing, delivery times, and more.
• Conversely, credit card customers made numberous recall errors when it came to cost. They couldn’t recall cost details as readily as cash customers.
• Paying with cash leaves a vivid memory trace. Every time a payment is made, the consumer watches the money go away.
• Cash customers experience greater “pain of payment” – that immediate realization of loss when a purchase is made.
• Credit card customers didn’t experience the pain of payment. For them, the consumption of a product is entirely decoupled from payment.
• This leads to instant gratification of desires when using a credit card. The consumer immediately feels the benefits of the purchase, without being distracted by the cost.
• Cash customers displayed memory errors when it came to benefits. They weren’t as able to recognize benefit words as credit card customers.
• There are a number of triggers that can prompt credit card payment. Examples included advertisements for credit in the store, credit card signs at the register, and even stickers on the entry doors displaying the acceptance of credit cards.
• Credit card customers were more likely to make indulgent product choices.
• Credit card customers were also more likely to purchase high-image products, even when benefits matched lower-cost products.

Clearly, whether we pay with credit cards or cash affects our purchase decisions.

Putting this information to use

Let’s step back and think exactly how this information helps you in your daily life.

Suppose you’re shopping for a new television. You’ve set a budget, based on what you can afford.

You walk into the store, and talk about the various product options with a salesperson. The television with the greatest benefits is beyond your budget by 20%.

If you walk in with just enough cash to make your purchase within your budget and stick to using cash, you’re not going to spend more than what you can afford. The moment you begin to consider a credit card, however, your purchase price scales up. You could wind up buying not only the television that’s 20% more expensive, but another 10% worth of accessories.

Shop smart, and within your budget. Choose cash over credit cards when you’re truly concerned about price.

David Rodwell is a seasoned writer in business and personal finance, taking a particular interest in payment processing. You can find more of his articles located at CreditCardProcessing.net.

 Photo Credit: Anthrocopy

Did you get yours yet?

Unfortunately, they are no longer available.

They are still running this FREE promotion on Facebook.

If you had problems in the past with the site, you should be able to get it now.

It takes only a minute to register.

Get yours today!

Here is what was included:

• 1.7 oz Pantene Color Preserve Volume Shampoo
• 1 oz. Nivea Extended Moisture Lotion
• Neutrogena Visibly Bright Daily Facial Cleanser
• Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes (7 wipes)
• L’Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer
• Target High Value Coupon Book ($1-$2 off) for beauty products
• Red and Pink Striped Beauty Bag

It’s almost like Netflix streaming.

If you’re a member of Amazon Prime, you get to watch certain shows and movies free.

Here’s a way to check it out.

Get $3 in free credit towards renting or buying a video on Amazon Video.

You’ll need to have a Twitter account to tweet an offer.

1. Click on Tweet and Get $3.

2. Connect your Twitter account and authorize the Amazon app.

3. You’ll receive a message saying that $3 Amazon Video credit has been added to your account.

Offer expires May 1, 2012. Use free credit by May 31, 2012.

I’ve tried various ways of making chai – chai latte concentrate (too much sugar) and tea bags (not enough flavor).

This is an easy way to make chai from scratch, using whole ingredients.

You just need the right products. In this version, I use Rishi Tea Organic Masala Chai, almond milk, and stevia. You can find Rishi Tea at Whole Foods or Amazon. But Amazon only has the 3 pack available.

This Rishi Tea tin comes with all the whole ingredients you need to make chai – black tea, cardomom, ginger, ground cinnamon, clove, and black pepper. It is a bit pricey. I found it for $9.99 at Whole Foods.

However, because it’s in a re-useable tin, the ingredients stay fresh for a long time. And you can make it whenever you want. Whereas with a chai concentrate, you have to use it up within 7-10 days.

Stevia is a natural sweetener and has a neglible affect on blood sugar levels. It has a lighter taste yet is sweeter than sugar so a little goes a long way.

You can make your own version with sugar too, but replace the stevia with sugar or another sweetener.

Chai tastes best with whole milk or soy milk. I use almond milk because I’m avoiding milk and soy right now.

Keep in mind that almond milk tends to separate.

My favorite brand of soy and almond milk is Pacific brand, also available at Whole Foods and other grocery stores.

And I like the Sweet Leaf brand of stevia.

Sugar-Free Chai Latte Recipe
Makes a 6 oz serving

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup of milk or milk substitute

1 tablespoon of Rishi Tea Organic Masala Chai

Stevia or sweetener to taste

Directions

Add water, milk, and chai ingredients to a pan. Heat on medium high until boiling.

Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain into a cup. Sweeten with stevia or other sweetener to taste.

This post contains affiliate links. Disclosure Policy