Life-Style | The Bargain Junkie

HELPFUL SITES FOR RESTAURANT ADDICTS

November 20, 2009

• OPENTABLE.COM is free to join, and I often use it to make reservations. It’s faster than calling, plus there’s a savings plan. Each reservation gives you one hundred points. When you reach two thousand, you get a twenty-dollar credit. I like the idea of earning money while I eat!

• There’s also RESTAURANT.COM where you pay ten bucks for a twenty-five dollar restaurant voucher. I got so excited the day I joined that I ordered ten vouchers immediately. The following week they went on sale for half-price, and then two weeks after that they were down to two bucks. They keep repeating the same cycle, so I’ve learned to wait for the cheapest offering. Someone is paying me twenty-three dollars to eat out. That’s a deal no frugalista could resista.

• CHOWHOUND.COM is another great site, where foodies swap info on cheap eats all over the world. We used it when visiting Palm Springs, where we found a terrific Thai place.

OENOPHILE

Restaurants make more money on wine than food, so that bottle of Cab-Sav is way overpriced. I have a lawyer friend who actually has the guts to say, “I’ll have your second cheapest bottle of Chardonnay.” Note the choice of “second cheapest” rather than “cheapest.” Classy!

I often call ahead to ask the restaurant’s corkage fee. That’s what they charge if you bring your own bottle. If the fee is fifteen dollars or under, it’s a good deal: fancier places charge thirty bucks. Word to the wise: the waiter will look at your bottle and comment on the choice, so avoid embarrassment and leave the Thunderbird at home.

By Annie Korzen | Posted in Life-Style | Tagged cheap eats, corkage fees, foodies, restaurant addicts, restaurant vouchers | Comments (0)

THE SHMOOZE FACTOR: SOCIALIZING WHILE SHOPPING

October 6, 2009

Besides saving heaps of money, enjoying the thrill of the hunt, and exploring some beautiful homes, there’s another reason I love yard sales: the social aspect. I come from New York, where strangers speak to each other all the time. They chit-chat at the theatre box-office; they converse in the apartment building elevator: they form alliances in the dog run at the park. I have a girl friend who met her husband on the subway. She started talking to him when she noticed he was reading a novel she loved. New Yorkers have gotten a bum rap as being cold: they are actually the friendliest people in the world (unless you irritate them, in which case they will curse you AND your mother).

Moving to L. A. was a big culture shock for me. Besides the unspeakable horror of blueberry bagels, there’s the isolation of the car culture: I desperately missed the person-to-person contact of the Big Apple. The social activity of yard sales was a lifesaver.

I’ve met some fascinating characters, like the 94-year-old TV comedy writer who has a new joke every time we run into him – or the white-turbaned Sikh couple who deal in contemporary art. There was one sale run by two gay furniture designers who offered every buyer a glass of champagne. Try and get that at Bloomingdale’s!

I also appreciate getting personal information about an object before I purchase it. One day I spotted a beautiful vintage lace bridal veil which I considered buying for my son’s fiancée. The owner and I were having a fine old time comparing wedding notes until she said, “Yes, the event was fabulous. Too bad the marriage only lasted eight months!” I am usually not a superstitious person, but I decided not to buy the veil – just in case there really is such a thing as karma.

By Annie Korzen | Posted in Life-Style | Tagged garage sales, Shopping, yard sales | Comments (0)

RESTAURANTS: Part One

September 7, 2009

I often picture myself as a guest on “Inside the Actor’s Studio,” and when James Lipton asks, “What is your favorite word?” my answer is “Restaurant!” I would pay extra for a house without a kitchen. I love eating out. I love the whole ritual of studying the menu, hearing the specials, and sampling tastes of other people’s dishes. I particularly love the fact that I can enjoy all this deliciousness without having done any of the work.

CHEAP EATS: GO ETHNIC

Eating out doesn’t have to break the bank or expand your waistline. My dream restaurant is a small family-run ethnic place where the chef is the owner’s grandmother. The food is tasty, exotic, and cheap. Every city has these treasures. (If you live in an area where there is no immigrant population, I suggest you move.)

In Los Angeles alone, I’ve enjoyed fabulous Persian, Armenian, Polish, Greek, Cuban, and Thai feasts for under twenty-five bucks – with enough leftovers for dinner the next two nights. That’s actually cheaper than cooking at home. Many of these places don’t have liquor licenses and allow you to bring your own wine or beer – which is another saving.

When our son got married in New York, we had to host a dinner for a gaggle of visiting Danes. We took seventeen people to a Vietnamese place in Chinatown and had a large variety of soups, spring rolls, seafood, chicken and noodle dishes for a total cost of two hundred and fifty dollars.

I’ve celebrated my birthday for the last few years by getting a private room in a Los Angeles Chinese restaurant. We invite a bunch of friends, plan the menu beforehand, and supply our own candles, flowers, and wine. We also bring in a portable CD player to create a mellow, jazzy ambience. It’s a yummy spread for a dozen people that costs a few hundred bucks. And I don’t have to do the dishes afterwards.