Thursday, December 14, 2017

Cheap Date Ideas: Winter Edition

Farmers Markets. Each weekend there are farmers markets all over the city. Pick one and explore!

Ice Cream Cruise. Every Sunday between 11am & 5pm, the Seattle Ferry Service offers an hour long tour that takes you by the “Sleepless in Seattle” houseboat, Dale Chihuly’s glass blowing studio, and Gas Works Park. Tickets are $11.  Ice cream treats, coffee, hot chocolate, and soft drinks, $2 to $4.

Tour the Theo Chocolate Factory in Fremont. Tours are held daily and are $10 per person.

Pike Place Market. Though the market can be expensive if you’re not careful, there are definitely some budget friendly things you can do. Check out this guide for Pike’s on a budget.

First Thursday of each month is free admission days for multiple museums around the city.

Ice Skating. Highland Ice Arena is a great place to go for that classic ice skating experience. Admission is $7.50 for adults, skate rental is $4. Another option is Winterfest held annually at the Fisher Pavilion in Seattle Center from Nov 25th - Jan 2nd.

Cooking Classes. If you want to splurge, you could buy a series of classes or do a one-time class and learn the art of a new cuisine. You can also do this for free at home. Just use or get a cookbook or recipe and make some food together!

Watch Cartoons. Or anything really. Gather up some snacks, blankets and have fun watching some telly together.

Go to an Arcade. While it can definitely add up, you can definitely have a couple of hours of fun on the cheap if you’re careful with how you spend your money/points in the arcade.

Used Bookstore Adventure. If you’re into books, head to some bookstores and see what you find. You can always play that game where you open random books and read the best passage or sentence you come across.

See a movie at the Central Cinema. General admission is $8 but you can get even cheaper tickets if you buy them more than 24 hrs ahead of time. They also have occasional 99 cent movie nights. Check out their calendar.

Share cheap, delicious wine on the street. $20 will cover the bottle, tax, and a generous tip atList Restaurant, where Italian bottles go on sale every afternoon.

Drink some free whiskey at the Westland Whiskey Distillery. Take the tour and learn how they make the single-malt, then head to the tasting bar to sample the wars.

Head to the Conservatory in Volunteer Park.

Taco Tuesday. The Tin Hat offers $0.69 tacos on tuesdays, see how many you can eat.


Have fun!

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Start an Emergency Fund!

It happens, sometimes we have emergencies in our lives and they’re always unexpected. Start an emergency fund so you can be prepared for any unforeseen event that might happen. Things like getting in a car accident, losing your job, an illness, natural disaster etc. You’ll be happy you saved up even just a little bit!

Start out small and work your way up. Ideally you would want to set up a separate bank account, but you could also have a jar/envelope in your home. You can start as small or as big as you’d like, just start saving! One method would be putting as little as $10 a month aside, or anytime you have extra change or cash in your wallet, stick it in your fund!

Make it automatic. If you’re having troubles letting go of the money, treat it like a bill and set up an automatic transfer on payday. That way you won’t even notice that the money is gone and you’ll be surprised at how much you’ll have in the emergency account!

Only use it for emergencies. Make sure you don’t dip into the fun unless it’s an emergency - since that’s what this is for. You’ll thank yourself later!

Good luck out there!