Food Indigo

Frugality is something that should come naturally for a daughter of Depression-era parents. Sometimes we all need a little help.

Here she comes to save the day! Mighty Mom is on the way!

My help cometh from an online group that sends out links to coupons and offers. Most of the coupons and offers aren't for grocery items. They're for restaurants and services. Getting a good twofer at a restaurant is right up my alley.

Except that I'm a walking contradiction. I'll clip coupons and shop the ads for things like toilet paper, shampoo, and laundry detergent; but I'll buy only the grass-fed beef and free-range eggs. I'll only shop the discount rack at DSW; but I'll only buy shoes cut from one piece of leather. I'll make reservations during Restaurant Week; but I don't like chain restaurants.

So when the online coupons and offers to restaurants want me to eat at "casual dining" restaurants, I hit the delete button. Casual dining to me is sitting at an outdoor table at my favorite French bistro, or eating at the counter of my favorite home-cookin' diner. That delete button has been getting a lot more action from me recently. Dropping my subscription has been on my mind.

It's just not giving me what I want. And it keeps clogging my inbox with pleas to use its offers. My frugality gene thinks that the time spent deleting all those incoming emails is worth more than waiting for that one true hoped-for ideal offer.