Yesterday, Angela from Frugal Living NW and Heather from Queen Bee Coupons invited me to lunch at Panera.
For those of you who don’t know, Panera happens to be my favorite restaurant in the whole wide world. But the thing is, it costs money to eat there. This whole trying to feed your family on $100 a month thing can kind of be a kill joy sometimes. So when I want to go out to a restaurant, I have to strategize and figure out how I’m going to pull it off before accept an invitation to lunch. It can be a little weird sometimes.
I knew I had a balance of $6+ left on my Panera Gift card I received for Christmas, but still, if you’ve ever been to Panera, you know that’s not enough for the you pick 2 {tomato soup and tuna salad} combination and a cup of hot tea.
So what’s a cheapskate thrifty girl to do?
Bring a big fat box of heirloom carrots and hope for the best.
Originally I was thinking about asking the manager of Panera if he’d be willing to trade me some fresh carrots for a free lunch, but as it turned out, Angela was willing to BUY ME LUNCH in exchange for a beautiful boquest of carrots. And the Queen Bee, well holy crap!
She planned ahead and brought some Beecher’s and Kerry Gold cheese! Hot. Diggety. Dog. I should turn pro. Seriously, I need to write to the show Barter Kings, because pretty soon here, I’m going to have a boatload of produce, and who knows what I’ll be able to barter for it.
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Is there a uniform one must wear when bartering? Black top??
Dang… You picked up on that? There is also a special handshake and code words we use too.
Haha. Yes. Black shirt required and jeans. And practical shoes for when you jump for joy over your barter.
I wanna hear how the carrots taste…..worth their weight? (in trade).
You should write Barter Kings…I’m tired of seeing boats and manly items!
Totally agree. I need to go on the show so I can bater veggies, chickens and panty liners!
Speaking of Barter Kings…my husband just traded our old go cart for a Coleman canoe last week!
Forget Barter Kings….Mavis, you need your own show…seriously.
Oh my word, you totally do. I would watch it in a heartbeat, wish I could have met you guys!
So now that we have tons and tons of heads of lettuce, what do I do with them?! Would people actually trade for lettuce?? Carrots are understandable – sweet, crunchy easy to pack along … but lettuce?
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