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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Going to Alabama for a Free Dinner

The above title comes from a family joke. Those who know Mr. FS in person might be surprised to learn that in his younger days he had a motorcycle. He also subscribed to a motorcycle magazine, not one of the raunchy ones.

There was a funny story in one of these magazines about a man who had a sudden hankering for New Orleans chicory coffee. He went to a grocery in his midwestern city and discovered that the coffee was about $5.00. "That's ridiculous," he thought. "It only costs about $2.00 in New Orleans." So he hopped on his motorcycle, with $2.00 in his pocket, and set out for New Orleans. The rest of the article recounted how he earned money on the road, eventually arriving in New Orleans, where he bought his coffee. He then returned home. It was a wonderful essay!

So we say, "We're going to Paris to get some cheap couscous." There are variations for other destinations.

Now we'll be going to Tuscaloosa to visit Lucy Marmalade. She has a lot of meals left on her board card. And we'll be bringing Lucy's grandma also, not just to eat, but to see the beautiful campus.

Isn't it funny that we ended up living near New Orleans and drinking chicory coffee all the time?

Do you have any stories of funny--and false--frugality? And if anyone can find the article mentioned above....I'd love to read it again.

2 comments:

Duchesse said...

My friend Bennett had an antique store here in Canada; people were forever coming in and saying, "I saw this for $50 in Miami!" and he would say, "By all means go there, find one, buy it, rent a trailer and bring it back."

Have fun visiting Lucy <!

Frugal Scholar said...

@Duchesse--Great story! We did have fun, thanks.