Tools of the Trade

My wife once called me “Captain Romance” to one of her friends. It’s true. I have a romantic streak a mile wide. I love taking my wife out on dates. Who wouldn’t? She’s adorable and I love her to bits.

My title as Captain Romance is facing some challenges these days. We’re having a bit of a cash flow problem. Some ill-advised IRA withdraws, a hospital bill, and student loans that have come home to roost have choked off much of (all, really) of our entertainment dollars.

Does this mean giving up date nights with my wife? Allow me to go street: Oh, hell no.

I’m becoming a self-taught wiz at finding great dates that are either free (my favorite phrase these days) or deeply discounted (my second favorite phrase). We have gone to plays and concerts, attended fundraisers, and seen exhibitions. We’re still going out and having a ball - and we're barely making a dent in our finances while doing it. I’m still Captain Romance, and my wife’s friends are a tad jealous.

That’s what this blog is about: good dates on the cheap. I’ll recap what we did, how much it cost, whether it was worth it and how you can do it too. There will be an occasional splurge thrown in from time to time, when our fortunes allow, but for the most part these will be great low-cost dates in and around Los Angeles County.

First up, a look at the tools I use in setting up dates.

Information.

You can’t go if you don’t know. One of the great things about living in this county is the incredible number of events going on, you just got to look for them.

Start with your hometown newspaper. Check out its entertainment section and its community calendar. Check out the calendar of your local college. You would be amazed at how much talent there is in your own community.



One of my new favorite venues is downtown L.A's Grand Park, located between City Hall and the Music Center. There are regular free events, including concerts, dance performances, and movie screenings. I keep track of what's going on there through the park's Facebook page. If you do go to one of their evening events, go early or risk being crowded out. Take a picnic and make an evening of it.

Among the publications and websites I bird-dog are the Los Angeles Times Calendar section, Yelp’s events page, and the LA Weekly. LA Weekly has a regular section on things to do for the week. I also like their slideshow section to see what events look cool and that I should make a mental note of to go to in the future.

The Discounters


Goldstar

One service to definitely sign up for is Goldstar, a discount ticket service. You can sign up for free at their website. They send out a weekly email on what shows tickets are available. They also occasionally send out emails on special promotions. They also have comp tickets to several events a week.

My wife and I use Goldstar often. We've seen theater shows like Wicked, War Horse and The 39 Steps; ballet performances; and concerts - all deeply discounted.

Fillaseat

One membership service to consider is Fillaseat. When a venue needs to fill seats for a performance they sometimes turn to Fillaseat, which provides tickets free to its members. I say "consider" because there are drawbacks. First, the service costs $80 for a dual membership. We were able to get ours for $40 through Living Social.

The selection of shows is limited. Most of the offerings I've seen so far are for comedy clubs, small theaters, and concerts from lesser known acts. Bear in mind too that you can find discount tickets for many of the shows they do offer.

We're early in our membership, but it has already penciled out for us. My wife and I attended two performances by the A Noise Within repertory company (an excellent company, by the way) in Pasadena, and one production at the Odyssey Theater in West Los Angeles. Those tickets would have set us back $200 to $250.

You do have to be diligent and check their site often because they don't send out notices of shows. And if you do see something you like, jump on it because tickets often go fast.



Living Social, Groupon, and Blackboard Eats

Living Social and Groupon are deal of the day websites offer discounts on products and services. We've used Groupon on a couple of occasions to get discounted meals at Traxx, one of L.A.'s great restaurants.
Blackboard Eats sends out emails with codes for discounts on restaurants. The drawback is you often have to pull the trigger quickly, sometimes less than 24 hours. We've used it once so far to get a great discount at Drago Central.



Memberships

Memberships, such as to zoos and museums, can be a good way to save money, but you need to make sure they pencil out. Look at how often you would really use the membership - not how often you imagine you would use it. If you go to an attraction once or maybe twice, odds are a membership won't help, but if you go three or four times, odds are pretty good that a membership will work for you.

Memberships often offer discounts at shops and some, like the Los Angeles Zoo, offer discounts for entry at other attractions.

Still uncertain? Ask for the membership as a birthday or Christmas present. That way you can test drive the membership without footing the bill.

If you do get a membership, use it and make sure you get your money's worth.