The teen wants to go to the State Fair on Friday with a family friend, so I canceled everything on the calendar for that day so we can go and spend the day taking in the ambiance of the once-a-year fair. And if you know one thing about me, it’s that you know I am frugal.
Today, I’m picking up some ingredients to pack our own lunches to avoid spending egregious amounts on fair food. $20 for an earthquake burger? No thanks. $10 for a Krusty Pup? No thanks. I’m not a big corn dog fan anyway.
Our local Safeway has Frito chips for $1.97 (limit 4) including dips. He also wants Halloween Oreos, so we aren’t tempted to purchase an elephant ear or funnel cake, which I’m sure costs around $10 minimum each. I told him he had to decide between a Halloween costume for the Halloween party we’re going to have with his tutor or fair food, which would amount to the same price as his costume.
We came to a compromise: we will bring our own waters and food. A single bottle of water alone at the fair is $5. We will only leave the fair with scones, which are $15 for a half-dozen and $30 for a baker’s dozen. We always go for the baker’s dozen.
Last year, we skipped the famous Fisher scones for a soft-serve ice cream cone because of the cost. This time around, he really misses the scones, so there will be no skipping them. Still, bringing our lunch will save us tens of dollars, making the scones well worth it. (I am also aware that $30 covers an entire share of Kenvue stock at $22 a share right now and then some. The trade off and opportunity cost isn’t lost upon me.)
With that said, I’m more excited for Halloween than I am for the State Fair myself. Last year, when we went to the fair, I packed tuna sandwiches, sprinkle cookies, and waters. I ended up eating mine, but the teen found the one item he had been waiting years to try—a Hot Cheeto Korean corn dog. There was no way I was telling him no.
Plus, I bought him a shirt since he isn’t a big fan of rides. Neither am I, so we never have to worry about spending money on games or tickets and the shirt, Korean corn dog and ice cream cone still came out to less than what the games and rides would have cost on top of food prices.
Friday should be a fun, frugal-filled day with hot scones waiting for us at the end of it. Also, before I go, the ingredients I’m picking up this time for the fair are for wontons with sweet chili sauce, chips and dip, and Halloween Oreos as previously mentioned.
I thought about packing something healthy, but it’s the fair—most likely no one is thinking about being healthy, and we won’t be much different, except making sure our dollars are accumulating in the investment fund rather than in someone else’s pocket through the exchange of an overpriced corn dog.
Also, bringing fun foods that we enjoy will make us all the more likely to stick to our own food from home, rather than if I packed a salad or pasta with apple slices while the smell of funnel cakes, donuts, cinnamon sugar, fries, BBQ turkey legs, Mexican food, and Hawaiian food fills our nostrils. We did tuna sandwiches twice in a row—it’s time to switch it up
The Broke College Student 
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