THE OC FRUGAL FINDER

When I first started blogging, I came across this site: http://365cheapdates.blogspot.com/ Kayla has temporarily hung up her keyboard to get married, and to find a job, but her blog is still one of the best resources for cheap things to do in LA and OC.

Cafe 50's in Los Angeles is offering free dinner if you wear your pajamas at the last Wednesday of the month. One slight catch: you must purchase a beverage. You must wear traditional pajamas: two-piece button down, like the ones your grandma bought you! THESE DO NOT COUNT: Sweatshirts, boxer shorts, t-shirts, night gowns, night shirts, long john's, underwear, scrubs, "birthday suits", bathrobes, etc. The offer is valid 6 - 10 p.m. Click here for more information and rules.

Thursday through Sunday Only Need something to do for Date Night? Free environmentally friendly balloon rides at Orange County Great Park. Every weekend of the year you can elevate up to 500 feet in the air and catch a unique view of the OC. The Balloon rides are all ages and can accommodate up to 30 people per ride, it’s also handicap accessible. The Orange County Great Park was formerly a military base. The Great Park Balloon is the parks first major attraction, as the park is still under construction. The balloon is one of the largest in the world of its kind. It is the largest in the United States (non-polluting)! The balloon rides are first come, first serve. Registration is required 15 minutes before flights and night flight registration begins at 6PM. You will be required to sign a waiver prior to all flights. Free All Year: Thursday – Friday: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM Saturday – Sunday: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM Click Here for Dr...

Click here for Spring Awakening Click here for Avenue Q

The annual Winter Festival and Tree Lighting Ceremony will be held on Saturday, December 11, 2010 from 12:00pm to 5:30pm at La Plaza Park. Event includes: Craft Faire, Live Reindeer, Santa, Petting Zoo, Real Snow, Entertainment and Children's crafts, games and cookie decorating. For more information call (949) 248-3530 or email smurphy@danapoint.org.

(Almost) everyone will agree that watching a movie inside a theatre is the best way to go. Going to see a movie, though, is not cheap. The average price of a movie ticket is $10, and in some places in LA you can pay $15-$20. Granted, you get some perks for paying the premium price, but perks or not, its still expensive! Here's a list of some theatres in Orange County and surrounding area that will show movies for under $3.00 . The movies have been out for a while (about 3 weeks or more), but it still beats going watching a DVD, getting it on Netflix, or even downloading it on VideoOnDemand! Anaheim : Brookhurst Discount Cinemas 2299 W. Ball Road, Anaheim CA 92804 Huntington Beach : Regency Charter Centre Cinemas , 7822 Warner Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92647 X-street: Beach Blvd & Warner Irvine : Starplex Cinemas Woodbridge Dollar Movies 5 , 4626 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, CA 92604 La Mirada : Starplex Cinemas La Mirada Movies 7 , 15296 Rosecrans Avenue, La Mir...

Event Details Date  Saturday, September 25, 2010 Time 12noon – 4:00pm Location Latitude 33   : 330 Washington Blvd. Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 310.881.6600 Admission Suggested donation at the door Event Flyer Download flyer   Head on over to Latitude 33 in Marina del Rey after your Coastal Cleanup Day participation to take part in this exclusive Food Truck festival. A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to Heal the Bay and also sent to the International Bird Rescue Research Center to help save animal victims of the BP oil spill along the Gulf Coast. Food Truck Participants The Grilled Cheese Truck Papas Tapas Big Swirl Fry Smith Del’s Lemonade Vesuvio India Jones Crepe 'n Around An Joo LA World Fare Buttermilk Truck Lake Street Creamery Morsels Truck Border Grill Dosa Truck The Sweets Truck DimSum Truck Organic Oasis DogtownDogs Get Shaved Ice Slice Truck Canters ShrimpPimp Phamish Tango M...

If you are a foodie who likes eating out at nicer restaurants, check out Opentable.com. Its a free reservations system, and when you earn 2000 points, they'll give you a $20 gift certificate to use at ANY of the Opentable restaurants. Save up your points, and you can redeem $100's of dollars for a completely free dinner. Many fine restaurants like the Patina Group offers online reservations on their web site using Opentable as their provider. However, if you book on the restaurant's site, you don't get points to earn free food! Instead, book online directly at Opentable and earn between 100 to 1000 points towards free food! About 90% of the restaurants will award you 100 points to dine with them. Occassionally some will offer 1000 points to lure you during their slow time, such as midweek. Some bistros located near the Music Center/ Opera/ Theatre will offer 1000 points to dine between 7:00-9:00 while the neighboring theatres have their shows (Kendall Brasserie ...

Join us in the fight against childhood hunger. Support Share Our Strength's Great American Dine Out to make "No Kid Hungry" a reality.   It's easy! From September 1st - 26th, when you visit Corner Bakery Cafe and give to the cause we will match your donation and treat you to a variety of tasty offers.   Receive a FREE Whoopee Pie with a $1 donation and with a $5 donation receive a book full of delicious offers (over a $20 value).   Stop by today and together we can help end childhood hunger in America. http://tinyurl.com/258jtkh Pls RT!

If you call yourself a foodie, this is a "must attend" event!  50 Gourmet Trucks will be in 1 location at the Honda Center. Visit www.ocfoodiefest to get your tickets.  HURRY! They're capping the admission to 8,000 people! If you've been watching the GREAT FOOD TRUCK RACE on the Food network, you'll recognize a few of the names!

Downtown Music Project : Friday Night Sessions AND Saturdays @ California Plaza Friday Night Sessions at California Plaza is a free INDIE concert series held on the 2nd Friday of every month. Saturdays @ California Plaza is a free concert series held every Saturday. Live acts include Hip-hop, R&B, Soul, Eclectic-beats and special event concerts. Click here for more informaton on the Downtown Music Project

Spa Week is a week where participating spas offer various services for $50. Its only a week, and places fill up very fast.. so reserve your spot! For more information, click here

ALL YOU CAN EAT NUGGET DAY is BACK! This FRIDAY, August 20, 2010!!! 11:00 am - 2:00 pm and 4:00-7:00 pm! *$9.99 gets you all you can eat nuggets, fries and drinks! No to go orders, and no sharing! Location: 3601 S. Bristol St. Santa Ana, CA, 92704 Phone: 714-540-0020 Mon - Sat: 6:30 am - 10:30 pm ... RULES: Each person must pay, no sharing allowed. Dine-in only and must be eaten in the store, no orders to-go (except if we refresh your drink on the way out of course!).

Dinner with Dave is a 100% free event with a complimentary light dinner at Memphis at the Santora in the Santa Ana Art District AND live music. The event kicks off with a DJ at 9 PM, then the live band and dinner start at 10 PM. It is a bit of a late start, but it's F-R-E-E. With that said, arrive early and enjoy a drink at their bar (optional). This is a great group date idea for 21+ The single-course dinner is served buffet style and according to many Yelp reviewers, Memphis at the Santora is yum! Parking is free here, either on the street or at a parking lot a block away. Wow...Free food, no cover AND free parking! What a deal! So mark your calendar for every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month (yes, it's bi-monthly!!).

Thank you OC Deals for this tip! Click here for the printable coupon.   You MUST have a reservation in order to use the coupon.  Call or click here for the online reservation form

ALL ROLLING ROADSHOW 2010 EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! Seating is not provided, so please bring your blankets or camping chairs to this event.  Friday · 8:00pm - 10:00pm To properly celebrate JACKIE BROWN, we'll be joining the director and stars (schedules permitting) in the shadow of LAX, where Pam Grier's flight attendant gets busted by the ATF, kick-starting the high stakes game of double-cross and intrigue. Vintage 35mm trailers (influences of Jackie Brown) will screen before the film. Alamo Drafthouse and the Levi's® brand present the 2010 Rolling Roadshow, a nationwide tour of free outdoor 35mm screening experiences pairing famous films with the famous locations where they were shot or set. This year, Alamo Drafthouse and Levi's® have partnered to champion some of cinema's most celebrated workers. A hard-working, down-on-his-luck bail bondsman finds himself wrapped up in a crime plot likely to break his heart and/or end his life. But af...

Cinemark / Century Theatres is offering their own Summer Movie Clubhouse 2 ways to save: Get 10 shows for $5.00 when you purchase in advance (that's 50 cents per show!) OR  pay $1.00 per show (at the box office). Click here for more information and locations.  Selected G or PG movies start at 10:00am every Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. Free Movies at Regal Cinemas on Tuesdays and Wednesdays! Most Regals start June 15 and ends August 11th. Click here for more information. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun and a great way for kids to spend a weekday morning in the summer. Tickets for our 2010 Free Family Film Festival are exclusively available at select theatres’ box office on the day of the show . AMC Theatres are showing $1 movies every Tuesday at 10 am. No outside food will be allowed during Summer MovieCamp but you can take advantage of our KidsPack™ concession combos for $4 – more than 30% off the regular price.* Advan...

Click here to take you to the Cheesecake Factory page. On 7/29, you can get a slice of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory for just $1.50 by being their Facebook friend! If you don't want to be a FB Friend, you can still get a cheesecake slice for half off but that is only good on  July 30

This highly successful summer concert series is held on Sunday afternoons at Heritage Park, 34400 Old Golden Lantern, or Lantern Bay Park, 25111 Park Lantern Road. This Sunday, tribute to Motown at 4:30 pm 34400 Old Golden Lantern, Dana Point, California 92629 Click here for additional event information. The 2010 series will begin June 27 and run through August 29. The concerts are free and feature a live band peformance each week. Some weeks may feature two bands! Refreshments available to purchase, with proceeds benefiting local elementary schools and non-profit organizations. Bring your lawn chairs and blankets and enjoy these great family friendly events! To download the flyer for ALL the times and bands  click here .

FREE Parking · Popcorn · Lemonade | Bring Your Own Picnic! LIVE on the Wells Fargo Stage on the Attallah Piazza (In the center of campus, in front of Leatherby Libraries) The public is invited to the beautiful Chapman University campus to enjoy our Fahmy Attallah Piazza and these crowd-pleasing, family-oriented LIVE performances on the Wells Fargo Stage. Bring blankets, lawn chairs and picnics and join the fun! Chapman University will provide free popcorn, lemonade Concessions sold by Sodexo. Free parking in the Lastinger Parking Structure (under the stadium—enter from Walnut Ave.) The campus is open for picnicking at 4:30 p.m. For more information, call 714-997-6681. Barbecue grills and smoking are prohibited on the Chapman University campus For more information click here Scheduled to appear: Friday, July 23 at 5:30 p.m. THE ANSWER to classic rock! Friday, August 6 at 5:30 p.m. PAPERBACK WRITER Beatles Band! Friday, August 13 at 5:30 p.m. THE ALLEY CATS America's...