Wow! The Festival is finally here! We’ll see you this Saturday, June 25 in LA for free food, coupon lessons, and lots of tricks to cut your grocery bill.
You CAN buy tickets at the door, though it’s quicker to get yours in advance through Goldstar.
Please stop by the BargainBabe.com table and introduce yourself!
Julia
aka Bargain Babe
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
Went to the frugal festival food today and was disappointed when I got home and did not find a gift card in my bag as stated in the ad :(. I came all the way from Long Beach and thought I was definitely getting one. However, the event was okay, but it was a bit unorganized having to wait in line and no one telling you which line to stand in or at least a sign above saying so. The food was decent, my favorite were the mini sliders. Overall, I am not too happy that I didn’t get a gift card like my two friends got in their bags.
@Aelaine Blaza Please double check your bags. Many of the VIP bags received a $25 Restaurant.com gift card in addition to a $100 Restaurant.com gift card. They are pretty small so please check carefully.
soooooo how did it go?
Hi BargainBabe! I double-triple checked my bag, inside and outside ..still nothing. I couldn’t believe it either :(. My friends even checked for me. I got a phone card worth 2.50, a page of recipes from “All Recipes”, an Albertson’s Ad, a coupon for $1off Joe’s Crab Shack eat at home meal,Information for kids consignment stores, an ad for the coupon wallet, and a medicine spoon from Albertsons. I got a few things from shortcuts but that was it!
@Aelaine Ah, from the sounds of it you were given a regular bag, not a VIP bag. I have a few gift cards leftover. Email me your address if you’d like to receive them.
Julia,
My husband and I enjoyed our time at CPHS (my alma mater 41 years ago) today. It was great to have inside and outside activities.
The food was good. I was sorry that the slider place did not advertise – I don’t know who they were.
The couponing talk was good and informative, but I liked the Albertson’s activities best. I learned from the grower (walked over to thank him at the end), dietician, AND the coupon challenge.
Although I didn’t meet you, I did meet your dad who is incredibly proud of you and very friendly.
Congratulations on pulling off the event and cheers to an even better one next year…
Enjoy your time up north before returning home!
Yes, BargainBabe you are right I got a regular bag, forgot to mention that :). What is your email address?
@Aelaine Blaza I checked my Goldstar will call list and you did not purchase a VIP ticket. So you received the correct, regular, bag.
The waiting in line was really unfair. They let people that had to purchase a ticket go in first; we had to wait until the check the names on the list. I was there an hour before and I saw a lady with a purple shirt and shorts steal her way in, people barely purchasing tickets go in way first than me. I almost didn’t get my door prize that I wanted. I could have been okay just getting my tickets at the door. Next time just make a big line and first come first serve as the get their turn the go to the right person such as buying a ticket person, VIP list person, Gold list person. The big ticket raffles seem like it was rigged it seem like just certain people were getting the raffles prices. Overall the festival was great without the raffles they’re always setup to certain people even the honest person could be tempted to get the $300 gift card for their family. The food stands were amazing except the old lady for the yogurt she wouldn’t let you try different flavors. The people from the Stand, I thought I was going to get to try their hotdogs but it was just a slice of a hotdog that was a letdown. The unadvertised stand was the BEST, their food was amazing, the chef was really good, very friendly people and nice. If it wasn’t for them the frugal food festival would of not being a food festival.
@Mathew R I agree that we had some problems at the check in. We did not anticipate Goldstar customers would outweigh day of ticket sales and we wanted to be prepared to serve both groups of people. Next year we will most likely give door prizes only to guests who buy their tickets in advance to avoid this problem.
The raffle was not rigged. I’m not sure what you mean by “it seem like just certain people were getting the raffle prizes.” The people whose tickets were drawn and were present won.
I’m glad you enjoyed the food. I tried multiple flavors from Yozen Frogurt but perhaps they were limiting it to one flavor at a time. Did you get a freebie coupon from them?
Julia, the previous comments indicated that you wanted me to email you my home address so that I could receive the missing gift card that was missing.
The website: http://frugalfestival.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/saving-money-on-food-frugal-festival-2011/ and the Goldstar website: http://www.goldstar.com/events/north-hollywood-ca/frugal-festival-food.html
both indicate that you receive a $25 giftcard when you walk in the door. It does not state if it only comes with a VIP ticket.