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<\/a><\/p>\nWhen my wife and I moved back to Minnesota in 2008, now in our 30s, we visited the fair and I was pleasantly reacquainted. Jessi is pretty adept at couponing, so we sought out to maximize our dollars. Here’s how we do it.<\/p>\n
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Tickets & Coupon Book<\/h2>\n
I don’t count this towards the per-person total because I consider it a sunken cost. Get your tickets before opening day at Cub for $11. If you’ve got a kid that is between 5-12 get them a ticket at Cub too. Unless you’re going on “kids day,” you’ll still pay $12 to get them in.<\/p>\n
Get the coupon book for $5. Even if you only use it for drinks (which you should), it will pay for itself.<\/p>\n
Always Share<\/h2>\n
We have one rule about the fair: you always share. It starts with getting there. Always go to the park and ride and take the bus. Never try to drive and find parking. You’ll spend more time and money driving and parking.<\/p>\n
Share the food. Sometimes it is hard to share when one person wants something the other doesn’t, but this is rarely the case. There’s so much wonderful stuff to try and you don’t want to overdo it right out the gate. Approach the fair like a tasting.<\/p>\n Here’s an example of what you can do using the coupon book. After doing this for over 5 years, these are all great options on a budget. With two people this is $40 total:<\/p>\n Farmer’s Union – Frappe $3.50 Things to bring home:<\/p>\n Mini Cinnamon Rolls – $4 If possible, we like to take a day off of work, start early and eat breakfast at the fair. The crowds don’t seem so bad if you let it grow throughout the day, rather than showing up when it’s already pandemonium.<\/p>\n Obviously, many staples were left off of my example list:<\/p>\n There are coupons for some of these things, but not all. Plus there are always new foods that you may want to try. Plan accordingly on what you want to get. \u00a0You can’t eat it all – even though you might like to try. Even at $25-30 per person, you can have some classics and try some new things. We treat the coupon book as a baseline and go from there. There are some things we always<\/em> get from the book, and some things we only do occasionally.<\/p>\n With 2 kids we have to set boundaries to not break the bank. Every kid gets exactly one (1) ride on the giant slide – both at once if possible \ud83d\ude42 Thankfully there are several great free things to do.<\/p>\n One year Jessi and I did virtual welding. Jessi did a much better job than me. Another year, I took an ADD\/ADHD test – do I have it? I’m definitely on the spectrum. Want to ride bikes? I’m thirsty. Do you like marshmallows? I can’t wait for the fair next year!<\/p>\n There was a period in my life where I didn’t want to go to the state fair. The great Minnesota get together had worn me down. It was around the age of 18-23, when all I could wonder is why would I want to pay for parking, or find parking a mile away, walk forever,… Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\nExample Day<\/h2>\n
\nFrench Creperie – Breakfast crepe $6.25 (highly recommended)
\nAndy’s Grill – Breakfast sandwich $4
\nWild Rice Specialities – Wild Rice Cheeseburger $6 (highly recommended)
\nRC Cola – $1.50
\nFresh French Fries – $4
\nShaved Ice – $4<\/p>\n
\nCinnamon Roasted Almonds – $2.75
\nRice Kristie Bar – $4<\/p>\nDon’t live and die by the coupon book<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nFree things to do<\/h2>\n
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Other strange tests<\/h3>\n
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