Frugal Family: Happy Hour, Happy Coffee, and Happy Movie

Summer Movie Stars: Summer vacation is only days away and if you've got kids, your anxiety about what to do with them may be rising. Here's one idea: the is offering a Summer Movie Series of family flicks at a hugely discounted price: just $5 for nine movies. And if you buy yours at the Alameda Education Foundation, the proceeds will benefit AEF. Or pick them up at or .  Movies this year include Marmaduke, Megamind, Yogi Bear and Gulliver's Travels. Showtimes are Tuesdays at 10 a.m. Sorry — no dropping young kids off without a parent.

Armchair Travel: Cutting back on summer travel plans because of your budget? Don't skimp on learning about other countries. You can learn about Brazil at the this Thursday, 7 p.m.

Hobnob Happy Hour: If you haven't checked out the  on Park Street yet, you're definitely missing out. First, they've got great, affordable food in tapa-sized portions, including sliders, truffle fries,  pasta, grilled Bavette steak and salads. Second, they've got board games, which makes it really fun with kids (and even without kids). And third, during their Happy Hour you can get beer, house wine, and well drinks for $3 and the featured cocktail of the day for $4. 

DIY Coffee: Don't get me wrong. I love having lattes out at the local cafes. Truly. But over the last few years I've started saving lattes out for coffee dates with friends and fatigue-related emergencies, simply because it's so dang expensive to do it daily — about $1,275 per year, in fact, if you buy one $3.50 latte a day.

But if you buy espresso beans yourself, say for $10 a pound, you can make about 60 cups of espresso from one pound, which means you're paying, um … 17 cents per cup or $62 per year, which is enough of a savings to take the family to Disneyland (if you're frugal about it). Worried about the expense of an espresso machine? You can buy them for as low as $50 to $100. (I bought my own for $15 at a garage sale — score!). Or use a French press, which costs about $20.