Thursday's pircture perfect deal...

The picture...

We have a section of yard that is all wild flowers and one of the first to open was the beautiful Wall Flowers.  I love the bright orange color in the spring and snapped this after a light rain.

The deal...

For those of you with youngsters or grandchildren this is an amazing deal from Eversave.  You can get an 11 piece Sesame Street book set geared towards children ages 2 to 6.  These are designed to help them learn numbers, colors, shapes and letters.  The books are usually $54.89, but they are marked down 51% for the next four days making them only $27.00 with free shipping.

Hope you are all having a fantastic week!

C.Q.

Thursday's picture perfect deal...

The picture...

This is one of the five waterfalls in Goosberry Falls State Park, not too far from me.  I loved the idea of summer being frozen in time.  There is still a little water running over the falls, but most of it is in suspended animation.

The deal...

Today's deal comes from GlassesUSA.com. For me shopping for glasses is a lot like shopping for jeans, not something I look forward to, until I found this site. They make it super easy to find what you are looking for at a really great price. The very first page helps you narrow your search down to the shape, style and material you want, then you can see how your selection will look when you wear them. Yup, that’s what I said, you can "try them on" using the virtual mirror! I have never seen this at another site and its so easy, just select your gender and upload a photo of yourself or use your webcam, how cool is that?

Found the perfect pair of eyeglasses for you? Then its time to pick the perfect lens to go with your frames, the choices are vast, something you don't usually see when you order online, thin and ultra thin, anti-scratch, Anti-Reflective, UV coating, you can even get Transitions® VI on most lenses. If you need help anytime along the way there is an online help button right on the site, or you can call GlassesUSA.com and they will help you with your purchase.


I also love the 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. If for some reason, you're not satisfied with your glasses you may return them to us for a refund or a new pair of glasses. Full refund in case your glasses were made incorrectly, were defective, or with the wrong prescription. They offer an easy exchange, full store credit, or 50% refund, if you don't like your glasses or for any other reason.  What a great way to get your eyeglasses prescription filled with so much less hassel!

Still not sure if you want to try buying glasses online?  Here is a little added bonus, use coupon code New2012 at check out for 20% off your order and free shipping, plus, my readers can take 10% off any order of prescription glasses, just use coupon code: Blog10.

*This is a paid review; however, the thoughts, words and feelings about the site are my own.

Hope you are all enjoying your week.

C.Q.

Saturday's Sojourn...

It has been a while since I have done a Sojourn post, but since I am actually in Chicago I thought I would share a bit of where we have been, I think I will save the rest of the vacation for next Saturday.  It will also give me an opportunity to share some of the ways to get great deals on travel.

I guess its easiest to go in order, I received an email from my local airport (we are on a smaller terminal) saying they were offering deals out of here direct to Chicago for $99.00 each way, usually they are $130 or more so that cinched that we were flying.  If you like to travel its worth while to be friends with your airport on Facebook or subscribe to their emails, you can get advance notice on air fare deals that way.  I paid for the tickets using a card that earns mile on that air line as well, and booking it right through them got me double miles towards my next flight somewhere.

Next up was trying to figure out where to stay in the city for under the usual $300 a night.  Being out at the airport may save up front, but it costs a fortune in cab rides, and actually
can wind up costing more than spending the extra to stay in the
heart of the city where you can walk to everything.  I am a member of Snique Away, a great site that offers hotel deals, kind of like Groupon but for lodging.  They have great offers each week, so its always something new.  The deal that came up was for the Hotel Burnham, just a few blocks away from Millennium Park, and we got to save a third of the hotel price. Like all the Kimpton Hotels, it is a smaller boutique property that offers outstanding service, they allow pets but if you can't travel with your family friend they have a program called Guppy Love, you get a gold fish in your room that the staff takes care of for you, no need to do a thing, other than name him/her and enjoy the company.

We arrived early so we had plenty of time to unpack, meet up with another friend of ours who flew in separately and unwind before our night of wining and dining on board the Odyssey dinner cruise.  I purchased a $50 certificate from Restaurant.com during their sale for only $10, so we saved $40 and got to enjoy a great 3 course dinner while listening to live music and watching the Chicago night skyline go by.

Thursday we went on a Chicago Film bus tour, we purchased the tickets on Groupon so we paid 1/2 price for the two hour tour.  These are fun ways to see the city in a new way, and Groupon often has different types of tours and activities on sale if you watch for them.  It was fun to see the spot where they filmed one of my all time favorite movies,  Ferris Bueller's Day Off, of course I had to hum a little Twist and Shout for the rest of the day! As an added bonus we got to see the police cars and they are using for the new Superman move being filmed here, they all said Metropolis and were parked in front of Union Station, how cool is that?!?!  That left the rest of the day for shopping.  Ahhhh shopping, I do a lot of reward sites that pay you to read mail, click links and/or shop through them so I had and still have a lot of gift cards for Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Old Navy, Sephora, Williams Senoma, etc. so it was a fun day!

Friday was our princess pamper day, we all had a lemon cream Mani/pedi at Eshe Spa, a wonderful oasis in the city and a place I would put at the very top of my to do list again, what a wonderful group of gals we had help us!  They are a Spa Finder Spa and I was able to cash out from reward sites and my Discover cards points for Spa Finder gift certificates, the visit was totally paid for using hobby money or Discover rebates.  You can also get good deals on Spa Finder certificates at eBay. After that we went to have High Tea at the Peninsula Hotel, I was able to get a $50.00 Peninsula Dining certificate by cashing some of my points out of my American Express rewards account, so that was a great treat on a budget.  Ahhh what a day!

Today is double discount day at the Art Institute of Chicago, so today will be a day of culture and beauty.  If you have a museum near you that you enjoy check into becoming a member, many museums are reciprocal so you get discounts in many places.  I am a member of the Art Institute as well as the Field Museum and have used those memberships to get into and get discounts in Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul so far, I will have to see where I can visit when we go to Virgina for Christmas.  If you don't want to join check the museum's web site, they often have free days; usually once a month, and they will have it posted on their events calender.

It seems there is never a shortage of things to do in Chicago, this morning they were filming another scene from the new Superman move in Daley Plaza, right next to the hotel so I was able to get some fun pictures of that before we even left for the museum.  Next week the dining, the ball game, the chauffeured ride to the airport and so much more.

Have a wonderful weekend!

C.Q.

Thursday's picture perfect deal...

The picture...

We had a skunk momma move in this spring and she had a litter of 5 babies, they were all very well behaved and no one got sprayed by the momma all summer long.  She just recently decided they were grown up enough to send on their way so they have moved on, but while they were here I got some great pictures of the youngsters playing in the yard.  They are unable to spray until they are a little older so I was able to go out with them as long as mom was OK with it, which she was.  I kind of miss them, but now I can let the dog out with a little less worry.

The deal...

Younkers, Herberger's and Bon-Ton are all having their Summer clearance sale with 50% off or more through Monday July 18th.  If you are going to be shopping in the store be sure to print off your coupons for extra savings up to 20%, the link is in the orange box of the web page for your store.  If you prefer to shop on line just use coupon code HUGESUMRL11, its good at all three stores.

Happy Bastile day everyone!

C.Q.

Saturday's Sojourn...

Saving along the way



Today I decided to look at vacations a little differently at let you in on some money saving ideas that will make it easier to go on a vacation with your family.

The first thing to tackle is the getting there. If you are driving make sure your car is tuned up and your tires are inflated properly, this is a huge gas saver. Also, you can check eBay auctions and gift cards sites like ABC Gift Cards for gas gift cards, there is usually a very small savings on these but any savings is good. If you are flying then make sure you check all the sites for the lowest fares, including the airline directly. Kayak, Cheap flights and Booking Buddy are great places to get deals. Most importantly, remember to include all your expenses in your calculations, here's what I mean; I am going to Chicago with some friends in a couple months and we thought about driving, the cost of gas from here to there is about $215.00 according to the AAA fuel cost calculator, plus the additional expense of parking at over $40 per day for 6 nights ($240) made the driving cost about $465.00. Our local airport ran a special offering one way tickets, non stop to Chicago for $99.00, so flying cost us a little less than driving and we don't have to worry about a car. Almost everything is with in walking distance to where we are staying so our transportation in the city is almost nil.  Also, be sure to check eBay for drink vouchers and airline gift cards, these can increase your savings even further.

The next huge expense is the hotel.  For our vacation I found a great deal right in the city using SniqueAway.  They offer 4 and 5 star hotels at very discounted rates.  This vacation will be my first time using them but the reviews on TripAdvisor are all favorable.  Another great option is Hotels.com, sometimes you can find rooms they want to book closer to your arrival date.  Remember to join the hotels guest rewards program if they have one as well, this may not earn you a free nights stay unless you visit a lot, but it will almost always get you free internet service in your room.  If you are a member of AAA be sure to ask when checking in or making your reservation is you get a discount with your card.

Once you have arrived its time to have some fun, one of the best things I have found to do is see if there is an Entertainment book for the area you will be visiting, these are filled with discounts and can save you hundreds.  Also be sure to check in with at the Tourist Information area, most every place has them, from big cities to little towns and they can be a source for some great coupons and information on specials in the area.  If you have a general working idea of the area you are going to visit then you can shop ahead at Restraunt.com for some great discounted meals, just be sure to read the small print, some require a purchase of a certain amount and others may expire.  You can also check on eBay and places like Gift Card Rescue for discounted gift cards, just make sure you don't get a card larger than you can use or it will go to waste.  If you are headed to a larger city be sure to check out CityPass, they offer a discounted price for all the largest attractions in the area.  I have also found that doing a simple Google search on Tourist Discounts for ______ will net you some pretty amazing results.

Do you have a money saving tip? I would love to hear about it.

Have a great weekend! 

C.Q.

Saturday Sojourn...

Portland, Oregon

Today I used my handy dandy book 1,000 Places To See Before You Die: In The US And Canada again to pick a fun place to visit.  My random spot in the book came up as Portland, Oregon, a place I have never been to but it is high on my wish list of places I want to see.

As many of you know, when I travel for longer times I tend to like to find a 3 or 4 star place to stay.  I look at the quality AND the cost because I will be sleeping in the room and if the weather gets bad I want to be able to hole up in a nice place for a bit.  One of my all time favorite hotel chains in Kimpton and they own the Hotel Monaco in Portland.  It is a mid range priced 4 star boutique hotel.  All the Kimpton's come with great service and based on the TripAdvisor comments this one is no exception.  The hotel features morning coffee and an evening wine reception in the lobby, complimentary newspapers, complimentary overnight shoeshine, Concierge service, complimentary bicycle rental to explore the city, an on site spa, 24 hour business center, an on site 24 hour fitness center and 24 hour room service.  The hotel is also pet friendly and has special packages designed just for your furry friend, and when you can't bring Spot or Kitty with you The Hotel Monaco will bring you a complimentary goldfish to keep you company during your stay, you don't need to do anything, the staff will feed it and check in on it for you. (I love this touch at the Kimpton Hotels)  If you are a member of the Kimpton InTouch rewards program you will get free Internet service,  any 2 items up to $10 from the mini bar, $30 off any In-Room Spa services, plus earn complimentary nights.  They have a AAA 4-Diamond rating and if you are a member of AAA you will qualify to get 10% off your rate.

No that you have unpacked lets find some things to see.  Portland came to be known as the 'City of Roses', and one of the first things that caught my eye was the International Rose Test Garden, here you can stroll the grounds and smell the flowers and learn a little of the history of roses.  Garden hours are7:30am-9:00pm and admission is free.  From June 1 through September 21, tours of the rose garden are led by trained volunteers at 1:00 PM seven days a week or you can download a self guided tour and enjoy it at your own pace.

Bad weather? Don't let that slow you down, stop in at the Pittock Mansion.  The Pittock Mansion was home to Portland pioneers Henry and Georgiana Pittock from 1914 to 1919.  A house of historical significance and visual magnificence, the Pittock Mansion today offers us a uniquely personal opportunity to peek into the past, and study our world as it was - from the viewpoint of one Portland family.  Admission is $8.00 for adults, $7.00 for seniors over 65, $5.00 for children 6 - 18 and free for children under age 6, please check the web site for hours because they vary slightly by season.

Looking to keep the kids entertained for a whole day?  Head over to Oaks Amusement Park.  This amusement park opened in 1905 to celebrate the Lewis and Clark world Expo and is still entertaining the masses today.  Be sure to check the schedule for the day you want to visit, hour vary slightly and it will give you the times the roller skating rink and amusement rides are open.  Parking and general admission are free, a Deluxe Bracelet is $14.75 and includes all the midway rides and a roller skating session. Valid from open to close on day of purchase. Go Karts, games and concessions sold separately.  They also offer a more limited $11.75 bracelet that is good for the day or you can purchase ride individually at $2.25 per ticket or 7 for $13.00.  If you don't want to go on many rides you can limit the cost by getting the bracelets for your kids only.  On Tuesdays Community Newspapers present Two For One Tuesdays with Radio Disney- Purchase one thrill ride bracelet, cotton candy, corn dog, or hot dog and get one of the same for FREE! No coupon necessary! At 2 pm enjoy a LIVE show with the Radio Disney Funsters featuring games, prizes, singing, dancing and more. 

There are a million great place to eat in Portland and you should have no problem finding something to fit your budget and your taste, but remember to check out Groupon, Half Price Portland, Half off Deals, Portland on the Cheap, The Daily Deal Portland, Living Social and Restaurant.com for some amazing deals.


Today I will also be sending an email out to the folks who signed up for the swap.  They will have a couple weeks to send their goodies out and on the 18th I will post what they got from their swap buddies.  The 25th is the next swap so I hope to have more folks join in next time.

Have a great weekend everyone!

C.Q.

Saturday Sojourn...

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Last year a friend and I did what all good settlers did in the 1800, we packed up and headed West.  Not in search of riches but to visit a friend.  One of the places we all visited was Yellowstone and if you have not been for a visit I would highly recommend you put it on your "to do" list.  Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is America's first National Park. 

There are five entrances to it's 2.2 million acres of wilderness and you can drive through the park on the over 350 miles of roadway.  The original entrance is in Gardiner, Montana, and the only one open year-round, its framed by the Roosevelt Arch.  Erected in1903, the 50 feet high monument is made of locally quarried basalt, President Theodore Roosevelt laid the corner stone while he was on vacation in the park himself.

First things first, you will need a place to stay.  All the hotel rooms within the park are booked through US Park Lodging and you can view pictures of all the places to stay at their web site.  There are 9 separate lodging options within Yellowstone National Park, including hotels, lodges and cabins and they fill up quickly, you should book at least 6 - 7 months in advance if at all possible, the parks site suggests a year in advance. 

We stayed overnight in the Old Faithful Inn, a historic building that was originally built in 1904. The grand lobby, known as the “Old House,” is one of the largest log structures in the world.  Because we had a party of four we had the opportunity to see both the historic rooms in the old wing and the "updated" rooms in the new section.  My personal favorite was the historic section which I always enjoy at any hotel.  The down side to the historic section is that most of them do not have their own bath and you will have to share one with the people staying in that hallway section.  The newer section has private bathrooms but it feels more like a church basement than the historic hotel it is.  If you are looking to be closer to nature consider one of the pack trips or a day rides.  These are great for learing more about the animals, plants and geology of the area or finding great spots to fish.  There are also 12 campgrounds of various types located in the park, everything from generator free sites to RV parking.  There is a great listing to all the places to stay at All Yellowstone Park.  I was able to find a deal on lodging:

Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park Areas, WY – Save 15% on lodging at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Jackson Hole on any stay of one night or more that overlaps a Fee-Free Day during 2010. To redeem this offer, call 307-739-0808 and mention “National Park Fee-Free Days”. Cannot be combined with other offers. Note" These are not located in the park, (which will also save you the Park Sales Tax in Yellowstone).  Don't forget too that this is a Hilton so you have earn Hhonors points.

When it comes to dining options you are a little limited but the food from most of the places is good. For our one nights dinner we chose the Old Faithful Snow Lodge Obsidian Dining Room.  They have a nice menu that includes things like Bison ribs and Buffalo burgers.  I had a chance to try wild boar and it was fantastic, the best pork I have ever had.  You can get a really good idea of what other travelers experiences have been at the other restaurants in the park at Trip Advisor.

You can get into the park in a car for just a $25.00 entrance pass that is good for 7 days. Remember to keep your admission receipt in order to re-enter the parks.  If you are entering on foot, on a bike or on a motorcycle the individual 7 day pass is $12.00, it is also $12.00 per person for larger groups but children under 15 are admitted free.  The National Parks also host Fee-Free Days and in 2011 the dates include National Park Week; the first day of summer, June 21; Public Lands Day, Sept. 24; and the Veteran’s Day weekend, Nov. 11 – 13.  You can also find some additional free and discounted days at Travel Video News, including some more discounts on camping and hotel options.

 

So what do do once you are in the park?  Be ready to hike a little, there is so much to see!  Of course everyone likes to see Old Faithful, but actually its just one of about 10,000 thermal features located through the park and only one of the over 500 geysers.  There are actually a few in the park that are able to be timed for visitors to watch.  Also included in the thermal features are the Paint Pots and Hot Springs located thought the park.  The Paint Pots are heated mud that bubbles up from the ground making strange noises and beautiful colors, the Hot Springs are full of different minerals and cause many of them to be almost other worldly in color.  There is also the local wildlife, both Grizzly and Black Bear make the park their home, as well as coyote, Wolf, Elk, Pronghorn, Fox, Bald Eagle, Heron, Moose, and Swans, and of course Buffalo, just to name a few.  I found a really nice interactive map at Max Waugh's guide services web sites, it allows you to click on an animal an it will show up on the map so you can find where it most likely will be in the park.  The one that kept us all amused was the Magpie, not something we get to see here where I live and they would swoop by while we were driving. 

There is just so much more for wildlife, history, activities and just all-around fun than I have room for in this post.  If you have been to Yellowstone please let us know what your favorite part of your vacation was and what fun things you saw and did.  I hope you are all having a great weekend so far!

C.Q.

Saving a bundle on your bundle of joy...

I found out this week that one of my friends is going to have a baby and she asked me if I knew of places to find coupons, discounts and free baby items, and while this isn't my specialty area, I am going to give it my very best shot this week.  So, here is what all I found, if you have more items to add and share please feel free to post them for everyone.

Coupons for babies are pretty easy to find and I was able to track down; the Gerber website offers a sign up for their coupons as well as special offers, articles and tips for you and your little one.  Registering at PlanningFamily.com for free will get you into the site to use the interactive tools and download coupons.  Diapers.com is a site designed very much like Alice.com except its for babies, right now they have a few great coupons, the first is for 30% off diapers for three months using coupon code BCDIAPERS30PCT, the other is for 10% off anything on the site using coupon code BC10PERCENT.  The great thing about this site is that they offer everything you could need and deliver it right to your door, no fuss no muss, you can save that part for baby.

The next thing I got to thinking about was the diapers, I did a little research and found that the cost of using cloth and cleaning them at home saves a ton of cash.  I found a great comparison at Baby Cotton Bottoms and I was utterly stunned at the cost difference, not having kids myself I never realized what a gargantuan expense this was!  For those times when disposable is the only way to go I was also surprised to see that Huggies has a reward program, all you need to do is enter the codes from the packages on to the web page and they track your points for you, you can redeem them for a bunch of things from the reward catalog.  As long as you're visiting the Huggies site, why not enter to win free diapers for a year in their sweepstakes?  Pampers also has a program called the Pampers Village & Gift and Grow.  To sign up you just need to enter your information on the web page and then enter the codes from Pampers products.  You will also get a free kit with $329 of offers as a welcome gift. Need a cute little nursery bag for organizing the changing area?  Every day at 11:00 Central time Nursery Water puts up an number of bag they give out for free, just be one of the first to click and they will get one out to you, if you miss it that day check back tomorrow, they reload this every day.

Another big expense is the car seat, with so many companies out there offering different models I really can't tell you who's to buy and who's to avoid, but what I can tell you is that no matter which one you ultimately pick be sure to register it with the manufacturer, that way if there is ever a recall you will know right away and can keep your child safe.  In looking at the many models out there I also found a few sites that said to check with your health insurer to see if they will cover the purchase of a car seat, I was surprised to see that some of them will.

If you plan on using formula you can register to join the Enfamil Family Beginnings.  By filling in your information on their web page they will send you gifts up to $250 which includes up to $60.00 in Enfamil savings as well as samples of their products.  The Similac Strong Moms program is similar, just sign up on their web site for up free offers, samples and coupons. 

The third expensive item I tackled was clothes.  I think kids grow a full size in a day when they have growth spurts so clothes are always in demand.  I found a wonderful site called thredUP, they understand that kids grow, clothes don't so they have a program where moms can swap clothes and toys on line.  The program costs nothing except what it costs to ship the clothes to the new mom, in turn your box is mailed to you free from another member.  This is a wonderful idea and with the price of children's clothes could possibly save the equivalent of a semester at Harvard, OK, not that much but you know what I mean.

A few sites I stumbled on that I felt were worth checking out and joining for coupons, freebies, tips, tricks and networking were Zulily which offers discounts kind of like Groupon, except for children's needs. Planning Family which offers free baby stuff, sweepstakes and contests as well as access to professional advice videos.  Baby to Bee which has savings on diapers and formula as well as a nice area to print coupons.

Have a great weekend everyone!

C.Q.