TRAVEL GUIDES

Tired of carrying those big guide books?
Try www.triporati.com
Destination reports filed by professional travel writers.
CSJ

ROAD TRIP PLANNING

Roadescapes helps you plan your trip from directions to hotels. Just enter the start and end points of your trip.
www.roadescapes.com
CSJ

AIRFARE TRACKING

Yapta lets you track fares and buy tickets when the prices are low.
www.yapta.com
CSJ

SPEED TRAPS

Got a heavy foot?
Try www.speedtrap.org
Shows maps of likely places to get caught.
CSJ

RESTAURANT TIPS

Try these sites for local eateries.
Europe- www.spottedbylocals.com
U.S. - www.chowhound.com
Lots of interesting tips.
CSJ

CIGARS

Ted in Rockford sent along info. on a cigar sale at JR cigars.com.
One dollar/cigar until 7/8. Different one every day.
CSJ

TEVA

Teva.com is running a closeout on shoes. 20 bucks plus 6 dollars shipping.
CSJ

RESTAURANTS

Go to restaurant.com and type in your zip. Lots of discount bargains.
CSJ

PATAGONIA

6pm.com has a real bargain on Patagonia shirts today.
CSJ

HANES

Check out onehanesplace.com. Great bargains.
CSJ

coupons .com

Coupons.com has a ton of new coupons to be printed.
CSJ

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

Been on the road. Back and ready to bargain hunt.
CSJ

COSTCO

Theresa of Punta Gorda sent me a great website.
www.Addictedtocostco.com Lots of coupons, etc.
CSJ

TGI FRIDAYS

During the month of May, Fridays is selling all salads and sandwiches for 5 dollars.
CSJ

TRAVEL TICKER

Check out travel-ticker.com for bargains of all kinds.
CSJ

AARP MONEY SAVERS

This month's AARP mag has some money saving tips. Most of them aren't worth the trouble you'd go thru to save the money,[ie, fly to Costa Rica to see the dentist] but there are a few good ones.
For those of you with separate garbage pickup costs, and who don't generate much garbage, share the cost with a neighbor.
Use a cash back credit card[Discover, etc.] that you pay off every month. Save 1 to 5 % on purchases.
Stop buying bottled water.
Use vinegar and salt as cleaning products.
Ask for the senior discount at fast food places.
CSJ

ICE CREAM

A reminder- tomorrow night is the 31 cent ice cream cone promotion at Bqaskin Robbins.
CSJ

BOOK BARTERING

For you avid readers out there, there is a book exchange where you can send and receive books free of charge except for the postage.
It's called www.bookins.com
I haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to.
CSJ

BASKIN ROBBINS

Check out the Baskin Robbins website for the 31 cent ice cream cone night. It's on Weds. 4/29 from 5 to 10 pm.

BASKIN ROBBIN

AIR TRAVEL TIPS

Here are some travel tips and sites for the coming travel season:
.tripadvisor.com has just launched a new flight search aggregator
.check out johnnyjet.com
.sign up for email alerts from airlines serving your routes
.many airlines post their best fares only on their own sites
.oddly enough, in some instances, it can be cheaper to book a flight/hotel package than a flight alone
.a lot of airlines release their sale fares on Tues.
.it's usually cheaper to fly midweek
.try to fly in shoulder seasons- spring and fall
.check out whichbudget.com for budget airlines in your area
Happy traveling
CSJ

COUPONS

Theresa in Punta Gorda sent me a website for those of you below the Mason-Dixon line. Go to publix.com and click on the coupon section.
Lots of bogo stuff.
For you SW Fl. folks, she has a great blog. www.youbelonginpuntagorda.blogspot.com
It's a good one.
CSJ

WEIGHTLOSS WEBSITE

Check out sparkpeople.com. It has free weight loss programs and healthy living tips for those of us who are "slightly" overweight.
CSJ

FORBES MAGAZINE

The latest issue of Forbes has a list of the 6 things to buy now before the recession ends later this year:
Women's clothing
Laptops
Toys
Furniture
Diamonds
TV's
And of course, a house!
CSJ

GOOD WEBSITE

Check out fiddledeedeemom.com. A good website for bargains and other stuff.
CSJ

ELKS CLUB

For those of you with an Elks Club nearby, it is a great place for reasonable food and drink. The annual membership is low [60 to 70 dollars], and there are many worthwhile volunteer activities to become involved with if you choose to.
All in all, a real bargain.
CSJ

BEN'S BARGAINS

Check out bensbargains.net. It's a giant site of money saving coupons, links, and free stuff.
CSJ

TRAVEL TIPS

In a survey of travel professionals, the following tips were mentioned:
. Shop for airfare sales from Tues.-Fri.
. The cheapest days to fly are Tues., Weds, and Sat.
. Worst days- Mon., Fri., and Sun.
. Hotel rates are down between 14 and 34% in the first quarter.
CSJ

BRANSON,MO PACKAGE

Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo. has put together packages that give you 2 days admission for the price of one.
CSJ

DISNEYWORLD BARGAIN

Using the words bargain and Disneyworld in the heading might seem like an oxymoron, but they do have a special going on now.
They're offering 3 free nights with tickets if you buy a four-night package.
Sea world and Universal are offering similar deals.
CSJ

GOOD RECIPE SITE

For restaurant recipes that you can make at home, thereby saving money, try copycat.com.
CSJ

COUPON SITE

Try coolsavings.com. It's a good one.
CSJ

FLORIDA DISCOUNTS

For Forida residents and those wishing to visit Florida (isn't that everyone?) there is a website called floridabackyardcard.com that has a lot of discounts an all areas. Give it a try.
CSJ

GUTTER PROBLEMS

I'm sure most homeowners have a problem with leaf and debris buildup in gutters. Gutter guard products can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. There is a product called GutterStuff that is an inexpensive foam that slips into the gutter and makes the debris slide over while the water soaks in and goes down the drain.
Check it at gutterstuff.com.
CSJ

BARGAIN WEBSITE

Check out smartbargains.com. Great shopping site.
CSJ

CAR INSURANCE

For people who have 2 houses in different parts of the country and store a car in one place or the other, you can call your carrier and report that your car is garaged/stored when not in use. You can save quite a bit of money with this tip.
CSJ

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE

Check out the new menu at Outback. Several items at new lower prices.
CSJ

SIDESTEP REVISITED

My brother-in-law, who lives in Rockford, Il, told me about the new bargain calendars on the sidestep website. They're very convienient and real bargain hunters.
CSJ

NEW CAR BARGAINS

Be careful when shopping for a used car. Dealers are needing to sell new cars so badly that you may get a better deal on a new car than a late model used car. With rebates and incentives, the price of a new car may be less than the used car! Especially if you finance the car. New car rates can be as low as 0%. Used 6-7%.
CSJ

CONSIGNMENT STORES

Check your yellow pages for consignment stores in your area. Almost new clothes at greatly reduced prices. Also a good place to take your barely used clothes that you don't wear any more.
CSJ

SW FLORIDA BLOGSPOT

For those of you in SW Florida, check out www.youbelonginpuntagorda.blogspot.com
Good site for local happenings and fun things to do.
CSJ

MORTGAGE/ HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE REDUCTION

I'm sure most of you have thought of this, but if not, here it goes.
Because of the decrease in home values, the basis for collecting property taxes on your home has gone down.
Therefore, so should your tax.
If it hasn't already happened automatically, call the taxing body in your ares and say you want a reappraisal of your home's value. My mortgage payment went down 98.00/month.
Also check your homeowners. Decreased value means decreased coverage and decreased cost of insurance.
CSJ

CHEAP BAKERY PRODUCTS

If you have a day-old bread store near you, try it out. Most of it is off brand stuff, but there are some good bread bargains to be had. I got a loaf of 15 whole grain bread for 1.39.
CSJ

GREAT SEARCH SITE

A friend up the coast sent me a great search site called sidestep.com. It searches almost everything to do with travel.

CSJ

WALGREENS SALE

There's a good bargain on Kashi and Smartstart cereals at Walgreens this week. 3/10.00, and when you check out, you get a coupon for 3.00 to use at a later date, so it's really 3/7.00.
CJ

CIGAR BARGAINS

For all you cigar puffers out there, on 4/1 there is a large increase in the tobacco tax. Cigars are going to be more expensive. Check out mikescigars.com for quantity buys before the increase.
CJ

AIRFARE WAR

Got it this morning. Mineapolis-Seattle 236.00 RT.
CJ

TRAVEL BARGAINS

For those of you who don't know, there is a website that covers bargains on all modes of travel. It is called travelzoo.com
Give it a click.
CJ

CHEAP AIRFARE

Here's a hot one for today. NY- Venice Italy- 417.00 RT!!
Check out airfarewatchdog.com
CSJ

GARAGE SALE TIPS

Having spent many years going to garage/yard/rummage sales, CJ can pass along some tips that would be helpful to sellers.

. Price ticket your items

. Have change and small bills

. Open 1/2 hour b/4 or after the prevailing time in your area

. Save plastic bags for buyers

. Price items low enough [see below]

. Group items so it's easy to shop

. Start early [most selling is done b/4 noon.]

. Pricing suggestions:

Paperbacks 25 cents Hardcovers 50 cents

T-shirts 50 cents Unusual logos 1.00

Pants, slacks, shorts, shirts, blouses 1.00

Knickknacks, kitchen goods and Holiday you'll have to determine. Watch to see what sells in

the 1st hour. After that lower it.

. Be ready to haggle and have fun

Remember: your goal is to get rid of everything :-]

CJ

.

GOOD WINE- CHEAP PRICE

For those who haven't tried it, Yellowtail wines from Australia are a good bet. CJ likes the Shiraz.
Should be around 10.99 on sale for the 1.5 bottle.
Cheers

CHEAP AIRFARE BARGAINS

Looking for cheap airfares? Check out airfarewatchdog .com
You can enter the airports of your choice, and the watchdog will send you the best fares to and from that airport. Recently found Chicago to Rome for 393.00 round trip!

HOTEL TRAVEL BARGAINS

Some of you already know this method, but for those of you who don'that CJ does while driving the interstates. At the end of this blog, I will give you some sites for travel coupons.

You take a coupon into a hotel that doesn't have coupons.[Usually a much nicer hotel]. You say you have a coupon for the hotel down the road, but you were wondering if this hotel could come close to this rate. If they say no, act disappointed and start walking away. 9 times out of 10, they will call you back to the desk and ask you what you'd be willing to pay. That's when the bargaining starts. You can always use your coupon at the other hotel. This usually works best before 5 pm when the hotel doesnt know how busy they're going to be.

roomsaver.com

theoig.com

travelcoupons.com

COUPONS

Here are some sites for you coupon clippers.
www.coupons.com
www.couponcabin.com
www.retailmenot.com
Happy clipping,
CJ