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

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