Tuesday, May 3, 2011

DEALS TO HELP YOU EAT OUT AND TRAVEL THIS SUMMER!

If you know me, you would know that I RARELY EVER pay full price for anything.  I mean it's got to be something that I am wanting pretty bad.  I usually go to restaurants that I have a coupon for or go to http://www.restaurant.com/ and buy a gift certificate.  Usually you can get a $25 gift certificate for about $2.  If you live in Augusta, Harbor Inn Seafood Restaurant is on their list.  When you go there it shows the certificate is $10, but sign up for their emails cause on a weekly basis they run specials for 80% off!  A great way to still go to the restaurants that you love, but not spend alot of money.  Another great place to go check out is Augusta Chronicle's Daily Deals.  They offer Augusta and Aiken Deals, but be sure to register for both because alot of times the deals for Aiken are actually in North Augusta, or if restaurants have more than 1 location, they will honor the coupons at all locations.  You can also go on their website at http://www.augustachronicle.com/ and look in the top right corner and you can purchase restaurant gift certificates for half off.  My favorite ones to get are Rhinehardts!  Go there and check it out.  I also go on ebay and purchase restaurant coupons.  Usually I get Chick-Fil-A, McDonalds and Sonic ones for pennies on the dollar.  They are actually coupons for FREE stuff - so not buy 1 get 1.  I'm even so thrifty that I signed up at http://www.shopathome.com/ and access ebay through them because everything I purchase I get 3% back.  I always have coupons for those times when my kids are in the car and they are "starving".  And it doesn't cost usually a dime out of my pocket at the time.  For those of you who love Chick-Fil-A, did you know that Chick-Fil-A coupons NEVER EXPIRE.  Even though it has an expiration date, don't pay attention to it cause it doesn't matter.  They happily honor it anyway.  They will also take coupons from ANY Chick-Fil-A restaurant, so don't pay attention to the address on the coupon.  I love Chick-Fil-A!!  Ok - a little about my thriftiness in eating out..next I want to give you a little information about:
AIRPLANE TRAVEL!!!!
Did you know that you can register for email specials from EVERY major airline?  Sometimes these are last minute deals, and sometimes not.  If you have never flown before but want to go somewhere at a reasonable price, SPIRIT AIRLINES is the way to go!  They have nice planes and have extremely great deals!  From Atlanta they fly to Florida, but if you fly out of Myrtle Beach, SC they fly up North.  I'm talking about New York City, Boston, Detroit, Niagra Falls and more!!  I purchased tickets to fly to Niagra Falls for my family and paid $11 each way + tax.  That's alot cheaper than it would be to drive.  I can not tell you how many airplane flights I have taken for $9.  I used to go to South Beach in Miami about every 3-4 months.  Great place to go and good weekend trip!  Go to http://www.spiritairlines.com/ and sign up for their emails.  They will send out specials 3-4 times a week.  Once you see a deal you like, try out their $9 club and get you some tickets!  I went to New York City in March for my husband's birthday and it cost less than $50 round trip (with tax) each.  We had a great time!!  No matter what airlines you fly with, make sure you know their rules in regards to bags, carryons and check-ins.  Many charge extra each way for you to carry luggage.  If you are traveling with your mate, then you might want to consider a little bit bigger suitcase and combining your stuff together to save money.  Next in line to discuss:
HOTELS
Keep your options open.  There are too many deals on hotels that are trying to fill up to pass them by.  I have stayed at 4 star hotels for $25 a night before.  My sister-in-law, Marie and Me were given grapes by a cabana boy at the pool in South Beach - that was worth every dime we paid for the room.  Too bad it wasn't anything like the other guests were paying...too bad for them, not me!!  Check out http://www.hotels.com/, http://www.expedia.com/, http://www.hotwire.com/, http://www.travelocity.com/, http://www.priceline.com/ and any other sites like these that you know of.  Be picky!  Check them all out before you book anything.  Some of these sites will tell you what hotel you are booking at, others won't but if you are staying in a good location and are getting a great deal - go for it!  I book all my hotels through these websites.  Why would I want to waste my money on hotels that I am only going to be in at night?  I'd rather have the cash in my pocket to explore the town - and I do.  I will give you some more travel tips later, but with summer coming up I wanted to give you something to think about....

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