A Deal You Can't Say No To!

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Ladies, I've found a little gem of a deal website that I can't keep a secret. I am having so much fun with it and am experiencing so many relaxing new spas, yummy cupcake shops, fabulous restaurants and fun activities for an absolute steal! The great news is the site that I found is not only available in so many cities across the U.S and Canada but have launched in several other countries too. It's completely free and so much fun. I look forward to checking my inbox every morning for the latest deal!

GROUPON has spread like wild fire over the past year and a half, I was actually introduced to it by a friend and I'm so glad I was. Various companies offer great deals with Groupon that you can purchase for yourself or for a gift and most give you 6 months or more to them, I like to use mine right away. They can do this because hundreds and even thousands of people just like you purchase the deal too. The deals are posted for 24 hours at a time, so you have to act quick if you see something you like.

We're headed for Indian food this Saturday night at a new restaurant that has received rave reviews and we just visited The Salt Room last week, which was really relaxing and had many therapeutic benefits. I just love the variety that Groupon offers everyone. What's neat is when I go back home to Toronto to visit or drive 90 mins SW to Tampa to see friends, I can log in and buy those deals too.

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Click HERE to for the website where you'll see today's Orlando deal (that's my city). I share this because it is a photobook deal from Shutterfly! I thought this would be great to share since it's accessible anywhere and their photobooks turn out really amazing for yourself or as a gift for a friend. This has definitely become my replacement for scrapbooking, so professional looking and it takes me far less time! You can even upload photos from Facebook now too.  Not interested in a photobook? Click on the cities listed above that deal ('visit more cities' tab on the site link) to see the latest deal in your city and get signed up so you too can receive daily deals alerts in your e-mail box!

On the flip side, this morning I was looking into being on the vendor side of things. Groupon makes it so easy to advertise your business (for free I might add!) and you only pay them a fraction of what you make on each sold deal. So many businesses in my area are already seeing a huge jump in the number of customers and new faces that discover them. The salt room said they were beyond thrilled with how everything turned out and they look forward to working with them again. It got me thinking and researching, I'm super pumped about this idea (in case you couldn't tell). ;)

I'd love to hear from you!  If you've used Groupon before, what deals were you able to snag? Maybe you signed up today for the first time or took advantage of the Shutterfly's photo book deal of the day ?

How I Saved $150 Today

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I have a question to ask you all. How many of you set your bills to auto-pay and simply file the statements when the arrive? Do you review your grocery, restaurant or shopping receipts? If the answer is NO, you could be throwing hundreds of dollars down the drain every year without even realizing it!

This morning I received my monthly statement for my new AT&T internet service. I switched from wireless to a regular hardwired DSL service and saved quite a bit in the process and was thrilled to get a promotional credit for changing providers too. What I didn't know was that what seemed like a simple switch would involve some ridiculous billing rates. Upon receiving my bill, I reviewed it thoroughly and called the company. My service was supposed to be $24.99/month and my bill was for $168.03 so you can imagine my surprise when I opened it.

 When I had received my special rate I had documented whom I spoke with and their Rep ID number (as I always do) to keep for future reference for times like this.I also did the same when I had their tech support team come out and install a new jack, something that the company had to cover because there was a discrepancy between what I was promised with my service and what I had recieved. They also corrected my monthly billing rate which was more than double what was promised. Thankfully my call only took up 10 minutes of my time.  Sadly, some people set all of their bills to autopay, the money comes out and then months later (if they even realize it then) they're left with a much more difficult battle to get their money back. I was thrilled to have all fees except for my monthly rate removed.

Adventure #2 came when I visited my local grocery store. I had loaded up everything we needed, coupons in hand and watched most of the prices ring up as I unloaded my cart. Afterwards, I reviewed my bill and realized that one item was rung up twice in error. Hmm, I wonder how many times that happens per day? I also had a sale item ring up as full price. Between the two items, I was able to get back just over $7 after showing my receipt to the customer service desk.

With both the grocery error cash back and my internet billing error adjusted, I saved myself over $150 in one day by doing one simple thing-verifying that the prices were accurate. I highly encourage you all to take even just 2 minutes of your time to scan through every incoming statement on a daily basis and tackle these situations as they come up. You'll save yourself a lot of money and a huge headache in the end. I can't tell you how many hundreds of dollars I've saved over the  years with this easy tip!

Here are some other money saving tips to help you make the most of what you have:

1. How to Save More Money this Year
2. Fabulous Free Finds
3. Budget Decor Inspiration
4. Fabulous Decor Finds for Under $5
5. Dine and Save with Restaurant.com
6. Celebrate & Save
7. How to Save Money While Dining Out

What is the largest amount of money you were able to save yourself or 'catch' while reviewing your bills?

How to Make Homemade Iced Coffee for Pennies

I'm no Starbucks-aholic, but I do enjoy a great Chai Latte or a Caramel Light Iced Frappuccino every now and then. Lately, I've even cut back on those as it is a "want" and clearly not a "need". In this economy, we need to be resourceful and as always, be good stewards of our money. So, I decided to look for a recipe online that would hopefully taste as good as the real thing, and guess what? I found one! So, I'm sharing with all of you so you can make your own too!

Compliments of Jodi over at 'Never Pay Retail Again', here is her original blog post on the subject. She found this recipe on Recipezaar. I tweaked mine a little, because we're almond milk drinkers at this house. So, here is what I put into mine:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (you can use soymilk or regular milk)

1 tsp of honey or agave 

1 tsp of sugar(or use equivalent in natural sweetener such as stevia or xylitol)

1/2 cup medium-strong coffee (I brew mine with a single cup percolator and add cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg to the coffee grinds before pouring the boiling water over)

1 cup ice cubes

Directions: Combine all ingredients (except ice) in blender, mix until sugar is dissolved. Now, add the ice and blend until smooth. If the consistency is too smooth, add some more ice. You can simply make it a coffee over ice by leaving the ice cubes whole just to keep it chilled.

I think it tastes best in my favorite tall glass (straw optional). You can alway add a little dollop of whip cream and some cinnamon or chocolate sauce on top for a decadent drink.

The homemade approach is such a great way to monitor the fat content, sugar and know what you are consuming. For just pennies a glass (I did a calculation of about 40 cents including everything vs. the regular $4 at SBUX. If you're a daily frapp drinker, that's roughly $1400 per year! Can somebody say v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n fund?!

Have a great day!

XO