<p>GA2012MOM–how much (or how little) in advance were your hotel rooms?</p>
<p>I did the Westin deal 1 day in advance, others I have done the same day. I guess it is better for them to get something rather than nothing. I can’t see EVER doing anything but name your own price unless I need to be at a specific hotel for an event, or if I didn’t know the city and didn’t want to end up in a bad neighborhood.</p>
<p>We have cancelled subscription to all printed periodicals long time ago. What the use? Just more garbage to dispose off. You can find anything you want and much earlier on internet.</p>
<p>Did my first Hotwire hotel purchase. We have an event where most people are staying at a certain hotel. It was above my price point. After reading about BiddingforTravel I found out what hotel I might get. The hotel has a feature that no other hotel in the area has. I got the room for $60 where everywhere else I checked the cheapest room was $155. I was not afraid to wait till the last minute since I knew we could always stay at another cheaper hotel chain a bit farther away.</p>
<p>I have converter coupons but havent used them yet. Didn’t miss TV until yesterday, to confirm the Michael Jackson news.</p>
<p>We have used hotwire and priceline in conjunction with betterbidding for 7+ years. I have bought some hotels 3 mos in advance and on the same day we needed it. There has only been once my guess was wrong. I tend to favor hotwire because I can usually figure out which hotel it is by the amenities.</p>
<p>We have also gotten the Westin in Annapolis for under $60 a night along with The Historic Inns of Annapolis and the Sheraton. Also the Sheraton in ABQ uptown for $32 a night. Hyatt Regency, the Westin, the Doubletree in Princeton all under $55 a night. The Westin in Tampa for $62 for a convention and the Hyatt in Irvine/Newport.</p>
<p>Has always, always worked out great. Have used them for car rentals and airlines but not as consistently as for hotels. 90% of the time we use southwest and go through USAA for our car rentals + discount codes.</p>
<p>Our “vacations” are transporting kiddos back and forth from college to home to summer programs…</p>
<p>If one is careful and diligent about using hotwire you will realize hotel availability can change daily, even hourly. So if you are hunting a particular hotel it can really pay to “watch”. I check several times a day if I know we will be needing one.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Saw XL Twin sheets at Homegoods and TJMaxx.</p>
<p>toledo - your codes were very helpful! Many thanks! H used it to rent a car in Boston last week, and it was terrific. He did look official and paid with a corporate credit card, may be that’s why no one asked him any questions about the code (apparently, it is some sort of a discounted convention rate, if the rumors on the internet are true).</p>
<p>My good buy of the day - $10 bicycle helmet (the one that you pay $30-40 for at REI) at TJMaxx.</p>
<p>Had some time to shop for myself, found a great black jacket at Macys, originally $58, bought it today for $7.25. Lots of clothes on clearance with extra 50% off–I resisted most of them, but had to have the jacket.</p>
<p>We normally fly out of EWR, but today we are flying out of JFK for a 2 week trip. I called around for a car service to take us to the airport, for the number of suitcase and people, most drivers wanted over $200 for one way. I went online found a car rental place around where we live and drop off at JFK for $85, all in. Doing the same thing on the way back, but it’s more expensive.</p>
<p>Our good buy - we took our 2001 Tahoe in for its annual inspection this week. We went to our local dealer, because they needed to correct the “SERVICE ENGINE SOON” light that they supposedly fixed in April. They fixed that, and then informed us it would cost $800 to pass the vehicle. So we said, “No, thanks,” and took it to another shop that passed it for no cost! Whoo hoo!</p>
<p>Second cost-saving measure: Our trash compactor stopped working. This is an important household appliance, because our town requires us to buy special trash bags at $2 a pop. With the compactor, we need only one bag a week. Without it, we would need at least three.</p>
<p>A service call would have been at least $150. DH dug into the thing, found the problem, and ordered a part online for $62. I’m proud of him!</p>
<p>Excited to discover this thread. Keep up the great tips! I will try to contribute too.</p>
<p>I was at Macy’s today and got my husband some beautiful long sleeved shirts for work for $12.99.</p>
<p>Kmart had their $24.99 men’s swimsuits on clearance for $6.99. Kmarts summer clothes were on sale/clearance as in most stores (a lot was 50% off), but I thought that the swim trunks were a good buy. I bought the ones that have pockets that close with velcro (my kids like those).</p>
<p>Our local drug store just changed to CVS. I bought $27.96 worth of merchandise, only paid $5.36. Got back $8.95 in extra bucks for my next visit. Apparently now the trick is to use the extra bucks to buy other items which give back extra bucks. There are people who come home with stuff weekly and never give CVS any money after the first time.
Not sure I have enough time to do all that planning though.</p>
<p>Check gottadeal . com click on the forum for brick and mortar stores, there is an ongoing thread for CVS deals. It has saved me some money in the past.</p>
<p>Went to Lord & Taylor for their Last Chance Sale. Bought a pair of Seven for All Mankind jeans. Originally priced $185.00. Clearance priced, $110. 80% off the clearance price, plus a 20% off coupon. Final cost about $18 including tax. At that price I can afford to have them hemmed.</p>
<p>You win, 3b!!! Congrats.</p>
<p>Our carpet shampooer died. We have a cat who throws up so this is an essential in our house. The “old one” was a reconditioned unit we got for $129. Well…I decided I wanted the SAME one but NEW not reconditioned so I went to Kohls. It was $299. DH said it was too expensive. BUT then I got my 30% off coupon in the mail (woohoo) so I went back there today figuring I would save the $90 and buy the thing. WELL…big bonus…it was ON SALE for $215…my out the door cost was $157. Not bad.</p>
<p>3b-good deal. I made the 45 minute drive with my D to the Nordstrom Rack to look for jeans. She loves designer jeans but not the prices. She found one pair on the clearance rack. 60% off the marked down price. Made them about 35 dollars. Of course the two other pair she found we only marked down to $69 and $79. Still expensive but we split the cost. She can’t afford them at full price between 150-200 dollars. Two pairs of Citizens jeans and 1 pair of Hudson jeans. This after trying on 25 pairs. Nordstrom Rack is hit or miss but for today it was a hit if you were looking for designer high end denim in a 25.</p>
<p>ebeee-I will have to look into CVS. I hate the CVS near my house and have always preferred Longs. Now all the Longs are turning into CVS. Did you save all that just signing up to get the discount card?</p>
<p>Yup. You sign up for the extra bucks card. Then they send you a bunch of coupons in the mail. Then you get the circular and buy the stuff that gives you back extra bucks. So for instance you buy a notebook for 99 cents and you get back 99 cents in extra bucks. Then the next week you use the 99 cents in extra bucks to “buy” another 99 cent item that gives back 99 cents in extra bucks. And so on.
Ours was a Longs and became a CVS. Our other local drug store is a Rite Aid. It’s filthy and I hate it.</p>