Ever heard of Groupon? I hadn’t until a few months ago. This website offers users a way to buy discounted products and services from local companies. The catch? There must be a big enough group for the deal to proceed. And the deals are only on sale for 1 day (most coupons are valid for 1 year). Today’s Cincinnati deal is from the Tropical Smoothie Cafe near the Voice Of Ameria park in West Chester. Our family plans to visit the VOA park and museum this summer and so we’ll stop by and get smoothies — at half off — thanks to Groupon. Want to join me?
Don’t live in Cincinnati? No fear, Groupon is available in many other cities across the country. I’m currently looking for deals in cities we’ll be traveling to this summer. How about you? Have you used Groupon? Do you like it?
Planning a vacation that includes a hotel stay? Don’t forget to check out all of your room choices. A good example is Best Western. This chain is a basic no-frills hotel chain that we’ve stayed at before.
Choose a hotel location- Pick your dates
- Make sure you’re looking at ALL rate options. At Best Western I saw:
- Best Available Rate
- AAA (if you have a AAA membership, typically 10% savings)
- Internet Only Rate (if you book online 10% savings)
- AARP/Senior (if you’re a member, or over 55 save about 10%)
So, without much work, I can book online and save just as much as the AAA and AARP discounts. Sounds like a win for me. This little habit saved our family $6.50/night for a “we just want a clean room and a place to lay our head” hotel.
Watch for more travel discounts as I use them.
Happy Savings!
Want to go to Coney Island next summer? The Cincinnati Park with a GIGANTIC pool and amusement rides is offering a deal on season’s passes. Passes are $79.95 for everyone 5 and up. Daily admission is $21.95. If you plan to go to Coney Island more than 3 times, a season pass is a better deal. Plus, it comes with other benefits like:
- free parking
- private passholder parties
- bring a guest for free days
- discounted guest admissions
You can buy your passes online or by phone. But this offer ends December 25th. So, don’t delay. Complete information here.
Other links you may be interested in:
WCPO story about prices
JournalNews article with basic information and 2008 pricing
Reviews at Trip Advisor
We have the basic sandbox and playset in the backyard, but the kids wanted more. Instead of buying and building a larger structure I encouraged them to get creative. One day they came to me and asked if we had any old sheets they could use. Not really — we have extra sheets, but not ones that I wanted to ruin by children outside. A few days later they came up with a plan. Knowing that I like to find a deal, they asked if I thought the thrift store or garage sales would have old sheets. Of course! I gave them a budget of $5 for sheets (because I knew that if we couldn’t find anything, $5 at Big Lots or Target could buy us 1 sheet and I didn’t want to discourage them). I went to a couple of garage sales, but no sheets. Then mid May a neighborhood church had a rummage sale. I took the kids with me on the “fill a bag for $3″ day. Guess what they found….sheets! I was already buying a few other items, so I let them stuff the sheets in my bag. We scored a blue king flat sheet, a queen flower fitted sheet from 1972 and a twin flat sheet.
These 3 sheets have become the basis of play. They use them to make the fort “cooler”; use in a tug -o-war game; picnic blanet; and as clothing for a variety of play.
Do your kids have an immagination? What do they use for summer fun? Leave me a comment and share.
Summer is a great time to sit back, relax and read some books. Libraries and stores throughout the area are offering incentives to keep kids (and adults) reading this summer. Our first stop every year is the local library. Each one has a theme and awards prizes for elementary aged kids for amount of time read, or number of books read. Check out your local library’s offering. Here’s some links to some of Cincinnati area’s summer reading programs:
Libraries
Book Stores
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Barnes and Noble (kids grade 1-6 read 8 books and get a free book)
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Half Price Books – kids 12 and under read 15 minutes/day for 5 days in a week and they get a $3 coupon at the store. Cool!
