I LOVE DEALS

For those of you that know me pretty well-you know that I love a good deal! I think this comes from my dad who always gets excited when he gets a good coupon for a restaurant or finds a cheap hotel on priceline. I remember going out to eat many times when I was younger and watching my dad pull out his buy one get one free coupon and exclaiming over how much money he saved on our meal.

Today I am going to share with you some of my favorite deals-starting with my personal favorite: Happy Hour

1.  Manny's-while I don't really like the food here (I know, I know...my family raves about it but I was not impressed), they have THE BEST margaritas and you can get them 1/2 price from 3-6 everyday (even the GIANT margarita).
2. Tequila's-Monday and Tuesday 2 for 1 margaritas.
3.  TGI Fridays-drink specials and 1/2 price of select appetizers from 3-7 and 10 to close ($3 margaritas)
   Outback Steakhouse-2 for 1 drinks from 2-6pm (my favorite-the wallaby darned-YUMMY)
4. Famous Dave's-1/2 price appetizers and good deals on drinks (Mama's Backyard Punch-best drink there!) from 3-6pm and 9pm-close (you can also get some good coupons online or by signing up for the P.I.G. club)
5. My all-time favorite deal Starlite Lounge-1/2 price martinis and 1/2 price appetizers Tues-Friday from 4-7.  My favorite drink-the key lime pie martini (I once drank 3 of them in 30 minutes-they taste like candy). My favorite appetizer-blackened chicken nachos without banana peppers (they make them soggy) and pepper jack cheese bites. I'm pretty sure my brother "ate dinner" here for several months in college (Right Andy?)

Now for my favorite deal on food:

1. Buzzard Billy's-my favorite restaurant in town and kids EAT FREE on Sunday. The best part about this deal is that you can take 3 kids and 1 adult and all the kids eat free. 
2. Tequila's-kids eat free on Sat and Sun (1 free kids meal per paid adult meal). Great deal when you are really craving Mexican food.
3. T.G.I Fridays-you can ALWAYS find a coupon for TGI's. Also-as a member of the Get More Stripes club, you earn free food for your visits (combine this with their great happy hour and you can eat out pretty cheaply).

Some of my other favorite (random) deals:

1. Every year before school starts we take our kids to the Mall of America. You can get a wristband for the rides at Nickelodean Universe for $19.95 after 5:00pm. That still gives them about 5 hours to ride all the rides they care to ride (and they LOVE all the roller coasters and rides there). If you really want to spend an entire day there-you can get a wristband online for $24.95 online before you go (normally priced at $29.99).
2. The Passport Membership at the Children's Museum in La Crosse is $120 and gets you into tons of children's and science museums around the country. We have used it several times on our trips to Chicago (Planetarium, Science and Industry Museum, Field Museum, Children's Museum), Minneapolis/St. Paul (Children's Museum, Science Museum of Minnesota), and Madison (Children's Museum). If you use it ONE time you get your money's worth!

Some of my favorite websites for deals:

1. www.travelzoo.com
2. www.cheapcarribean.com (we used this site for our trip to the Bahamas)
3. www.retailmenot.com (coupons for EVERYTHING...food, clothes, online websites-I never buy ANYTHING online until I check for coupon codes on this site)
4. www.hotwire.com (my family has gotten some FANTASTIC deals on hotels at this website-think 4 star hotel in downtown Chicago for $40)
5. www.landsend.com then check out the Overstocks (I have gotten all my kids backpacks here-in the middle of the school year-for about $15 and they last forever)

I would love to hear any deals that you would like to share!!