$20 Dollar Friday-Groupons/LivingSocialDeals done the right way!

You may have noticed that I love Groupon/LivingSocial Deals/and Amazon Local Deals.  These online deals can save you a ton of money and open up opportunities for you if you’re savvy! Let’s talk about the problems with online deals first.

Problems

1. Online deals are a little addicting. This is a problem for people like me who are trying to save money. By save I mean spend as little as possible. There are so many deals!! I already talked about planning a YOLO summer while spending as little as possible. At this point I am done purchasing Groupons/Living Social Deals for fun activities for the summer and will only purchase grocery store coupons if they come up. I’ve purchased coupons for Whole Foods and Tony’s Market (a slightly high end grocery in Denver) before and am thinking that those coupons will be offered soon.
2. Forgetting what you have! This is a problem because you run the risk of forgetting which coupons you have and missing out on the promotional value. I have at least 7 coupons whose promotional value has expired. Luckily you can still spend the amount that you originally purchased the coupon for. For example, if you buy a $20 Groupon with a promotional value of $40 and you forget to use it, then you still have $20 to spend at that business. Don’t forget to use these coupons! Don’t waste that money. I am in the process of creating a list of all of my coupons. This list will include: expiration date, vendor name, who I purchased it from (note the three online companies that I mentioned before)
3. Tipping-Make sure to mention that you will be tipping on the total amount of the bill before the coupon is applied to your tab. Your servers are working hard to help you have a good dining experience. If you are too cheap to tip properly, then don’t go out to eat. I used to work at Starbucks. The tips that we got there were split between our shifts. Those tips made a big difference to me because I was making around $7.35 an hour at the time.
4. Know the rules and check the company-Make sure you take time to read the details of the coupon before buying it. If you’re not familiar with the company check out their YELP reviews. I purchased a deal for a Russian Bathhouse. If you’re not familiar with a bathhouse you are basically about to have an old world experience of sitting naked in a giant sauna, steam room, or hot tub for hours with strangers. This is no big deal for Europeans. But, sometimes it takes time for Americans to warm up to this. LOL! It’s very restful. At this bathhouse there are men’s days, ladies’ days, and days for couples. I did not want to show up on Men’s day or couple’s day. But, I could have made that mistake if I hadn’t researched the business. I took my hippy friend and we had a wonderful, rejuvenating time for $16,= (for two people). I went to a similar place in Miami and paid $150. We did get massages in Miami. But, the Denver location would have cost no more than $50 dollars with the hour long massage. I checked the YELP reviews and it was exactly what was advertised.
5. Business Closures-Some businesses use these coupons as a way to drum up business as a last ditch effort to grow their business. I almost always deal with companies that I normally patronize so I know what I’m getting into. In the event that the company has closed, make sure to contact Groupon/LivingSocial Deals/ or Amazon Local Deals to let them know that the business closed. I received a $45 dollar refund for last month. I purchased a massage but the company closed. I was pleased with the fact that the online coupon company contacted me and sent me the refund as soon as they were aware of the problem.

Why these deals ROCK!!

1.) 50% off-I usually pay 50% less for meals and services when I redeem my deals. I’ve mentioned before that when I eat out it’s an experience. I will order a starter, entree, glass of wine, usually a coffee and dessert. That’s not cheap! The promotional values balance out the cost.

2.) Plenty of time to redeem your deal-Normally you have up to 3-6 months to redeem a coupon. Make sure to put a reminder in your phone or day planner a month before it expires so you don’t lose out on the promotional value.

3.) YOLO at a more reasonable price-I currently have a deal for the Firefly Run. It is a 5k that I ran last year. The race is run at night and the participants wear costumes with lights on them. It’s a lot of fun and I’m excited to do it again this year. The price is typically $44 dollars, I paid $22. I’ve noticed that a large number of races, scavenger hunts, etc. offer these coupons about 4-6 months before the event. Make sure to check before you’re pay the full price. I paid $17 for the Fight for Air Stairclimb (not including my donation) normally the cost is $34

4.) Experience something new-Obviously the idea behind these deals is to expand the businesses’ client base and reward the already existing clientele.

5.)  Work the system-There is nothing better than legally and respectfully working the system. As I will illustrate below.

On Friday my friend “The Russian” and I went to First Friday. A cool event in Denver where every first friday of the month the Art District in Denver is flooded with hipsters, college students, suburban couples, and everything in between. There is music, wine, food trucks, and interesting people everywhere. I brought my trusty deal for $30 dollars towards sushi! I purchased the deal for $15, the promotional value was $30. My friend paid whatever was left over. I also added $5 (cash) for tip.  She also ended up saving money-this makes her husband happy btw as they are currently remodeling their new home. Check out the pictures below!

Jasmine Tea

Coconut curry soup

Salmon-forget the name of the dish. Absolutely, fantastic. There was truffle oil on it  and strawberries. The attention to detail with this dish was amazing.

The rolls. One vegetarian, one with fish I couldn’t figure out what the green leaf was on the veggie roll. Both, were delicious.

I also had a octopus salad. I forgot to take a picture of it. Delicious!

First Friday-New Graffiti

$20 Dollar Friday Rocked

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Michelle

I am an obsessive foodie, but not self-righteous with it, love travel, meeting new people, helping you look good, and am freaked out by people who don't enjoying reading...something! Grab a Perrier, read my blog, feel free to drop me a line! Hope to hear from you soon.

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