Instagram in Review

I am really enjoying the Instagram app! It is a quick easy way for me to share deals with you....whether it's a flyer deal that caught my eye, or an in store deal. It can be downloaded here.Here's some things I posted this week. The first one starts tomorrow April 11th!

Instantaneous Deal Sharing With Instagram

I have been hoping to find a way to share deals I find instantaneously. Sharing on the blog is fine for long date sales but it takes time for Blogger to send the emails out and so it can be days before you get an email. Well, I may have found the perfect platform in Instagram. With Instagram I can take a photo in store and upload it right away! For example, tonight I was in Shoppers and found they had brown eggs with the store sticker coupons on them. The regular price was $3.49, the store sticker was $2 off, making them $1.49 a dozen!(They don't expire until March 24, and there were lots when I left.)With Instagram I took a picture and uploaded it! So, if you are interested in seeing the latest deals immediately all you need to do is get an Instagram account. It's free in the App and Google Play Stores. You can find me by typing in savingyourhardearnedmoney in the search for a user area. That's it. When I find a deal I will post the photo and a quick info blurb. I hope it helps you save more on your groceries!

Travelling Inexpensively

Today I got this deal from FabFind. It was 2 flights for $88, and it sounded too good to be true. So, I checked it out. Here's what I found.
1. The travel and accommodations need to be booked through One Stop Travel
2. You have until May 22,2014 to use it
3.You must book their accommodations for a minimum of 7-14 days(their website has the days required listed according to the destination)
Valid for round-trip airfare for two adults to over 50 destinations
Depart from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Winnipeg, or Calgary
Destinations include Las Vegas, Hawaii, New York City, Los Angeles, Cancun, and more
Choose from 3 - 5 star hotels including Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, and Sheraton properties

So, I decided to do some comparing of prices. We are presently saving for a 20 year wedding anniversary trip for the two of us to go to Maui. When I followed their link I found the minimum stay was 8 days for Maui. The Maui hotel (there was just one)was $360/night. So, with taxes it would be $3266.
Flights are only to Oahu! So, one would have to get a flight from Oahu to Maui!($321 return)
Taxes and airport fees on the regular price of a flight would be $247.34 for 2. So, air would be $88 +$247.34 + $321=$656.34
Now, we like to book our flights whenever it's cheapest and typically we prefer to go in the winter. If you have plans to go to the Hawaiian islands and can wait to book, booking in November is typically the best time to get sales for winter flights, but we start watching in September and have found them on sale even then(for winter travel). Right now on west-jet there are flights going out beginning of June for $540 return all taxes in. Of course the more flexible you can be with your dates the better the deal you can get.
So, to book our flights ourselves let's say we spent $600 each. Total $1200. 
Now, accommodations, I checked on VBRO (we used VBRO for our Oahu trip) and a condo(which we prefer so we can cook some of our own meals,the Maui hotel has only a fridge) is $1190 high season for a week. So, for the same 8 days it would be $1548.
So, altogether for the Deal it would be $3266 accommodations + $656.43 flight +(???food) =$3922.43( + food)
Do it yourself is $1200 flights + $1548 accommodations =$2748
Not getting the deal would save us $1174! and that's not factoring in restaurant meal savings!
They also have this deal for all inclusive too, but again it seems much less expensive to book through Trip Central .
We are having fun dreaming and scheming to make our special trip fun and to stay within our budget. When we went to Oahu in 2010 we were able to leave with all the money saved and truly enjoy our paid for vacation, as well as all the excitement that went into planning!
Now, you may find that you can make this deal worthwhile for your destination. Just be sure to figure out all the angles...as there are always angles and fine print! Drop me a line for how you save on travel....I'd love to hear!!!