TODAY ONLY shop online at Beddington’s and save the HST.

Use coupon code: NOTAXTUES to receive your 13% discount at the checkout

Click here to shop

In store and online at The Children Place save an additional 15% off already reduced prices. Plus Aug 21- Sept 14 get $25 Place Cash for every $50 you spend.  Your Place Cash is good towards your next in store purchase of  $50 or more.

Use Promo Code: 2N2E2011

to get the discount in store click here to print out the email.

Over at Leap Frog Canadas website save 15% off Select educational toys, Systems, books and games.

Use promo code: CAB2SCHOOL.

Offer expires Sept 15 2011

I’m not much of a gadget person, but I know that many of you are so this may be of interest to all you tekkies!

Last week, HP announced that they are discontinuing their tablets. So after this news broke, electronics retailers have begun to sell off their remaining HP Touchpads at the major discount price of $99.99 for the 16GB model which retailed for $449.99! With the 32GB model selling for $149.99.

But there’s a catch: The units are hard to come by since prices have been dramatically slashed. Most retail places are already sold out of them. 🙂 Have you managed to get your hands on one?

Click here to read the news story.

I don’t have this kind of money, but if you do and plan to spend that wad of cash at American Apparel, now’s the time to do it as they’re currently having a “Back To School” sale!

Right now, the more you shop = the more you save on all AA items:

Spend $100, Get $10 Off – Promo Code BTS1
Spend $200, Get $30 Off – Promo Code BTS2
Spend $300, Get $60 Off – Promo Code BTS3

Click here to start your shopping!

For a limited time purchase 2 bras from the La Vie En Rose collection and save $20.

They also have an online Bra Fitting tool to help you make sure you’re in the correct size as most women are definitely not!

Click here to shop or be sure to check out the in-store collection as well.

Fairweather stores across Canada are having a huge blowout 50% off sale. Although I’m sure there is one in a mall near you, click here to find a store

What are your thoughts on Fairweather? I used to shop there as a teen and found their quality deteriorated over there years.

At The Sony Store Canada website get $100 off laptops. Click here to shop the $100 off selection. Coupon Code: BTS100.  As an extra bonus get a FREE PSPGO or PS3 250GB on select custom VAIO laptops.

Facebook’s Metro Ontario page has another printable coupon available for all it’s fans. This time it’s $5 off the purchase of 2 boxes of Irresistible Mammoth Burgers. Coupon is valid until August 25th

Click here to get your coupon

Not so secret anymore! On Wednesday, August 24th, get 20x Optimum Points when you spend $50 or more at Shoppers Drug Mart. Points will be awarded to your account by end of day on August 31, 2011. I’m so happy about this promo, as I only shop at SDM whenever there’s 20x points.

Click here to print your coupon.

I just got back from our local Zellers and they are advertising a Moonlight Madness Sale for this Friday August 26th.  The Zellers stores will be closed from 5PM-6PM to prepare for the sale.  I was unable to find any flyers or info as to the products up for sale for the event.  Walking around the store I noticed they had several skids marked for the usual hourly deals they offer at this event.  This is just a heads up that a Moonlight Madness sale is coming this Friday.

Check out our forums here for the flyer.

A new Bookcloseouts promo has begun!  You can now shop a large selection of children’s book priced at only $1.49 each.  Lots to choose from for both older and younger kids.  Great time to stock up for Christmas or just to restock the shelf of your avid reader after a summer of reading.

Click here to shop the sale at Bookcloseouts.

We orderd Lovable Labels for our youngest who is going into junior kindergarten as we don’t want to loose her belongings she has to take to school.  We bought labels for our oldest when she entered JK and she still has the same package ( although we will need a new one next year just for shoe labels).  Our Lovable Label order came today and with it came a promo code for us to “Share the love.”

Get $5 off ANY pruchase of $25 or more before taxes and shipping..

Use Coupon Code BTS20110931 upon checkout.  May not be combined with any other coupon, sale or discount.

Expires Sept. 30 2011

Depending on how you look at it, un/fortunately, the opening of The Ex marks the end of the Summer. It’s an unfortunate sign to me because it means that Old Man Winter, and all his nasty baggage, is just ’round the corner! 🙁

Following an annual family tradition of visiting The Ex, my sisters, nephew, and I decided to revisit that childhood memory. I was blown away at how different AND expensive everything has become. For some reason, I remember The Ex being a relatively inexpensive way to spend the day, but man was I wrong!

(General Admission is $16 which doesn’t sound bad, but since they wouldn’t honour my mom’s corporate rate, I wasn’t able to purchase tickets for $11. Already, this got my day off on the wrong foot! The run ’round that I was given by the staff also left a bad taste in my mouth.)

After spending the entire day there, here are some ways to try and save some money if you plan to visit The Ex:

1. Corporate Rate. If you or anyone in your family qualifies for a Corporate Rate, find out exactly the number of people who will be attending and purchase the tickets ONLINE. As I discovered the hard way, they do not sell discounted tickets at the event. If you are unable to pin down exact numbers, buy an extra ticket – you can always sell it to a stranger in-line.  Tickets are non-refundable.

2.  Bring Cash. I didn’t have time to stop at the bank and didn’t think it would be a problem to use debit or credit card, after all I was in the city. However, aside from the main box office, I did not see any debit machines at the concession stands. The warehouse “stores” may accept these forms of payment, but not where food is purchased and definitely not for the midway games. If you have no cash, there are a bunch of umarked ATM machines, but I avoid those at all costs!

3. Pack Some Food. Unlike more theme parks, e.g. Wild Water Kingdom, the staff at The Ex do not have a “No outside food” policy.  Actually, no one even inspected my purse.  So take advantage of this and pack some snacks or even sandwiches!

4. Bring your water bottle. My sister pointed out these handy-dandy water fountains set-up specifically to fill your water bottle! (They weren’t as rampant as the unmarked ATMs, but I did notice a couple on my rounds.) Since I brought my water bobble with me, this was really handy – not to mention saving me from shelling out upwards of $3 for a bottle of water. 🙂

5. Share, share, share at The Food Building. There is no doubt, at least in my eyes, that The Food Building is still the #1 draw at The Ex! Neither the Krispy Kreme Doughnut Burger nor the Fried Cola/Butter/Koolaid, etc. interests me, but what I do like is seeing all the variety of food that’s under one roof…the infamous, Food Building!

We didn’t pre-plan things, but my sisters and I split 1 meal for lunch! We thought that it would be a good way to try more than one thing. Aside from the 99¢ Spaghetti, most of the concession items appeared to be 2-3 portions…easily!

6. Don’t play the midway games or go on any of the rides. I realise that this tip may seem “extreme” to some of you, but this is how my mom, as the sole breadwinner, was able to take us to places like The Ex. The first time we were old enough to speak, we may have asked if we could play a game or go on the rides, but after saying “No” the first time, we never asked in subsequent years.  At $20/22 tickets, at an average of 4-6 tickets/ride, they aren’t cheap! And if you have more than one child, it’s even more expensive.

This option may not be for everyone, but if you’re really strapped for cash, it’s definitely an option! If you and your spouse can afford to, but all means, buy the ride tickets, play the midway games. However, there are other ways to have fun at The Ex without spending additional cash, e.g. Petting Zoo, The Farm, live music, people watching, just walking around, etc.

7. Skip The Ex and head to the park! Despite thinking that it’s overrated and overpriced, I still had a good time bonding with my family. However, if money is a real concern which I can totally sympathise with, especially for multi-children families, skip The Ex entirely as it does add up.

I’m sure that your family can bond by doing something less costly like a picnic at the park/beach or a day downtown or at Niagara Falls. Shopping for school supplies and clothing may not constitute as a “bonding activity”, but your money is probably better spent doing that if you had to decide between The Ex Vs. A Necessity.

If you’re set on visiting The Ex, consider going after 5pm on Monday – Thursday as admission is only $5.  And on a rare occasion, sometimes there’s a “Free Admission” day too.

Mastermind Toys is running a Thomas and Friends Hot bakers Dozen Promotion.

“Grow your Thomas collection with these great characters, sets and destinations! Until August 31 2011, purchase any of these 13 Thomas items and receive a second item of equal or lesser value from this list for 50% off. While quantities last.”

Click here to visit the Mastermind toy website

Shipping free on orders over $75