My apologies to those of you who have been looking forward to a new post for a while. While I am amidst studying and writing for my last real year of intense doctoral studies, writing here will be a good break for me :)
On this post I would love to mention a website I recently discovered, thanks to CNN.com, called Groupon. Groupon is a website that offers amazing deals in numerous U.S. cities and other countries. I'm not just talking about $5 off a meal, no, I am talking about SERIOUS deals. Here's how it works: each day a new "deal" is posted for each particular city/ location. You can choose to purchase that deal with a credit card, however, enough people must also purchase that deal in order to "activate" it. Don't worry, if you buy the deal and it doesn't make, your card will not be charged. What they want you to do is to help others also buy that deal, and if you do, you receive $10! (Refer by me at: http://www.groupon.com/r/uu4275448)
Why would a business do this? While they are offering insanely good deals, they are looking to drive in a new customer base, and get more people to come to them by putting up this deal, assuming enough people buy it. Businesses range from restaurants to shopping, to parks and attractions - you just never know what you will see! You can also subscribe to daily emails for a specific location so that you don't need to check the website everyday.
"But wait a minute, my city isn't on here. This probably won't be of use to me." I hear ya. Another great way to use Groupon is for planning vacations. For example, on my last trip to Las Vegas, which is a featured city on Groupon, we did a Red Rock Canyon Tour provided by Scoot City tours. It was one of our more expensive activities at $119 per person. Groupon previously offered a deal with Scoot City Tours for the same tour for two people for half the price! $110 for two people! I couldn't believe it! Be sure to check the fine print of the deal, since most of the deals have an expiration date of at least a couple of months away. There are a ton of cities on Groupon, so I would encourage you to watch for the deals, especially if you are planning a vacation in the future!
