Spring Break Fun at Oaks Park

Oaks Park has a new ride this year called the "Tree Top Drop!" They always have lots of fun activities, and great deals on Spring Break.

Oaks Park Spring Break presented by Alpha Media

​Spring Break, yay! Let's go play! Join 98.7 The Bull, Live 95.5, 101.9 Kink FM, 101 KXL, and The Game for family fun in your own back yard March 19 - 27 from 12:00 - 5:00pm! Two Deluxe Ride Bracelets are just $24.00 with the Alpha Spring Break Coupon. 

Oregon Fun Card 2016

The Oregon Fun Card is back again this year!  It's $79 for 4 admissions, in any combination of adults and children.  It's $46 for 4 admissions to the Zoo alone, but you also get 10 other attractions.  While almost $80 seems like a lot of money to put out at one time.  If you go to all of these things it would be less than $8 per trip for 4.  Plus, you could visit some places you may not have thought to visit.

As always, with these kinds of deals, I caution that you only buy it if you really think you will use it.  Often times these deals get bought and never used.

Oregon Zoo 4001 SW Canyon Road
Portland, Oregon, 97221, US Phone: (503) 226-1561 Get Directions

Pittock Mansion 3229 NW Pittock Drive
3229 NW Pittock Drive, Oregon, 97210, US Phone: (503) 823-3623 Get Directions

Oregon Film Museum 732 Duane Street
Astoria, Oregon, 97103, US Phone: (503) 325-2203 Get Directions

Lan Su Chinese Garden 239 Northwest Everett Street
Portland, Oregon, 97209, US Phone: (503) 228-8131 Get Directions

G6 Airpark 10414 SE Washington St.
Portland, Oregon, 97216, US Phone: (503) 255-3334 Get Directions

Portland Art Museum 1219 SW Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon, 97205, US Phone: 503-226-2811 Get Directions

Oregon Garden 879 W. Main St.
Silverton, Oregon, 97381, US Phone: (503) 874-8100 Get Directions

The Rice Northwest Rock and Mineral Museum 26385 NW Groveland Drive
Hillsboro, Oregon, 97124, US Phone: (503) 647-2418 Get Directions

The Washington County Museum of Hillsboro 120 E Main Street
Hillsboro, Oregon, 97123, US Phone: (503) 645-5353 Get Directions

Oregon Historical Society 1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon, 97205, US Phone: (503) 222-1741 Get Directions

Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum 5000 Discovery Drive
The Dalles, Oregon, 97058, US Phone: (541) 296-8600 Get Directions

Wings & Waves Waterpark Tickets @ Half Price Portland

If you've ever wanted to visit this park, but it was just too much.  Here's your chance.  Right now at Half Price Portland, you can get 2 admissions for $32.

Nearly FREE Photo Book deals

These sites are almost always offering good deals on printing photo books.  The holidays is a great time to take advantage of these special offers.  What a great gift for Grandma to get a hard bound book of the grandkids! 

York Photo offers a free 5x7 softcover book, plus shipping.

Grovebook is an interesting site that allows you to upload 100 photos each month and pay only $2.99 for a photobook.  The first one is free. The book comes perforated so that you can easily pull the photos out for framing or scrapbooking.  It's a good way to get photos off of your computer and phone.

Shutterfly is offering an 8" x 8" hardcover photo book for only the price of shipping, until Dec. 4.  I have gotten in on this deal in the past.  The book is pretty nice, but you need to make sure and use high resolution photos.

Walgreen's has a free 8" x 10"  collage print available until Nov. 4.

Week of Deals at Burgerville

Burgerville is tasty, but expensive.  This week they are having a different deal everyday. 

Jan 15: Pepper Bacon Tuesday - Buy one Pepper Bacon Cheeseburger, get one free. Made with nitrite-free Niman Ranch pepper bacon.



Jan 16: Half-Pound Colossal Cheeseburger Wednesday - Buy one Half-Pound Colossal Cheeseburger, get one free. Made with 100% antibiotic and hormone-free Country Natural Beef.



Jan 17: Cheeseburger Basket Thursday - Enjoy two Original Cheeseburgers, a regular size soft drink and regular French fries for only $5.60.



Jan 18: Shake It Up Friday - Buy one regular size Specialty or Seasonal Milkshake or Smoothie, get one free. Now in season: Chocolate Hazelnut, featuring roasted Oregon hazelnuts and rich chocolate.



Jan 19 & Jan 20: Saturday & Sunday Savings All Day Long - Buy one Breakfast Sandwich or Breakfast Burrito, get one free. Made with cage-free Stiebrs Farm eggs. Served until 11 AM.

Kids 12 and under enjoy a free Trail Blazers “Blaze” Kids Meal with purchase of equal or greater value, anytime after 11 AM.



WHERE: All 39 Burgerville Restaurants (for locations, visit burgerville.com)

Half Price Deal Sites. Should You or Shouldn't You?

     These days there are so many different sites that offer 50% off deals.  Some of the deals are an even larger percentage.  But are these deals really worth it?  
     In today's economy we are less likely to try a new restaurant, or even go out to dinner at all.  These deal sites offer big discounts on food and fun activities.  Now you even find deals on medical treatments, resorts, family photos and pretty much any service that you can buy.

     The trick to getting REAL deals through these sites is to do your homework first.  

Read all of the directions and restrictions.

     Some sites, like Restaurant.com offer you great deals, such as a $25 gift certificate for $3.  Sounds fantastic, but if you don't read the small print you may be surprised once you get there.  Their certificates always require a minimum purchase that is usually $35 to $50 before the discount, 18% gratuity is required, certain items may be unavailable, and certain days and times can be blocked out.  Those are all typical restrictions for this site.  While you are still saving money, it isn't as much as it seems.

Research ratings for a new restaurant or service that you haven't tried yet.

     If you are trying a new restaurant and it's just terrible, no amount of savings is worth it.  I have a personal smell test for a restaurant.  If I can smell Pine Sol I am out of there.  I figure that they would only use such a strong smelling cleaner if they were trying to cover up another smell.  But  you can't do the Pine Sol test on-line so you have to rely on the assistance of some Internet junkies help you out.  Sites like www.Yelp.com have high traffic and you should be able to find at least a few reviews.  Just keep in mind that some places do fake reviews.  If it's 5 stars and the review sounds more like an ad then something a customer would say, it's suspect.  I usually toss out the best and worst review and actually look at the rest.  

    I've actually gone to a sub shop based on a bad review, but it was hilarious and so it piqued my interest.  

Are you going to use it?

     $7 Billion of gift cards and certificates go unused every year.  That's a lot of money being thrown away!  Don't buy a certificate on a whim, especially if you are doing it to try and save money.  I see deals for places I actually go or tickets I want to buy all of the time.  Have a plan for when you are going to use it and put it in a safe place so you won't lose it but you will remember you have it. Holiday events and concerts seem to be getting more popular on these sites.  The tickets usually go on sale closer to the event. 

     DOUBLE check the expiration date as well.  You don't save any money if it isn't usable anymore.  But never throw out an actual gift card, because those never expire in Oregon, and they can't reduce the amount after any amount of time.  Most half price certificates lose the special value after a certain period of time.  However, they are still good for the price you paid for them.

What to do about bad service?

     You do have some recourse.  Many of the sites, like www.PortlandPerks.com, offer money back if you didn't get what you paid for.  They don't want their reputation being ruined and so they will go after the business for their money, if they have to give back yours.

Some sites to check out

• www.Restaurant.com More restrictions and fine print than most.
• www.PortlandPerks.com Some great deals.  Get on their mailing list and they will send you almost daily emails about new deals. 
• www.LivingSocial.com They often have deals on higher end restaurants, spa treatments and resorts.  Some good lower priced ones as well.
• www.Groupon.com Enough people have to buy the deal, and they sometimes go fast.
• Lots of the TV and Radio stations have their own deals as well, but most sites end up with similar deals, especially on events.