Dealoco.com Bargain Hunting Blog

Scott Jangro just posted a simple DIY fix for those of you experiencing loose battery cover syndrome on your brand new Droid.

1. Low-flush toilets
2. Filtered water bottles
3. Coin sorters
4. Electricity Usage Monitor
5. High-efficiency power supply
6. High-efficiency washing machines
7. Compact fluorescent light bulbs
8. Programmable thermostats
9. Efficient shower heads
10. Space Heaters

I’m not so sure about the coin sorters or high-efficiency washing machines, but otherwise this list looks pretty solid. Another item I would add is a tankless water heater. Depending on a few factors you can save up to 40% versus a traditional tank heater!  What household gizmos are paying dividends for you?  Tell us in the comments.

I just returned from five days in Walt Disney World with my 14-month old twin daughters.  Everyone we spoke with before we left thought we were crazy.  I thought we were crazy (the trip was my wife’s idea).  But not only did we survive, we had a blast. Here are some lessons learned.

1. Visit Orlando in the late September-October time frame. This is perhaps the only advantage of taking kids before they’re school age…so don’t even think about going when school is out! Our longest line was to see the Disney Princesses in Magic Kingdom…it was only 30 minutes.
2. Pack only enough diapers for one day of travel (carry-on in diaper bag and buy at the Kissimmee Wal-Mart)
3. Luggage scales are great for distributing clothes/souvenirs between suitcases
4. Choose a hotel with laundry facility on-site to avoid packing your baby’s entire wardrobe
5. If flying, have bottles ready to go before take-off – a bottle is a great way to prevent your baby’s ears from popping from the sudden cabin pressure change
6. A rental car is definitely not needed if you’re staying on Disney property…there’s no reason to ever leave the property if your kids are young enough to eat for free or even for cheap at the Disney restaurants
7. Mears Transportation offers comparatively low-cost shuttles from the airport to Disney-area hotels
8. Many shuttle services will provide a grocery stop (see tip #2)
9. In the Epcot resort area, I recommend pizza on the boardwalk…$20 meal that feeds 2-4.
10. Buy breakfast items that don’t require refrigeration at walmart (donuts, breakfast bars, etc..)
11. The Dolphin hotel’s Pantry Service is awesome!  Prices were super reasonable and included free delivery of items like milk, juice, soda, water, etc..
12. The food stands throughout Disney were less than great…but prices were quasi-reasonable and it’s very convenient
13. Check out the Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom…you can easily split the huge entrees here between 2 adults (and probably up to 4 kids!)
14. Dining off-property is too much of a hassle with infants
15. The Disney Dining Plan is excellent if you’re staying at a Disney-owned hotel (the Dolphin and Swan are owned by Starwood; and therefore, are ineligible)
16. Mom and dad can still enjoy the big kid rides.  One parent watches the kiddos in the stroller, while the other hops in the single-rider line…then swap
17. All Fast Pass lines were 10 minute max waits! (see tip #1)
18. We never made it back to the parks past 6pm to take advantage of the Extra Magic hours (available to guests staying on property)…this is not easy to pull-off with hungry/tired babies!
19. Disney provides shipping services at gift shop check-out counters…you can send either to your on-property hotel or directly home; pricing is dependent on the total dollar amount of your purchase
20. We saved about $20 by stopping off at a UPS Store on the way to the airport (the one advantage to our having a rental car on this trip!)
21. Get a stroller with a good recline – our girls napped in the stroller every day so we never had to return to the hotel room
22. A bright colored stroller stands out among the herd (I can’t imagine what this looks like in the busy season)
    
23. Rather than rent a stroller from Disney ($31 per day for a double stroller!), we bought one at a second-hand store for $100
24. Bottle leashes are a must-have

My day job requires a fair amount of travel.  Because of this I know more than any person ever should about luggage.  For years I traveled with the same mid-grade carry-on roller bag.  Eventually the bag had outlived its usefulness.  The fabric was fraying and the zippers were becoming more and more stubborn.  I started researching the alternatives.  (Frequent flyer forum sites like flyertalk are a great resource for all things travel).  Eventually I determined the TravelPro brand was the bag for me.  Next time you’re in an airport take note of the bags used by the flight crews.  More than half of them are TravelPro bags.  There was only one problem, I wasn’t willing to spend $400 on a piece of luggage!

Sites such as ebags.com and amazon.com are normally good sources for luggage; however, neither were offering really great deals on TravelPro at the time.   Of course, I was still determined to find a deal.  One day my wife suggested we check out Tuesday Morning as she recalled seeing some luggage there once.  I was skeptical they would carry high-end luggage brands, but low-and-behold they did!  I ended up spending less than $100 for a 22″ TravelPro roller bag that retailed for $400.

The Tuesday Morning luggage section was surprsingly large.  They carry a great selection of several popular brands…most of which are at rock-bottom prices.  One thing to note about Tuesday Morning: since they are a closeout retailer, their products rotate constantly, so you may want to check out more than one location for the best selection.

The right piece of luggage can make a huge difference when you’re constantly trekking through airport terminals or down crowded city sidewalks.  So if you’re a frequent traveler, be sure to check out the TravelPro bags at Tuesday Morning.