Canadian Vacation, eh? (brought to you by the JHO)

Being the awesome blogger that I am, my American buddy (an oxymoron for most Canadians) who runs this blog asked me if I’d be kind enough to contribute a post. “Something good,” he asked, not like the rest of the posts on here (I kid, of course).

Well, if you haven’t noticed or learned here on The Vigilant Consumer, the economy is officially in the crapper, and making sure you get the most bang for your buck is now more important than ever before. If you’re like me, you’re probably scrambling to stuff your mattress with whatever little savings you’ve scraped together over the years and doing whatever you can to avoid having squirrel soup for dinner (as one former Canadian politician has pointed out we may be headed for). That being said, in these depressing times (or, “depression times”, if you will), going out and having some fun, while stimulating the good old economy, may just be what the doctor ordered.

If you grew up in Canada, you already know the benefits of the cross-border road-trip to the mall in the US when the Canadian dollar goes up (see video here).



What you may be unaware of as an American citizen about our home and native land is, the 5-star-type cheap vacation opportunities that present themselves to you when the US dollar is strong – like it is now. Often there is some confusion amongst Americans about what Canada has to offer – it’s not all igloos, beavers, and strong beer – however if that’s what you’re into, that type of vacation deal is plentiful.

Did you know, for instance, that Canada is home to the top skiing and snowboarding destination in the world, Whistler/Blackcomb in British Columbia? The ways to spend your powerful US dollar in our fair land are endless – shopping in Toronto, skiing in Whistler, Banff or Jasper, fine dining in Montreal, or my personal recommendation: visit our nation’s capital Ottawa and thank our Prime Minister (same job as your president) for driving the Canadian dollar down so low that you can now make a killing on Canadian goods and services.

If you find yourself driving by a tired and hungry looking girl chasing squirrels in your new Mercedes S-Class you bought for just pennies on the American dollar in Vancouver en route to your 5-Star+ accommodations in Whistler…don’t forget to wave “hello” to me.

Get spammed and save money. Top brands will throw offers your way!

Happy New Year! After some rest and relaxation, I am back at it, refining and promoting the art of proactive consumerism so that you will protect yourself and get more for your money. The vacation included a few terrific days in Oxnard, California. Never heard of it? This sleepy, laid-back town certainly ranks high on the list of The Vigilant Consumer's Value Vacation Spots - more of those in a future posting. It has an amazing beach and excellent proximity to Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley wine country made famous by the movie Sideways. If you don't trust me about Oxnard, check out this New York Times article.

Enough of the vacation reminiscing, it is back to business. The post holiday sales are still in full-effect and now is a great time to return those horrendous sweaters you got so you can treat yourself to the gifts you really wanted. In a previous post I covered how to save money by searching for coupon or promo codes to use online. Imagine if that info came straight to you via an email, with offers from your favorite stores and brands. It's simple, just visit the websites of your favorite companies and look for the place to subscribe to their "email updates", "newsletters" or whatever other cutesy branded name they use. Look on the homepage where there is usually a link for this at the very bottom (or they will always ask you if you want to receive offers when you complete an online purchase).

The savings can be huge - checkout this 40% off in-store coupon that I just received this morning from Borders Books (click here to register for their emails). In addition these being popular for bookstores and department stores like Macy's (click to register), many consumers love the weekly airfare sales from Southwest (click to register) or United Airlines (click to register).

As usual, there is always a catch. Be prepared to get inundated by emails from these stores. Some subscribe to the quantity over quality belief, and therefore, send messages multiple times a week. Although you shouldn't have to worry about this from reputable companies, some may also sell your email address to list brokers. The solution simple - always use a secondary email address (I call it my junk email address) when subscribing to any of these newsletters. Those of you already employ that technique know what I mean. If this is new to you, stay tuned for the next posting.

Next up: Unclutter your email inbox. Control spam in 2009.