Vampires Everywhere!

Is it just me or is popular culture being taken over by vampires? Seems everywhere you look these days vampires are in books, TV and movies. On my camping trip last weekend the ladies were all lined up in a row at the beach reading different books from the Twilight series. One had New Moon, one Eclipse and one Breaking Dawn. They are already planning a girl's night out for when New Moon comes to theaters this November. Add to that Blood Ties from Lifetime Television, True Blood from HBO and the Vampire Academy series of books from Richelle Mead and I think you'll agree we'd all better grab some garlic and a flask of holy water just in case these stories are rooted in fact instead of fiction!

If you've been bitten by the vampire bug and need your next fix, head on over to Barnes & Noble for the latest and greatest in vampire books and DVDs.

Cash for Campers?

Every year, just before school starts my family, extended family and my best friends all head out for one last camping trip before school starts. I was getting ready for this year's trip when I checked in with one of my favorite on-line camping stores for some last minute supplies. I was surprised by a really timely and creative promotion they've come up with. You've no doubt heard about the government's popular Cash for Clunkers program. Camping World has a Cash for Campers campaign too! Someone in their marketing department deserves a raise for coming up with a very clever way to drive the sales of campers and RV's!

Prix Fixe and Yum Yum Too!

Take a couple of Midwestern guys and plop them down in Manhattan for a couple of days and they're bound to learn a thing or two. Take for example the fact that when you want to go to dinner at Hell's Kitchen in New York City you shouldn't expect to see Gordon Ramsey and team blue and team red there waiting to serve you! What you can expect to find is street after street of the coolest little diners and restaurants with a seemingly endless supply and variety of foods from all ethnicities.

We made a pact when we arrived in the big apple that we'd not be eating at any of the big chain restaurants commonly found throughout the United States. We wanted small, we wanted local and we wanted different. Different is what we found at the Yum Yum Too at 46th and 9th. It's a small little place right in the heart of the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. We were enticed and intrigued by the sidewalk menu that advertised the Prix Fixe. That term was new to me but when we realized it meant a 5 course meal for a reasonable price we were sold. (For those of you who haven't looked it up on Wikitionary yet it's French for fixed price - don't worry I didn't know either!)

For visitors to New York City on a budget looking for a Prix Fixe menu might be a good way to go. They are offered by many of the restaurants in the Hell's Kitchen area and give you good value for your money. Our meal included thai appetizers and soups, dinner with choice of meat, sauce and sides and dessert to top it off. If you go to Yum Yum Too, you can't go wrong with the Green Tea Ice Cream for dessert - it was unusual and delicious!

One other tip - be sure to check all the travel sites to get the best deal when booking your next flight or hotel visit. It's amazing the price variations you will find on all these great sites - Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com and Cheap Tickets. Happy Travels!

Set Me Free!

Does anyone else remember back in the day when you used your Ma Bell rotary or push button phone to make all your long distance calls? How about when the internet came around and you tried to do your first webcam chat using dial-up internet service? I remember using Microsoft's Netmeeting software. It was the coolest thing (at the time) and also probably one of the most frustrating. The speeds were slow, the video was awful and the connections were unreliable. But it was great fun!

Thankfully there are much better solutions today that help us avoid long distance phone charges and allow us to see the person on the other end in high quality, real time video. One of the best out there is Skype. If you haven't tried it yet you need to. Skype-to-Skype computer calls are always free. You can even add the flexibility of calling landlines for as low as $2.95 a month. Skype is the real deal. Check it out for yourself here.

Spend a Little, Save a Lot

Over the past 20 years or so I've been taking advantage of a little money saving book called the Entertainment Book. Chances are there is a version for the area where you live. If you've never had an Entertainment Book before, now is the time give one a try. The 2010 book just came out. It'll cost you $35 to order one on-line but they'll ship it for free when use the FREE SHIPPING link on our website.

Believe me when I tell you - you'll more than make up for the cost of the book just by using a couple of the buy one get one free dinner coupons or by using the tear off coupons for groceries, gasoline or movie tickets. I never fail to make back the expense of the book many times over. They make great gifts too so consider giving the gift of savings for that next special occasion. Who doesn't want to save a buck these days!?

Amazon Outlet Store

One of the cool things about doing a website with all the best internet deals is sometimes I uncover some new places to find deals I didn't even know existed. Check out the great deals at the Amazon Outlet Store!

Hello World!

Welcome to The Clearance Spot online blog - Spot On! Stop by anytime to see what's going on in the life of The Clearance Spot - the online shopping site that is your one-stop source for the best deals the internet has to offer. Here you'll find what's going with us besides finding ways to save you money!

My business partner and I are fresh back from a short trip to New York City this past week to attend the Affiliate Summit East annual convention. We've come back full of inspiration and drive to get to work on our website. One of our first accomplishments is this blog - another is a short promotional video we've uploaded to YouTube. It's our first such effort and gives us a great place to start introducing the world to The Clearance Spot!

Here it is: