Holidays & Bargains!

Just 1 more day until we leave for Majorca!!Cannot wait!Finally managed to buy a new suitcase a couple of weeks ago which Abhi managed to get for a discounted price of €25. We had been watching Don’t Get Done Get Dom (http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/get_dom/beontheshow.shtml) a few weeks back which is hosted by Dominic Littlewood. Basically he helps people who have either had trouble with retailers due to over pricing etc. or helps people to “bag a bargain”. Anyway, we were standing outside the suitcase shop on Henry Street and I said “let’s try to bargain with them and see what happens!”hehe…The suitcases were already reduced by 30%, so I did think it was a bit cheeky to try to bargain with them, but said we’d give it a try anyway.

So, Abhi starts by trying to build up some rapport with our sales assistant, asking him where he’s from and how long he’s been here, then quickly asks “can we get this for €25 instead of €30? We already seen one that we like in Argos and that one is just €25”. The poor guy doesn’t know what to say and eventually says “well, I can give you two for €50”. Abhi explains that he already has a suitcase and that we just need one for me, so there would be no point in buying two. So, the sales assistant then says that he can ask his boss and see what he says. It turns out that his boss is the man standing behind us looking like a security guard!lol…He has overheard the whole conversation and says “yeah, that’s fine….take it for €25. That’s the bargain of the day!”…So all in all we saved €5, not bad for a first attempt but I’ll definitely try to do again in future.I mean the worst they can say is no and if not then at least you can make some kind of saving. So the next time you go shopping, give it a try. You might just end up saving some money, which for us is €5 more towards our goodies fund!hehe…We have a saving box at home which we’re putting money into each day which is going towards paying for chocolate and drink when we’re on our way to Majorca!!If you have any luck or make any good bargains please let us know!We’d love to hear how you got on!

We’re flying out at 8.15am in the morning and will arrive in Palma Nova at approximately 11.50am, so will get most of the first day there. The hotel that we’re staying in is called Pinos Mar and has some very good reviews, so hopefully everything will go okay!I just can’t wait to get to the beach and put my feet in the sea. It’s been two years since I last done that so am really counting the days at the moment! Poor Abhi has never stepped foot on a beach in his whole life so it will be a great experience for him! This is both our first time to Majorca so if anyway has ever been there and can recommend some good places to go to, please let us know. We’ll be taking loads of pictures as well, so should be fun!

We’ll write more soon!Bye

3V

Have recently just received my 3V card which is a card which you can use to make purchases online, without the use of a credit card! Sounds great doesn't it?! I had heard about 3V about a year ago but never took the time to look into it any further, but with my own credit rating being in the red I decided to see what it was all about. Basically, you sign up via www.3v.ie, receive a card in the post and then use the card in participating outlets to obtain a unique 14 digit visa style number to be used online.

At the moment, 3V can only be used in Ireland, the UK and Germany, but it's a great idea isnt it?especially when you've had bad experiences with credit cards and find it hard to make payments, with this you pay for how much you want to spend before you receive the visa number, so there's no interest and no chance of debt (unless of course you're a shopaholic like myself and just don't know when to stop spending money!lol). I haven't yet used it but am sure I'll get to put it to good use soon! I have my holiday to Majorca this Saturday so can't afford to spend any more money until after I get back. Also, just so that you know, there is an extra charge to purchase a visa number and that's €5, so for example if you were purchasing a visa number to the value of €100, you would in fact have to pay a tota of €105 altogether! At first I thought that was a bit unfair, but when I thought of how much interest I have paid on my credt card in the past it's not much at all.

So, if you like to buy things online and don't have/want a credit card, I would really recommend 3V! I want to use mine now!!!