Doing Montreal on a Budget, Coupon Style

Wes Walls — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 06:00:03 +0000

You may have heard of Groupon, a social coupon site that exploded into the Canadian social conscience this year by offering hot limited-time local deals each day for fun things like paintball, restaurants, spas and other city adventures. Since Groupon came onto the scene, a swath of other similar sites has appeared. Social coupon sites usually work by offering major discounts on local business but require a minimum number of participants, or may reward larger groups that participate on the day the coupon is offered. If you’re an adventurous spender, social coupon sites can be a really fun way of exploring your city. Surprisingly, most of them, including Groupon, do not serve Montreal yet so here is a run-down of sites that do cater to our belle cité:

LivingSocial

This is one of the original US-based social coupon sites. LivingSocial is neat because there is no minimum number of participants needed to get the daily deal, and if you bring three other people you get your deal totally free. Recent deals include half off at Bofinger, 85% off a yoga class package, and half off a hot stone massage. Check out today’s LivingSocial Montreal deal. LivingSocial.com is available only in English.

StealTheDeal

StealTheDeal is fun because it is Canadian-only and, like LivingSocial, offers daily coupons with no minimum number of participants. You don’t get any free deals, but you do get $5 cash back for every friend you bring with you. The deals here aren’t bad, too. Recently they had a half off deal for bar fare at Vol de Nuit, half off eyelash extensions at Love Your Lashes, and a bunch of restaurant deals. Check out today’s StealTheDeal Montreal deal. StealTheDeal.com is also available in English only.

iLoveMTL

Actually called I “heart” MTL, this is another daily coupon site that is specific to Montreal only. They launched very recently and also seem to be launching a “Guide Urban” soon, although so far they don’t seem to have a deal on offer every single day. They do already have over 40,000 likes on Facebook. Recent deals have mostly included restaurants, but I have the feeling the deals will get much more interesting, certainly a site worth signing up to. Check out today’s iLoveMTL Montreal deal. iLoveMTL.com is available in French only.

TeamBuy

Teambuy is another Canadian-only social coupon site, but is different to StealTheDeal in that a minimum number of people need to participate in the promotion in order for everyone to get the deal. This is how Groupon works and, as with Groupon, the minimum number of people needed is almost always surpassed at Teambuy. They recently featured a 50% off deal for a mountain climbing adventure at Arbraska-Via Ferrata, 68% off a gallery-wrapped canvas, and 57% off a manicure. Check out today’s Teambuy Montreal deal. Teambuy seems to be available in English only

Tuango

Tuango is very similar to Teambuy but features different local deals. They recently featured 60% off designer sunglasses at Lunetz, 51% off a Sunday Brunch & Swim at the Hilton Montreal Bonaventure, and 57% off a massage and Nordic bath package at Spa Le Tsar. Tuango is a site worth signing up to. Check out today’s Tuango Montreal deal. Tuango is the only properly bilingual social coupon site I have found.

If you like adventuring in Montreal on a budget, sign up to these five websites and see what drops into your inbox! There are dozens of other social daily coupon sites out there so if you’re planning to travel to Toronto, New York, Boston or elsewhere on the continent, be sure to check out the daily deals on offer!

Are there any other good social coupon sites you know that serve Montreal?

Change Your Driving Style and Save Money

admin — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:25:46 +0000

Most people could stand to change their driving style for one reason or another but you might not have to look further than your wallet for extra motivation to alter your driving habits.

Improper driving habits, on average, cost motorists up to 30% of their gas mileage! That’s 30% percent of the gas you put in your car that you’re throwing away on bad driving.

Here are 6 simple changes you can make to drastically improve your gas mileage:

When to Brake

When you’re approaching a set of lights that are red, immediately take your foot off the accelerator pedal. Accelerating into a stop is very bad for your fuel economy and even worse for your brakes.

When to Accelerate on Hills

If you’re driving in a hilly area accelerate when going down hills and allow the momentum of the car do most of the work when going uphill. You’ll likely feel doing the opposite is correct way but the key to saving fuel is keeping your RPMs low. If you accelerate while going uphill you’ll be revving very high and using a lot more fuel.

Cruise Control

Don’t use it! Cruise controls tries to maintain your speed no matter what the surface or gradient of the road is. This means the car will automatically speed up on hills and other difficult terrain in order to maintain your selected speed which will cost you fuel.

The Golden Speed

90km/h is the most ideal highway speed to be traveling in most cars. It’s the perfect balance of speed and low RPM.

Coasting Through Traffic

Instead of accelerating quickly to the bumper of the car in front of you, try to coast behind them keeping a slow but consistent speed. There is a general rule for fuel economy in cars: If your foot is on the brake, you’re wasting gas.

Clean Up!

Extra weight has an impact on gas mileage. If you have heavy items cluttering your trunk or back seat that you don’t need then keep them at home. The extra weights makes your engine work harder.

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