Six Flags Still Open -- Scary, huh?

Six Flags is the place to go during the summer, but little do most people know that October is another GREAT time to visit Six Flags.

The park is transformed into "Fright Fest" for Halloween, and if the weather is still cool & crisp, yet not freezing cold towards the end of October, Six Flags is the place to go.

Don't Forget About Europe

In the US, we tend to think that everything is about US, as in U.S(A.). But it's not.

I recently shared how to get 75% off the Wall Street Journal online & print delivery. But if you're at all involved with business these days, you know that everything is global. And the news you need to know about increasingly needs to be global as well, even if you're doing busines only in the States.

So here's a tip for the Wall Street Journal Europe edition at 50% off:

Who said Apple products ain't cheap? $70 Discounts

Everyone has an Apple iPod. . .EXCEPT YOU! Why not? Is it because you're a cheapo and don't want to shell out the cash for those beautiful mp3 players that don't go on sale?

Here's your change to own an iPod and keep up to $70 in your pocket. Did you know Apple has a quiet section of their store online that sells recertified Apple products that come with full warranties, but just much much cheaper than those sold at in Apple stores?

No one will know except you when you are finally carrying a shiny Apple iPod nano.

Apple also sells discounted iPhones, Macs, iBooks, etc all with simiar discounts that you'll enjoy.

PayPal for Cell Phones. Send money via text message.

This is COOL. I just signed up for obopay.com a new service from Citibank that allows you to TEXT someone money from your account. It only costs $0.10 to send money, nothing to receive.

You get $10 completely free just for signing up.

If you use PayPal, this is the same exact thing, but for your cell phone. You can pay people or receive money safely instantly when you're no by the computer.

For example, if you are at lunch you can split the bill and then text someone the money and they will receive it. If they don't have an account, it's the same thing wtih PayPal, they just pick it up when they get back to their computer and they can push the money to their checking account free. (Unlike PayPal where you can be charged money to receive it, so sending someone cash via PayPal is not exactly the most welcome transaction -- they loose money when you owe them and send it to them). With Obopay, it's fee free on their side and only $0.10 for you to send.

No brainer - sign-up and try it. You'll get $10 instantly to try it out.

Enjoy the show!

Our church is moving to a new location and we need a new projector for the images/video shown in our PowerPoint presentation for the regular worship service. The situation is a gymnasium so we need a powerful projector.

We were first looking at a 4000 Lumen projector, but now have found a 3200 lumen projector by BenQ that seems to have decent reviews. The price difference is roughly $1,500.

Amazon of course has it for sale and the express shipping with Amazon Prime is a great incentive. But is the differential between 3200 and 4000 that great?


We've used smaller projectors - from 800 - 1200 lumens, but never at this magnitude.

Does anyone have any experience with BenQ brand or projectors in this category?

Cheap Dental Plans and Health Insurance

If you work for corporate America, dental insurance is usually a great benefit for you and your family. But if you're a small business, student or other situations, you may be in need of dental coverage, but the rates are so expensive.

Discount dental plans are something you should really look into. They provide dental coverage for regular visits, offer pre-negotiated pricing for other dental procedures like tooth extractions, braces, root canals, and regular check-ups and dental cleanings.

Some of the really big health / dental insurance companies like Aetna, GE, etc offer these cheap dental plans to the public. The great part about these big dental plan networks is that you can find local dentists in you home town. And if you purchase a plan like this, you are pre-approved without any hassles.








Dentalplans.com consolidates these plans and you can even search your local neighborhood first by zipcode to find local dentists in your area before you sign-up. And if you do sign-up, you'll be offered free months of coverage as a bonus.

Wall Street Journal Subscription Model Changing?

FYI, today's Wall Street Journal featured an article about how WSJ.com online is probably going to go to a free subscription model after the sale from Dow Jones is completed. The important part of the article is that they'll keep the premium content behind paid gates, kind of like NY Times Select.

Right now, list price for wsj.com online subscriptions is $99/year.

But the street price is much less if you just look a little further.

e.g. http://1.wallstreetjournaI.googlepages.com offers WSJ.com for $49/year to current print subscribers or $79/year for stand-alone WSJ.com online subscriptions or $9.95 for 30 days -- OR -- you can BOTH the print hard copy of the paper delivered + WSJ.com online subscription COMBINED for $125 for 1 Year 2 Months (60 weeks).

As a print reader to begin with, the $125 for both subscriptions is a no-brainer for me. Usually over $200 for 1 year of the print alone, this deal is amazing for print subscriptions by itself, and then you get online subscription included free. It's great when deals like this come your way.

It's College Application Time!

Juniors are now allowed to official start stressing out. It's college application time.



And the biggest part of the application is of course the good ol' essay.



There's tons of places to generate ideas by seeing some examples of application essay structure, reading some advice, and review some basic templates to get you started. One new sources is with the Instant College Admission Essay Kit.







One differentiator of this resources is that it comes with one free essay review by a professional when you're ready for critique of your soon-to-be masterpiece.

A key reminder is that when you're using any essay resources like this one, that you avoid plagiarizing. A claim for this product is that it provides a step-by-step process of "how to produce your own high-quality college program admission essays or personal statements" -- without coming close to plagiarizing.

The other differentiator of this product is that it's not just for college admissions essays. You'll find examples and help with application essays and personal statements for admission to both college and university programs: Undergraduate, Graduate, MBA, Law, and Medicine.

Back to School: Raising a Math Genius

The Back-to-School season is in full swing with "parent-teacher nights" and other PTA events filling up the schedule left and right.

One of the biggest things you can do for your child is to help them NOW, at the start of the year to get all the "basics" down pat so that they can build upon it during the year -- and not fall behind.

MATH is one subject where you can do wonders in boosting your child's confidence right at home doing some simple and fun games. Sometimes all you need is a couple of formulized games to get you going so that your family can learn some rules of great reinforcement games.

But where do you go for that kind of stuff if the teachers in school aren't sending them home already?

MAKING MATH MORE FUN is a great example of the type of support materials that can make a real difference.

If you're serious about making sure your child feels confident in class, this is a great way to start to build the fundamental skills necessary to be a star.

Here's some testimonials for MAKING MATH MORE FUN from parents just like you:

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! I can't begin to tell you how delighted I am
with these books!!! I've recently moved up to the next grade.... I have been
searching everywhere for some Math Games for this age. I feel as though all my
birthdays have come at once! Your games were easy to download and from what I've
looked at so far are FANTASTIC. Thanks again!"
Lesley M -
Teacher

"What great games. I am looking forward to my summer
vacation preparing many of these activities for my students..... Thanks
for sharing all your wonderful ideas. Your talent and creativity are
evident."
Erika S - Teacher and Parent

"What a great collection
of simple, fun games to make math enjoyable for young children, and also older
children who may be struggling with the basic concepts. The games are very
clearly explained and, thankfully require very little equipment...well done on a
fabulous collection of simple, fun activities."
Carole A - Teacher and
Parent

"I have had GREAT experiences with it so far. As I am
studying teaching it has been a fantastic help when programming lessons and
giving presentations in tutorials. I have given the address to many of my peers
at university who are interested in also downloading the books. I would also
love to know of any more books you may create in the future!"
Catherine B -
Student Teacher

"Thanks so much for the resources! ....... My
kids will be motivated to finish their math assignments so that they can
play these games. .......... The best part is the game store on my
computer rather than taking up a whole cupboard and bookshelf. We've
always felt that boxed games take up too much space. You've solved the
problem for us! Thanks!"
Darci W - Parent

MAKING MATH MORE FUN -- book with games, ideas, puzzles, worksheets and more to help your child master math with you!

Kodak Moment: Back to School is Priceless & Free at the Same Time

Back to School is one of the most exciting times of the year for any family with kids. Now you can capture that excitement with a professional photo portrait from The Picture People. They are giving away free Portrait Sittings and a Free 8x10 or 10x13 Portrait Print.



Here's the printable coupon - just click to get the full-size coupon and bring the print out to The Picture People studio near you.

3 Options for Subscription Discounts to the Wall Street Journal

I read the Wall Street Journal daily and there are a couple of sections/writers that I like to flip pages to first when I get the paper delivered each day.

• The Personal Journal Section - the writers are spot on for editorial topics and the section usually has at least one article daily that hits home. It's a fun read, and usually informative - and practically applicable to life.
• Walt Mossberg - Technology column, called The Mossberg Solution - which is now written usually by Katie Boehret (actually she probably wrote a LOT of the content that Mossberg used in his columns previously, but now she has her own bylines and has moved up in the WSJ reporting offices it seems.
• Joe Morgenstern's movie reviews -- You can usually get a good sense of how a movie is going to be from the headline and sub-heads, but if you read on, the movie reviews are WELL written and somehow capture the essence of what you actually feel while watching the movie, but can't exactly put into words precisely. . . untill you read Joe's reviews. He has the uncanny ability to predict exactly how I'll react to certain scenes, actors, storylines, etc. I search for his reviews of movies before I go watch them now to see how much of my ticket money will be a waste.
• "Under the A-Head" on the front page - usually an interesting off-beat article that has human interest (vs. hard news).
• Marketplace section - it's the 2nd section I turn to after Personal Journal. It's my kind of paper.

Now there's 3 direct deals from WSJ that make this dirt cheap from Dow Jones. They are basically giving the paper away it seems (with the online version too): http://1.wallstreetjournaI.googlepages.com

20% Off Borders Books Printable Coupon

Back to school means hitting the bookstore. Sometimes off-campus bookstores can give a larger discount than the on-campus bookstore, although that's counter intuitive.

Amazon.com isn't the only place to find cheap books -- Borders Books and Waldenbooks can be just a price competitive with a printable coupon for 20% off (they recently had a 25% off coupon) -- which means you can print multiple copies and use them over and over again. Plus you'll have the book instantly.

VALUPOINT TIP: CALL THE STORE before you go and check to see if they have the titles in stock (ISBN #'s are the easiest way for them to look it up).

Click for full size, PRINT and then go to the store!

Get Auto Insurance Quotes Online

It used to be that you had to call or go to different insurance agents' offices to get quotes.

But now, the internet basically allows you to do one-stop shopping from your home from most of the major companies out there. Companies like AIG, Allstate, Nationwide, Hartford, etc all offer quotes online these days. There's no need to drive around or call around. Just do it online!

Especially if you have a new teen driver that wants to drive to school this year, you should really shop around to get the best rates for Teen Driver Auto Policy.

As the famous GEICO commercial says, 15 minutes could save you a bundle and Lower Your Car/SUV Insurance. The best part is that Insurance Quotes Online are very easy to get, no committments required and you'll find out in minutes if you can save on insurance for the same coverage you're getting right now.