Money-saving tips

Keep meaning to post some of these...

1. With lots of people canceling hotel and motel reservations, save money. If you have a room reserved, call a few days beforehand and just ask about the rates. You may surprisingly hear a lower rate mentioned than when you booked months ago! I did this at the beginning of the summer when we went to Vermont, and the rate they told me on the phone was actually $20 a night lower than when we booked months earlier. So I got the new rate! (Be warned, though, some rates require you to pay in advance, which means you get no refund if you have to cancel for an emergency or whatever. I don't ever take the pay-in-advance rates.)

2. If you are buying a Macintosh computer or major peripheral, keep in mind that they may give you a discount if you buy more stuff. So if you are planning to buy more stuff anyway, pretend you aren't. When you go in the store, just act like you only want the iphone or iMac or whatever. They may tell you that if you take 3 years of Applecare, or this or that, they'll knock $100 off the price of the main thing you're buying. Since you wanted the extra stuff anyway, now you've got a little discount.

3. Expired coupons for Bed Bath & Beyond still work (usually). And you can use a whole bunch of them at once. Also, Linens & Things coupons work at BBB.

4. If you go to Customer Relations at the NYC Macy's and say you're an out of town tourist, they can give you an 11 percent off discount card that works for a few days. Unlike almost all their usual discounts, this card applies to every brand - even stuff like Coach. So if you are planning to buy an expensive designer item, get the card. (I am not sure that it would apply to a wedding dress, but it applies to most things!) (Oh, speaking of which, go to David's Bridal for a wedding dress, unless you have like $1,000 to part with or don't care. Thank God that store exists. My dress was....well, I'll just say somewhere under $500. Definitely a deal.)

5. Get AAA, even if you don't have a car. It saves a ton of moola on hotel reservations, and even works for some restaurants, car rentals, other things.

There. Hope that helps.