Guest post – Randy, Canada

Arrival – We were upgraded from the Oasis Palm Beach

Rooms - Room was gorgeous, we asked for and received an ocean view room. Unfortunately hot water was inconsistent and despite the fact that we tipped, we had a hard time getting the maid to clean our room (we had to call several times – it was like pulling teeth to get housekeeping over). But to be fair, that may have been due to the fact that my friends slept in every day until noon, when the maid came by in the morning they would send her away. So housekeeping had to make a special trip to clean our room. But for a 4* they should be able to clean our room within an hour or so of us requesting it, and they didn’t.

Restaurants - Excellent! The a la carte restaurants and sushi and pizza were fantastic! I really recommend eating at the a la cartes all the time. The buffet was decent, but not special.

Bars – Wonderful, and plenty of them! I’m just a cerveza drinker myself, can’t comment on the mixed drinks.

Beach and Pools - Pools were spectacular, and so was the beach.

Grounds - Very pretty grounds

Activities - Unfortunately, I’m not the person to judge bacause I think activities are really annoying in general and I prefer that there not be any at all. I would have loved to relax by the main pool, but couln’t because of the “Animation”. For pete’s sake, we are on vacation to relax, I can’t fathom why these resorts think we want to be “entertained” by noisy aerobics classes, bingo games, etc. If you’re looking for peace and quiet, the infiniti pool on the other side of the resort is better.

Tours – I dodn’t take any tours from the resort. I was there to do some serious diving, every morning I went with Ben from Mayan Aqua Dive for a two-tank dive and the diving was great (and I’ve dove Cozumel, Bahamas, etc so I know good diving when I see it). On the last day, got a ride with some friedns to Xel-Ha, a natural waterpark in a lagoon. It’s $75 US but worth it – nice snorkelli

Conclusion – Overall, a good resort. not perfect, but perfection is very rare

This was my 5th trip to Cancun area. The last 3 including this one were Riviera Maya. Our travel agent highly recommended this resort. I have stayed at many all inclusive resorts and this was one of the top 2 we have stayed at. The food was by far the best of any of them. I would encourage you to make sure your package is the premium package. It included wireless internet as well as access to the club premium room. The appetizer were awesome for snacking on while watching the big screen TV or using their computers to get online.
I would highly recommend this resort.

Room Number:
3309

Arrival:
Be sure to have the welcome drinks a slushy mango or strawberry drink. They have these in the lobby as well as bottled water available to guests 24/7. Be sure to reserve your specialty restauants as soon as you check in as they fill up quickly. Over all I would say that this is one of the nicest mexico all-inclusive resorts I have stayed at.

Rooms:
Our room faced the ocean. It had a balcony that overlooked the pool, palm trees and a glimpse of the ocean. The room was large with a flat screen TV, couch, safety deposit box and fine linens on the beds.

Restaurants and Bars:
The buffet was large with a huge variety of tasty food. I loved the fresh made juice smoothies, custom made omelets, mouth watering breads, smooth ice cream, flank steak, stone fire pizza, fresh friut, chicken nuggets, variety of cheeses, baked tortilla chips, and so much more. The specialty restaurants were really fun. Each one had it’s own ambiance and theme. My favorites were the Koyo the Japanese restaurant and Santa Fe the Steak House.

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The pool was large with bridges that crossed over it. The landscaping was well done and kept up continually. The beach had superb sand with plenty of beach loungers. Their sound system on the beach was good. If you walk out to the pier you can see fish right from there. We saw several varieties of fish as well as a momma eel.

Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
They had arobics on the beach and in the pool, bingo, crazy games, mini golf, pitch and putt, bocce ball, along with a schedule full of activites from 7 – 5 then at night they had shows. They did a Micheal Jackson show that made you forget that you weren’t at one of his real shows. The show were first class with great music and costuming. Waitresses waited on the guests bringing them the drinks of their choice for free.
They have sail boats, water tricycles, snorkeling equipement,and canoes that are free for guests use as well as jet skis and snorkling trips at an extra charge.
They have people selling tours and renting cars in the lobby. There are some really fun tours and sightseeing trips if you stay long enough to get bored and want to leave all the fun at the resort. We did go on one tour as we had other people with us that had not been to that area of Mexico before and wanted to do some sightseeing. I arranged for us to go with a tour company that I have used before. One of my favorite sightseeing tours is from Alltournative Tours called Mayan Experience. It takes you to the jungle, zip lining, swimming in an underground cenote, repelling, and to the Coba ruins.

I give the resort a 4 out of 5 stars

Do think this gift is too mean for a friend that is having her 40th Birthday?  Is this haha or epic fail?

I hope you get it.  40 sucks for your birthday as in 40 hard candies that you can suck.    When I first saw this idea, it was done with suckers but I figured hard candies would work as well. 

The one I as giving it to has a good sense of humor so I’m sure she will get a chuckle.

When I remark on the cost of a couple of their wishes (“wow, that Lego is $170”), their response is “I want that one to come from Santa.”

Never underestimate how clever your kids can be.

We’re on a budget this Christmas, and the kids know this: my husband is studying full-time for his MBA so money is going to be tight.

But Santa is another story. He makes everything and he apparently has very deep pockets.

I have a simple answer when my kids play the Santa card (and it’s not the first year). I tell them if Santa had an unlimited budget, then I’d ask for a new minivan for Christmas, but I don’t, because I know Santa can’t afford those kinds of gifts. My answer usually does a pretty good job of making them stop and think.

I find it impossible not to smile watching all of my kids excitedly showing each other what’s on their lists. But I also see the annual Christmas wish lists as an excellent time to talk about generosity and giving, budgeting, and delayed gratification.

When we’re on the subject of wishes, I’ll often ask them about the annual Christmas hamper at school. I also ask them if they’ve been thinking about putting some of their allowance or paper route money aside for the hamper. I also ask them if they’ve thought about their gifts to each other.

We even talk about advertising and marketing, and how toy sellers try to make their toys attractive by using special camera angles, bright colors, and clever ad copy.

We’re very fortunate that as a family that our kids can look forward to receiving gifts on Christmas day. And for that very reason, I feel it’s incumbent upon me to make sure we have these conversations—and the kids don’t miss an opportunity to learn.

Kim Dudra is a freelance copywriter based in Vancouver, B.C., and is the owner of re:fresh communications. She’s been known to juggle four kids’ schedules, three computers, two cats, and one cup of coffee, all at once. Kim is a featured writer for girlgetstrong.

Room Number:
1127

Room Block:
11

Arrival:
We traveled from Vancouver BC, on Sunwing and were delayed 1 hour 40 minutes leaving. We had prearranged our transport through Avispas Adventures and they were there waiting when we arrived. Customs was no problem and we were through quite quickly.

Rooms:
My only complaint was lack of hot water in my room but had someone within 20 minutes of calling the front desk to fix the problem. They take complaints seriously and do everything they can to make things right. The hotel is built on a hill and we were lucky to be in building 11, which is right in front of the stairs to the pool, restaurant and beach. .

Restaurants and Bars:
We decided not to attend any of the a-la-cartes and just ate at the buffet. The food was a little repetitive but very good. There was plenty of fresh fruit with every meal and the staff was eager to please with drinks arriving promptly. We found line ups about a half hour after the buffet opened for every meal but it was never a long wait.

Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The heat was intense while we were there (Jan 31-Feb 7, 2011) so beds with a shelter were a must. The pool was well maintained and the pool bar had plenty of shade. The bartenders were generous with the alcohol and the bar was well stocked.

The beach was at low tide for a good part of the day and was very nice to walk on. There were no other resort close so we could walk a long way. The sand is black, due to the volcano’s, so you can’t really lie on it but close to the ocean it isn’t too hot to walk.

Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
On to Avispas Adventures. I can’t say enough good things about this company!! Amy is American born and married to a Costa Rican. They provide private and small tours to places the larger groups (booked through the hotel) can’t go to. We did a full day tour which included horseback riding, canopy tour (ie ziplining) and volcanic mud baths. This was the absolute best part of our trip! Amy provided background info as we were driving to the site and made sure we were all able to do everything we wanted to do while we were at the site (including a not planned waterfall walk). It really helped having an English and Spanish speaking tour guide. Her prices are much less and you get so much more with her tours. Highly recommended!!

A: Spring break has become known as a reason to escape from the dreary everyday and bask in the sun, even if it’s only for a week. But many people have reconsidered their plans to go overseas and are choosing a staycation over a vacation.

Staycations got their name a few years ago and have evolved from simply a way to save time, money and energy to an event the whole family anticipates. But as with any good vacation, a staycation also takes planning.

Start with a family meeting and discuss what a staycation is and isn’t for your family. It can be a time to see your city, take in local attractions, enjoy cuisine in a region you may not go to often and sleep in your own bed each night.

A staycation is not a time for chores, renovations, to-do lists or for your kids to catch up on homework assignments If you have work to do, that should be a separate plan for either before or after the fun.

Next, brainstorm and decide what you would all like to do around town or within easy reach by car. Each of you could pick an outing and become leader for the day. You would organize the activity, transportation and meals.

Even if your children are young, they could take the lead in suggesting and planning as much as they are able to do. Encourage them to look for group coupon deals to provide extra ideas or incentives to try something new.

Consider these activities:

- Visit the park, attractions in another town or plan a day to go skiing or tobogganing on one of the local mountains.

- Check your community recreation guide for special events during spring break.

- Connect with family or friends that you normally don’t get to spend a day with and invite them along.

The intention of a staycation is to relax without the stress or expense of travelling. Determine your budget ahead of time and then plan backwards so that you don’t spend more than you can afford.

You and your family will feel more rested and energized knowing that you met your goal of spending time together without blowing the budget.

Scott Hannah is president and CEO of the Credit Counselling Society, a nonprofit organization. For more information about managing your money check www.nomoredebts.org or call 604-527-8999.

- Have a money question? Email prov money@theprovince.com.

As an update to this post I’ve more recently written one on How I make Money Blogging which highlights the most profitable ways that I use blogs to generate income. I’ve also written extensively on how bloggers make money in ProBlogger the Book.

How do bloggers make money from blogs?

I’ve been reflecting this week about the amazing diversity of opportunities that are opening up for bloggers to make money from blogging.

I’ve long advised that bloggers seeking to make money from blogging spread their interests across multiple revenue streams so as not to put all their eggs in one basket.

The wonderful thing is that this is becoming easier and easier to do 2005 has seen many options opening up. I thought I’d take a look at some of the methods that bloggers are currently using to make money through blogs.

Income Streams for Bloggers – How to Make Money Blogging

Advertising Programs – Perhaps the most obvious changes in the past few months have been with the addition of a variety of viable advertising options for bloggers looking to make money from their blogs. The most common way bloggers seem to earn money online is via the contextual ad program from Google – Adsense. A more recent addition that many are using successfully are Chitika’s eMiniMalls and WidgetBucks, Text Link Ads.

Azoogle Ads, Intelli Txt, DoubleClick, Tribal Fusion, Adbrite, Clicksor, AdHearUs, Kanoodle, Pheedo, TextAds, Bidvertiser, Fastclick and Value Click (to name just some of the options) and there is a smorgasbord of options. Of course there is more to come with MSN Adcenter and YPN both in beta testing and with a variety of other advertising system currently in development (YPN is only available to US publishers).

Lastly there’s BlogAds – one of the first blog specific ad networks.

RSS Advertising – The past 12 months have seen some advances in RSS Advertising also. I’m yet to hear of any bloggers making big money blogging through it to this point – but as improvements are made to the ad programs exploring this I’m sure we’ll start to see examples of it being profitable.

Sponsorship – In addition to the array of advertising programs that are available to join there is a growing awareness in the business of the value and opportunity that exists for them to advertise directly on blogs. I’m hearing more and more examples of this and have been fortunately to have a couple of ad campaigns of my own in the past month – one with Adobe a couple of weeks ago and another just completed with Ricoh for a new digicam over at my Digital Camera Blog. These are not isolated cases – as I say I know of many blogs exploring sponsorship with advertisers at present and suspect we’ll see more of it in the year ahead. Sponsorship is also happening on a post by post basis with some bloggers being paid to write on certain topics by companies – either in one off or a regular fashion – and they are able to make big money from their blogs doing so.

Affiliate Programs – There are larger affiliate programs like Amazon, Linkshare, Clickbank and Commission Junction but also literally thousands of others from the large to the very small.

Digital Assets – Increasing numbers of bloggers have been developing other digital assets to support and add revenue streams to their blogs. By this I mean that I’m increasingly seeing e-books, courses and tele-seminars being run by bloggers. My recent foray into this with the first series of the six figure blogging course that Andy and I ran a few weeks ago and have just released the study version of. This type of activity will only increase in future – in fact this week I’ve seen numerous examples of bloggers running courses.

Blog Network Opportunities –……read more here

1. Skillet Chicken Caccitore with pasta
2. Spicy Black Bean Soup with buns
3. Green Eggs and Ham with Aspargus on the side
4. Meditarean Tuna Wraps with sliced avocados

I will have 1/2 of the ham left over so I will include it in sandwiches or in the weekend omlette. 

Trick #2 I am trying super hard to do is, DO NOT grocery shop mid-week.  This saves a bundle!  I know it is sometimes very diffucult with kids as they have their favorites but it really does work.  My husband, does however, do a midnight run for his favorite items that we have run out of, but this is OK because that is ALL he buys.  As long as it keeps me out of the shops, it works like a charm and saves more time to do other things I need to be doing.

Trick 3# Sign up for your local gorcery store newsletters, follow them on twitter and Like them on Facebook.  They will be able to inform you of all the specials that are coming up including and celebrations they may be having in the newsletter.  On twitter and Facebook they will give you even more at the moment specials, giveaways, contests, recipes, surveys and discounts. 

http://twitter.com/WholeFoods  – One of my all time favorite stores ever is on twitter and Facebook .  They are expensive but the quality and freshness is hard to beat so it is even more important to get the items on sale. 

Stay tuned for even more tips at the grocery store coming up.  Do you do the above?  How do you save money on your grocery expense?

1. Go to the garage sales as soon as the garage opens
2. Look in your local paper or on line for the garage sales and focus on the ones that say neighbourhood sale or multi family garage sale
3. Make sure the ad states that there are kids stuff to be sold
4. Look for brand named clothing that people look for in the swap meet
5. Make sure all of the clothes are clean and no stains
6. Bundle the clothes and give the seller one price for all-I will take all of this for $20

Buying clothing at a second store can be a little more tricky as the prices tend to be a little higher than a garage sale:

1. Find out when your second store puts new items on the shelves
2. Continue to find clothes that are name brand and clean
3. Most of the second hand stores have great bargain sales once per week or so
4. Buy the clothes off season

Now its time to buy your table!  Here are some tips to maximize your success:

1. Stick with Kids only Swap Meets
2. Make sure you get your earlier bird special rate for your table.  
3. Make sure you get your table in the main section of the swap meet.  I have been stuck upstairs away from the crowd and did horribly. 
4. Make sure all of your clothes are super clean
5. Separate your clothes in sizes and keep like colors together
6. Hang up any pretty dresses or jackets so people can get a good look at them
7. Keep the shoes under the table in boxes in sizes ranges
8. Keep your prices to about 1/2 of the retail price for lightly used clothing
9. Be fair in the prices, people will want to barter with you
10. Make a cash box with a float

Above all, meet some new people and have fun!  My 10 year old daughter loves the swap meets even more than the hunt for the clothes.  Let me know how your next swap meet goes!

By Suite101

If you’re reading this, you probably have shelves full of books you want to get rid of. Dust off the covers and start selling!

Getting Started

Hit the “sell items” button at the bottom of Amazon’s main page, and you’re off! You can begin listing items as soon as you enter your bank account information. Amazon doesn’t use Pay Pal. They wire your proceeds directly into your account. If this worries you, you can set up a separate bank account.

Fees and Pricing

Amazon only collects a fee when your book sells. You set your sales price. Amazon collects the money from your buyer including the amount for shipping. They then deduct a commission of fifteen percent of the sales price, a transaction fee of ninety-nine cents and a variable closing fee. Amazon will waive the ninety-nine cent transaction fee if you become a “pro-merchant.” Warning: Only become a pro merchant if you have a LOT of books to sell. It will cost you $39.99 per month. Granted, you can cancel the account at any time, but you are stuck with the payment for at least one month.

List an Item

When you’re ready to sell your first book, Amazon will ask you to set a price. But first you’ll have the opportunity to see what others are charging for the same book. Make sure you match the lowest price. But be careful. If you list your book for under one dollar, you could lose money because of that ninety-nine cent transaction fee. Also, Amazon will ask you whether you want to ship internationally. Shipping internationally is great because it opens up many more potential customers. But watch out. It’s more expensive to ship to other countries especially if your book weighs a lot. Amazon charges the customer more for international shipping. But once in a while, that won’t be enough to get your book to certain countries in 14 days. Check with the United States Post Office for over-seas shipping rates

Read more at Suite101: Selling Used Books from Home: How to Make Money Selling Books on Amazon Marketplace http://www.suite101.com/content/selling-used-books-a32107#ixzz1Bn62CEnZ ]]> http://mommy.girlgetstrong.com/2011/01/22/make-money-selling-books-from-amazon/feed/ 0