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OUR TOWN AND ALL AROUND COUPON BOOK
ON SALE! The NEW 2025 Our Town Coupon Book is now available for $20 with FREE shipping! Regularly $28. Save $8!
Click here to order:
https://www.joethecouponguy.com/merchandise/index.htm
View the book here: https://issuu.com/savearound/docs/our_town_2019?fr=xKAE9_zU1NQ
The NEW 2025 Our Town coupon book has hundreds of coupons for Northeast Ohio area restaurants, fast food, drug stores, movies, golf courses, pizza, dry cleaning, wineries, entertainment, stores, and more! The BEST coupon book available in the area! It’s like getting hundreds of Groupons, but for the price of one! Now on sale for $25 (regularly $28) Plus FREE shipping! Some restaurant coupons are good for up to $36 off! The book can pay for itself with just one coupon! The coupons are good through Dec. 1, 2025! A great bargain! Keep a book in each car.
* RESTAURANTS – Get over 100 offers for dining! Some of the buy one get one free Restaurant coupons include Chagrin River Diner, Red, Wine & Brew, Don Tequila Bar & Grill Mexican Restaurant, Oriole Cafe, Paws, Mallorca, Burgers 2 Beer, Corso’s Italian Restaurant, Frankie’s, Fiesta Jalapenos, Houlihan’s, Mahle’s Restaurant & Lounge, Ballantine, Local Tavern Fish Bar, TOLI and more!
* SAVE – The book can pay for itself after using 1 or 2 coupons. It’s like finding a gift card on every page! Save thousands of dollars!
* FINE DINING – Dozens of Fine Dining Restaurants with almost all with savings of $10 or more. Most offer half off dinners for those dining alone! Some are valued up to $36 off!
* ENTERTAINMENT – Coupons for museums, local attractions, sport-related attractions, game rooms, and much more! Deals for Atlas Cinemas, Fun-n-Stuff, Rollhouse Entertainment, Pioneer Waterland and more!
* WEST SIDE MARKET – Find offers for businesses at the iconic West Side Market.
* FAST FOOD/PIZZA/CASUAL RESTAURANTS – There are tons of “two for one” or “50% off when dining alone” offers at fast food restaurants, pizza restaurants, and neighborhood favorites. Find coupons for Arby’s, Burger King, Denny’s, Hardees, Long John Silver’s, Orange Julius, Sonic, Taco Bell, Around the Corner Saloon & Cafe, Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, IHOP Restaurant, Muldoon’s Saloon & Eatery, Spats Cafe, TJ’s on the Avenue, The Well, Wild Goose and tons more!
* WINERIES – Many coupons for wineries from across Northern Ohio including Ferrante, Paper Moon, Hundley Cellars, Debonne Vineyards, and Old Brooklyn Winery.
* GOLF – Coupons for dozens of green fees & driving ranges, including Erie Shores Golf Course, Pleasant Run, Powderhorn, Pine Ridge, Lost Nation Golf Course, and Vermillion Country Club.
* NATIONAL RETAILERS COUPONS – Save at national chains, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Crocs, Hey Dude, Dunhams, Fitness 19, Chuck E Cheese, Aeropostale, Spencers, UPS, and more!
* MISC. COUPONS – Find coupons for IGA (five $5 off $20 purchase coupons)! Get a $40 gift card at Discount Drug Mart with a new or transferred prescription coupon in the book (have them honored as competitors coupons at other pharmacies).
* SAVEAROUND APP – New app loaded with tons of additional coupons from SaveAround!
* The 2025 Our Town coupons are good now through December 1, 2025!
Click here to order:
https://www.joethecouponguy.com/merchandise/index.htm
SAVVY SHOPPER BOOKLET
UPDATED! Get the Savvy Shopper Booklet and learn how to save tons of money! The booklet has over 200 pages with thousands of money-saving tips. Great for someone just starting out or wants to learn more ways to save money. Only $13 plus get FREE shipping! Learn to save thousands and thousands of dollars!
Included in the booklet are ways to save on these topics:
Rules for Saving, Shopping Tips, Money Saving Apps, Negotiating Savings, Budgeting, Consumer Protection, Coupons, Coupon Booklets, Daily Deals, Rebates, Best Price & Service Guarantees/Price Matching, Rain Checks, Mail/Shipping Orders, Clearance Items, Returns, Receipts, Warranties, Store Loyalty/Rewards Cards, Gift Certificates/Gift Cards, Freebies, Buy One Get One Free Deals, Store Closings, Dollar Stores, Thrift Stores, Garage Sales/Flea Markets, Outlet Stores, Shopping Club Memberships (Warehouse stores), Auctions, Clothing, Restaurant/Bar Deals, Food & Beverage Deals, Entertainment Deals, Books/Magazines/Newspapers, Birthday Deals, Travel Savings, International Travel, Gasoline Savings, Car Savings, Parking Savings, Home Purchase/Mortgage, Home Maintenance/Items, Home Heating/Energy, Employer/Local Corporation Savings/Discounts, Banks/Payday Lenders, Credit Cards/Credit Scores, Taxes, Legal, Debt Help, Insurance, Children, Schooling, Weddings, Marriage/Relationships, Health, Sports, Jobs, Retirement, Charity, Social, Pets, Haircuts, New!: Cutting the Cord, Technology/Internet/Computers/Electronics, Etc., Phone Savings, Cell Phones, Miscellaneous Tips/Information, Traits of Savers vs. Spenders, Other Money Saving Web-sites
Click here to order:
https://www.joethecouponguy.com/merchandise/index.htm
BURPEE
Shop all of your seed, flower, vegetable, & gardening supply needs at Burpee!
May 23 – 25: 30% off all Plants with code PLANTS525
May 16 – 18: 25% off Sitewide with code GROW525 (exclusions apply)
Returning customers save 20% on orders $60+ with code BURPEE20
Save 10% on your first Burpee purchase with promo code BURPEE10
Click here: https://tinyurl.com/Burpee2025
ARES TRAVEL
Save up to 40% on popular attraction tickets, hotels and vacation packages at arestravel.com.
Buy a Day, Get a Day FREE at Universal Studios Hollywood
Discover Washington DC with these discount activity offers
Click here: https://tinyurl.com/AResTravel2025
SAMS CLUB
Memorial Day Savings are here! $5,500 in online offers for appliances, mattresses & more.
Join now and get 50% off a Club membership. That's only $25! Limited time offer.
Join now and get $40 off a Plus membership. That's only $70! Limited time offer.
Shop Shocking Values at SamsClub.com for daily, limited-time savings!
Click here: https://tinyurl.com/SamsClub2025
CUTTER & BUCK
Cutter & Buck creates short sleeve polo shirts, vests, pullovers, button-downs, long sleeve shirts, dress shirts, t-shirts, pants, shorts, sweaters, sweatshirts, hoodies, outerwear, jackets, windbreakers, vests, puffers, quilted jackets, quarter zips and athleisure clothing for men and women and are also offered in Mens Big sizes and Mens Tall sizes. Our clothes are perfect for your active lifestyle, engineered for exceptional versatility so they will be perfect for work, work from home, travel, date night, golf, walking, boating, hiking, entertaining, and for showing your team pride and fan support for your favorite MLB, NFL, or NCAA College or University Team.
Free Shipping on all Orders over $50! Including all NFL, MLB and NCAA
Click here: https://tinyurl.com/CutterBuck2025
RESTAURANT.COM
Dine with Restaurant.com and save up to 50% off your final bill
Click here: https://tinyurl.com/Restaurant2025
MAGAZINES.COM
MEMORIAL DAY SALE: Get an Extra 93% Off Top Rated Titles (Limited Time Only)
MEMORIAL DAY SALE: Get Top-Rated Titles as Low as $6 for a FULL YEAR Subscription + FREE SHIPPING!
PENNY SALE—Get an Extra 3 Months of Your Favorite Magazines for Just a Penny More!
$5 Off Sale—Take an EXTRA $5 Off Full Year Subscriptions + FREE SHIPPING
Click here: https://tinyurl.com/Magazines2025
LEGO
LEGO® New and Exclusive Products!
Free LEGO® Up-Scaled Baby Astronaut gift with purchases of $150 or more!
Free LEGO® Mini Ninja Combo Mech gift with purchases of $40 or more!
Click here: https://tinyurl.com/LegoSale2025
FLORSHEIM SHOES
Only a few pairs left…shop up to 60% off! Prices as marked.
Click here: https://tinyurl.com/Florsheim2025
CLASS SCHEDULE
Learn how to save a ton of money at one of my classes! All classes are free unless otherwise noted. Be sure to register for libraries that require registration as some have waiting lists. I hope to see you there! To view my upcoming class schedule as I add classes please go to: https://www.joethecouponguy.com/schedule/index.htm
At my Couponing/Savvy Shopper class learn how to consistently save 70% and more through couponing, sales, and rewards programs on groceries and toiletries. Find out new ways to save money on restaurants, utilities, cell/smart phones, travel, gas, prescriptions, clothes, and much more! Discover the psychological aspects of shopping and saving money. Find out how to save too much money!
At my Travel Affordably class learn how to get the best deals on car rentals, flights, cruises, lodging, and transportation. Find out how to save on entertainment and restaurants at your destination. You’ll learn where to find flights to Hawaii and Europe for around $300, Cruises for 80% off or more, free flights, the best places to economically travel, and travel saving secrets.
At my Cutting the Cord class find out your options to getting rid of cable. Learn ways to cut costs. Discover how to get free TV, including using an easy-to-install antenna or free streaming video services. Find out your options for streaming video devices, including Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, or Amazon Fire TV Stick and what shows you can access with them, including live TV and sports. Find out which of the many streaming video services from Hulu, Sling, Netflix, to Disney+ and many more are best for you. Make sense of all the confusion of switching from cable to another service and the technical parameters needed to do so. Find out how much you can save!
JULY
Saturday, July 26, 2025 – Couponing/Savvy Shopper Class – Aurora Community Education – 12:30 pm – FEE – Register at https://aurora.activityreg.com/selectActivity
Saturday, July 26, 2025 – Travel Affordably Class – Aurora Community Education – 3:00 pm – FEE – Register at https://aurora.activityreg.com/selectActivity
AUGUST
Saturday, August 2, 2025 – Couponing/Savvy Shopper Class – Pickerington Sycamore Branch Library – 12:30 pm – FREE!
Saturday, August 2, 2025 – Travel Affordably Class – Pickerington Main Library – 3:00 pm – FREE!
Saturday, August 23, 2025 – Cutting the Cord Class – Aurora Community Education – 3:00 pm – FEE – Register at https://aurora.activityreg.com/selectActivity
SEPTEMBER
Monday, September 15, 2025 – Couponing/Savvy Shopper Class – Akron Summit Library – 6:30 pm – FREE!
NOVEMBER
Monday, November 3, 2025 – Couponing/Savvy Shopper Class – Barberton Library – 6:30 pm – FREE!
If you’re interested in booking a class for your organization whether it be a PTA, Senior Center, Business, Church, or Library, please contact me at joe@joethecouponguy.com or 440-227-6223. I can tailor the topics to your organization.
If you’d like for me to teach a class at your local library, feel free to contact your library and request me. Have them get a hold of me at joe@joethecouponguy.com to book me. Thank you!
GIANT EAGLE
Select Cereal – Buy 2 get 3 Free – also use two $1/2 Kelloggs or Special K coupon on coupons.com
Pepsi 12 pack – Buy 2 get 3 Free – I also use a $3 coupon on coupons.com and got $3.75 off loyalty customer offer for purchasing 2 Pepsi 12 packs plus a $1 Giant Eagle digital coupon making each pack cost about $2.50 each
$30 CONCERTS
Live Nation is selling tickets starting May 21st for certain concerts at Blossom Music Center for $30. Here are the bands:
Breaking Benjamin and Staind
Sessanta
Halsey
Outlaw Music Festival with Willie Nelson
Bob Dylan and more
James Taylor
Keith Urban
Pantera
Kesha
Big Time Rush
Cyndi Lauper
Nelly
Toto with Christopher Cross and Men At Work
The Offspring
Styx with The Kevin Cronin Band and Don Felder
The Black Keys
Weird Al Yankovic
The Doobie Brothers with Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band
NEW BREEZE AIRWAYS ROUTES
Breeze Airways will offer five new nonstop routes and one one-stop/no plane change route from the airport to destinations in North Carolina and Florida at the Akron-Canton airport. The new routes begin this fall and start at $49 for one-way service.
The new routes:
Daytona Beach, Fla. (Wednesdays and Saturdays, starting Sept. 3)
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Wednesdays and Saturdays, BreezeThru – one stop/no change of plane — with nonstop service on Mondays and Fridays, starting Nov. 5)
Jacksonville, Fla. (Thursdays and Sundays, starting Sept. 4)
Key West, Fla. BreezeThru — one stop/no change of plane — service on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, starting Oct. 2.)
West Palm Beach, Fla. (Mondays and Fridays, BreezeThru — one stop/no change of plane – with nonstop service on Wednesdays and Saturdays starting Sept. 3)
Wilmington, N.C. (Mondays and Fridays, starting Nov. 7)
VINTAGE OHIO DISCOUNTED TICKETS
Get discounted tickets for Vintage Ohio, a two day wine festival on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 1-2, at Lake Farmpark in Kirtland. A limited number of discounted tickets will be available beginning at 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 19, via phone only at 440-466-4417. It will close when 500 tickets have been sold. Discounted tickets will cost $33 (Regular advance are $39 and day of tickets are $42).
A VIP area will be offered for patrons to try Ohio wines that have won gold medals in assorted national competitions. VIP admission also includes noon entry, entrance to a private VIP area with music, extra seating and light snacks. VIP ticket cost will be $70 during the flash sale (regularly $82).
PEACOCK DISCOUNT
Peacock is offering a deal on their streaming video service through May 30th. Cost for 1 year is $24.99, a savings of $55.
RITE AID CLOSURES
Rite Aid closed pretty much all their stores in Ohio, but are now on the verge of shutting down entirely. After declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy two years ago they declared it again recently. They are looking to sell their remaining stores and are in the process of closing more. They are even suspending their Rite Aid Rewards program. They have 1,240 stores across the U.S., a significant drop from its peak of more than 4,500 locations in the early 2000s.
When I stopped at one of the Ohio stores left a couple months ago the shelves were barely stocked. I’m sure vendors are leery about Rite Aid being able to pay for their merchandise.
Such a bummer to see them go as I used to shop there every week and got some great deals. With Walgreens and CVS closing many of their stores there will be communities lacking pharmacies. The Willoughby Hills CVS closed and they took over the pharmacy business from the nearby Marc’s. Nearby CVS stores will take over those prescriptions, but even they are slammed with customers. Great time for a competitor to step in.
TESTING TESTING
A quality control program for milk and other dairy products at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been suspended due to capacity issues following recent government spending cuts. The testing and data analysis covers Grade “A” raw milk and finished products. Services hit include quality control work around lab testing for cyclospora, a parasite that can occur in spinach, as well as for glyphosate pesticide in barley. Just another beneficial safety program cut.
PRICE INCREASES
As I mentioned in a prior blog, Wal-Mart was poised to increase prices due to tariffs. Sure enough, this past week they announced they were increasing prices due to the tariffs. The tariff increases were to try and force companies to bring back manufacturing to the U.S. However, if most countries approve a 10% tariff increase like it seems they will, that isn’t enough to get businesses to reshore their plants. So instead, consumers will, in essence, be paying a regressive tax due to the increase in tariffs. Many companies stand to lose business too since consumers will have less discretionary income, causing jobs to be cut. Ohio is seeing the affects already with unemployment nearly reaching 5% in April after hitting a record low of 3.3% in 2023.
One thing to note is that back in the day, Wal-Mart used to tout how their products were made in America. Then it slowly changed to now where an estimated 70% to 80% of products sold at their stores are made in China. The price increases will be coming in the following months.
SAINT MARTIN TRIP
We took a trip to St Martin and also St Barts in the Caribbean. We’ve stopped at St Martin numerous times during cruises and liked it enough to make a trip of it. Plus, with Maui being restored yet, we wanted to find an alternative to Maui, our go-to happy place. We toyed with booking a trip to Key West, but the cheapest places to stay that were decent cost around $300 per night while I found rooms in St Martin more than half off that price.
To trigger the trip I checked the cost to fly there to see if it was reasonable. It was since I got our flights for free! When I initially checked the flights were around $600 roundtrip. Using points on specific times and dates I got the flight for only 20,000 points roundtrip. Great deal, since most domestic flights are 25,000 points and this was an international flight. I had enough points from opening a credit card with American Airlines that got me 100,000 points. The flight costs increased to around $900 as we got closer to our trip date.
Lately, United and American have been offering me bonus points when I spend a specific amount per month on their credit card for multiple months, usually around $500 to $1,000 per month for 3 or 4 months. The latest was 10,000 points for spending $1,000 for each of 4 months from American.
I rented a car with Avis. My credit card covers damage, etc, so I had them send me a letter of coverage that I showed to them when we arrived. Saved me some bucks. I took pics of the car before I left in case they fussed about damage that I didn’t do. I tried to use codes for discounts, but because it was an island rental they didn’t work.
Roads were pretty bad with potholes and tons of speed bumps. There was a speed bump probably about every 1/4 mile around the whole island. You can get from one side of the island to the other in a half hour. The island is only 34 square miles. No highways.
St Martin has a lot of resorts. We opted for booking places to stay via AirBNB and Hotels.com. We broke up the trip with 3 day stays at two places and one for 2 days and another for one day near the airport on the last day. I wanted a variety of places in case we decided to come back again and rebook them. Plus, if one of the places was thumbs down we wouldn’t be stuck there for too long. St Martin has a Dutch side and a French side (two separate countries), so we also wanted to sample both sides. One thing to be aware of is the Dutch side has regular 110 volt electricity while the French side does 220, so adapters are needed there.
Our first stay was an AirBNB near Maho beach. It’s the beach that is next to the airport where planes fly right at you or blast you during takeoff while you stand on the beach or fence next to the airport. We paid around $130 a night and they could have charged triple that amount. It had a private pristine pool and courtyard with a breakfast nook.
Nearby was a restaurant, or complex of restaurants with one bar. It included Roma restaurant (Italian) and Chow (Oriental). Super great food that was half off during happy hour, including sushi, along with $6 cocktails. We had a great time joking with with some Serbian bartenders. Using my broken Croatian which is pretty much the same as Serbian, we had a blast. At the end of the trip I passed going to a place with all you can eat ribs for $12.99 just to go there one last time. The last time we went they said they were putting us on their Wall of Fame. They gave us free shots and took a Polaroid of us. They had maybe only 15 pictures in a container, so I guess we were special.
The best sand beach on the island was Mullet Bay. One of the best beaches we’ve been to. Soft sand and huge calm bay. I got pics of a hummingbird with it’s two babies there. Also, got a pic of some kind of huge 5 foot or so fish. The largest I’ve ever seen.
Most every beach I snorkeled I ran into a barracuda. Big ones around 4 or 5 feet. They tend not to take off when you stumble upon them. They usually just look at you. Just have to watch their demeanor. As soon as they seem agitated, it’s time to go. One I saw had a posse of fish around it which was the first time I’ve seen that. It was a great barracuda. They have stripes on it. I was in a swarm of thousands of fish that were zipping all around me and the great barracuda popped up. Usually, they are stationary, but he was swimming around with his posse and that was my que to book it out of Dodge. I saw that barracuda at Cupecoy beach. An isolated beach with cool rock features and nudies. Cupecoy seems to be upcoming with many places being built around it.
Our next stop was Oyster Pond. Got a cool place overlooking the bay called Les Balcons. Had a pool. Also air conditioning. If you do travel to St Martin be sure the place you have has air conditioning. Temperatures are around the mid 80s and the blaring sun just heats up rooms.
On our way there a couple ladies stopped us while they were in their car. Turns out they were wanting us to go to a presentation for a resort/timeshare. They gave us a couple scratch cards and the one my wife had was for one of their grand prizes.. Yeah, like as if that isn’t staged. They gave us their schpiel and I was like I am never doing a timeshare and they said it was for the resort. I told them I’m not spending two hours wasting time while we are on vacation even if we do win some bucks. To get them out of our hair we scheduled an appointment for the next day.
The next stop was at an AirBNB north of Orient Beach. I got a steal there. They were renting for the first time and gave a 15% discount. Only $110. Had a pool and it overlooked a bay near Orient Beach.
We made stops at nearby beaches, including Friars Beach, Happy Beach, Grand Case, and Anse Marcel. While we were at Friars Beach we walked over to Happy Beach, a ten minute walk with spectacular views. Both were nice sandy beaches. Grand Case was a busy beach. They had some cool tables in the water where you can place you drink while in the water. Anse Marcel was a really nice beach. I got pics of a Cuttlefish family (like squid) while snorkeling. My underwater camera died when I first came across them. So peeved. But we had a wire to plug into the car to charge it enough for me to go back out and find them again for pics. They all faced me in a defensive position. They then chilled out and turned around once they saw I wasn’t a threat. Saw some barracuda chasing angel fish right on the shoreline. The school of fish were jumping out of the water to evade them.
Shopping was interesting. The dollar is down, so everything cost more if the price was in Euros (find the exchange rates at https://www.xe.com). For instance, earlier this year I could get almost $1 Euro for $1 USD. During the trip it was only get 88 cents in Euros for every US dollar. Back in 2022 I could get over $1! The good thing is that the Dutch half was all in US dollars. The French side was sometimes in USD or still did one Euro for one dollar in exchange, but some places only gave 85 cents in Euros for every US dollar. In 2018 and 2022 it was as low as 80 cents. I had credit cards that didn’t charge a foreign transaction fee and that helped.
30 pack of eggs for $6.99!
I did get some bargains. In Phillipsburg I stopped at a liquor store. They wheel and deal with you, so I would try and beat down the price and walk away if they didn’t get me the price I wanted and also to find out their absolute lowest price. I got Eagle Rare bourbon for $30 when it is normally $70 to $99 in the states. It’s tough to find. Even buying it at Buffalo Trace where it’s made they only allocate one every 90 days to customers. Needless to say, I got more than one.
Wines at stores on the French side were super cheap. They have some Aldi-like stores and one was selling bottles of wine for $3 to $5 for some French wine. Bottles of wine at restaurants were reasonable at $20 to $30 or more.
Food was spectacular. We tried to stick to seafood since it was so fresh there. Ate a Caribbean lobster roll, red snapper, scallops, tuna tartare, black squid ink risotto, jerk chicken, mahi mahi and more local treats.
We were told numerous times not to drink the tap water. We bought water bottles throughout the trip. At one place I got six 1.5 liter bottles of water for $3 total only to find out I bought sparkling water. My wife loves sparkling water so it worked out.
We took a ferry to St Barts or as I call it, Kardashian island. It’s a bougie island where stars and billionaires frequent, so I made it a point to get a deal that they would never buy. I bought swim trunks that were regularly $80 for only $5! It was a very clean island. We stopped at St Jean beach and also Shell Beach, which is exactly as the name states and is full of shells.
The Dutch side had their annual Carnival featuring ladies in huge feather costumes full of color. They paraded through town while loud music pounded.
One of the worst parts of traveling now are the flights. Always some issue. On the way there there were no issues. We even got the Saint Martin early. The flight out to our first stop in Miami was ahead of time too and that was amazing since we had to board on the tarmac. We got through customs super quick because we had Global Entry. They use facial recognition and announce your name as you walk by. No line and I pretty much didn’t break stride. The flight back to Cleveland was bogus though. The luggage carousel busted and they then had to transfer them to another one. The plane for our flight came in late and then had some maintenance issues. We were supposed to get in at midnight, but ended up arriving around 2 AM. We got home around 3 AM and I still went to work. I need another vacation…
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© COPYRIGHT 2025 – Joe Daugirdas
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