What's the Deal with Group Discount Sites?

Groupon, Living Social, Daily Deal
I've been getting e-mails, Facebook posts, and now TV ads on these. A friend sent me a Groupon a couple months ago for Barnes & Noble which looked interesting, but I didn't have time to deal so I left it in my inbox to deal with later. Those who use these discounts realize my mistake. By the time I had time, the time had passed to execute the buy. I roamed the site anyway, finding a great deal from Baby Genius. I got 5 of there top DVD/CDs for a little over the price for 1. My new nephew will be a genius! 

So what's all the fuss about? These sites advertise discount deals of 50% or more on a variety of products or services. The "deal" is activated when a pre-determined number of people agree to buy the offer. For example the deal that got me jazzed enough to write this blog is from Daily Deal. It's an hour massage & a chiropractic eval from Chiropractic Health in East Hanover, all for $39! I said yes and if 4 other people say yes today, then the deal is on. 


Living Social has an additional interesting twist. If you say buy one of their deals, tell your friends and 3 of them buy the same deal, then your purchase is free. For the well connected this could be a really good deal. Me, I'm looking at an interesting offer for a play at the PaperMill Playhouse. Problem is, I've got to settle on a date and find at least one other person  to go with me let alone three within the next 17 hours. That's just not enough time for me & my non-wired friends. Now if the offer was for a cool sporting event I have no doubt my nephew & his texting buddies would have it worked out in minutes. Oh God does this mean I am officially old? Yikes!

Back to my Chiropractic Health deal. In the time it's taken me to write this blog enough people have said yes to the daily deal from Daily Deal that it is on. Time for a massage!

Stress Buster

As mentioned in my last blog, the Stress Number Test tells me that I am suffering from major stress. Now the challenge is what to do about it.  Yes, I will take an aspirin for my tension headache, but I’m not a big fan of drugs to solve long term problems.  I love massages which are great stress reducers.  Actually I REALLY love chair massages. My tension burrows into and under my traps.  Those wonderful ladies in the mall with the massage chairs do wonders for me. One of my favorite stress reducers is the long hot Jacuzzi bath.  A few years back, I did my first home renovation project – a bathroom remodel.  Now I have a wonderful bubbling bath tub for long relaxing soaks.  A recent favorite soak that I make is Epson Salt & Ginger (1 cup Epson & 2 tablespoons Ginger). It eliminates toxins and body aches.  To make my tub experience as relaxing as possible, I am always in search of bath salts, oils and milk baths.  Send me your favorite baths; I’d love to try new recipes.