Village Vines

It's been a wee bit cold here in New York City and I have been a little unmotivated to leave my apartment unless I have to.  But apparently it is supposed to reach 40 degrees tomorrow and so my hibernation might come to an end.  When it does, I am going to take advantage of some of the great deals on this new site that Skye turned me on to.  It is called Village Vines.  

It's in the spirit of Groupon, but it is only restaurants and some really good ones too.  With this site you pay a $10 reservation fee and then get a certain percentage off your whole bill (food and wine).  Usually it is 30% although I have seen some for as high as 50% and others as low as 20%.  They usually have certain days that you have to go.  For example Dinasaur BBQ in Harlem is 30% off but only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Because you make the reservation through their website there is no coupon neccesary.  Also the deals aren't just 1 day deals like groupon or living social.   You usually have some time to decide.  Currently they have offerings in NYC, Los Angeles, D.C., San Francisco and Chicago.  

Here is what they say on their website:

VillageVines gives food lovers access to preferred pricing with their city's most popular restaurants. We make your dining experiences more convenient and more affordable, and we do so by partnering with the best dining establishments – from the restaurant icons to the up and coming gems.

Here’s how it works:

	Each day we highlight a handful of restaurants from among our carefully curated list of the best spots in your city
	You choose where to dine and use us to make your party's reservation before the offer expires
	You pay $10 to secure your exclusive pricing (typically 30% off your party's entire bill – food and drink
	Your discount is applied to your bill at meal's end - no coupons, no phone calls and no hassles

I love being able to get great deals at home and when I travel.  With all these sites that offer great deals on great restaurants and things to do, I may never have to pay full price again!

Groupon free mobile apps

Groupon, if you haven't heard of it, is a fantastic concept.  When you sign up (for free) you will get daily emails about all sorts of deals in your city.  They have everything from restaurants, to spas, gym memberships, classes of all sorts and lots more.  It varies as to how much you get off, but I find it tends to be around 50% off, sometimes more sometimes less.  Great deal, right?  They have participating cities all over the world so if you are going on vacation you can sign up to get the San Francisco deals or the London deals.  Coming to NYC?  Sign up!  You can save both at home and on vacation.  Now that's awesome!  With all this money I am saving, I can plan another vacation.

Today they announced their free mobile apps for Android, Blackberry and iphone.  This comes with a special offer.  For every different groupon you purchase with your phone app, you will get $1 of groupon bucks, on purchases through February 17th, 2011.  (groupon bucks is money that you can use towards a future groupon purchase).  So now you can purchase and redeem your groupon deals from anywhere and get money towards a future purchase.  Saving is becoming easier by the minute.

Living Social's vacation coupons

We are now living in the world where we get coupons on line.  We get coupons to Barnes and Noble, Bed, Bath and Beyond and every other major chain around.    But I a big fan of coupons for social activities like Groupon and livingsocial.  

If you don’t know what these sites are you should check them out.  They are fantastic because you can get spa deals, restaurant deals, classes and many other things at sometimes majorly discounted prices and it’s free to join.  You can sign up for any city that they offer.  So that is great if you are going on vacation or a weekend getaway.  You can get a coupon to get a massage in Boston when you are there for the weekend or 50% off at a restaurant in London that you heard about. 

Well, livingsocial.com is now offering weekly “Escapes”.  I have been watching over the last several weeks and some of the deals are great.  They have deals for places that are within driving distance as well as those that would require you to fly.  They just had one for a Mexican resort (Mayan Riveiera) for 5 nights, 2 people for $900.  The resort looked amazing (they have lots of pictures) and you can usually get a cheap flight to Mexico.  This week they have resort deals in the Dominican Republic, Florida and California as well as some other great places like Vail and Virginia.  I haven’t committed to anything yet because I have my next off-the-beaten-track vacation planned for February.  (The hint:  it is a South American Country with no time change and a travel time of about 5 hours.  I will share after the holidays) But, if you are looking for a discounted getaway, check out livingsocial.com.  You might just find a bargain that gives you the much needed break you deserve.

They currently have discounts for the US, UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada.