Post Your Wins

[disneysteve]

I don't gamble much anymore but still get the urge now and then.

5/15 I deposited $50 into my online casino account.
5/18 I withdrew $300 from that account.
5/19 I withdrew $200 from that account.

So I made a $450 profit in 4 days.

Of course, I then proceeded to blow through the $169 I left in the account after that 2nd withdrawal but at least I was smart and took most of my winnings out first.

[GoodSteward]

I am not sure this is a "win" by some standards, but I sure count it as one.

I was contemplating a timeshare a couple years back. I have 4 kids, so staying at a hotel is getting really old when we take trips. I can't stand the idea of getting two rooms, but one normal room is getting harder. Once the kids get older, I can see this becoming more and more of a problem. Timeshare can get you into a much nicer/bigger room for the same price you are paying for a hotel IF you match up travel and points, but even with that, it can be hard to justify. In the end, it still wouldn't have worked out well for us. However, in the process of all this, someone saw my posting on the timeshare forum and sent me a private message. He proceeds to tell me he is a timeshare owner and was willing to rent me his points to try before buying. This is a common practice in the timeshare points system, but this guy is special. He is generous.

Being approached like this usually screams scam, and to rent from him I would have to PayPal him cash and effectively be scammed if he wasn't legit. I was skeptical but figured it was worth it. So we tried with a 1-night stay somewhere. I paid for it and then got the confirmation in my name after. We ended up staying at the Wyndham Smokey mountain resort in Sevierville TN for one night. We got a 2bd Delux 1200sq ft room for $75 flat. Public price was around $300. This room was NICE and had a full kitchen, dining table, washer/dryer, etc. We were hooked!

It turns out he is a VIP Presidential Reserve point owner with over 1 million points. He gets big discounts and free upgrades and passes it on to the few people he rents to.

We then stay at Wyndham Bonnet Creek TWICE in Orlando(4-star resort). Both times were offseasons(Oct and Dec), and we stayed in a 1500sq ft 3BD Presidential reserve room for 4 nights for $275 TOTAL(both times he reserved a basic studio and got a free upgrade to 3bd PR room). That's why it's so cheap, the free upgrade. He only charges what it costs him in points. That's only $65/night AFTER taxes! Public price on a 3BD deluxe for 4 nights was $2,000(Presidential Reserve rooms are bigger and much nicer, but not open to the public so the value was probably more in the $2500 range). This place is amazing with putt-putt golf on site, restaurants, star bucks, 9 hot tubs, 5 pools, two pool slides (two story), 2 lazy rivers, free to use gas grills, and the list goes on. And being presidential reserve we got access to a private balcony that had a perfect view of Epcot's fireworks every night (this place is on Disney property). One day we grilled out and ate on that private balcony that overlooks Orlando on the 17th floor, just us there.

The last trip we took was a few weeks back to the smoky mountain lodge in Sevierville, Tn. This resort has a large indoor water park included with your stay. We ended up with a 3 bd Delux (around 1300 sq ft) for a little over $300 for 4 nights. Public price was around $1500.

All the benefits of a VIP point owner, but no headache of ownership. The only explanation I have for this connection is God. I wasn't asking to rent points, and I was only the second person this guy had ever rented to that he hadn't met in person. It was a rare thing for him to do.

[Thrif-t]

That's a huge win GoodSteward!!

We've gotten Bonnet Creek thru sky auction, 2 bedroom, $100/night. I was happy with that but your deal was great! I agree that is a fantastic resort!!!

[msomnipotent]

Lowes and Ulta gift cards were "on sale" with Chase points, so I was able to get $150 worth for basically free. I finally sold something on bookoo again, but it was only for $10. At least it is out of my house.

[disneysteve]

DW has been wanting to get herself a salon-style hair dryer. She's been searching for a good deal. Amazon sells it for $113. She found a local beauty supply place that sells it for $99. She looked today and it was on sale for $88. I went online and bought a discounted gift card for the store at 16% off. I paid $68.15 for a card worth $78.75 so I saved $12.60.

Amazon price $113
Beauty supply price $99
Sale price $88
Gift card savings $12.60
-----------------------------
Final price paid $75.40

So we saved $37.60 off of Amazon's price. Not a bad deal at all.

[msomnipotent]

DW has been wanting to get herself a salon-style hair dryer. She's been searching for a good deal. Amazon sells it for $113. She found a local beauty supply place that sells it for $99. She looked today and it was on sale for $88. I went online and bought a discounted gift card for the store at 16% off. I paid $68.15 for a card worth $78.75 so I saved $12.60.

Amazon price $113
Beauty supply price $99
Sale price $88
Gift card savings $12.60
-----------------------------
Final price paid $75.40

So we saved $37.60 off of Amazon's price. Not a bad deal at all.

Hairdryers are another one of those things that aren't made like they used to be. My daughter and I have very long hair. I went ahead and bought a Rusk when I started replacing the cheaper ones every 6 months or so. Money well spent.

[disneysteve]

Hairdryers are another one of those things that aren't made like they used to be. My daughter and I have very long hair. I went ahead and bought a Rusk when I started replacing the cheaper ones every 6 months or so. Money well spent.

She has long thick wavy hair. It takes forever to dry it with a handheld dryer. Every time she has her hair cut, she comments how quickly it dries under the hood dryer.

She just tested it out. 20 minutes and it was almost fully dry. That's a huge improvement. Not only will she save a bunch of time, we'll probably save on electricity too. As long as it holds up reasonably well, it will be money well spent.

[msomnipotent]

She has long thick wavy hair. It takes forever to dry it with a handheld dryer. Every time she has her hair cut, she comments how quickly it dries under the hood dryer.

She just tested it out. 20 minutes and it was almost fully dry. That's a huge improvement. Not only will she save a bunch of time, we'll probably save on electricity too. As long as it holds up reasonably well, it will be money well spent.

I would love a hood dryer but I have no where to put it. I still keep one on my Amazon wish list just in case. If she every needs a handheld for traveling or what not, the Rusk W8less is great. I bought it when I hurt my wrists and it is a LOT lighter than normal ones and just as powerful as a normal Rusk (which dries hair a lot faster than something like a Revlon would).

[disneysteve]

I would love a hood dryer but I have no where to put it.

She has nowhere to put it either. That didn't stop her.

[scfr]

I had the option of working for a couple hours today, but I didn't take it. I have worked for 64 days straight (between my 2 jobs), and am really relishing my day off. I lounged in my pjs drinking coffee, and am getting caught up on some household, personal, and financial chores. When things cool down this evening I'll take the dog for a long walk. I can feel my body and mind rebooting, and I know I'll be better at my jobs when I start back up tomorrow - win!

[Gailete]

I would love a hood dryer but I have no where to put it. I still keep one on my Amazon wish list just in case. If she every needs a handheld for traveling or what not, the Rusk W8less is great. I bought it when I hurt my wrists and it is a LOT lighter than normal ones and just as powerful as a normal Rusk (which dries hair a lot faster than something like a Revlon would).

I stopped using blow dryers and curling irons, etc. years ago as they were just too heavy for my wrists. I do still have one of those hair straightener gadgets that looks a bit like a curling iron only it opens to have the length be an inch wide surface. I keep it in my sewing room. Marvelous for straightening and ironing the wrinkles out of ribbons! Read about that in my travels. If you have a little girl that wears hair ribbons that need ironed, this kind of gadget works great. Of course you can always use a regular ironing board and iron. I got mine as one of the many things to review for Amazon.

[Gailete]

In the past week in the mail, I have gotten 4 packs of diapers, 4 packs of wipes, 1 dress, 5 onesies style items, two pairs of pants,/leggings, and something to hang on the back of the car seat to hold baby stuff! All to try and review. Obviously can't try out the diapers, but those little outfits are all from the same company and in coordinating colors. One of them is the softest cotton knit I think I have ever touched! Been a long time since I had a baby so this has been like me having a baby shower to get all these neat things. Very exciting for of all of us except, I guess, the ex who when they told him that they were pregnant, insisted they had to have a boy and once he found out it was a girl is upset. Idiot. Somewhere along the way he missed a few anatomy and physiology lessons, plus I think he is still under the impression that the families last name can't die out, for whatever reason, I don't know.

[AJSimon]

Won $1,788.00 in the state lottery drawing this past Saturday. Was one digit on one number away from winning $17 million. Had a 26, needed a 25.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Nice win AJSimon!

[disneysteve]

I stopped using blow dryers and curling irons, etc. years ago as they were just too heavy for my wrists.

A hood dryer would be perfect for you. Just sit there and the dryer does all the work.

My wife used it the other night because we decided kind of spur of the moment to go out to dinner and she had just showered. 10 minutes and it was dry enough to go. It's definitely proving to be a great purchase.