I am doing a fast post today for two freebies I've recently discovered. 2017 is the 150th Anniversary of Canada's Confederation and Canadian Parks that are normally charged for are free all year! You may order your free annual park pass at the Parks Canada website here. I've tried to research to see if you even need a pass to get free entrance but that is not clear. I've ordered mine just in case. It does appear that foreigners are permitted to order/get free access as well. So if you are reading this from outside of Canada consider visiting - we have a ton of great parks. Some of my favorite parks are Banff, Jasper and Elk Island (near Edmonton) in Alberta and Pacific Rim (Tofino) in BC. The Pacific Rim park had some of the access closed on our trip to Ucluelet and Tofino last summer so they were permitting free entrance at that time and it saved us over $50 in fees. If you are Canadian now is the time for a family road trip for a vacation or even for the day!
***Edited to add: Saw on the news last night you do need the park pass to gain free entrance so it must be ordered. They are not permitting free entrance at the gate without the pass. When you order print your confirmation out in case it takes several weeks (expect it will).
The second freebie is a grocery app called FLIPP that my friend Jane over at Crabapple Landing clued me in on. It has all your local flyers and you can put in any grocery item on your list and the flyers that have that item listed will show up with the price. It also recognizes if there is a coupon to be used for that item (*not all coupons will show up, only certain ones like P&G). I used it for the first time on a shopping trip yesterday and it was so much easier than the way I've been using flyers up until now. It is available both in USA and Canada. I used my iphone to download the app but it appears they have android apps as well. I didn't try it but if you google FLIPP you can likely access the same information on your computer if you don't have a smart phone. I found the cheapest place in town for items like toilet paper, ground beef, and who had a sale on bread. It works in cities and small towns like mine. Now I can make my list for items I actually need to buy and if I am near that store can pop in and pick up those items. It takes a lot of the work out of saving money!
Other than working like dogs this week for our business Buddy rolled in something really gross right at bed time last night and the best we could do is wet him down with a cloth so we could all go to bed. On the agenda today is a bath - ironically he just had one on Tuesday when he went to the groomers so not something I was planning on as we usually only bath him once a week. Why is it that dogs like to roll in smelly things!?!
Not sure what our federal park like Yellowstone. But most state park has a fair price for a yearly pass for entire vehicle.
ReplyDeletePlus all sort of discount if ones willing to look.
Coffee is on
Yellowstone is a great park, went there many years ago
DeleteThanks for the information. I just sent for a free Parks pass and also 'phoned to make sure it was also for Americans. We live up near the border. What a treat!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the year to do some Canada exploration
DeleteGreat deal with the free park pass. We used to go to B.C. annually and it would have been great. Since the granddaughter arrived our N.W. travel seems to be aimed toward Oregon, but I will tell Son1 about it since they venture that way a couple of times a year.
ReplyDeleteI have downloaded flipp and use it some but a couple of stores I shop regularly are not tied into the flipp service. Bummer!
I think they are relatively new..give it some time and I am sure Flipp will get better.
DeleteI would love to visit some parks this year. Thanks for the information. I am checking on their website. Banff is in my list.
ReplyDeleteBanff is such a pretty park. I've spent a lot of time there enjoying it.
DeleteI'll have to look for the app - sounds way better than the way I try to look at the ads.
ReplyDeleteI like looking at the ads too but when you just want to know if the items on your list are on sale it was so much easier.
DeleteYou have me thinking may be out frugal road trip vacation will be North instead of West to Yellowstone.
ReplyDeleteYour dollar goes far here!
Deletereebee is also a really great alternative to Flipp! I find it has a lot more selection of flyers than flipp
ReplyDeleteI will check it out - thanks !
DeleteI use reebee for my weekly flyers. I like the flow of it compared to Flipp and I think it has a lot more Canadian flyers too
ReplyDeleteDefinitely downloading it to see. Thanks!
DeleteWith the Flipp app you can choose which flyers you want to use so if there are stores that I don't go to, like Sobeys, then I don't bother with that flyer. I like it because I can search for specific items rather than thumbing through flyers.
ReplyDeleteMy dog used to roll on top of dead birds - man did she stink!!!
I agree - especially in our towns where we don't have all the same stores as Nanaimo. So much easier, thanks for the great tip! I am still not sure what buddy rolled in, can't say I really want to know lol
DeleteYes, dogs like to roll in smelly things, and like Jane said, dead smelling things. It's really gross!
ReplyDeleteYes, but nothing a good bath won't cure. Buddy was not impressed about the additional bath though, so not his favorite thing
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