Weekend on the Cheap:
– Today, Thursday: “Ski FREE courtesy of KINK, Fred Meyer and Stash Tea at Mt. Hood Skibowl on Thursday February 10th! Just bring a Fred Meyer receipt showing your purchase of two boxes of Stash Tea and receive one FREE Mt. Hood Skibowl Adult lift ticket good from 9am-4pm on February 10th. This $44 value is yours FREE! Make a donation, bring some Stash Tea along for your ski day plus four cans of food to benefit the Sunshine Division.” Thanks to Mike for the head’s up!
– “Dentistry From The Heart” free dentistry event this Friday beginning at 8:00am at Sleep Dentistry’s offices at 192nd and SE Stark. Free dental services provided to those in need on a first-come, first-served basis.
– Family Friday Concert at Community Music Center this Friday beginning at 7:15pm. Admission is free; suggested donation is $5 per person or $15 for a family.
– (Submission) Get a jump on Valentine’s Day with Plum Hill Vineyard’s “Date Night,” this Friday evening with complimentary wine tastings, snacks and live music. If you can’t make the Friday event, the winery is open all weekend with special events and a new wine release. Located in Gaston.
– 21st Annual Cascade Festival of African Films continues this Friday and Saturday with free films showing at 7:30pm, located at PCC Cascade campus.
– Northwest Family & Kids Festival this Saturday and Sunday at the Washington County Fair Complex, Main Exhibit Building. Admission is $10 for the entire family, see web site for additional discounts. “Bring the whole family and enjoy a day filled with fun and games, music, arts and crafts, sports, a petting zoo and pony rides, inflatable bounce houses and much, much more!”
– The Portland Love Show opening party this Saturday night, 7:00pm – 11:00pm at Gallery Homeland in the Historic Ford Building. This event is free for all ages and features art work from over 300 artists. Please bring at least one can of food for the Oregon Food Bank.
– Submission: “PDX Pop Now! Benefit with 80s Video Dance Attack this Saturday at the Crystal Ballroom beginning at 9:00pm. All proceeds go to benefit PDX Pop Now! Ages 21 and over only, tickets are just $5 and can be purchased in advance or at the door.”
– Submission: “Come see all your favorites including GRAVEDIGGER tear it up on the dirt on February 12th and 13th! Monster Jam is the world’s largest and most famous monster truck tour featuring the biggest names in monster trucks including Grave Digger®, Maximum Destruction®, Monster Mutt®, El Toro Loco®, Captain’s Curse® and Blue Thunder®. Monster Jam performs to the delight of families with three elements to every show — the pit party, racing, and freestyle.
Discount Ticket Prices for Portland on the Cheap:
100/200 Level Middle – $30 (Reg. $36)
200 Level Ends (Adult) – $17 (Reg. $26)
200 Level Ends (Youth) – $5 (Reg. $7.50)
**Youth ages 2-12
Order online:
username: pdxcheap
password: discounts
All purchases for Sunday, February 13th get a FREE Pit Pass for the Pre-show party on the dirt. See the Trucks up close and personal!”
– Multnomah County Libraries offer you the opportunity to make free Valentine cards and crafts this Saturday and Sunday. All materials and instruction are provided, please visit web site (opens a PDF) for details and locations.
– Statehood Day Free Day admission at the Oregon Historical Society this Sunday from 12:00pm – 5:00pm. “Visit OHS for a free day in celebration of Oregon’s 152nd birthday. View our newest exhibit Perseverance: Black Pioneers in Early Oregon, and speak to representatives from the Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers. Take a walk through Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride and Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam, on their last day open in the museum. Children can investigate artifact replicas at our “What is it?†table. Listen to a lecture by Kerry Tymchuk at 2 PM titled “Laughing All the Way to the White House,†then enjoy birthday cake and frozen yogurt samples from Lucky Spoon Frozen Yogurt, while supplies last!”
– African American Read-In, this Sunday at Concordia University’s Hagen Campus Center. Description from web site: “Local celebrities, community leaders and students read from works by their favorite African American writers at the 15th annual African American Read-In. Fiction and nonfiction for children and adults will be featured in an afternoon of good words from great works.” 2:00pm – 4:00pm, free.
– Children of the Blue Supermarket CD Release Performance, 4:00pm at Powell’s Books on Hawthorne. “Children of the Blue Supermarket is a recording of two live performances by poet Dan Raphael, saxophonist Rich Halley, and drummer Carson Halley. Come experience the dynamic interaction of poetry and music at this live performance.”
– For more ideas on what to do this weekend, please visit Aroundthesunblog or PDXPipeline.
SPOTLIGHT: Consumer Review Web Sites
One method of saving money is purchasing products and services that offer value and the most bang-for-the-buck. Here are our favorite web sites that cull user reviews, both professional and every day Joe opinions.
– Amazon.com: star-rating system for thousands upon thousands of products, from electronics to the latest book best-sellers.
– cnet.com: “CNET is the premier destination for tech product reviews, news, price comparisons, free software downloads, daily videos, and podcasts.” Provides reviews from cnet editors and users.
– Epinions.com: “Epinions helps people make informed buying decisions. It is a premier consumer reviews platform on the Web and a reliable source for valuable consumer insight, unbiased advice, in-depth product evaluations and personalized recommendations.”
– ConsumerReports.com: the old standby that I grew up with, this venerable brand name for consumers provides product reviews and ratings on cars, appliances, electronics and more; publishes a monthly magazine. Some content is free online, otherwise you’ll have to pay a subscription.
– TripAdvisor.com: primarily provides reviews and opinions of hotels, flights, restaurants, cruises and attractions from fellow travelers; also includes forums on a variety of travel-related topics.
– Yelp!: user reviews and recommendations of restaurants, shopping, nightlife, entertainment, services and more. Reviews are available for over 100 cities and 8 countries.
– Cheapism.com: our latest find, the New York Times dubbed this web site “a consumer reports for the cheap.” Provides reviews and recommendations for hundreds of products and a blog chock full of tips, news and resources. Take a look!
– In addition to the above web sites, consumers have also enjoyed the reviews provided by Angie’s List, CitySearch, RipOffReport and the Better Business Bureau. Do you have any favorites that we didn’t list? Please leave a comment and thanks for visiting!
