Buy 3 Get One Free at 3 Beachfront Hotels

Still looking for a place to stay when you come to PCB? I found a deal today while I was scanning the internet. Click HERE to go to By The Sea Resorts. They are offering this deal ~"Three beach front hotels, three ways to SAVE!" Pay for 3 nights and receive your 4th night free when you book at any of their three gulf-front hotels!

Valid April 15th-May 24th, June 1st-June 7th, & August 5th-September 29th!

Call 1-888-627-0625 to book today and ask for rate code FREE! Cannot be combined with any other offers. Subject to availability and may be cancelled at any time. Visit their website for complete details at www.bythesearesorts.com. Not available during holidays and event blackout periods.

SwagBucks.com~Travelocity On Sale!

ON SALE NOW! Travelocity gift cards on SwagBucks.com The $25 card is on sale for only 299 SB (points)...this is a great deal.  You can earn 299 points in just a few days! Can only be used on a hotel purchase or 2 or more nights! Snag yours or other deals now! Don't have a SwagBucks account...click HERE to get started. It's a free site that rewards you points to buy things (items or gift cards) by searching, watching videos, participating in surveys, etc. My favorite is to save up for dining cards to eat out on, or Amazon cards to do my online shopping at Christmas.

Gas Prices~Alabama/Florida~Know What To Expect

Before you head out in the wagon family truckster, heading for the beach, stop by these 3 sites to brush up on your knowledge of what to expect in gas prices. We always like to set a budget for vacation, and knowing what we will spend on fuel is always included in that. Currently, gas prices here on the beach are at or near $3.29 on average. Gas here is usually about .10 higher than on the mainland. Use these sites to figure what you will pay on your trip.
Georgia
Florida-PCB
Alabama

#1-Figure (or look on your car if it tells you) how many miles you get per gallon...if you don't know how to do this...then here you go:

Here's how to figure out your own personal MPG: First, fill your gas tank and then reset the trip odometer. Drive until your car's gas tank is nearly empty, or close enough to it that you need more gas immediately. Look at how many gallons of gas it took to fill up the tank completely. Now take the reading on the odometer -- the number of miles you've driven since your last fill up -- and divide it by the number of gallons used.
In other words, if you have an empty tank and put 10 gallons of gas in it, then see that you traveled 350 miles, you're getting 35 miles per gallon. Over time, this will give you an accurate measurement of how efficiently you drive your car in real-world situations.

#2- Figure out how many miles your trip will be. Use Mapquest or Google Maps

#3- Divide your total number of miles in #2 by your MPG in #1 this will equal the # of gallons required for the trip.

#4- Multiply the answer in #3 (total gallons needed) x the average cost of gas along your route (I like to combine the cost of gas where I live, with the cost about halfway, and with the cost of gas at my destination and average the 3)

Now you know your total cost for the trip!

Here is an example: #1-my car gets about 40mpg on the hwy
#2- Its 486 miles to Middle Tennessee (where we are from)
#3- If I divide 486 by 40 mpg...that means I will need 12.15 gallons of gas
#4-Cost of gas is about $3.34 if I average the cost of Panama City Beach, Montgomery AL, and McMinnville, TN.    Multiply 12.15 x $3.34= $40.58
$40.58 is how much I will spend one way to McMinnville, TN from Panama City Beach!

Urban Spoon's Cheapest Restaurants

Urban Spoon has rated most of PCB's restaurants, and these made the cut as the "cheapest" places to eat. Check it out and try one of them today. Nothing better than saving some dough.
Here is the top 5:

• 1
  Liza's Kitchen

  I like itI don'tClear vote

  Panama City Beach-Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches/Subs, Vegetarian7328 Thomas Dr
 
• 2
  Dee's Hangout

  I like itI don'tClear vote

  Panama City Beach-Seafood, Southern/Soul, Cajun/Creole10440 Front Beach Rd
 
• 3
  Dusty's Oyster Bar

  I like itI don'tClear vote

  Panama City Beach-Seafood16450 Front Beach Rd
 
• 4
  Andy's Flour Power Bakery

  I like itI don'tClear vote

  Panama City Beach-Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches/Subs3123 Thomas Dr
 
• 5
  Thomas Donut & Snack Shop

  I like itI don'tClear vote

  Panama City Beach- Burgers, Donuts, Seafood19208 Front Beach Rd

 

See the rest that made the list and reviews at URBAN SPOON

Great Deals on Some Local Stuff~

You gotta run check out this site! BID ON BAY
They have some great items up for auction from local businesses. Need a pass to mini golf for a day? Need some new scuba gear? How about a birthday package or summer camp for the kids? New boat? Eyecare? Furniture? They have a little of everything here, and it's all up for auction. Even people from out of town can take advantage of these deals. Hurry on over and place your bids.

Who wants to save money...and not stand in line??

Groceries are usually on the top of the list when going on vacation. As soon as you pull up and get unloaded, you try to figure out what you are going to eat all week. Of course, you will probably go out a few times and eat some local seafood, but by cooking some meals in, you can save a bundle.

Since we have moved here I have learned one valuable lesson. DO NOT GO TO WALMART FOR GROCERIES! {do I need to repeat?} The walmart on the beach is always packed, almost always out of everything, and the prices are not as cheap as you would think. However, we have found one really great treasure just across the bridge in Panama City. ~~Discount Grocery~~ They sell all of their items at cost, and add 10% at the end. That's it. You see, Florida doesn't have tax on food items, so I am used to paying 10% when I check out anyway because TN always had 9.75% tax rate on stuff. They have wonderful produce, meat and even carry your toilet paper, wine, specialty foods {like Gluten Fee, etc.} Everything you would need you can pick up. Very similar with a Save-A-Lot, Foodland, Aldi, but they carry a lot more items. They carry name brand and their brand of everything under the sun. The store itself is a little older, they don't splurge on making it pretty. At first I was like...."EEK!", but then when I checked out I realized that I didn't need all that fru-fru stuff that I have always been spoiled with before. It took some getting used to...but the savings is worth it. Grab a sanitizing wipe for the buggy and you are good to go! LOL

One afternoon me and Kirsten decided to run to walmart instead of driving the extra 5-10 minutes to Grocery Outlet. Let me tell ya, we put everything up, left, and drove to Grocery Outlet. I was in dire need of some spices that week for a yummy cranberry meatloaf and walmart spices were priced from 2.99-5.00. Discount groceries are .65-1.75. A pack of chicken breasts at walmart easily hit 6.00-7.00 a pack and Discount groceries are 2.50-4.50. Loaves of bread are .75 and it is great bread! Everyone that has come to visit has loved how much we have saved by planning out our meals and heading to Grocery Outlet....{nope, I'm not a paid spokesperson, just a penny-pincher} In a typical week we spend between $60-$75 for seven days of meals. {and yes, they DO accept coupons even though they sell everything at cost} That includes our breakfasts, lunches and dinner. Unless we have company, we do not eat out.

So, when is the best time to go you ask??? Well, it would be morning or evening. Remember that when school is going on it gets a little busy around 2-3pm, but other than that, much better than walmart. The lines at walmart can get crazy and the prices are high.

Discount Grocery
2901 W Highway 98 {next to our church, St. Andrew Baptist Church}
Panama City, FL 32401
(850) 785-4841
They accept cash, credit, debit, etc. No checks!

Happy Shopping!