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Tips you might find will come in handy in the recent issue of Men's Health magazine regarding when to buy stuff including a new set of wheels as part of an article called "9 simple ways to build 7 figures."

* New car: Buy during last week of December because dealers are pushing to meet monthly and annual quotas.

* Cruise: April or November. "That's when cruise lines reposition their ships for seasonal route changes," according to Men's Health.

* Yellowstone vacation: May (most of the snow has melted by then. Just about everything's open. Weather's pretty good. Not as crowded.)

Let me add my 2 cents regarding vacation planning. We've taken two trips to Hilton Head in recent years a week or so before Memorial Day. We saved about $100 a night in hotel reservations. Weather was great. Ocean a little cool, but still warm enough to swim. And no crowds on the beach or restaurants.

News & Record business writer Michelle Jarboe describes a growing trend regarding online coupons in today's "Work & Money" section. The article also includes a list of coupon Web sites.

Dollar General has those big plastic bins (34.5-oz.) of Folgers "Country Roast" blend on sale for $3.75 (regular $5).

Limit 2. Sale ends Sunday.

It's spring, so this might be the time to give your wheels a bath.

Advance Auto Parts has 2-for-1 deals on a few things you might find come in handy - Dupont wheel cleaner (regular $6 each), Lifter carpet stain remover or bug & tar remover (regular $4.45 each), and Black Magic car interior protectant (regular $5.70 each).

Big Lots has a deal on a Hewlett Packard printer, scanner and copier for $85.

That's cheaper than anywhere I've seen, including Amazon.com (the 59 customer reviews left at Amazon.com are generally decent, yielding an average 3 out of 5 stars).

In the for what it's worth department, we got one as a Christmas gift and it seems to work well. Printed out a few pictures on photo paper and they've turned out nice.

Staples has 4-inch by 6-inch Canon matte photo paper on sale for $6 (regular $19). 120 sheets.

Or 20 8-1/2-inch by 11-inch sheets for $6 (regular $12).

Sales end Saturday.

The April issue of "Money" magazine includes what it described as the top five blogs about finances that are "too smart - or weird" - to pass up.

"Granted, these blogs, often written anonymously, can at times read like the ramblings of your dullest relatives," according to the magazine. "But when blogs click, these running commentaries can educate, entertain and inspire you to get your own finances in order."

A sampling:

"Tastiest nuggets of wisdom:"
Sound Money Tips
- Blog maintained by financial journalist Michael Weinstein.

"Best professional commentary:"
AllThingsFinancial
- Blog by financial planner Jeffrey Pritchard

smells just as sweet, especially if it's free.

News & Record staff writer Joe Killian writes in today's Life section about all the free stuff on the 'net you can get your hands on including the complete works of Shakespeare.

Tim Rickard/News & Record

Office Depot has a Create Zen 1-gigabyte (stores up to 500 songs, give or take) portable audio player for $90 after mail-in rebate). Regular $110.

Includes an FM tuner and an armband.

By the way, it's received pretty good customer ratings so far at Cnet.com, a product review Web site.

You might want to take the family to Lonestar tonight to take advantage of a Tuesday bargain: Two kids eat free off the kids' menu with the purchase of each dinner entree, according to Mykidseatfree.com.

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.

Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.
Today's News & Record features a cover story in the Life section offering magical ham tips and recipes for Easter. By the way, you can buy Smithfield premium sliced spiral sliced ham at Food Lion for $1.60 a pound (regular $3 a pound). Deal ends Tuesday.

You're tired of commercial radio, don't have satellite radio or an MP3 car adaptor and your collection of music CDs, are, yawn, a little dull.

One option you might consider to get a spark in that tedious Easter road trip is burning some podcast shows onto blank CDs and playing those on your car stereo.

CompUSA has 100-packs of CD-Rs for $15 (regular $30). Sale ends Sunday.

Couple other podcasts worth checking out: Coverville, The Onion, Battlestar Galactica (really cool insights into a highly addictive show).

Circuit City has a plasma TV on sale (close-out) for $2,000 (regular $3,000).

Price is the best I've seen so far for that model, at least when it comes to stores in the Triad area.

Customer reviews, at least the few so far at Amazon.com, are generally decent. But mixed elsewhere, both in customer and product reviews.

Sports Authority has an 11-piece set of Dunlop "attack series" irons for $90 (available only in men's, right-handed). Regular $150.

Just might do the trick for weekend duffers and newbies alike.

Sale ends Saturday.

By the way, I'm going to check area courses for the best deals regarding twilight specials and other price breaks on green fees, so stay tuned. You can really save some bucks but it means playing later in the day, so you'll have to sleep in.

Oh, and that also means skipping all that weekend blah-blah-blah: Yard work, antiquing with the misses, helping raise your children.

Cheapstingybargains.com points out a pretty good deal from Amazon.com on a watch.

Amazon.com has the Pulsar men's alarm chronograph watch for $46 with free shipping. (Amazon says it's regularly priced at $150.)

As reported on The Lex Files and elsewhere, wireless high-speed Internet access will be available along South Elm between February One Place and McGee Street in downtown Greensboro on Friday.

Greensboro blogger Sue Polinsky also points out you can see the launch via Webcam if you can't attend, thanks to Carolinanet.

The free wifi is made available through GoTriad.com (part of the News & Record), Time Warner Cable Business Class, IT Training & Solutions, the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, the Weaver Foundation, Phoenix Networks and synerG, an effort by the community group Action Greensboro to attract and retain young professionals.

Need more memory for your digital camera?

Best Buy has 2-gigabyte memory cards for $90 (regular $130) after rebates.

Sale ends Saturday.

Had never thought of this myself, but an article in May's Men's Health magazine ("The Goods on Sports") suggests a way to cut down on the price of clubs is to give leasing a try.

This might be a good alternative than having to fork out $500 to $2,000 for a new set of clubs, especially for beginners wanting to get a feel for the game before taking a giant investment plunge.

Men's Health recommends checking out places like topswpingleasing.com, which charges "a fraction of the price for clubs from Callaway, Cleveland, TaylorMade - most of the big names."

Today's News & Record features a graphic ("coupon clipper," B section) showcasing the best times and places to get deals on International Home Furnishings Market samples.

The market brings an estimated 140,000 visitors to the Triad area of North Carolina each year.

The market opens Thursday in High Point.

This is the best bargain I've seen so far in the Triad regarding saving some serious greenbacks on green fees.

After 4 on weekdays, you pay $7 to walk at Greensboro's Gillespie Golf Course.

As far as municipal golf courses go, the conditions aren't bad. I've played on much worse for much more. Greens are in decent shape, or, as my colleague and fellow duffer Nate DeGraff described them, "smooth and slow."

CNN has a column this week regarding five ways you may be able to cut car insurance costs.

The Flying J off Interstate 40/85 in Haw River has gas for $2.76 with your "loyalty card," according to gasbuddy.com.

Or $2.77 without it. Other stations that sell for $2.77 in the Triad are Hess off I-40/85 in Haw River and Fuel City in Mebane off I-40/85.

The online coupon Web site dealcatcher.com mentions Amazon.com has a pretty good deal on cordless lawn care equipment.

It's the Black & Decker 18-volt cordless lawncare center for half off the $360 price.

Expires May 8.