A couple of weeks ago, I headed out to Los Angeles for the Savings.com Deal Pro Event.  This event was the kick off to the Savings Nation Savings workshops I will be offering! It included training on the program, sessions to help our blogs, networking with other bloggers, and of course a little fun mixed in.

If you missed my previous post on the Savings Nations Workshops, I am partnering with Savings.com as one of the first phase DealPro Ambassadors for their new Savings Nation program. Savings Nation is a series of workshops all over the Nation to help you save money and maximize YOUR savings on everyday essentials.  I will be teaching classes in throughout Indiana with a focus on Central Indiana. These classes will help YOU learn to live better on a budget because we believe there is no such thing as small change!

<<—Pictured: Maria, Mitchell, Sara, Andrea, Melissa, Sami, and me

By the time I got into Los Angeles on Thursday, it was around 3 a.m. Eastern Time so I was a little off my game. You don’t know how much a three hour time difference is going to affect you until it hits you hard the next morning!  At least I was very motivated to wake up early the next morning so I could take a walk along this….

Yeah, who wouldn’t be motivated to wake up when there is BEACH waiting for you! Oh, the beach air and smell!  The brief 45 minute walk along the beach in Santa Monica was all I got at the beach so don’t be too jealous! Thankfully, the sessions were fantastic so I didn’t feel too deprived by being cooped up in the office all day.

Loren Bendele, CEO of Savings.com, kicked off the event with a warm welcome to all of us Deal Pros…

Toni, The Happy Housewife, showed off the Savings Nation workbooks, which is what all of you who attend the classes will receive! I’m very excited about this professional put together presentation and workbook!

On Friday night, we dined at the Sonoma Wine Garden for dinner and wine. The pumpkin ravioli is delicious!

Melissa (Saving Cents with Sense) and Me

On Saturday night, Savings.com hosted a red-carpet event with a DJ (me + dancing = not pretty), drinks, dinner. There was this thing I thought was a margarita fountain but it was really a lemonade fountain. Now I have the idea that a margarita fountain would be a big hit at any event! ;) Better yet, they brought in a ice cream sandwich truck, Coolhaus for a yummy treat.

The event itself was fantastic. Getting home was another issue! About 20 minutes into the flight, the pilot came on the intercom and gave us news that you don’t really want to hear on a plane, “Sorry folks, I have some bad news for you.  The landing gear hatch is stuck and we are going to have to turn around and go back to Los Angeles. It’s nothing to worry about but we are going to have to turn around as we can’t fly with the wheels hanging out.” (the technical stuff is paraphrased – I just heard Bad News.Landing Gear.Have to turn around.)

About 45 minutes of circling the airport, where we were probably dumping fuel, and getting closer to land on each rotation, we landed at LAX greeted by emergency personnel, which seemed to surprise my fellow passengers. HELLO people, the pilot did say we were having landing gear issues, whether or not it was because it wouldn’t tuck up into the airport or not, I still thought it could be an issue when we landed.

We did make a safe landing, obviously, which was fabulous, but it did affect my travel plans. I think I was awake for about 36 hours before I finally made it home. I think I’m still trying to catch up on that sleep to this day!

Oh, and they did give us a $6 meal voucher from the ordeal! I’m very grateful that we didn’t crash but I considering it took me an additional 14 hours to get home, I would have thought some type of compensation was appropriate. Of course, I emailed my airline and they did offer a $75 travel voucher and some miles for my inconvenience. It never hurts to email companies when you are satisfied with their service or in this case dissatisfied. 

This did not put a damper on the Savings.com trip, though. Even completely exhausted, it was fun to hang out with some of my long time blogging friends and meet new friends too!

A special thank you to all of the Save Up ’12 sponsors:

• BH Cosmetics
• The Body Shop
• Bowflex
• CowBoom.com
• Gevalia
• Ghirardelli
• HP
• McAfee
• Sierra Trading Post

Andrea, Jen, Erin, Melissa, Mindi, and me

Interested in a coupon class? You can find more information about the Savings Nation classes or see a calendar of upcoming events. If you would like me to come to your town or your organization would like to know how you can host a coupon workshop as a fundraiser, please fill out this coupon class interest form.

Photo credit to John of Cizmas

Join me on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 2 p.m. EST for  the first All You Magazine Facebook Chat over at Facebook.com/AllYouMagazine. I will be sharing my tips for celebrating Halloween on a budget and answering any questions. This reminds me, I have to figure out what the little ones are going to dress up as this year.

As you may know if you follow this site, All You magazine is a favorite of mine for the coupons as well as the awesome money saving tips, recipes, and affordable fashion advice! The magazine is full of tips that all of you can enjoy. I’m very excited to be participating in this inaugural Facebook chat.

Here’s a few links to get you started: 

Halloween Party Ideas: Throw a Halloween party with enchanting appetizers, festive table settings and spooky treats.

Homemade Halloween Decorations: Haunt your whole house with these easy homemade Halloween decorations.

Halloween Finger Foods:  from polenta pumpkins to skewered eyeballs made with olives.

Pumpkin Face Ideas: Mask your pumpkin’s face, which is an easy and non-messy way to dress up your pumpkin!

Candy Dessert Recipes: What to do with the huge piles of candy afterwards – beside just eating the candy straight up!

Halloween Costumes: 5 easy ways to save on Halloween costumes.

I would love if you leave a comment on this post with any questions or TIPS you have for celebrating Halloween on a Budget!

The Cheap Sally Dance Party I’ve been talking about for several weeks was a huge success and so much fun! The food was fantastic, which is a rarity among these types of parties, there was an incredible turnout, the music was rockin….

As you can see, I had the chance to see Cheap Sally in person…

But the best part of all was the huge announcement….

What was the huge announcement? Cheap Sally announced the “Cheap Sally Bring Home the Bacon” contest, where one lucky winner will win a $100,000 job for 2012.

There are many things I love about this contest. Of course, the $100,000 is incredible. I also love that you won’t have to quit your job or relocate to fufill the position. All you have to do is write a couple blog posts for Cheap Sally each week about money saving coupons and deals!

Sign up for the contest now and voting begins on September 1, 2011.

Do you have a passion for saving money? Enter the ”Cheap Sally Bring Home the Bacon” contest today!

We are so exited about The Cheap Sally Dance Party in San Diego this year – everyone is talking about this most coveted BlogHer’11 private party ticket (see press at CNBC). Just in case you didn’t get a ticket, here’s one more chance for you to come (or bring another friend) and dance on the rooftop of San Diego’s hottest club Stingaree with the coolest bloggers at BlogHer’11. Cheap Sally, Collective Bias and Party Bluprints have joined forces to bring you this party with one goal in mind –YOU!

Come for dinner, there will be great food and plenty of it, a premium open bar, fun music, a beautiful venue and brands, yes great brands for you to connect with like: Sears Style , Kmart Gordon Ramsay Housewares, ViX Swimwear, A&E Television’s Lifetime Moms, Big Fuel, Udi’s, Smarties, and more!

On top of that you will receive a pair of ViX sandals ($38 value) to dance in at the party (supplies and sizes are limited) plus other fun swag! ViX brings on the Brazilian heritage with designer Paula Hermanny coming from Vitoria Brazil – Paula makes sure to incorporate her Brazilian roots into all her collections.

So please Join us to WIN your PARTY TICKET and PRIZES!

WHAT: #CheapSallyParty Twitter Party
WHEN: Wednesday, July 27th, 9-10 pm EST
For A Chance To WIN: You MUST 1. Follow @cheapsally, @collectivebias, @partybluprints @TonyaStaab and @dawnsandomeno 2. RSVP below and 3. Tweet with us at the party. (please also consider following @SearsStyle, @ViXSwimwear, @Smarties, @udisglutenfree, @lifetimemoms, @bigfuel)

WIN – WIN – WIN PRIZES!

1 Grand Prize SEARS/KMART WINNER = A Ticket to Cheap Sally Dance Party for you and a friend – Coupons for a FREE set of Gordon Ramsay small electric appliances available at KMART this September ( includes: 12 cup Coffeemaker, Hand Mixer, 12pc Blender, Mini Chopper, 3L Deep Fryer, Sandwich maker, 2 Slice Toaster, 5 qt Slow cooker), 1 piece of Samsonite luggage from SEARS, and FREE Dinner at San Diego’s BEST restaurant SearSucker (just minutes from the conference center).

3 SEARS WINNERS = 1 Ticket to Cheap Sally Dance Party – A Kitchen Aid Toaster Oven and A Cuisinart Coffee Maker from SEARS, 1 piece of Samsonite luggage

1 KMART WINNER = 1 Ticket to Cheap Sally Dance Party – Coupon for a FREE set of Gordon Ramsay small electric appliances available at KMART this September ( includes: 12 cup Coffeemaker, Hand Mixer, 12pc Blender, Mini Chopper, 3L Deep Fryer, Sandwich maker, 2 Slice Toaster, 5 qt Slow cooker)

3 SEARS STYLE WINNERS = $50 Sears Style Gift Cards

RSVP is a MUST here>

My grandma posted this message about Facebook Scams as someone was trying to take advantage of her:

Beware of scams. I was on chat with who I thought was my niece until she said she was stuck in Londan & needed money, She comes from big family so called one of her sisters & she said that she knew where she was it wasnt in London they wanted $1450 then when I confronted them they told me another story just be careful.

These scammers are getting bolder and bolder. They apparently have hacked into a family member’s account and then started Facebook chatting with this Facebook user’s friends. HOW incredibly bold!

Just another reminder to take the time and go through your apps that have access to your account and get those cleared out. Also, be sure to change your password to something that is difficult for anyone else to figure out.

Have you been approached by any creative spammers? Tell us your story so we can all be on the look out!

I’m excited to announce the BargainBriana.com browser tool bar! This is a great way to NEVER miss a deal as you will see the latest post in the right hand corner of the tool bar!

You will also have direct links to Store Deals, Freebies, and the Coupon Database.

This will work with Internet Explorer and FireFox browsers. I recommend you update your browsers to the latest edition if you haven’t done so in awhile.

Download the BargainBriana.com browser tool bar today!