Financial & Travel Musings

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Although these days we’re all used to buying books and booking our flights online, there’s a massive amount of other stuff that you can also get online which often surprises.

Garden and household furniture is one of the most surprising that I’ve come across lately which are a whole class of item that I’d never have thought would have been economic to ship any kind of distance (which goes to show that we’re getting ripped off by the house movers!). At the other end of the scale there are Christmas cookies which sound like they’d be that little bit fragile to arrive in one piece but then again my last backup drive arrived in just that way with minimal packaging so either stuff is a lot more sturdy these days or the mailmen don’t handle the packages nearly so roughly as the joke assume.

Anyway, whatever you’re looking for at the moment, it’s worth having a look online. Large, heavy and fragile no longer seem to be showstoppers for shipping.

Popularity: 38% [?]

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The Carolinas are one of those areas which doesn’t get a major amount of attention from the travel press internationally and being sandwiched between Florida and Virgina many people just scoot on through, barely giving the area a second thought.

That’s a real shame as to give the area the justice it deserves you really need to be thinking in terms of vacation rental rather than overnight stays. Fortunately, that’s a market that’s well looked after by Outer Banks rentals where you’ll find a wide range of places to suit all budgets and all family sizes. Availability is surprisingly good for what’s a very attractive area to use as a base for your vacation explorations.

Perhaps more importantly if it’s your first time, it give you a mid-way point between Florida and Virginia which makes it a fairly easy sell to your family.

Popularity: 33% [?]

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In some ways it’s depressing how cookie-cutter the list of gifts arriving for a new baby seem to be. Although it’s not quite so bad as the wedding present toaster collection that many people seem to end up with, the duplication is massive and particularly so when it’s not your first baby as you’ll already have most of the common items left over from the first time around.

However, it doesn’t need to be like that as there are quite a number of websites around these days offering unique baby gifts which offer you a selection much, much wider than that which you’re likely to come across in your typical baby shop. Definitely worth looking at if you’d like to make your gift that little bit more memorable than the rest.

Popularity: 19% [?]

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