Review & Giveaway: Lay-n-Go Lite

Hotel rooms almost never have enough counter space in the bathroom. I don't know what it is about designing a vanity area that makes them think that a pedestal sink and no cabinets or shelves is a good idea. At home, I have the luxury of a medicine cabinet to hid all my cosmetics and other random stuff I need. When I travel I've often resorted to putting my stuff on the toilet tank, which is not a great place to keep things. It only takes someone knocking something over for everything to go rolling onto the floor or, worse, into the toilet bowl. If you're lucky enough to actually get some counter space, you might find all your things just clutter it up and you either have to stuff it all back in your toiletry bag each morning or leave it there and assume the maid can clean around it.

Lay-n-Go was awesome enough to send me one of their Lay-n-Go Lite bags to help me fix this problem. This drawstring bag is a great way to keep a handle on clutter and avoid losing your lipstick under the shower mat. Not only does it lay out flat, but you can use the drawstring to give it a lip and keep everything from rolling out while items out of it and be able to see everything inside.

Does your hotel sink look like this?

Or the back of your hotel toilet?

The Lay-n-Go Lite is reversible and made of lightweight, but tough water-repellent nylon material. This means you can easily wipe it off if anything spills on it. Pretty great, right? That long drawstring cord can be tucked away in the Velcro pocket on the outside, and small items you don't want to lose can be stashed in the Velcro pocket on the inside. 

There is a short nylon handle for holding or hanging on a doorknob to keep it out of the way in the bathroom. 

Traveling with a kid? Why not keep all the random things they like to have out all the time in a Lay-n-Go? It will spare you from digging around in your bag for that green crayon they want, or having to put away everything at the very last second when you have a connection to catch and they think they have to have snacks and games and cars and gum out at the same time to keep them from freaking out. Once the plane lands and you can round up your stuff and get off, you can pull that drawstring and either toss it in your carry-on or let your child tote around their own things. It's a perfect way to travel with all those little toys and other items they insist on bringing with them. 

The same goes for traveling with babies. While you may be carrying around a diaper bag, you can put those always necessary things in the Lay-n-Go for instant access. Pacifiers, crackers, teething rings, baby wipes. You know what you use all the time and your baby's going to want or need at a moment's notice.

There are so many uses for the Lay-n-Go, you may want more than one. They even come in different sizes for different things. The Lite is just right for travel, but you can also purchase one specifically for cosmetics and larger ones for life's bigger organized messes. 

More information:

What is the Lay-n-Go made of? Extra-tough, water-repellent nylon

How big is it? The Lay-n-Go Lite is 18" in diameter

Where can you buy it? The Lay-n-Go website or Amazon 

How much is it? $24.95 (or less)

Colors it comes in: blue (shown) | green | orange | pink | red

Want to win one of your own? Enter now! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was provided with a Lay-n-Go Lite bag for the purpose of this review, but all opinions are 100% my own.

How I Saved on My European Vacation...Airfare

When you start to plan your vacation, do you start to look at airfare prices and nearly give up? Yeah, I feel the same way sometimes and last year we abandoned our plans to go to Europe and just went to Anaheim instead. Our whole trip cost less than airfare would have. Well, this year we vowed not to let it happen. Airfare to the UK and Europe is still ridiculous, but this was the perfect time to use the frequent flyer miles we had collected with our British Airways card. When we signed up for it, we automatically were given 100,000 miles and have been using it for many things ever since. If you're going to buy things anyway, why not get something else out of it? We also started having our bills billed to that card and paying them off right away as we normally would.

So, just how much were regular flight prices to London? Oddly, London was the cheapest city to fly into. We checked Paris, as well as other cities in the U.K. like Dublin. After months of searching, the best price I could find online was just under $1,300 per person. Ack! The last time we went to London, it cost us less than $1,200...for both of us! Well, that wasn't going to happen. The only downside to using your frequent flyer miles is that you have to pay taxes and fees when you fly to a foreign country (and you might end up with a layover or two). We had to spend the day in Vancouver, BC, but we rented a car and did some sightseeing instead of being unhappy and spending all that time at the airport. I'll share more on that later.

Total cost: $1,400 (compared to $2,600 for full price)

Savings: $1,200

We didn't want to waste extra miles that we could use later on a short hop from London to Paris, so I did some research on budget carriers that were not the dreaded RyanAir. Last time we took the Eurostar, which I loved, but the cost was crazy. Now it costs something like $350 per person, which makes splitting up a trip really unaffordable.

I had heard great things about EasyJet, so I went online to check it out. I almost fell out of my chair when I realized we could fly from London to Paris one way (we were flying back home on BA from Paris) for $115, for both of us. I thought that choosing seats would be a big hassle, but for only $5 more, we were able to pick seats next to each other and got a free checked bag. I can't even fly from here to Seattle for $125 half the time, so this was a jackpot in my eyes. Not only was EasyJet better than even Southwest, but cheaper and the crew was really lovely.

Total cost: $125 (compared to $700 to take the train)

Savings: $575

So, not only did we actually get to go on the vacation we've been hoping to have for the last 5 years, we saved big everywhere. On airfare alone, we saved almost $1800, which, if you ask me, is a huge chunk of change...and almost a whole other vacation! Definitely a short getaway of some kind. 

Running tally: 

Accommodations: $342-522

Airfare: $1,775

What the most you've ever saved on airfare?

Do Your Holiday Shopping in Your Pajamas and Save!

I almost never go out and fight the crowds on Black Friday...or the rest of the holiday season. I don't have the patience to push people out of the way to save a few bucks. This year, why not stay in the cozy comfort of your own home and do your holiday shopping or travel booking? How can you do that? With the online sales and using Ebates. I never buy or book anything without first checking Ebates. What is it? It's a fantastic - and free! - site that offers you cash back for purchasing from online merchants. If you plan to make a purchase anyway, you might as well get something for being a loyal customer (or even a new customer). This Friday over 500 stores will be giving double cash back, which means you can keep even more money in your pocket, or buy more on the same budget!

Here's how it works: Sign up is quick and easy, then you're ready to shop! When you have a hankering to buy something, say, at Sephora, go to Ebates, sign in, click on Sephora and it takes you straight to the main website. You must go through Ebates, so they can track your purchase. At checkout, make sure you use the same email address you used to sign up on Ebates and within a few days, your purchase will show up in your account. You can track your cash back total to see how much you saved and then every quarter, Ebates sends you a Big Fat Check (if you choose that method) or a Big Fat Payment via Paypal. You even get $5 just for signing up! Who else does that? If there are coupon codes available or special sales, Ebates will show them to you, helping you save even MORE! Actually, after your first purchase of $25 or more, instead of a $5 bonus, you get a $10 gift card! 

 

 

I like to use my cash back as a travel savings supplement. Each time I make a purchase, I rack up cash and then it gets deposited right to my Paypal account. I use that money to purchase travel stuffs, like Groupons, clothing, tours and more! If I can get more cash back with it, even better! Of course, you can use it for whatever you want. This time of year, it's perfect for booking your holiday travel and buying gifts.

 

Stores you can shop at: Ebates has, literally, hundreds of online merchants you can choose from, including a long list of travel merchants. Just a sampling of those include: TravelSmith, Holiday Inn, Avis, Alaska Airlines, Camping World, Orbitz, Air France, Delta Airlines, HomeAway and even SkyMall! Keep your eyes out for the Daily Double. Each day one awesome merchant offers double cash back on your purchases for the day.

Why get elbowed in the eye trying to buy a gift this Friday when you can roll out of bed and hit the sales on your computer? No looking for parking, bundling up or hiding gifts in the trunk of your car with Ebates. Sign up now for free!

Are you taking advantage of Ebates' great deals this Friday or will you be braving the crowds at the mall?