The Daily Deal for Sunday, May 24, 2008

Some of my favorite pieces of "junk mail" to be delivered to my home are the mail order catalogs from Oriental Trading Company. They are always packed with hundreds of inexpensive ideas for parties, gatherings and just plain fun. I even use those catalogs to teach our three year old, words, colors and shape recognition, because the bright lively pictures help to keep her attention.

The most recent catalog I received from Oriental Trading features a big section of beach and pool toys. In particular, I would like to direct you to a special deal on Star Spangled beach balls. At just $9.95 a dozen, these beach balls are a real cheap way to keep a bunch of kids busy in the back yard. Even if you don't have a pool, beach balls always promise a lot of fun! The price is right, and shipping is just $7 bucks more to anywhere in the continental U.S. Oriental Trading also has beach balls in several other fun styles.

For some other summertime fun toys, including an inflatable pool for just $6.00 or inflatable fish for $6.00 a dozen, just click on this Summer Fun Link and it will whisk you away into Oriental Trading's beach toy land. You'll even find floating drink coasters there, which will help to keep your twelve ounce beverages "cool in the pool."

Enjoy your summer time fun, and please always watch your kids by the water.

I sure wish there had been a dollar store around when my kids were small. Like most young families, we were on a tight budget but that didn't stop me from wanting my kids to have all the little "extras." I can't belief the wide array of toys and sport items they have at dollar stores. Everything from sidewalk chalk to skipping ropes to bicycle accessories is available and all for a buck each.

With summer coming, there's no better place than the dollar store to shop for colorful flip flops and pool toys like kick boards, inflatable rafts, air mattresses and beach balls. You can also get snorkles and swim goggles. Heck, I even saw some bathing suits for kids, although size selection is going to be limited. Still, it can't hurt to check if you're in the store anyway.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes about dollar store decorating ideas at her website Dollarstorestyle.com.

Some deals only come around once or twice a year, but offer savings that justify the wait. This post is part of our series on such 'don't miss' sales.

When I think about dressing for business, it's usually just that, thinking. In my world, a stout pair of jeans, a clean t-shirt and a sweatshirt will serve you for just about everything. Yet there's always been a part of me that wanted the natty look of a midnight blue, three piece, pinstriped Brooks Brothers suit. The company is famous for outfitting dignitaries from Abraham Lincoln to John F. Kennedy, as well as popular figures like Clark Gable, Andy Warhol and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, so it should be able to gild me as well.

The suits normally cost a minor royalty's ransom-- the Golden Fleece two-button pinstripe, for example, retails for $1,600. However, the company's semi-annual sales bring them a little closer to the Earth I inhabit. After Christmas and in June, Brooks Brothers knocks 25% off of much of its stock. If you open a Brooks Brothers credit account at that time, you can bump this discount up to 33%, quite a healthy savings on an outfit just south of $2,000.

Brooks Brothers was established in 1818, during the administration of John Quincy Adams, making it the nation's oldest clothing retailer. With 170 U.S. locations and 70 in other countries, even we in the hinterlands can dress like the famous. You may use this store locater to find Brooks Brothers near you.

Even at 33% off the regular price, those fantastic Golden Fleece suits are still a bit out of my reach, though. For now, I'll just have to imagine how a $1,600 suit must feel. Perhaps I should resume pursuing that law degree after all. Ya think?