Outrageous offers – the craziest deals I’ve seen

Today I thought I would share some of the wackiest, funniest and just plain surprising offers that I’ve seen. Since I started my 30 Days of Living on a Discount, I signed up for email notifications and newsletters from all the different coupon and deal companies out there. See the bottom of this post for a complete list of who I’ve been using, and feel free to add others I might not know of in the comments!

In receiving all these various deals in my inbox, I’ve seen some pretty crazy and amusing stuff. Here are a few of my favorite oddities – and if you want to see the wackiest thing I’ve ever done using one of these deals, check the bottom of this post.

Skydiving

Feathery jokers of the Winged Foul Foundation continually flaunt their cloud level view of the world. Just look at those barrel rolls and nosedives! Put the bird’s eye view to shame at Texas Skydiving Center and receive 1 Tandem Jump with Ground School for $179.

Show those birds what flying should really look like… cheeks blown back, arms out… a screaming mouth opened wide… pretty.

From Urban Dealight

Paintball Warfare

Duty. Honor. Code. Country: words to live by, and words to play paintball by. With this experience, step onto the military simulation style field at Tactical Paintball for a battle experience like no other, a scenario centric field. Play one day with a Paintball Field Pass, plus get 150 paintball cartridges, CO2 to launch those colorful puppies in the air, and get safety equipment too. If you’re a strategic, communicative marksman who thrives on teamwork, you’re gonna thrive. And if you’re not? Well, you’ll learn fast, or get blasted with color trying.

From Zozi

Great White Shark Cage Diving

Ready for the one time in your life that you’ll be glad to be behind bars? This truly unique adventure into the warm pacific waters of Mexico will bring you up close and personal to the one species of animal no other animal tangles with – the great white shark. With this experience from Shark Diver, embark on a 5-day trip from San Diego, California by boat to Isla Guadalupe in the warm waters of Mexico for this once-in-a-lifetime shark cage diving adventure. Spend hours in the clear waters – 100 feet of visibility is the norm – checking out the 14′ Shredder, the 15′ Bruce and a host of other sea, land, and airborne animals will delight, thrill and remind you why life is pretty freakin’ awesome, and why you’re really glad you remembered your camera.

From Zozi

Texas Hold’em Class

You’ve watched Texas Holdem poker on television and it looks easy to play. If Jennifer Tilly can beat 600 women to get the World Series of Poker bracelet, it’s gotta be easy, right?! Before you race down to the casino and sign up for a high stakes tournament, you need to learn the basics of the game and get some playing experience. Get two hours of basic or intermediate instruction for only $25 from Texas Poker Supply, a $90 value! Actually, it could be worth more than $90 if you use their techniques to wipe out your opponents — just don’t tell them your secrets.

From Morgan’s Deals

Get Hypnotized

Unlock your full potential by tapping into the greatness of the mind at Georgetown Family Hypnosis & Massage Therapy. Start on the road to self-improvement with a 90-Minute Hypnosis Session for $69 (valued at $150). Think of this system as anti-virus software for the mind, ridding you of all erroneous programming from the past that is getting in the way of happiness, success, and feelings of confidence in the present. Hypnosis can help with quitting smoking, losing weight, and feeling less stressed. It can even help overcome fear of commitment and shyness. Embrace the opportunity for self-improvement.

From Urban Dealight

Belly Painting

Do you or one of your friends have a baby on board? If so, paint that baby bump with today’s picturesque Plum Deal! This unique art form, recently popularized by pregnant celebrities, is sweeping the prenatal world! Every belly painting is customized for the mom-to-be, and while the painting may be temporary, the experience is unforgettable.

Prenatal belly paintings make for a fun, extraordinary baby shower activity, and the most memorable prenatal photo shoots! No baby book should go without such a colorful tribute.

From Plum District

Blow Something up at Stunt Ranch

Pull yourself away from endless hours of watching The Wire on Netflix and join the rest of your family in becoming the star of your very own Hollywood film. Learn the secrets of the biz with today’s deal from Stunt Ranch. See all the action at this five-hour Stunt Discovery Day — stellar effects, dangerous stunts, and more — for $25 (a $50 value). Or, get in on the action and be part of the show for $42 (an $85 value). Blow up buildings, set stunt men on fire, create snow, and see the real drama of a live shoot at this five-hour event. Stunt Ranch is great for the kids and for kids-at-heart.

From Living Social

Concealed Handgun class – with ammo!

This is Texas, and people here like guns. Perhaps this love affair is our way of paying homage to our cowboy roots, or maybe it’s just ensuring our protection against any cranky chupacabras that may come around. But for all you non-native Texans, or those who just never got around to learning how to shoot, this is the class is for you. This 2-hour Intro to Handguns and Pistols class will give you all the basic knowledge you need to feel comfortable handling guns. Then you’ll get the opportunity to shoot – all 50 rounds. And the fun doesn’t end there! Instructors will also teach how to disassemble and clean the gun, because a clean 9 mm is a happy 9 mm. This class is perfect for beginners, and it’ll definitely leave feeling just a little more like a gun slingin’ Texan. Yee Haw!

From HomeRun

*Side Deal: You could get half-off gun repair services at Urban Dealight, to go with!

Aerial Tour of Orlando, plus fly the plane

Experience the magic of Disney World and Orlando’s best known attractions from an astonishing birds-eye view in the cockpit of your very own private plane. Your adventure begins at the Mauiva Flight Center at Kissimmee Airport. Once aboard the Cessna aircraft your pilot will take you up to about 1100 feet from where you’ll be greeted with the most awesome panorama imaginable.

This promises to be a truly awe-inspiring adventure as you and two other guests not only get the royal treatment of soaring through Florida’s clear blue skies in a private aircraft, but one of you will actually get to take the controls and fly the plane under the captain’s guidance!

From CrowdSavings

Bartending Classes

The ‘Mad Men’ days of drinking lunches may be (mostly) over. But that doesn’t mean we have to lose the art of making a mean cocktail. If you’ve always wanted to learn how to mix martinis and sling scotch sours like a pro, now’s your chance: $75 gets you a two-hour Introduction to Bartending class from the Texas School of Bartenders ($220 value). They’ll teach you how to shake, stir, and whip up a killer cocktail. And you’ll feel like the real deal as you work at one of their 20 bar stations. Classes are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, so sign up and get ready to impress all your friends with your mad skills.

From Buy With Me

Here is the comprehensive list of deal sites, in my personal order of preference/frequent use:

• Groupon – The original, and the one I use most often. Huge reach, in every U.S. state and dozens of other countries.
• Buy With Me – Dozens of cities across the U.S. and Canada
• Morgan’s Deals – I’ve bought several of their deals, but it’s only in a few cities (Colorado, Kansas & St. Louis)
• KGB Deals – I have also bought several of these; they are in about 25 cities
• Urban Dealight – I haven’t used any of these yet, but they have some good ones in their emails
• Living Social
• Plum District
• Google Daily Deals
• CrowdSavings
• Zozi
• YipIt.com – a handy service that tracks, and emails, an aggregated list of all the daily deals sites. If you don’t want to receive emails from all of them, this is the way to go.

Also most of these sites have smart phone apps, which is a great way to both track them, and retrieve/redeem your coupons.

And what is the craziest deal I’ve ever used?

Last year I took a trapeze class at Trapeze Austin, courtesy of a Groupon deal. I had a great time – it was fun, exhilirating and scary. Check out my video below! And guess what – you can do it too – Facebook Deals is currently offering a special at Trapeze Austin – $44 for a regularly-priced $75 class!

Click the image above to watch me fly through the air (though not with the greatest of ease)

What are you waiting for – why pay full price?