Best Deals in Bel Air

Free water ice at Rita's Friday

2009-03-19T14:18:00.000-04:00

March 20 is the first day of spring and Rita's Water Ice plans to celebrate by offering a free water ice to their customers between noon and 10 p.m. Friday is a half day off school for Harford County school district students, and we pass Rita's in Forest Hill on the way home from school...

Click here for more info

Play It Again Sports in Festival is closing: Everything is 10% off

2009-03-08T23:07:00.000-04:00

Play It Again Sports is closing its location in the Festival Shopping Center in Bel Air. Everything is 10% off. If you're gearing up for spring sports, it might be worth a look. Got my 10-year-old a baseball glove there this weekend.

It's Dollar Day at Ronnie's Fine Wine & Spirits in Forest Hill tomorrow

2009-03-03T16:38:00.002-05:00

Update 3/4: Just got back from Ronnie's. It's busy and rather festive. They have tastings set up and lots of workers to help you find what you're looking for.

You can get a really good deal tomorrow at Ronnie's Fine Wine & Spirits, 1514 Rock Spring Rd. in Forest Hill. On March 4, they're selling everything in the store for $1 over cost. But it's cash and carry only. So if you have some cash on hand, and you want to stock up, today is the day to do it. They're open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. And they say there are some exclusions. The last time they did this was back in October.

Their weekly deals include "Terrific Tuesdays" where all liquor is 15 percent off and "Wacky Wednesdays" when their wine is 20 percent off. I like to go on Wednesdays and get a really cheap bottle of white wine to use in my cooking.

New dining deals at Main Street Tower Restaurant in Bel Air

2008-12-07T20:19:00.000-05:00

The Main Street Tower restaurant (29 S. Main St.) in Bel Air recently introduced lunch specials for $5.99. If you eat between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. you can get either three mini cheeseburgers, tuna salad or a BLT & soup for $5.99. Other lunch specials cost from $6.95 for a mussels marinara to $11.95 for a crabcake. On their dinner menu they are now offering 10 entrees that sell for $10 every day of the week. If you work for Harford County government, schools, police or fire departments you get 10 percent off your lunch or dinner bill. Click here to see Tower's menu.

Harford Mall coupons available online

2008-11-25T14:09:00.000-05:00

Don't hit Harford Mall this Black Friday without first hitting the special offers page on the mall's website. Click here to see it: http://www.harfordmall.com/shop/harford.nsf/special_offers

Downtown Bel Air merchants plan another Holiday Open House event

2008-11-24T22:57:00.002-05:00

Just got an e-mail today informing me that downtown Bel Air merchants will host another Holiday Open House event that last weekend before Christmas for last-minute shoppers. Stores stay open later and offer specials. The dates are Friday Dec. 19, Saturday Dec. 20 and Sunday Dec. 21.

B. Fabulous at 52 N. Main St. is offering these deals during the event:

Dooney & Burke Purses 40% off
Other Purses 25% off
Clothing 25% off
Pictures & Frames, Plaques & Wall Art 40% off
All Items that are Black or White are 10% off
( excludes Sale Items and Biagi )

Pink Silhouette at 20 E. Lee St. is offering:

All Clothes 50% off (excludes 7 Jeans)
7 Jeans 30% off Purses 25% off

10% off anything with the

Color Pink in it
( excludes Sale Items and European Beads)

Click here for post on previous post on earlier Holiday Open House event.

Downtown Bel Air merchants host holiday open house this weekend with extended hours and deals starting tonight

2008-11-07T12:54:00.001-05:00

Starting tonight, downtown Bel Air merchants are staying open later than usual and offering special deals as part of a Downtown Bel Air Alliance Holiday Open House event.

The Pink Silhouette (20 E. Lee Street) store is offering 40% off Lily Pulitzer, Vineyard Vines and Lacoste items.

It's sister store B. Fabulous (54 North Main Street) has Dooney & Bourke purses at 30% off and ...

Two Sisters (328 S. Main Street) is offering 20% off Chipita and Lilly Barrack trunk show jewelry

Starbucks offering a free cup of coffee to anyone who votes Nov. 4

2008-11-03T23:42:00.001-05:00

Starbucks is offering to buy you a cup of coffee (size=tall, type=brewed) if you vote Nov. 4. With the lines that are expected for this historic election, it's too bad they're not passing out cups to all those folks waiting to vote. Click here to see info on their promotion. It's part of their "Shared Planet" effort. Hope the lines for the free coffee are shorter than the lines to vote.

Also, The Laid Off Gourmet blog reports Krispy Kreme is offering a free doughnut to voters and Ben & Jerry's will give out free ice cream to voters between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. nationwide. I don't think we have either of these stores in Bel Air, but if you happen to pass by one elsewhere after you've voted, you might want to stop by.

Day after Halloween deals at Target

2008-11-01T18:12:00.000-04:00

It's a tradition to stock up on wrapping paper and ornaments the day after Christmas, but there are some good deals to be had the day after Halloween as well. I just returned from Target where Halloween items were half off or more. From those fancy Smith & Hawken pumpkins made from twigs to witch stickers in the scrapbooking aisle, the store was full of Halloween deals. You have to roam the aisles to find the stuff. And you had better hurry. Target isn't the type of store to let this out of season stuff take up shelf space for long. Christmas is coming and my guess is these deals will turn into pumpkins by the end of the week.

Ronnie Fine Wine & Spirits selling everything at $1 over cost this Wednesday

2008-10-28T21:51:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is Dollar Day at Ronnie's Fine Wine & Spirits, 1514 Rock Spring Rd. in Forest Hill. Everything is being sold at $1 over cost, cash and carry. It's an event they hold about once or twice a year. Their weekly deals include "Terrific Tuesdays" where they offer %15 off liquor and "Wacky Wednesdays" when wine is 20% off.

For more info, see their website, which I think is rather new: www.ronniesbeverage.com

Movies are $6 all day on Tuesdays at Flagship Cinema in Churchville

2008-10-28T08:55:00.001-04:00

On Tuesdays, the Flagship Cinema in Churchville (2408 Churchville Rd., 410-734-9000) offers all its movies at its $6 matinee price all day.

Their website says:

"Visit us every Tuesday for 'Super Bargain Tuesday,' when each admission is matinee price all day!"

Forest Hill C-MART location comes back to life as a weekend Flea Market

2008-10-26T22:20:00.002-04:00

The empty C-Mart store on Rock Spring Road has been looking forlorn all these years after the new owners up and moved it to Joppatowne, then closed it for good a couple of weeks ago. But now, in a fit of nostalgia, the old store is about to spring back to life. An ad in last Thursday's Baltimore Sun, which looked remarkably like the old C-Mart ads done in their hand-written style, announced that starting Nov. 8 & 9, "The Big Tarp Indoor Flea Market" would be coming to the old site at 1503-11 Rock Spring Road every Saturday and Sunday. Vendors can rent space for less than $100 a weekend in the 35,000 sq ft facility. According to their website (www.thebigtarp.com) vendors have already booked half the spaces. Click here to see who they've lined up so far. The website says the folks behind this were just tired of seeing so many empty C-Marts:

"THIS IS : the "Troubled Asset Recovery Program" for the PEOPLE - its not exactly a $700 Billion check, but its an opportunity to ride a wave of PR and big

ad dollars as we establish "The Big TARP" Flea Market as not your everyday FLEA....make some money, save some money, at the Big TARP! - see our ads

coming at you VERY SOON in The Baltimore Sun, and a BIG radio partnership to be announced - basically, we were tired of seeing the old C-MART empty - and since the

"new" C-MART is now empty, we decided that it was just too many C-MARTs...well...empty - This is a family affair, a seed...if you will...planted to resurect a building into

something more than just an empty space - its no C-MART but its where it all began, and its a chance for YOU to be a part of the action (us to, just on a smaller scale!)"

Hours are Saturday (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and Sunday (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

Payless ShoeSource at Harford Mall offering buy one get one half off through Oct. 27

2008-10-19T21:59:00.004-04:00

It seems to me that my kids are either particularly rough on their shoes, or they just don't make shoes like they used to. Only a month into the school year, the shoes I bought my kids are looking beat up. We wandered into Payless ShoeSource at the Harford Mall and I found a pair of those faux-Ugg boots Air Walk makes for my daughter. When I went to buy them, the cashier told me that I could get another pair of shoes for half off. Much to my son's chagrin, I insisted he pick out another pair of tennis shoes to replace the lumpy black suede Van's he wears with their flopping untied laces. His new Air Walk shoes ended up costing me only $12.50. Hopefully, I won't have to replace them in another month (and he'll keep these tied). The buy one get one half off runs through Monday, Oct. 27.

Mountain Branch in Fallston offers kids-eat-free on Monday nights

2008-10-19T21:45:00.001-04:00

With the economy squeezing our wallets, we tend to eat out less and spend less when we do. I like to look for kids-eat-free nights because not having to pay for the kids is a good excuse for indulging in a night free of cooking and dishwashing. I've lately been noticing the sign outside Mountain Branch's restaurant promoting their Monday night kids-eat-free special. I looked up the details on their website:

Family Pasta Night - Monday Night is Family Pasta Night at Mountain Branch. Come out from 5-9 and create your own pasta masterpiece. Each person enjoys a bottomless salad, fresh garlic bread, a create your own mix-n-match pasta dish, and a dessert.
Kids Eat FREE from 5-9 off of the kids menu or kids pasta special.

Mountain Branch also features entertainment on Monday nights:

EXTREME FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT has moved from Sunday night to Monday night 5pm - 7pm . They will be filling your plates with loads of fun for the entire family. Well known in the area for their magic tricks and balloon characters all the children are sure to be ENTERTAINED!!!

Click here to see their menu.

Slipping gas prices make me smile

2008-10-14T16:52:00.004-04:00

In Harford County, it seems we're enjoying gas prices that have dipped rather lower here than elsewhere in the region. I was pleased with myself for filling up my tank for $2.95 a gallon at Wawa yesterday. But now I see the little gas price widget I installed in the sidebar of this blog says I would have found a better deal today at Exxon where gas is selling for $2.77 a gallon.

The Baltimore Sun ran a story on the falling gas prices today. Click here to read it:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/investing/bal-md.gas14oct14,0,5923754.story

Kids Eat Free after 4 p.m. all summer at Open Door Cafe

2008-07-16T22:05:00.003-04:00

I saw this sign outside the Open Door Cafe while I was on my way to return some DVDs to Blockbuster the other day. I called the restaurant and learned that this Kids Eat Free after 4 p.m. deal is scheduled to last all summer. The deal is for children 12 and under who order from the kids menu and and are dining with a paying adult. BANV & family have eaten here several times and enjoyed it. We like to go for Mother's Day. The restaurant has a lot of fun murals that evoke a Parisian street. We've always enjoyed the food. It's been awhile since I've been there, but I if I remember correctly, their pasta dishes have had a gourmet twist to them. I think my kids had grilled cheese the last time we went. Click here to see their kids menu. Click here to see their adults' menu. Click here to see their MySpace.com page.

Ice Cream Hut offers sundae deal on Sundays

2008-07-12T15:09:00.001-04:00

The Ice Cream Hut behind Redner's in Hickory offers sundaes for $3.50 on Sundays. My family has tried and enjoyed their peach, birthday cake and fried ice cream flavored ice creams. They also offer soft serve ice cream, snowballs, Italian ice, ice cream sodas, shakes and sundaes.

A gallon of 1% milk is $3.47 at Redners Warehouse Markets in Hickory

2008-07-02T09:16:00.003-04:00

It may cost you a little more in gas to get to the new Redner's Warehouse Markets store that opened last month in the Hickory Village Shopping Center, but you may be able to make it up on savings on groceries. I'm pretty sure they have the best price on milk in the Bel Air area. I picked up a gallon of 1% for $3.47 last week. Yesterday, the same gallon cost me $3.75 at Weis.

For more on Redner's Warehouse Markets new store, click here see my posts on Bel Air News & Views.

Movie "rentals" are free at the library

2008-02-18T18:25:00.004-05:00

A reader (thank you!) e-mailed me about the Harford County Library's vast collections of movies that can be borrowed for two days at a time. She finds it a great way to keep the kids busy on cold winter days when they're off of school -- like today. You can double the time you get to keep that movie by signing onto the library's website at http://www.harf.lib.md.us/. Go to "Review My Account" and you can renew your movie for another two days. I use this feature to manage the books my family borrows on its four different library cards. In the past few years I think we've only paid a few dollars in late fees. (Most of that was from the borrowed videotape that lodged itself into my VCR. I had to wait until the end of the week before the only technician in town who still does that kind of work was available to fish it out.) The library also offers a small collection of Playstation 2, XBox and Wii video games that can be borrowed for a week. Those also can be renewed for another week. Beats paying $8.47 for a weekly video game rental at Blockbuster. However, Blockbuster's grace period allows you to keep it for another week before penalties kick in.

$3.99 one topping pizza at Dominoes in Bel Air today

2008-02-16T16:09:00.003-05:00

Mr. BANV spotted someone holding a sign along the road today saying it's customer appreciation day at Dominoes Pizza. A one topping pizza is $3.99 at the Bel Air Dominoes, 312 N Main St. Pick up only. The number there is 410-836-0880.

5 cents off each gallon deal on Tuesdays at Hunt Valley Shell station

2008-02-12T23:58:00.008-05:00

Ok, so this deal is not in Bel Air, but you might drive past this gas station if you take the 152-Hess Road-Jarrettsville Pike-Paper Mill Road route to Hunt Valley as a part of your commute. The Shell station at the corner of Ashland Road and York Road offers 5 cents off each gallon of gas on Tuesdays. The price there today was $2.92, which is decent. However, the little widget I have in the sidebar of this blog tells me you can get gas today for $2.80 at the Royal Farms in Fallston and the Wawa in Churchville. But, if you happen to be going by the Cockeysville Shell station on a Tuesday, it might be worth a look.

Good deals today at Ronnie's liquor store in Forest Hill, but only if you pay by cash or check

2008-02-06T09:38:00.000-05:00

Today is Dollar Day at Ronnie's liquor store in Forest Hill. Ronnie's is selling everything for $1 over cost today. But they only take cash or checks.

Superbowl pizza & wings, recession style

2008-01-30T23:25:00.001-05:00

If you were lucky enough to buy the mammoth TV you'll watch the Superbowl on back when you were comfortable your home value would continue to soar, you're probably looking to save a little money now on the rest of Sunday's celebration. With that in mind, I perused today's grocery store circulars to find what looked like the best deal around Bel Air on pizza and wings. The winner is ... Superfresh. According to their advertising circular, Superfresh is offering Tony's pizza for $1.74. Their wings are $2.99 a pound at the deli. Here's how the others stacked up:

Weis
Wings $4 a pound
Tombstone Pizza 3 for $10

Safeway
Wings $4.99 for a 2.5 pound frozen package
DiGiorno Pizza 2 for $9

Giant
Wings $1.79 a pound
DiGiorno or California Pizza Kitchen pizza 2 for $10

Wednesdays are the days to get deals on wine in Bel Air

2008-01-29T23:00:00.000-05:00

If Tuesdays are kids eat free nights in Bel Air, it looks like Wednesdays are the days to get deals on wine. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Ronnie's in Forest Hill features a Wacky Wednesdays event each week offering its wines at 20 percent off. If you prefer to enjoy your deal on wine in a restaurant, MaGerk's in Bel Air offers its wines at half price by the glass and the bottle on Wednesdays. According to the Wine World website, the first Wednesday of every month is Winesday at MaGerk's where they offer a variety of wines to taste for $10.

Tuesdays are kids eat practically for free nights at Looneys and Greene Turtle

2008-01-28T18:02:00.000-05:00

No point in cooking for the kids on Tuesday nights in Bel Air. At Looneys, kids eat free on Tuesdays. At Greene Turtle, their dinner will cost you 99 cents with a regular adult entree.

A scoop of really good ice cream for less than $2

2008-01-25T00:16:00.001-05:00

Beachdog, a faithful reader of my other blog, BANV, and a big fan of Broom's Bloom Ice Cream, points out that Broom's Bloom Dairy offers a "very small" 5-ounce portion for only $1.50. I wonder how many calories are in 5-ounces?

Safeway offers 10 cents off each gallon of gas if you spend $50 on groceries

2008-01-23T22:55:00.000-05:00

A reader (Thank you!) sent me an e-mail today saying he likes the value he gets on gas at the Safeway. (It was priced at $2.96 today compared with Wawa's $2.90.) In addition to the competitive gas price, Safeway also offers a 10 cent a gallon discount for shoppers who spend $50 at the Safeway grocery store. So, if you fill up your tank when you buy your groceries he's right that you are likely getting the cheapest gas in town. Kleins grocery offers coupons with every purchase that give you 3 cents off each gallon of gas you buy at their Klein's Gas 'N Go stations. But I couldn't find a Kleins gas price on the Internet. If you drive by and see it listed at the station, please let me know.

Best deals on wine come early in the week

2008-01-22T23:31:00.000-05:00

If you're planning to serve wine at a weekend event, shop Tuesday or Wednesday. Tollgate Liquors in the Tollgate Marketplace between Giant and Staples offers its wines at 15 percent off on Tuesdays. Click here for other deals they offer throughout the week. Ronnie's at 1514 Rock Spring Road in Forest Hill offers a Wacky Wednesday event where wine is 20 percent off on Wednesdays.

Got a box of Life cereal for $2.39 at Bel Air Target

2008-01-22T10:42:00.001-05:00

The low cost of some of the groceries offered at Target convinced me to split my weekly grocery store trips into two ever since the Bel Air Target started selling them a couple of years ago. Cereal is one of the categories they seem to dominate in low price. A number of their Market Pantry brand cereals are less than $2. Brand name cereals are often priced in the $3 range. Yesterday, we picked up a 15-ounce box of Life cereal for $2.39. In grocery store aisles I often see brand name cereals going for more than $4, leaving me wondering why adding sugar and raisins to the same grains horses eat for breakfast sends prices into the stratosphere?

Gas at Wawa is $2.979 a gallon today

2008-01-20T13:47:00.000-05:00

I'm looking at the gas receipt from my fill up at Wawa in Bel Air today and thinking their $2.979 per gallon price is pretty good. I did a little Google search to check it out and discovered a number of sites that help you locate the best gas price in your area. Next time you need to fill the tank try clicking here to find the best deals:

BaltimoreGasPrices.com
MotorTrend.com
Automotive.com
Internetautoguide.com

A gallon of 1% milk is $3.75 at Weis in Bel Air

2008-01-17T16:27:00.000-05:00

With the price of milk skyrocketing the way it has, over at our house we really do cry over each spill. Today I found a gallon of 1% milk for $3.75 at Weis in Bel Air. The sign above the milk case says they have the lowest prices allowable by state law. I'm still trying to verify that. But if you see cheaper prices anywhere, please comment below or e-mail me at belairnews@comcast.net.

Welcome to Best Deals in Bel Air

2008-01-17T14:40:00.000-05:00

I've been publishing Bel Air News & Views for almost two years now and I noticed that the readers of that blog are often looking for good values around town. I decided to create this blog to serve as a place to share that kind of information. I'll post good deals I find and I hope you readers will add what you find as well. It could be anything from a summer camp that you think offers good value for the money to the price of gas at a particular station on a given day. I'll start posting what I see while I'm out and about and I hope you'll add your own finds. The economy doesn't seem to be getting any better so we might as well help each other find some good buys.