Last weekend BF and I went to the PNE. The Pacific National Exhibition is this fair in Vancouver that runs for two weeks every year at the end of August. This year is the 100th anniversary celebration, so I suppose the line ups were extra long, but the cotton candy, candy apples, mini-donuts was extra delicious. They even had the Beach Boys, Kevin Costner, and Bryan Adams playing at the PNE this year.
I used a promo code (yes, I heart promo codes) I found online and saved us $5 each for admission (usually $20- prices have gone way up!), though if we got our butts together and left early in the morning, there was free admission from 9-12pm. But alas, that didn’t happen. We decided against spending the extra cash to go on the rides this year- the extra long line ups aren’t worth it, IMO.
We checked out a pig race, some cows, a marketplace (which ended up being every infomercial you can imagine- but LIVE), and the carnival games. Oh the carnival games. They are so so good at suckering you in to plunk your money down and try again to no avail. BF was so intent on winning something with the basketball hoop game and he tried a few times with no luck. Then I stumbled on this post by John Chow. Guess we weren’t the only ones who thought that game was ridiculously impossible.
Carnival games are like casinos, but instead of money, you get an ugly stuffed animal that you would likely never use. They get them young. Now I realize how much money I spent when I was a kid, trying so desperately to get those prizes. I suppose there are some very good lessons parents can teach their children whilst letting them gamble at the carnival games. Like: know your limit, stay within it.
PF Blog Love:
- Invest It Wisely gives a few tips on healthy living, eating, and exercise
- Boomer and Echo has 10 tips on saving money on auto insurance
- Tiny Potato has great tips on what NOT to do when opening a discount brokerage
- The Passive Income Earner asks what is a real estate bubble and how is it defined?
- Financial Samurai talks about how small business owners are encouraged to sack their employees before tax hikes
- Bucksome Boomer wonders whether we should be eating our eggs, given all the contamination scare
- Money Reasons shares with us how he supports his local community
- Monevator asks whether you consider yourself richer than your kids, or poorer than your grandchildren
- My Journey to Millions asks whether Gen Y’ers follow stereotypes (I think we do)
- Canadian Finance Blog talks about my dream- retiring abroad
Readers, did you ever get suckered into playing the carnival games? Did you ever win something really good?
You might also want to check out these posts:
Haha, sounds like the PNE was deliciously unprimal
I’ve wasted a lot of money on those games too… I think they’re rigged!
Thanks for including me in your roundup!
@Kevin- LOL it WAS unprimal, that’s for sure. Refined sugar x infinite! They are totally rigged =) But I don’ t know why we fall for it. =)
I thought they only did pig races in Alberta?
Thanks for the link, have a great weekend!
How was your beer after work tonight?
Thanks for the link!
Have a great weekend!
Thanks for the mention!
We go to the fair here every other year but never play the games. Instead we have to try out favorite (and some new) food items, wander the exhibits and pet farm animals.
Sounds like you had a great time despite not winning.
P.S. Thanks for the link love.
Thanks for the link!
We are staying away from PNE this year. With the kids, the bill goes up quite a bit …
BTW, where is the retweet button?
I played the quarters game, where you put a quarter in a slot that runs down to where the other quarters are and if you get your quarter to be placed correctly, you got some of the other quarters. I got about net 2 dollars worth and stopped!
I also like to do the darts and ballons (and the squirting racing game). I won at both, but the prizes were so lame, I don’t even know why I played…
I could have definitely have done without those games…
Oh, thanks for the mention too!
@Money Reasons- Ahhh I remember that game! I never got to get any quarters out when I play that game- you must possess some skill! Lol- I know what you mean about lame prizes. I guess they’re good to give to the kids.
@Financial Samurai- Beer was good! How was poker for you? The RT button and comment luv, and any other awesome plug ins is missing because my wordpress/coding fixer upper guy instructed me not to put them up until we can figure out this comment issue. =( I guess it wasn’t fixed after all!!
@The Passive Income Earner- Yeah, my colleague with kids spent $100 and they were there for only 4 hours!
@Echo- your comment went into spam! =( I fished you out though. Maybe those were pigs from Alberta! =) I don’t remember if they were or not. They even had a goose race.
@Kay Lynn- Petting farm animals seems like a common theme to all fairs, huh? Yeah, we told ourselves not to this year (or at least I told myself)… and then I got dragged into them by his gambling spirit lol. =)
Not to brag, but the gift I have at playing the quarter’s game probably has bought me at least one entire, whole hotdog over my life so far…
I’m living large (lol).
@Money Reasons- lol, if it was a Japadog (see earlier post), I’d be jealous. But if it was JUST a regular hot dog, then Pfff! =) Hey at least you won quarters and not some ugly stuffed animal collecting dust in a corner of your house.
It’s so true, people get carried away at carnivals, and kids are loured in with the big toys and flashy prizes. I think it’s a great lesson for kids indeed to learn their limits, learn to enjoy their money, as well as save it
Great site YnT, hope that your comments are working 100% now. Keep up the good work.
Derry
Great post. Useful links. I love promo codes too. Great for shopping online and saving some money.