Last night I saw that Banana Boat suncare products are buy one get one free (BOGO) at Pick ‘n Save! I clipped a $1 coupon from last week’s paper, which doubled at the register. I picked up one bottle each of Ultra Defense 50 and Ultra Defense 30 for just $7.49 — a savings of $11.49, or 60%. That is one fantastic deal on sunscreen that will last all summer.

This stuff is awesome. It sprays on evenly and clearly, which is great for loading up the kids with SPF. I have experimented with other kinds of sunscreen, and this is definitely one of the best.

I hope it stays on sale for a while — this is a good one!

Update: This week’s ad showcases this Banana Boat deal. Stock up next week! I’m not sure how long it will last.

Unlike the rest of the free world, I don’t have an iPhone. Or an MP3 player. Or XM/Sirius radio. Or anything else that plays music of my choice whenever I want it to. I am woefully out of the loop with music technology.

Until now. I discovered Pandora about two years ago, but it wasn’t until recently that I started using it daily. Wow! What a great, FREE service for fantastic music that I love.

Musical genes

This free Internet radio service is based on the insanely cool Music Genome Project, a way-too-complicated-to-explain-here analysis of music that chooses music for you based on your existing musical preferences.

On the Pandora site, you enter a song or artist that you like and the service responds by playing selections that are musically similar. You can tell the service what you like and don’t like, which helps Pandora make future selections for you. It’s kind of exciting to see what new music it will play for you next.

Every time you enter an artist or song, it creates and saves a “station” based on that music. You can’t choose the songs that are played, but it’s a great way to discover new music similar to stuff you already know you like.

There is a certain level of control involved: You can skip a few songs or replay something you liked. Plus, it keeps logs of what it plays so you never get stuck with an ear worm.

How we use it

We have our desktop computer in our dining room (don’t ask), which is actually great for using this service. We put on Pandora and we can hear it throughout the downstairs of the house — kind of like our own home stereo system. It’s perfect for listening to a little Miles Davis while I cook or The Weepies or Gillian Welch while we eat dinner. So far we have avoided adding a single kids’ station, which I am very happy about.

We listen to about 10 stations on a regular basis:

• Mile Davis Quintet
• The Weepies
• Gillian Welch
• Bob Marley
• Coldplay
• Martin Sexton
• Hollaback Girl
• Gwen Stefani
• Cassie
• Glamorous

The last four stations are Chandler’s. I swear.

Mobile music

Now you can get Pandora on your phone, too! I am really excited about this, since it would finally give me iPhone-ish status. My phone is supported through AT&T, but I have to add data service to my account. Gotta see how much that is. My goal is to load up some upbeat music that will inspire me to work out at the YMCA. (Seriously.)

The very best place to save money isn’t at the grocery store. It’s at the Brownberry outlets in Oconomowoc and Brookfield. If you haven’t discovered these hidden gems, you need to stop buying bread at the grocery store and hit an outlet today. Two weeks ago I got high-quality bread for 54 cents a loaf! That’s incredible.

I shop at the Oconomowoc outlet about once every three months. I buy two dozen or so loaves of whole-grain, high-fructose corn syrup-free loaves. I also buy a few Boboli pizza crusts, Thomas english muffins and bagels, and Entenmann’s treats. Our outlet also carries soup mixes, Snyder pretzels, spices and other snacks, but I rarely buy those because they tend to be priced at full retail value.

Outlet bread prices are half of retail prices (which run $3-$4 per loaf). That’s already a great discount. But I always buy the “green line” loaves, which are just $1.09 per loaf.

Plus, you can find coupons in the local paper and at the store itself. At my last visit, I bought a stack of photocopied outlet coupons for just $4. It was worth every penny! This packet features four coupons for each two-month period throughout the year. Each set includes two 50% off coupons, one 12 for $12, and one 15 for $15. You can use these coupons on almost everything in the store, including my favorite green-line items, except red line items.

I used the 50% off coupon at my last trip and saved nearly $11 — bringing the final cost of the bread to 54 cents a loaf. That’s much cheaper than many store-brand white breads that have no nutritional value whatsoever. In fact, that price rivals what I spend making my own bread — without the effort.

The loaves freeze well (my basement freezer is full of them for now) and we love the bread. To me, it’s the best deal around.