Update: We picked 5 winners of a $100 Amazon gift card using a random number generator: @candidcandyz, @jackspeed2316, @hanna.chana, @deeniekalmanowitz, and @rayshayrosin. Congrats!
On my 20th birthday, November 26, 2004, I started this blog. It was Black Friday and I was in Sao Paulo. In previous years I had camped out in front of Best Buy on Black Friday, making thousands of dollars flipping bargains. For example in 2003 while in Yeshiva in NYC I camped out in front of Best Buy and nabbed four $400 Samsung A600 camera phones that were free after a Black Friday rebate that amazingly didn’t even require that I activate the phones:
No such shopping holiday existed in Brazil. But it also happened to be around when Black Friday would start to shift from a retail holiday to an online holiday. I was volunteering and teaching children for a year in a school that couldn’t afford toilet paper and where it rained inside my bedroom. But those bleak conditions inspired the blog that I would still be operating 14 years later.
Tomorrow is Cyber Monday, my 34th birthday, and the 14th anniversary of this blog. Never in a million years would I have guessed back on 11/26/04 that I would still be blogging full time on 11/26/18.
JJ, one of my 5 younger brothers, started working with me on DansDeals in November 2013. He’s done an amazing job growing this website and helping take off some of the heavy workload that was all on me up until that point. He also claims to be the author of the first troll comment, which I always had assumed was posted by my father.
JJ was born on the 18th of Kislev, so my English birthday will overlap with his Hebrew birthday from midnight tonight until tomorrow evening.
I couldn’t do what I do without him and next month I’ll be able to check off a major bucket list when I travel to Antarctica while he runs the blog for 2 weeks.
Happy Birthday JJ!
Our 3rd child, Maya, was born on the 19th of Kislev last year, so my English birthday will overlap with her first Hebrew birthday from tomorrow evening until midnight.
It’s simply amazing that with each new child, your heart manages to find more space to love. But each kid is so precious in their own way.
Happy birthday Maya, we hope to see great things from you one day, but please don’t grow up too quickly 😉
Based on my family’s history with glitches around our birthdays, I guess I should keep my eyes open tomorrow? Although we have had a good amount of great deals over the past few days as well.
I wrote about flying to NYC to celebrate my paternal grandfather’s 90th birthday.
But 2 weeks ago my maternal grandfather turned 80, so my very dearest happy birthday wishes go out to him as well. He taught me a love of baseball, generosity, kindness, and an always positive outlook on life.
I still remember him taking me to my first Indians game where we saw the Tribe beat the Blue Jays 7-6 on 6/28/92 and I even got a batting helmet as the promotional giveaway. Since then we’ve gone to hundreds of sports games together and I cherish the time I get to spend with him. In 2013 JJ and I even got to take a trip with my grandfather to all 3 sports halls of fame, capped off with seats on top of the Green Monster to see the Indians beat up the Red Sox. We were in 7th heaven. It may be time for a repeat soon with Rafi and my grandfather.
Happy birthday Grandpa, may your next 80 years be as fulfilling as your first 80 🙂
Earlier this month, Mimi and I celebrated our 10th anniversary together. Back in 2008 we dated for 3 weeks and were married 3 months later. It doesn’t take long to know what will be the best decision of your life. I married a kind, smart, funny, and beautiful 21 year old girl and she is the best wife and best mother anyone could ever ask for.
We’ve traveled the world together since then and made amazing memories.
Some memories are close to home:
But I’ve booked several domestic and international trips where our flight would depart in just an hour or 2 and Mimi has come along for the ride. She traveled around the world for a month while pregnant and nauseous. And she’s traveled with our kids on 131 flights.
Including a trip while pregnant with Maya to see this amazing site in Boonville:
Or a 2 day trip to Rome:
Including a one day trip to Boston taken just to earn 300,000 bonus JetBlue points:
Or letting me run off to see the Northern lights:
Or Palau:
And 4 trips to the holy land:
Sure it’s significantly harder to travel with kids, but there is no greater blessing in the world. Their adorable innocence, hugs, and unconditional love melt away the biggest worries and fears in the world. And it’s seeing this that makes those trips all worthwhile:
But United clearly knows how I decide where to travel next:
More importantly than any trips though, she’s helped raise 3 amazing kids. And she’s put up with me being married to my work and all the crazy trips I dream up.
Happy 10th anniversary Mimi!
I’m always thankful to my parents for making sure that I was always curious. Always questioning. Always working hard because nothing worthwhile comes easy. And always striving to be humble and appreciative of everything and everyone.
And of course I’d be remiss not to thank G-d for allowing me to support my amazing wife and 3 adorable children (As well as JJs family!) in the most unique of ways. And for being able to take them on all of the flights around the world, thanks to airline miles and hotel points.
And thanks to readers like you for visiting this blog! For following us on Twitter, Instagram, SMS, Telegram, and Facebook. For sharing your deals, experiences, and trip reports on DDF (which turned 10 this year!) and the DDFB group. For telling your friends and family. For commenting and adding insight. For patronizing our advertisers and shopping through our links. For sending me countless touching emails letting me know how DansDeals made a difference in your life, whether it was being able to take a special trip that otherwise would have been out of reach or even finding your soul mate through DDF! For coming to seminars and being able to bounce ideas off each other in person…and then letting me know that I’m a lot more down to Earth of a guy than you expected. You make it all possible and worthwhile!
As a small token of our appreciation, here’s an Instagram giveaway for 5 readers to each win a $100 Amazon gift card:
Thanks and good luck!
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70 Comments On "Cyber Monday: Happy Birthday To DansDeals, JJ, Maya, And Me! Plus A Special Thank You/Giveaway!"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Mazal tov! Much nachat from all family and bloggers
mazal tov great work!
Mazal Tov in all of the above! We are all now at DEFCON 1 for an airfare glitch. 😉
wishing you all continued success with Dansdeals, Happy Birthday Dan, JJ and Maya!
OMG..You share Birthday with me. Happy Birthday!
Mazel tov to the whole @DansDeals family! May Hashem grant you a lifetime of happiness and your continued success for you and the rest of Klal Yisrael!
November 26 was your English or Hebrew birthday?
Happy birthday Dan! Thanks for helping a full-time student save some much needed
Mazal tov
עד מאה ועשרים
Hey, Happy birthday to all of you! And Happy Anniversary! Thanks for this wonderful site, you help out so many people, all while earning a living for yourself. What more can a good Jew ask for?! A beautiful family, well it sounds like you got that too! ☺ Much hatzlocha!
יום הולדת שמח
Congrats and many more!
Happy Birthday Dan! Thank you for all you’ve given to me through this site. I greatly appreciate it.
Mazal tov and Thank you!!!
Wow… So many things to be celebrating! Thank you, Dan, for all of the lives that you touch… YOU make such a difference!!! …and thank you for sharing such beautiful photos of you and your family. So amazing
Happy Birthday! To 120! – All the best, and great site!
Mazal Tov
Is there another to enter the drawing for those folks who don’t have instagram?
Thanks
mabrook!
Mazel tov! You are a true mensch Dan!
MAZAL TUV! And Thank You for al the fun.
You are such a mesnch Dan! Mazel Tov on all of your accomplishments and wishing you continued nachas in your personal and business endeavors. What you have done with your blog has changed my life significantly for the better, and has created lifelong memories that me, my husband and children will cherish forever. Thanks for all you do for everyone!
thanks dan for such a phenomenal blog yaarich yamim al mamlachtoi
BE”H MAZAL TOV and all the BEST
Happy Birthday to Charles Schulz too! It’s fun to share a birthday with him.
Your a Good Dude Dan…thank you for helping all of us travel more…nothing beats the first class upgrades!
As a token of my appreciation next time you are in NY…going to play catch with you so you put a fastball down the middle for your next First Pitch!
Mazel tov!
Mazal Tov!
It is thanks to you. You are a distilled source of all deals and points for me.
Happy B-day to all of u!!
Can we enter without Instagram? Filters don’t allow it… (Retweeting and following on Twitter?) Thanks Dan! Mazel tov!!
Happy Birthday, Dan! Keep the bargains coming for us for many more years.
mazal tov! so sad your giveaway is for instagram only! I can only handle so much social media.
Congrats on your Birthday and for “Living the Dream”!!!
Thanks for reminding me to relax and enjoy
Really appreciate this post
Dan, as a deal junkie and not so tech savvy, I appreciate your blog immensely. And above all, I love the classiness in how you handle reactions and actions.
You are a true mentch and even more so a mekadesh shem shamayim.
Milestones are opportunities for reflections. Thank you for sharing this one.
Mazel Tov to all of you.. May you all be blessed.
Thanks for your wonderful site.
Btw, Maya is just heartstoppingly gorgeous (Ke”h)
Mazel Tov to the gantza mishpacha!!
Thanks to all for the kind wishes 🙂
Very sweet, heartfelt post, Dan.
Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov. I wish you, your wife, children, the entire mishpacha, GeFeN (Gezunt, Prnassa, Nachas – for the uninitiated) But most importantly for your zayde, who is not that much older than I. For all of you, may Hashem grant you ahd meah v’esrim, k’esrim.
What a wonderful post! You have what to be thankful for! Tov Le’Hodot LaHashem and to your wife! Ad Meah V’Esrim Shanah!
Happy Everything….and thanks for all the memories you help create, including the Air Canada glitch which took us to Capetown and the most amazing plate of kosher ribs (not to mention the safaris we went on).
מזל טוב
Mazel Tov Dan – the years fly by quickly. Before you know it, Rafi will be off as a bochur somewhere.
מזל טוב והרבה נחת לך וכל המשפחה
מזל טוב והרבה נחת לך וכל המשפחה
Congrats
Thank you for all the deals. Much hatzlocha.
I hate you DansDeals, you shrunk my bank account more than tuition has….but keep up the good work 🙂
Congrats Dan!! We appreciate all you do and enjoy your long deserved vacay to Antartica.
mazel tov
יום הולדת שמח. Dan, you’re ONE of a kind! 🙂
I enjoy reading these posts more than any glitch you have posted!
Mazal Tov to the whole clan!, and a big yasher koach for your hard work being mezakeh the rabim!!
Mazel Tov, Dan!
Hard to imagine all the zechuyos (Heavenly merit) you’ve reaped by providing so much good, for so many.
Many more years in good health and Nachas (no translation makes the cut ).
Shmuel
Tzadik!
TIME FOR A APP!!!
Mazal Tov on all the happy milestones. Continued good health, nachas and success b’gur for you and and your entire family. We enjoy your blog! Thanks for many trips, sales, ideas – we may not have thought of otherwise.
Happy Birthday! I love all the pics and am amazed by all the experiences you were able to take advantage of! You’re The Dan!
Happy birthday to all family members and may you always have such great happy occasions and be able to celebrate it with family as this beautiful post illustrates.
i just want to tell you that if there has not been a enthusiastic response to the instagram giveaway its not because you posted to many deals and it got swallowed up with everything you posted in the last few days. rather many people that go on your website use your links for cc or amazon deals, have filters that block them from going on things like social media and most forums, except yours, so if you can please be mindful when allowing people to post trip reports that are not tznius even if you write tznius disclaimer, may you blessed with lots of prosperity and success
“when I travel to Antarctica while he runs the blog for 2 weeks.”
I am shocked that JJ is not going along with. But it’s good to know that we won’t all be left alone without DD.
Anyway, continued Hatzlacha and Beracha to you and your family.
I can’t wait to read all about Antarctica. Enjoy!!
Wishing u all the brst
Mazel tov and happy bday!
Congrats from everyone at GottaDEAL. We started in January of 2004 – good to see both of us still around after all these years 🙂
Mazel tov! Love your posts & the hard work you do.
Mazel tov!!! And thank you for all you do.. However I don’t have Instagram and can’t even open the link to yours with my filter.. Is there anyway the people that don’t have Instagram can participate in this giveaway?! :((
And now were having the twitter drawing for all those who don’t have Instagram. LoL
So was the google fi deal close enough to your birthday to qualify as a birthday deal?