(MONEY Magazine) – COOL SUMMER Design your own package trip to Canada's Maritime Provinces through Maxxim Vacations for about 25% less than you'd pay a la carte. You get round-trip Air Canada tickets to Halifax from most major U.S. cities, car rental and 10- or 14-night accommodations at inns throughout New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island for between $1,089 and $1,479 per person (depending on the city you depart from). Pay $90 extra to upgrade to four- and five-star lodgings. A travel expert helps you customize your itinerary. Call 800-567-6666.

SUNSHINE WITH STYLE Ritz-Carlton's sparkling-new oceanfront Key Biscayne resort welcomes guests with a promotional deal scheduled to begin July 1 and last until Sept. 30. You can get a deluxe ocean-view room for $169 a night, double occupancy--or nearly 30% off the usual rate--as long as you pay with an American Express card. The rate for a resort-view room is $139. The property boasts a spa, a nearby golf course and all the trappings of the luxury hotel chain. Call 800-241-3333.

RAM-HUNTING SEASON Instead of buying a new PC, juice up your old machine by maxing out its RAM. Because of increased competition among chipmakers, memory is now cheaper than ever. Websites like Crucial.com (800-336-8896) sell some 128MB memory modules for $75. Just last year, that same purchase would have cost around $130. And while the extra memory may not make your old PC perform like a Pentium 4, it will give you the illusion of having a significantly faster Pentium III. Hurry--prices could spike if manufacturers trim output of traditional RAM chips.

CLOSEUP Whether you're spying on a finch in your yard or watching the Boys of Summer from the nosebleed seats, check out Vivitar's red-tinted PV 8x22 binoculars. Unless you're looking for high-end gear suitable for serious bird watching, this $39 pair is a good start. For comparison, Canon's 8x22 model goes for $83. Vivitar's binoculars are available from catalogue house Red Envelope (877-733-3683) and its website (www.redenvelope.com).

SHINY NEW BIKE Sturdy and lightweight aluminum-frame bicycles used to be priced only for hard-core enthusiasts. But prices have fallen considerably in the past few years. Giant's 21-speed Cypress DX hybrid (a comfortable cross between a mountain bike and a touring bike) costs $350 and comes with the newest cycling wizardry: powerful direct-pull cantilever brakes, adjustable handlebar, front-wheel and seat shock absorbers, grip-integrated gearshifts and gel-cushioned saddle. Find a local dealer through www.giant-bicycles.com.

PRICE ALERT

If your summer vacation plans take you off the beaten path, take advantage of Enterprise Rent-a-Car's special rate of $9.99 a day on weekends until Dec. 18 for drivers over 25. Rent a compact or economy-model car from Friday afternoon until Monday morning for $30 plus tax. Several big caveats: There's a three-day minimum; you can't rent at an airport; and the offer is unavailable at many major destinations, including Boston, Chicago, the Florida Keys, New York City, the San Francisco Bay area and Washington, D.C. Call 800-736-8227, or book online at www.enterprise.com.

Reported by Andrea Bennett, Brian L. Clark, Borzou Daragahi, Ilana Polyak and Natasha Rafi