Wise Bread (Deals and Coupons posts)

Help! I Lost My Coupon Organizer!

Myscha Theriault — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:53:07 +0000

This afternoon's trip to the grocery store started like any other. My list was made. My coupons were clipped and organized. The blue tooth was charged and ready to go, and my rock out tunes were cued up in the Jeep. Traffic wasn't obnoxious as I headed out before the holiday chaos geared up. Everything was coming up roses, really. Until about two aisles after my produce cruise, I realized my coupon file was missing.

I can honestly say this has never happened to me before. And this particular coupon organizer was not that different from any other I'd used before, other than I actually used a sturdier plastic accordion file rather than the paperboard variety. Apparently, Sweet Bay's shopping carts are designed for industrial strength, Amazon sized children, because that's how I lost the little bugger. Right through what would normally be the left leg hole for your average toddler.

After re-combing the aisles I'd walked through, and checking twice with the customer service desk, I finally had to accept reality. It was gone. And with it, several hundred dollars worth of savings, including some fantastic coupons my realtor arranged for me at the home hardware chain stores, several slamming spice coupons that only come out this time of year, and numerous other deals too great to mention. So what did I do?

I did what I suspect any other forty-ish woman in the middle of hormonal transition would do. After checking out with my grocery purchases, I checked the parking lot in a last ditch effort, swore a bunch, drove my stick shift way more aggressively than necessary on the way home, and after unloading my purchases immediately mixed up a double on the vodka, extra tall white Russian. Basically, I took it like a man.

Why am I posting about this? Well for starters, I'm assuming I can't be the first alpha shopping spouse this has happened to. Secondly, I'm wondering if my fascination for streamlined small filing systems is what got me into this. Should I go back to the days of totable boxes, or consider some sort of notebook system? It's not like there are “coupon insurance” programs out there, and I realize that in comparison with everything else that's happened to us this year, this is low on the list of things to stress about.

But damn it, I really went out of my way this morning to get back on track with the coupon thing. I sorted, culled and went way beyond the call of duty to get ready for this shopping run. There's really no recovery plan for this, and in the end, I will just suck it up as always. In the meantime though, I can't help but think about all the other shoppers out there who put enormous amounts of effort into the coupon strategy and even order them online ahead of the game.

We're watching our pennies, but not on the financial edge. And if I was fighting back tears of frustration for the rest of my shopping session, what must people do when these coupons are critical to putting food on the table at all? And are there any alternative filing systems out there that are tougher to lose through the grocery cart openings, yet not so cumbersome as to be a burden? Talk to me. I'm clearly having to start from scratch, so incorporating new ideas into an existing system will not be an issue. Share a story, a strategy or coupon philosophy in general. I'm all ears. As usual, thanks in advance for sounding off.

Permalink | 35 comments | Myscha Theriault's blog | Channel: Coupons

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

Restaurant.com 80% off Coupon Code with FatWallet 25% Cashback - $25 Gift Certificates for $1.50

Xin Lu — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:16:36 +0000

By Xin Lu

Restaurant.com regularly sells $25 restaurant gift certificates for $10, and $10 gift certificates for $3. From today to 11/20/2008, a coupon code gives you an additional 80% off so a $25 gift certificate is only $2, and a $10 gift certificate is only $0.60! Additionally, FatWallet.com is having a 25% cashback sale on Restaurant.com so if you use FatWallet you would essentially get the $25 gift certificates for $1.50 each, and $10 gift certificates for $0.45 each after you receive the 25% cashback.

The coupon code is SURPRISE. You can search for restaurants within your area and add gift certificates to the restaurants you are interested in, and then add them to your cart and order. One thing that you must do with these gift certificates is to read the fine print. Some restaurants require minimum purchase amounts and some gift certificates can only be used on certain days so make sure that you read the details associated with each gift certifcate. After your purchase, you can print out the certificates or choose to print them later.

Currently the website is very slow because of this promotion, but there are a lot of restaurants to choose from. There are more than 100 restaurants within 15 miles of where I live and I finally purchased a few of these gift certificates to restaurants I know of. The gift certificates generally expire one year from issue and never expire in California and other states where the expiration of gift certificates is illegal. Even if you do not eat out often, these gift certificates could make great stocking stuffers!

Steps to receiving the max amount of discounts:

1. Sign up for FatWallet.com

2. Go to the Restaurant.com landing page and click through to Restaurant.com.

3. Add gift certificates you are interested in purchasing

4. Type in SURPRISE in the discount code box

5. Check out

The coupon code should give you 80% off and the FatWallet cashback should be redeemable in a few weeks. Make sure you don't sign up for additional offers at Restaurant.com.

Permalink | 17 comments | Xin Lu's blog | Channel: Deals and Coupons, Coupons, Food and Drink

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

Healthier Toiletries Real People Can Actually Afford

Myscha Theriault — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:46:55 +0000

By Myscha Theriault

Trying to balance healthy personal care products on a Joe the plumber budget? Wanting to make healthy choices on the home front without driving your line item allotments into the ditch? I hear you. Following is a breakdown of reasonably affordable products available to regular Joe's. Bonus? Many of these are products you can actually score coupons for. Read on.

Now that we are transitioning back into some sort of functioning household after six long months of flood recovery (and still counting), some hard choices are going to have to be made as we balance green and healthy with the very real priority of replenishing our emergency savings. Prior to this situation, we still budgeted cautiously and still clipped coupons. However, we had reached a point where paying a little more for higher quality soaps, cosmetics and other products wasn't a huge issue. Until we have rebuilt our savings however, that will absolutely have to change.

With the current economy, I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume I'm not alone. If you too are looking for affordable versions of these types of products that fall within a reasonable set of health boundaries, I invite you to share the research I've done for my own household. Here are several of the basic products I was able to find information on, via the skin deep cosmetics database.

For those of you who haven't tried it out yet, the toxicity levels of various personal products are rated on a scale of zero to ten, with level ten being the highest level of hazard. Zero-two is considered on the extremely low level of the hazard scale, three-six a mid range risk, and seven-ten levels represent a high hazard risk. Many products just aren't available in the zero-two range, but I was able to find options in all categories listed for this article that at least fell in the lower end of the moderate range, according to the database's parameters. Here are the results:

Mascara.

Almay. Several kinds came out as only a three, which is one of the healthier options I found. And it's a brand you actually see coupons for from time to time. You definitely have to click through a few pages to see the ones from Almay that aren't on the higher end of the toxicity scale, but there are definitely several that rate at a three, a couple of them even waterproof varieties. Their “one coat” version ( a couple of colors of which still came out at a personally acceptable level ) is also one of the free items at Walgreens this month. Score!
L'Oreal also made a rock star showing with their Double Extend Waterproof Lash Fortifier and Extender Mascara landing solidly in the green zone with a level 2 rating. Thanks, L'Oreal!
Maybelline's Expert Eyes Moisturizing Mascara Remover (related product) lands in the green zone as well with a rating of one. Their Volume Express Turbo Boost mascara line lands at a three, comparable with Almay.

Mouthwash.

Jason brand mouthwash had several rated at a two, and I've at least seen this stuff at Target, so it's making a mainstream effort.
Listerine's antiseptic mouthwash. The fresh burst and original are each rated a three, and there were a couple of other versions of it as well that rated equally low. There are definitely coupon options for this brand, as evidenced by the regular Sunday newspaper inserts.
Several of the Rembrandt ones were rated at three. Not as many coupons for this one, but I have seen them.
Scope's cool peppermint, peppermint, and smooth mint also made a rating of three. As all of you alpha shoppers are aware, this brand has coupons galore.
Several of the Tom's of Maine flavors came out as low as a one, but their flavors, as I've stated before, can leave a bit to be desired. Still, I have occasionally seen a Rite Aid coupon for Tom's, and they do tend to make it to a lot of chain store shelves. Don't know if they exactly fall into the budget category, but at least they have a decent rating on the index.

Toothpaste.

Burt's Bees. Many of these listed came out as a one on the scale. Not a ton of coupons that I've seen, but I'm starting to see this brand on the shelves of mainstream discount department stores. (So we can at least cross our fingers that coupon options will be available in the future.)
Jason's has a strawberry and banana toddler toothpaste which comes out as a one on the database index.
Several of the Tom's of Maine toothpastes came out on the low end of the scale as well.
As far as major brands with loads of coupon and budget potential, nothing really indexed in the zero-two range. However, there were a few options that listed at a level three. First, Pepsodent's anticavity toothpaste. This excites me, because I know I've seen it at numerous discount stores for around a buck. With or without a coupon, that's excellent news. Colgate, Plus White and Sensodyne all had varieties listed at a level three as well, although you'll want to check carefully as there are many varieties available. All other major brands I recognized were indexed at a level four or above, at least at the time of this article's posting.

Deodorant.

Crystal deodorants in general come out at a zero rating for toxicity. Although there aren't many coupon options out there for these that I've seen, they do at least last for an extremely long time. So that's a help on the budget front.
Almay antiperspirant and deodorants in the unscented clear gels and roll-ons came out at a rating of one, and many of their other deodorant formulas overall came out pretty low. A few however came out at the moderate end of the toxicity rating, so be sure to check which ones work for you.
Arm and Hammer's invisible solid white stick (unscented ) indexed reasonably as well, but not so with several of their other varieties.
Arrid XX Solid antiperspirant & deodorant unscented is well within the green zone, with a rating of one.
Ban's antiperspirant-deodorant invisible solid, unscented, as well as their antiperspirant-deodorant unscented original roll-on indexed low at a level one risk. Also making the cut for the Ban folks was their Classic Clear Gel unscented antiperspirant and deodorant.
Mitchum's clear unscented gels also made a splash in the green zone, with several of them also scoring an EWG index rating of level one. Guys, you didn't think I'd forget about you, did ya?

Lotion.

Aveeno Active Naturals Daily Moisturizing Lotion – (level 2), and Aveeno Anti-Itch Concentrated Lotion with Natural Colloidal Oatmeal (level 1). Their basic daily moisturizing lotion is also a level 2. Several of Aveeno's lotions were higher on the scale however, so you may definitely want to research your full range of options.
Old Spice Hi Endurance aftershave lotion (level 1).
Rite Aid calamine lotion skin protectant (level one).
Coppertone's oil free sunblock lotion for sensitive skin and their spectra3 sunblock lotion (level 2).
Numerous Curel lotions also came out at the level of two.
Score one for the generic corner, CVS's daily moisturizing lotion with colloidal oatmeal was also a level two.
My hero Dr. Bronner had a few in the low range as well. Haven't ever seen coupons for those products, although I have started seeing them on the shelves at Target.
Neutragena's healthy defense oil free sunblock and their sensitive skin sunblock lotion also came out in the green zone.
Sea & Ski's Platinum Sunscreen Lotion (2006 formulation) and their faces sensitive skin sunscreen lotion (also in the 2006 formulation ) both came out around a two as well.
Also, Walgreen's sunscreen lotion spf 70 was a level two! Let's have another cheer for the generic brands!

Shampoo.

Burt's Bees grapefruit and Sugar Beet shampoo and their rosemary mint shampoo bar with oat protein and pro vitamin B5 are both rated level one.
Pantene Pro-V Red Expressions color enhancing shampoo (auburn to burgundy) is also a level one, although many of their other varieties fell in the moderate range.
CVS maximum strength therapeutic shampoo (level 2).
Neutragena's T Sal shampoos for dandruff and scalp treatments were rated at level three.
Suave also had a few in the four range, and Garnier Fructis and Head & Shoulders at least made it to the middle, with several from each brand making a five, as did many of the Infusium 23 varieties.
My favorite salon-style bargain brand, Tresemme (moisture rich) , also fell in the moderate range with a score of five. (Phew!)

Hairspray.

Other than the Clinique Non Aerosol and another brand I'd never heard of (both rating a one), nothing really landed in the green zone in this category. It seems to be right up there with mascara as something that's difficult to do safely. There were however, several in the moderate range that were also easy on the budget. Making the lowest I could find, level four cut?

Clairol Herbal Essence, flexible hold, non aerosol spray.
Final Net non aerosol extra hold unscented.
Suave's non aerosol extra hold and max hold unscented, as well as the passion flower scent from the naturals line.

Nail products.

Nail products were a tough category to find much of anything falling in the low range of the EWG scale. Perhaps the best you can hope for here is to use the lower rated base coat when you do actually opt to put color on your nails, so you'll have the extra layer of protection. Of course the fumes are still there, and of course, girls will be girls. Your call.

Revlon's nail whitener pencil (level one).
L'Oreal's pro manicure top coat (level 2).
Revlon extra life no chip top coat (level 2).
Sally Hansen 2 in 1 nail white pencil and vitamin E nail and cuticle oil (both level 2).
Revlon's professional firma nail extra strength base and top coat (level 3).
Sally Hansen shea butter rapid finish nail color dryer (level 3).
Several OPI shades made it to level four as did several of the Revlon nail enamel products. And several of Sally Hansen's nail shades made it to the low level of the moderate range, rating a score of 4 as well.

Again, I want to reiterate that even with certain brands having several product varieties landing in the low to moderate ranges in the database, I definitely saw products from some of those same brands landing in the high hazard range. So please keep that in mind as you shop, and research further as you see fit. I'm thinking my approach will be to list the individual items from the budget brands I like in a personal shopping list that I can carry with me when I'm out and about. Then if I have a question about how to best use a coupon or take advantage of a sale, I'll have the resource. The brands I pointed out in this article were the ones that jumped out at me as being recognizable, easy to access via regular discount department stores, and were (as much as possible) brands I thought folks might have a prayer of finding coupons for. Some other articles from Wise Bread you might consider combining with this article's information for maximum savings?

The database changes regularly, with new products being submitted all the time. If you find one that falls into the budget category as well as the green zone (or as close as possible), and certainly if a company changes formulas and falls further down the scale, please feel free to post your information below in the comment section.

Extra commentary: I've been wondering why it's been so difficult to find similar information on cleaning products. This discussion featuring the EWG and Seventh Generation definitely filled me in. Look for a follow up post on this topic in the near future.

Additional disclaimer? I'm no chemist. I am a full blown human being, however, who has done her best to cross reference the database appropriately and provide product links that matched the product titles as I understood them. Please use any of these product links at your own discretion / risk, and do any additional personal research you see fit.

Permalink | 20 comments | Myscha Theriault's blog | Channel: Deals and Coupons, Green Living, Health and Beauty, Shopping

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

Get out the Vote and Grab a Tall Starbucks Coffee for Free!

Linsey Knerl — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:26:29 +0000

By Linsey Knerl

Voting anxiety is kickin' in big time. With only a couple days left until the final vote, many are more than ready to make their voices heard – and then head back to life as normal. In an effort to reward those who vote on Nov. 4, Starbucks is pouring free coffee.

Their ad (airing on YouTube and at their website) makes it clear. Come in on Nov. 4th, say, “I voted,” and grab your tall coffee, no money required. It's a simple gimmick to get people to vote. I think there's a bit more to it than that, however.

It's been three long months of listening to my closest friends, clients, and family Twitter and email non-stop about how important my vote is (as long as it's for their choice of candidate). I'm ready for the vote to take place, and our new Pres to emerge (however disappointed I may possibly be at the results.) This means perhaps we can start getting back to a time when I was less a Party member and more a gal you used to have coffee with.

Starbucks is facilitating a step in the right direction. Free coffee just might get everyone sitting down together, regardless of affiliation. The marketing guys have also figured that a few of us may also buy an over-priced (but delicious) scone, and out of our gratitude for free coffee, we may leave a killer tip.

As with most free promotions, this is about money. Thankfully, it may turn out to be about something more. This promotion runs all day on Nov. 4, at participating Starbucks locations. Get out your vote, pull up a chair next to that voter on the other side of the partisan aisle, and drink one for free.

Permalink | 19 comments | Linsey Knerl's blog | Channel: Deals and Coupons, Food and Drink, Freebies

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

Go Green and Get Some Holiday Shopping Bucks with RadioShack!

Myscha Theriault — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:46:55 +0000

By Myscha Theriault

Got some old electronics kicking around and no idea how to recycle them? Looking for some extra cash to upgrade, replace or initially purchase a particular piece of equipment? You can apparently now do both at RadioShack. Bonus? They even pick up the tab for the shipping costs. Read on.

RadioShack has a new program where they will accept certain used electronics items in trade, and provide you with a cash value gift card in return, which you can use towards new merchandise purchased from the company. How does it work?

Go to the RadioShack web site.
Let them know the condition of the item and whether you'll be trading it in with chargers, adapters, headsets and whether the item is fully functional, etc.
They let you know the appraised value.
If you feel the dollar number is an amount you can roll with, you print off a free, pre-paid shipping label (good for the continental United States only) and get your package ready to go.
Once the item has been received, they will verify this with you via email.
Your RadioShack gift card will be issued ten-fourteen days after your item has been received.
The gift cards are good either in their stores or online.

To me, this seems like a nice win-win situation where you can exercise your green muscles, snag a little cash via the company gift card, and score some free shipping as well. For further details on the program, and to see which electronics items qualify, visit the URL in this link. Happy recycling, everybody!

Permalink | 3 comments | Myscha Theriault's blog | Channel: Deals and Coupons, Green Living, Shopping

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

Can a Kindle Save You Money? Oprah's Coupon Code Makes It Easier

Carrie Kirby — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:17:27 +0000

By Carrie Kirby

Amazon's Kindle digital reader is like a Wii for readers: Endless entertainment options, loveable hardware, extra features galore. Just today, Oprah showed how, with the addition of an digital memory card, the Kindle allows you to carry around FOUR THOUSAND books. An entire library, in your carry-on bag. Instant gratification when you want a new book or magazine. Plus blogs.

But two things have held me (and my credit card) back: price and price.

That is, the $359 price tag, and the cost to buy books and magazines to put on it. Even though Kindle books cost about $6 less than hard copies, if you get most of your books through the public libarary or second-hand sales like I do, keeping your Kindle stocked will end up costing you more.

In a moment, more on whether a Kindle could actually save you money. But right now, here's something that's convincing me to take the Kindle plunge: This morning, that booklover Oprah offered a $50 off coupon code, making the Kindle just $309.

The code is OPRAHWINFREY, and it's good through Nov. 1.

Now, to the question of whether owning a Kindle can save you money. Many have asserted it can -- in fact the Wall Street Journal argued that it can in two different columns. The best way, the Journal points out, to save money with the Kindle is not through buying books -- saving $6 a book, you'd have to buy 52 new books for it to pay for itself even with the Oprah discount.

The way a Kindle can really save you money, WSJ columnist Brett Arends says, is with its mobile data features. With Kindle's keyboard and basic Internet browser, some users may replace their cell phone's mobile data plan with the free Kindle service, saving $20 a month or more.

If you set aside your $20 a month for mobile data toward the $309 for the Kindle, you are only paying $5.75 a month for a year, then it's paid for. So if you buy one book a month, and cancel a $20 data plan, the savings WOULD pay for a Kindle in a year.

Then there are subscriptions. When I was a business reporter, I used to subscribe to the New York Times to read on the train. It currently costs about $6.70 a week to have the Times delivered to your doorstep. On Kindle, it's $13.99, a savings of more than $13 a month. So if all you did was read the NYT, it would take you two years for the device to pay for itself at the Oprah price. But other magazines, like the Wall Street Journal, currently offer better deals on the paper version than the Kindle version.

In conclusion, I'd say that SOME people would save money with a Kindle. Daily train commuters and people who spend a lot of time in airports could clearly save -- and would most benefit from the convenience of not having to go out and seek physical copies of their reading material. For me, a stay-at-home mom with no mobile data plan, there would be little to no savings.

But you know what? I kind of, really want one anyway. And my birthday is coming up. And, since I have a free trial of Amazon Prime, I could have one here tomorrow by paying just $3.99 to upgrade to overnight shipping. Oh, wait! I thought of something. I'm about to spend about $500 on a nice oak bookshelf for our dining room. To hold all those old-school books we buy at second-hand sales, etc. If I stop buying paper books, I won't have to buy any more expensive bookshelves. And there's always the savings to the environment if I convert my Chicago Tribune subscription to a digital one, even though they're the same price.

Commenters: Can you help me come up with any more justifications so my husband will read this and buy me a "money-saving" Kindle for my birthday?

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

Permalink | 25 comments | Carrie Kirby's blog | Channel: Coupons

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

Paging Doctor Jones… Free Pizza Dr. Jones?

Linsey Knerl — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:45:18 +0000

By Linsey Knerl

In another crazy promotion scheme cooked up by the people at Papa John’s, you can score a free pie if you share Indiana’s name.

Cleveland fans lucked out last time, when Papa John’s offered their “apology” pie to thousands of fans in response to a Lebron James-related misstep. This time, they are celebrating the release of the new Indiana Jones movie with a very unique offer aimed at a small percentage of the U.S. population.

The qualifiers? If you have the last name “Jones” and you are a Doctor (of anything, apparently), you will get a free XL Explorer pizza from now until the 26th. Sadly, this only applies to an estimated 1,600 people. (So in response to anyone who’s ever wondered if the fortune spent on an advanced medical degree is worth it… only if you like pizza.)

As an added bonus, those Docs living in the state of Indiana will get a free copy of the DVD, “Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.”

The Papa John’s website made no specific mention of the offer (although there are plenty of other promos to be had.) If you qualify, I suggest calling your local Papa John’s for all the details on how to claim your pizza.

Permalink | 6 comments | Linsey Knerl's blog | Channel: Deals and Coupons, Deals, Food and Drink, Freebies

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

Wise Bread giveaway: $250 gift card courtesy of Scott products

Will Chen — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:12:48 +0000

By Will Chen

Scott Products is giving one lucky Wise Bread reader a $250 Visa gift card!

To enter:

Between now and 11/23/08, make a post in this forum thread and answer the simple question: Are you cutting back on spending?

We will randomly pick one lucky winner on 11/24/08. You must be a U.S. resident and be 18 years or older to participate.

Scott's Dollar & Sense website

This giveaway is part of Scott's promotion for Dollar & Sense -- A website where readers can get great money-saving help such as:

Tips about personal finance and frugal living

Savings calculator

Personal gift certificate generator

Trip cost calculator and fuel efficiency quiz

At these tough economic times we could all use a little extra help. Drop by this forum thread and enter the contest today!

Permalink | 39 comments | Will Chen's blog | Channel: Freebies

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

Free Preview of Refund Cents Website – Extended for Wise Bread Readers ONLY!

Linsey Knerl — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:50:55 +0000

By Linsey Knerl

UPDATE: I realize that I learned about the Refund Cents deal very late in the game, and I apologize to all of you who couldn't take advantage. In speaking to Michelle, the owner, she has agreed to give Wise Bread readers an exclusive preview that is good until the 21st! Just use the following logon info:

username: wisebread
password: wisebread

The link that takes you directly to logon is:

http://www.refundcents.com/login.asp

Have Fun!

Refund Cents tops my list of money-saving websites. With coupon codes, a great reader community, and lots of last-minute and rarely-heard-about deals, it’s saved me lots of money over the last 2 years. Membership will cost you a bit, but for the next few days, you can use the site for FREE! Try before you buy.

This is not an affiliate offer. I don’t get anything from this. Yes, Michelle who runs Refund Cents, is giving everyone a chance to preview the site in hopes of getting a few paying subscribers from the deal. (That’s how I became a paying member years back.) If you’re at all curious what kinds of great deals are popping up every day across the country, this is a great site to browse.

Here are some of the reasons I’ve kept renewing my Refund Cents subscription for the past two years:

Last year, The American Girl website sold many of their toys and books for 29 cents and 49 cents. A free shipping code got me a whole bunch of great Christmas presents for less than $4!

One reader recently posted about an instant-win call-in promotion from HyVee that was listed very few places online. One hour later, I was claiming my $15 Target gift card for my daughter!

Several times a day, readers will share their unwanted codes for Pampers Gifts to Grow Program, the Coke Rewards incentives, or one-time use Free shipping codes. These go fast, but it’s great that they share!

The Comprehensive Guide to Walgreens Shopping is amazing! There is also an up-to-date CVS and Rite Aid section with dedicated deals for the ultimate freebie hound.

The Grocery Boards are organized by store. They list deals and coupon combos and are updated by the members. This is great for those of us who live in an area not serviced by the bigger couponing sites like Coupon Mom or the Grocery Game (which are both very good, as well.)

Michelle maintains a list of all printable and in-store only offer forms. This makes it easy to keep track of the best deals offline, too! Previews of the next week’s newspaper coupons and in-store deals can help me to plan ahead in my shopping.

Membership to Refund Cents is very affordable. On-line membership is about $1 per month. If you'd also like to receive the monthly print magazine RefundCents, in the mail, the cost is $25 per year and includes access to the website.

This website has been great for me. I don’t have a lot of time to hunt down deals or scour websites for the most relevant info, but this has given me a good balance of saving money and time. If you’re at all curious if the site could help you save, give it a look! With 29 years of experience, Refund Cents has been a valuable resource to my family.

Permalink | 13 comments | Linsey Knerl's blog | Channel: Frugal Living, Deals and Coupons, Coupons, Deals, Shopping

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.

Sears goes a little crazy - sweaters starting at 99 cents!

Paul Michael — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:25:28 +0000

By Paul Michael

Very quick and super deal for you folks, to follow my vent on mortgages. And considering what I was saying, we need to save every penny we can. Anyway, Sears is going a little gaga and selling off a whole bunch of decent clothes for 90% off, sometimes more! How much more? Well, when you click on the link you'll be greeted by items that have been reduced from $20-$30 to just 99 cents. I'm not even sure you could find a deal like that for a used sweater at a charity store.

As usual, these deals will go quickly and sizes will start to disappear fast. So, get over to Sears and get yourself some great deals (if you need them of course). If not for yourself, you could certainly fill up on gifts just in time for the holidays. I could find no indication of the sale expiration date, so take advantage of it while you can.

Permalink | 10 comments | Paul Michael's blog | Channel: Frugal Living, Deals and Coupons, Coupons, Deals, Freebies

Similar entries:

For Wise Bread Subscribers Only! Download your FREE copy ($10 value) of our Wise Driving Guide: 108 Tips to Raise Your Fuel Economy.

This article is from Wise Bread.