bargain hunting

13 Smart Garage Sale Bargain Hunting Tricks

Dr Penny Pincher — Fri, 06 May 2016 10:30:04 +0000

Unlike retail stores where prices are fixed and the sales staff has a lot of experience handling shoppers, garage sales are a free-for-all. Many garage sale sellers have little experience setting prices, running a sale, or negotiating with buyers. A smart garage sale bargain hunter can score some great deals at garage sales.. (See also: 5 Things in Your Garage That Have Serious Re-Sale Value)

Here are some tricks that can help you get the best deals on the best items at garage sales.

1. Make Sure It's Built for the Future

Kids will continue grow and will need clothes for many years. You might as well get them cheap at a garage sale. If you find high quality kids' clothes for cheap prices, pick up sizes that are too big now, and put them away for a year or two.

2. Seek Apathy

Try to bargain with the person at the garage sale who is the least attached to the item you are trying to buy. I have been at garage sales where the husband seemed to want to hang on to an item, but the wife has said, "he never uses that" and gave me a great deal!

3. Leave the Car Behind

Use a bicycle or walk at citywide or neighborhood garage sales. You can hit more sales and avoid crawling along in the traffic jams. Come back later with your vehicle to pick up items you have purchased. Sellers are happy to mark your item "Sold" after you pay for it so you can pick it up later.

4. Buy It All

Offer to buy an entire set of items for a reduced price. For example, offer a few dollars to take all of the books in the box, or all of the pans on a table if you are interested in a few of them. People want to get rid of stuff at a garage sale and will usually give great deals if you offer to buy a lot of items together. You can always sell the extras later and perhaps make a profit.

5. Haggle on Prices

At garage sales, the price tags are only a suggestion. Selling items for 20% less than asking price is pretty standard. If you are not used to bargaining, it can be uncomfortable, but garage sale sellers expect to get offers for less than the tag price. The worst thing that can happen is that your offer will be rejected and you'll have to decide whether to offer more to get the item.

6. Hit the First Day

Go on the first day of a garage sale while all of the good stuff is still there. If a garage sale is advertised for Friday afternoon and all day Saturday, go on Friday afternoon. The best items and deals are likely to be gone after the first few hours.

7. Plan Your Attack

If you have several garage sales on your list to visit, make a plan to minimize your driving and maximize the number of promising garage sales you can check out. This will increase your chance of finding bargains and reduce your expenses from driving around.

8. Bring Cash

Bring cash to garage sales. Many garage sales will not take personal checks. Cash is better for bargaining — if you have a variety of bills, you can pull out the exact amount you want to offer and present that to the seller. It can be hard to say no to cold hard cash.

9. Arrive Early

The early bird gets the worm at garage sales! You might be able to scoop up a great item before the sale even gets officially started. "Early Birds" is a term for buyers that show up at garage sales before it starts to pick out the prime items. If you are really interested in an item, you might be able to check it out while the garage sale is being set up — and maybe even buy it before competing buyers arrive.

10. Check Your List

Make a list of items you are hunting. It's easy to get distracted by the wide variety of cheap items and bargains you see at garage sales. I keep a list of garage sale items on my cell phone so I can check my list when I happen upon a garage sale.

11. Check Back at Closing Time

If you see things you like but the prices are too high, stop by during the final hours at the end of a garage sale. If the items are still there, this is a chance to get a substantial discount. Garage sale sellers don't want to deal with leftover stuff after a garage sale and welcome getting rid of one more thing and getting a few more dollars to put in their envelope before the sale ends.

12. Items to Avoid

Although there are lots of potential bargains at garage sales here are some items to avoid:

Car seats: Older models may not be as safe as modern products.
Cribs: Older cribs had safety issues, and it's not worth the risk.
Helmets: They may have hidden damage and no longer be safe. Older models may not be as safe as newer models.
Packaged food: It is likely near the expiration date or past it.
Pets: Puppies for sale at a garage sale may comes with a risk of future health problems due to inadequate screening and vet care that professional breeders provide.
VHS and cassette tapes: The audio quality of old tapes degrades over time and with use. Look for CDs instead.
CRT TV sets: You may need to pay to dispose of this, plus old TVs use a lot of energy.
Old electronics and computers: They may be cheap, but old electronic items are likely outdated and not as capable as a newer items, which likely give you more performance for the money.
Old appliances: These are usually heavy and hard to move, and may have problems that you won't discover until after you get it installed in your house.

13. Look for These Instead

If you are looking for bargains, check out these items at garage sales:

Antiques and collectibles: When someone decides to clear out their attic, you might be able to pick up some interesting, or even valuable stuff.
Exercise equipment: Often found for pennies on the dollar compared to the cost of new equipment.
Books: You can find lots of popular titles for almost-free.
DVDs and CDs: These don't wear out as fast as older tapes and are cheap at garage sales.
Bikes: You can find great deals on quality bikes that have been outgrown or have become clutter.
Tools: Look for quality items and specialized equipment. Older tools are sometimes sturdier than new ones.
Lawn mowers: Sometimes people move to a larger place, upgrade their lawnmower, and sell their previous mower for to make room for the new one.
Sporting goods: A lot of sporting goods for sale at garage sales are very lightly used.
Clothes: Kids clothes, suits, jeans, jackets — these are all fair game.

What are your best tips for getting bargains at garage sales? Share with us in the comments!

This article is from Dr Penny Pincher of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

7 Generic Beauty Buys Better Than the Expensive Originals

Brittany Lyte — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 21:00:09 +0000

When it comes to beauty products, no one will ever know whether you're using the high-end brands or the cheap stuff. In fact, lower-priced makeup and moisturizers are often identical or better than similar products that cost three times as much. Yet studies show that people are easily deluded into thinking a product with an expensive price tag is of higher quality than the same product labeled with a cheaper price.

Well, delusions be gone! One of the simplest ways to save on your beauty regimen is to cut out higher-priced products that come with no added benefit, save for attractive packaging and a posh designer name. Read on for our guide to the low-priced beauty buys that work just as well — if not better — than their more expensive counterparts.

1. Mascara

New York City makeup artist Raychel Wade wants to let you in on a little secret: A $7 wand of Maybelline mascara will make your lashes just as lush and alluring as the high-end stuff sold at department stores. Wade, who got her start working behind makeup counters, said there's very little difference between expensive mascara and the cheap stuff other than the name brand on the packaging. That's because just about all mascara ingredients are basically the same: a pigment to darken the lashes, a polymer to form the film that coats the lashes, a preservative, and a thickening agent. "Drugstores carry amazing mascaras, but it wasn't my job to direct customers that way," Wade says. "At the end of the day, I was working for the brand, not the customer."

2. Cologne and Perfume

There's about $1.50 worth of ingredients in the average bottle of fragrance, yet the typical price tag is $150 — less than 1% of the retail cost. What you're really paying for when you purchase cologne or perfume is the brand name. So ask yourself this question the next time you're tempted to invest in an expensive scent: Do you really like the fragrance that much better than the more affordable brands, or is it a successful marketing campaign that's seduced you into shelling out top dollar?

3. Cotton Rounds

Pharmacy-brand cotton rounds work just as well as the name brand products, but they'll cost you a smidgen less. "I love the CVS Pharmacy–brand cotton rounds because they have the perfect amount of perforation and don't shed," says Redbook beauty expert Mally Roncal.

4. Nail Polish

Those $7 bottles of nail polish by OPI are equally chip-resistant and beautifully colored as top-of-the-line polishes by Chanel ($26). OPI polishes are free of DBP, toluene, and formaldehyde, and they have a porcelain glaze that lasts long after the application date. What's more, OPI base coats also come highly rated for longer lasting enamel that strengthens the nail and protects against peeling.

5. Nail Polish Remover

You'll save at least $2 per bottle by buying off-brand nail polish removers, which contain the same ingredients as most name brand polish removers. "For nails, Target's Up & Up Regular Nourishing Nail Polish Remover is protein-rich, acetone-free, and no different from polish removers that cost more," says Hollywood hair and makeup artist Julia Papworth.

6. Skin Moisturizer

Clinique and Bobbi Brown sell high-end moisturizing lotions, but the truth is that one of the most highly-rated skin creams by makeup professionals and dermatologists alike is made by the drugstore brand, Cetaphil. Cetaphil moisturizer is immensely hydrating yet gentle on the skin. A 16 ounce tub sells at most drugstores and markets for about $11 — about five times lower than the price of the leading moisturizing cream by Bobbi Brown. As a bonus, Cetaphil also makes for a great makeup remover. Simply apply a modest amount of the lotion to your face and use a cotton ball or soft cloth to wipe it clean.

7. Wrinkle Corrector

There's no need to shell out top dollar when shopping for a product to soften the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles on your face. "Rite Aid's Advanced Wrinkle Corrector softens fine lines, and skin stays soft throughout the day," says Pretty Public Beauty editorial director Devin Giannoni. Wrinkle correctors made by Rite Aid and other pharmacies will typically cost you $3 less than the name brand products.

What are your favorite bargain beauty buys?

This article is from Brittany Lyte of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Cheapism.com: Where Cheap is Chic

Nora Dunn — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:00:14 +0000

Cheap: Once considered a derogatory term, this word refers to the act of trying to save money wherever possible.

Cheapist: Somebody who supports acts of being cheap.

Cheapism: A way of life.

The Premise

Cheapism.com is a free service that helps consumers find the best of the cheapest items, weeding out cheap junk in favor of quality inexpensive items. Just because it is cheap, doesn’t mean it has to be crap.

Max Levitte, founder of Cheapism.com, has experience managing reputable review-based websites for consumers. For Levitte, “Cheap doesn’t have to mean low quality. We’ll give consumers the confidence and information they need to shop wisely during this economic downturn and in the future.”

According to Levitte, Cheapism.com differentiates itself from other services with their "singular focus on low-cost goods and services and the interests of frugal consumers."

And here at Wise Bread, being frugal consumers is a pretty big thing.

Product Research

When you normally research a product, you rarely find any information about cheaper models (possibly because the manufacturers of the cheaper models don’t have huge supplies to give away for publicity). Instead, you learn about all the fancy features of the top-of-the-line netbook or kitchen appliance (for example), without even knowing that cheaper alternatives lie in wait.

So Cheapism.com has in-house reviewers who actually get their hands on the products they review. The reviews are candid and informative, and generally appear to be without bias.

Cheapism.com in Action

Click on a product category, and you’ll get an array of information to help you choose the best model for your needs. The extensive review focuses on product features (with recommendations for what features to look for and what to ignore), analyzes other online reviews, and leaves the reader with some recommendations based on the reviewer’s personal experience. The best models within each category are highlighted, having been sorted for the lowest prices from various online suppliers.

As an example, I took a peek at cheap rolling backpacks, since as a traveler my backpack is akin to my house at times, and I’ve already learned a few lessons about what makes a good travel pack.

The review was incredibly comprehensive, covering off topics like what to look for (in the fabric, wheels, straps, size, and weight), and what to expect (performance, maneuverability, durability, warranty). The reviewer compared a number of inexpensive packs to one another, and it is evident that the reviewer actually handled each of the backpacks prior to reviewing them.

To contrast this with something I know almost nothing about, I took a peek at what Cheapism.com had to say about GPS devices. In so doing, I learned a whole lot about what to look for in a GPS device, and how to get the best value from one — both in terms of price as well as features. Had I been serious about buying a GPS device, I would have been prepared to invest in one with only a minimal amount of cross-checking and further research.

Extra Value

Combine Cheapism.com with other efforts at receiving free shipping or online discounts, and you can save even more money.

Coming Soon

And for the upcoming holiday season, Cheapism.com will offer guides for inexpensive quality gifts.

Note: The author has no vested interest or affiliation with Cheapism.com

This article is from Nora Dunn of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

50 Best Deals and Coupon Sites

Lynn Truong — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:00:02 +0000

Dealista MP3:

Dealista #6: Coupon Trends

This article shares tips from the 6th episode of Dealista, our podcast that'll help you get more for less.

Frugal is in and couponing has become trendy. Coupon users are no longer scrooges but sages, wisely spending by saving. It's now a prerequisite to join the ranks of deal hounds and bargain hunters who have vowed to save the world by saving dollars. (See also: The Best Places to Get Coupons Online.)

Coupons themselves have had their own extreme makeover, moving up the technology ladder to help their users retire the scissors and cute coupon organizers. The digital age has drawn a whole new generation of couponers, and they're determined to turn the measured art of couponing to their instant gratification ways.

Before I get to the staggering list of great deals and coupon sites dedicated to serving savvy shoppers like you, here are a few tips on using them efficiently. The number of sites and services might seem overwhelming at first, but the best ones allow for total customization. Only choose to receive coupons from stores you select or products you specify.

If you haven't joined in on the action, there's no better time. Save now -- no clipping required.

Alerts

Are you a shoe fiend who can't bear the thought of missing out on a sale? Are you in the market for a laptop or a digital camera? Have your favorite sites notify you immediately when a deal matches your preferences. You can be as specific (Visioneer OneTouch 7400 Scanner) or general (shoes) as you'd like. Rather than having to constantly check these sites, you'll be notified immediately when something you are eyeing goes on sale.

Twitter

If you are a Twitter addict, you might as well put it to some extra good use. Major retailers as well as local restaurants are sending promotions, coupons, and deals exclusively to their Twitter followers. Many coupon and deals sites are also offering Twitter alerts. Your favorite frugal bloggers are sharing deals on Twitter, too. If that's too many for you to follow, use handy Twitter-specific aggregators like CheapTweet and CouponTweet. If you haven't had the chance to get in on Twitter yet, here's a handy Twitter guide.

Mobile

A recent article in the New York Times featured the rise of mobile coupons. No more forgetting to bring coupons with you. Get them sent directly to you, wherever you are. When you’re checking out, simply show your cell phone to the cashier and voila, your savings are ringed up. Sign up with services like Cellfire, MobiQpons, and Yowza, and if you have an iPhone, Coupon Sherpa is an app that handles coupons for popular retailers.

Site-to-Card

Sites like Shortcuts allow you to link coupons to your store savings card. For example, if you have a Vons card, select the coupons you want and it'll be added to your Vons card. When you're checking out, swipe your card and your coupons will apply!

Public Opinion

Not sure if a deal is great or just so-so? The best deals sites offer editor picks and allow users to vote and comment on deals. Use the power of social media to decide whether to jump on a sale or wait until a better one comes along.

50 Best Deals & Coupons Sites

Here they are. These sites will help you find the best bargains and coupons.

Wise Bread's Best Deals

The latest deals and coupons aggregated from the top sites around the Web. Plus the Top 10 deals of the day hand picked by Wise Bread. Subscribe to receive the daily deals roundup delivered to your email inbox.

Dealnews

My personal favorite deals site, the writers at dealnews do the very hard work of scouring the web every day for only the best deals on the hottest items. Every deal has been verified and the retailers are reputable (they ban any store with a history of poor customer service). Unlike many other deals sites, their site is easy to navigate and use, which is a godsend for any deal hound trying to get in and out quickly so they can catch the deal they want.

8coupons

Get up-to-the minute deals on your phone with free printable and text message coupons that you can redeem by just showing the cashier.

Baby Cheapskate

An essential destination for the busy parent and homemaker. The site has the best baby, kid and maternity bargains available, as well as the weekly circulars for grocery and drug stores. Another awesome feature is their Monthly Deal Forecast where they predict upcoming bargains, so you don't miss out by buying too early!

Bargainist

Deals are handpicked and updated several times a day, this popular site gets on all the "top lists" for good reason. They've also got a fantastic tips section that offers valuable bargain hunting advice.

Ben's Bargains

One of the longest running bargain sites around and still going strong, Ben has a loyal following because of his carefully selected deals, which includes advance notice of upcoming deals and exclusive offers (not to mention fantastic giveaways) for his readers. There are also special tracker tools that tracks down hot and hard to find items, so you don't have to run all over town yourself.

BradsDeals

One of the few non-tech oriented deals sites, this one covers an array of deals that tackles the shopping lists for everyone in the family. Brad's been interviewed by many news and talk shows, and is recognized as an expert bargain hunter. You can't go wrong following his picks.

Buxr

A fun and innovative site that gives deals hounds another thing to be excited about. Not only do users vote deals up or down, but they get money and prizes for doing what they do best--finding the best deals and telling others about it.

Cellfire

Get groceries, shopping, restaurants, and entertainment offers sent direct to your cell phone. With Cellfire, you never have to print, clip, or forget your coupons again.

Cheap Stingy Bargains

A top resource for Dell and HP coupons and an indispensable site for anyone considering a computer purchase. Of course there are coupons and deals for all sorts of products, too. The site is updated hourly, often posting more than a hundred deals and coupons a day.

CheapTweet

They scan and gather the best deals, coupons and sales people are tweeting about. Users can rate deals and the number of retweets contribute to whether a deal makes it to their Cheapest Tweets list.

Coupon Album

If you have a favorite store or don't like the idea of ordering from a place you've never heard of, stop by Coupon Album where the deals are listed by store. They've got coupons and deals for hundreds of the most popular stores.

CouponCabin

A popular coupon site that updates their directory three times a day to keep their coupons fresh. Their straightforward navigation allows you to find coupons based on features like most used, printable, and free samples.

Coupon Code

A clean and simple coupon site that offers discounts for over a thousand stores. You'll have no problems finding just the right discount for you.

Coupon Craze

At Coupon Craze you'll find internet shopping store coupons, online coupon codes, free shipping coupons and discount coupon code for store savings. Use their tools to find the best coupons and keep up to date on the latest codes.

Coupon Mom

A favorite site for the busy mom, Coupon Mom breaks up the offerings into easy to manage and digest sections. Find printable grocery deals by state, restaurant coupons, free offers and samples, and a daily roundup of the best coupons on the blog.

CouponMountain

Updated several times a day, the site offers exclusive online coupon codes, link based coupons, product discount news and sale announcements. Follow their blog for the most up to date announcements, and their forums for all kinds of hot deals, like travel, online auctions, rebates, and sweepstakes.

Coupons

A super user friendly site for the most current grocery coupons. You can enter your zip code for area specific deals, then select the coupons you want, and print them out. It's a great alternative to going through the Sunday paper and clipping your own.

Coupon Sherpa

This handy app provides hundreds of in-store coupons for many merchants right to your iPhone or iPod Touch.

CouponTweet

They scour the world's most popular social networks for special discounts and get special, hard-to-find deals from their partners and friends.

DealCatcher

A top site that offers a full staff of editors to ensure the quality of the deals, along with a large forums community that contributes shopping advice and reviews. Their Sunday Ads section allows you to look at discounts from over two hundred stores. Stop buying the Sunday paper just for the ads.

Dealigg

A terrific community site which features the best deals found by regular shoppers like you. No editors. No filters. If you like getting unbiased and timely bargain information provided by like-minded deal hunters like yourself, this is the site for you.

Dealighted

Aggregates deal discussions among the most popular and largest communities. You no longer have to visit several forums to find the best deal -- Dealighted does all that work for you. You won't find anything but the very best and most current deals featured.

Dealio

Members vote for the best coupons and sales and never miss a deal again with their Comparison Shopping Toolbar. Get instant price comparisons and related coupons and deals without leaving the store site to scour the multitude of deals sites to confirm the bargain.

Deal Locker

The clean and simple site makes searching for coupons a breeze. They have an amazing tool called the Amazon Discount Finder which searches for items currently at 10%-99% off. You'll also find great free sample coupons in the Coupon Blog.

Dealplumber

Dealplumber's mission is to make it easy, hassle free and fast for anyone to find the best bargain, discount, deal, coupon and promo code. Deals and coupons are handpicked and shared by other users (monitored by dealplumber volunteers for quality) to save big on everything they shop online.

Deals

With a slogan like because paying retail is a crime, you can be sure that they take their deals seriously. A vibrant community votes for the hottest deals and their Quick Submit Tool makes submitting deals just one click away.

Deal Seeking Mom

Get real deals for real moms. Tara handpicks the best deals for moms and their families.

Deals2buy

A clean and simple deals site (quite a rare thing to come by) that packs a punch without the clutter. If you are looking for a site with great deals but that won't overwhelm you with hundreds of deals and links at once, Deals2buy is the place to go.

Deals of America

Presenting only handpicked bargains from the most reputable American retailers, the staff is committed to providing every resource to help shoppers save money. They understand the uncertain credibility of many unknown online retailers, so they try to search bargains from big online retailers or stores with nationwide presence, so shoppers can feel safe and secure with their purchases.

DealsPlus

A site that uses the power of social media to determine the best deals to feature. Members submit and vote for the best deals. You can be sure that only deals with member consensus show up on the homepage. Along with coupons, store specials, and freebies, you'll also find the Sunday circulars from any store that has one -- an extremely useful feature to prepare for seasonal sales like Black Friday.

DealTaker

A deals site that doesn't just focus on tech bargains. Find discounts for clothes, toys, jewelry, and more. Their simple design makes the forums easy to navigate -- no small favor for the rookie deals hound.

Ebates

A site that gives you money back for shopping. Most coupon and deals sites make money through commission. Ebates does too, but they like to pass some of that back to you, the actual shopper. What better bargain can you get than that?

eCoupons

One of the largest online coupon websites listing more than five thousand stores and tens of thousands of active coupons and deals. Members can earn cash back when making purchases with participating partner stores.

Entertainment Book

Buy a book of coupons for your area for less than 20 bucks, and get coupons for restaurants, movie theaters, and shopping. You can get exclusive discounts on stuff you buy every week like movie rentals, pet supplies, books, office supplies, lunch, clothes, and a lot more. I get an Entertainment Book every year and make my money back in the first two months.

FatWallet

A robust forums community of dedicated bargain hunters. In addition to hot deals and coupons, FatWallet offers a variety of tools for reviews, price comparisons, and instant alerts. Their greatest unique feature is their cash back rewards program for shopping with hundreds of partner stores. Get money back for cashing in on a huge deal? It doesn't get any better than that.

FreeShipping

One of the few drawbacks of online shopping, and the bane of a bargain hunter's existence, is to have a great deal spoiled by a shipping charge. FreeShipping saves the day by providing free shipping codes for over 800 vendors on the Internet.

GottaDeal

A very well rounded site offering deals for a variety of items (as opposed to mainly tech focused as is the case with many deals sites). Their annual coverage of Black Friday deals is truly spectacular and an essential destination for any bargain shopper.

MyGroceryDeals

An extensive site that provides a comprehensive listing of the grocery deals in your area. The filter settings in your profile allow you to specify things like food allergies, preferred stores, and dietary considerations, so you'll get a customized list of only the most relevant items for you and your family.

MySavings

An online community bringing together consumers to share money saving tips and offers. The site provides a comprehensive directory of freebies, coupons, and other discounts and deals.

RetailMeNot

A leading consumer destination for online coupons, discounts, and promotional codes for merchandise, travel and services, committed to helping consumers enjoy a hassle-free shopping experience. Members rank coupons based on their reliability. Tools, widgets, and a Firefox extension are available for quick and easy access to your coupons. Their people-powered price comparison engine, Beat My Price (beatmyprice.com), allows you to enter the deal you've found to see whether it truly is the best available.

Savings

At Savings.com, members and coupon hunters find the best coupons on the net and then the Savings.com community decides which coupons are the best coupons. Their simple search engine and category list makes it quick and easy to find exactly what you're looking for. Savings.com aims to be the first and last place you look to find the best available coupons for whatever it is you're looking for.

Shop It To Me

Rather than scour through all the deals on the web, create your own wish list of items and wait for a bargain to appear. Select your size, brand, and other preferences, and you'll get notified if there's a relevant sale. It's like having your own personal shopper!

Shortcuts

An easier way to lower your grocery bill. Just add coupon savings directly to your grocery store loyalty card.

SlickDeals

A popular, if not the most popular, deals site around today. The homepage displays only the hottest deals, but the true action happens in their forums (forums.slickdeals.net), where the community reigns. You won't be wading through an ocean of not-so-slick deals because the community takes care of those for you. You can always get the inside scoop on the most current deals. In addition, their shopping tools, feeds and alerts ensure that you won't miss a single sale.

Spoofee

A fun, quirky site that features a wide range of deals across different categories. Deals are ranked by the community and you can follow the wild antics of the owner in the blog section.

Techbargains

An essential stop for any technology purchase, they not only provide deals, coupons, and the latest bargain news, they have a variety of helpful shopping tools. Their search engine include eBay sales, a useful feature. Read their Hot Tip articles for important shopping advice. Review their recommended products database for items you should consider buying. Get rebate and vendor information for no fuss execution.

Valpak

Everyone is familiar with the thick Valpak envelope of coupons that arrive in the mail. Now you can get instant access to all coupons currently available for your area. This is hands down the best place to get coupons for local services like dry cleaning, auto repair, and restaurants.

Yowza

Get mobile coupons and exclusive offers from over 10,000 merchants nationwide.

Zavers

Save a coupon to your account and access via your mobile phone. Have coupon codes texted to you when you save a coupon.

Dealista is a collaboration between Wise Bread and Quick and Dirty Tips, the producer of popular podcasts such as Grammar Girl, Money Girl, Winning Investor, and Mighty Mommy.

If you enjoyed these tips you can find more in our show's archive.

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This article is from Lynn Truong of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Fine Dining on a Take-Out Budget

Jessica Harp — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 16:13:12 +0000

Are you looking for a first-rate meal on a take-out budget? Head over to your local culinary school for a great meal at a low price.

Nearly all culinary schools have student-run restaurants, which are opened to the public practically every day school is in session. Since the chefs are at the cutting edge of culinary science, the restaurants offer an innovative assortment of gourmet food at student friendly prices. In layman’s terms, these restaurants offer terrific food at dirt cheap prices. Lunch at your local culinary school will set you back $6 or $7, and a three-course lunch at a nationally recognized school will cost $15-$20.

Culinary schools, however, aren’t the only places to score a great meal with out breaking the bank. Most universities, colleges, and vocational schools with culinary or hospitality management programs also have student-run restaurants. Thanks to larger campus populations, these restaurants are typically open for a combination of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For example, at one large, Southern university, the student-run campus restaurant offers a full breakfast buffet for $5 and a three-course lunch (including drink) for $6.95. Every month, they also host a themed five-course dinner for $15.

If you’re adventurous enough, culinary school meals are also a great way to enjoy fine dining while traveling abroad. When I lived in London, there was a world famous culinary school two blocks down the road from us. Every few weeks, we enjoyed a five course meal, with selected wines, for £10 (about $15 at the time).

More than likely, there are culinary schools or hospitality management programs with student-run restaurants in your area. Fire up your search engine or flip through your phone book to find them! Call them for hours and prices. Also, if you’re looking for catering for a special event, some of the larger culinary and hospitality management programs offer catering services at drastically reduced prices.

This article is from Jessica Harp of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Revel in a corporation's misfortune - all Discovery Channel stores to close

Paul Michael — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:55:58 +0000

I don't like to see good stores close. Especially an Aladdin's cave like The Discovery Store, which offers great educational toys and videos and is just a pleasure to walk around on a Saturday afternoon.

But as some of you may already know, The Discovery Channel has different ideas (as reported by many news organizations including Reuters). In an effort to cut costs, CEO David Zaslav is closing all 103 of the retail stores and slashing over 1000 jobs. Ouch. The sales will move to the online world, which is ok but not as much fun to browse.

However, as a bargain hunter I like to find the silver lining in any cloud. And this time that silver lining comes in the form of hundreds of great deals. As each Discovery Channel Store closes, you'll see almost everything in the store go on clearance. Groovy toys, games, DVDs, they will all be subject to that wonderful invention - the discounting sticker. So much as I hate to see this fine store go, I'll be happy to grab a few bargains as they depart.

You can find the location of your nearest store here. Just remember to smile and be nice to the folks behind the counters. They're soon about to be looking for work, and that's never a fun thing to do.

Main photo by Tantek

This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Never go shopping unless you're armed with a cell phone.

Paul Michael — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 20:06:36 +0000

"It seems like a great deal, but maybe it's cheaper somewhere else?" I've said those words a lot, maybe not out loud but certainly in my head. The thing I love about shopping online is that I can instantly see if something is cheaper at another store. But, when you're out and about, how do you do the same thing? How do you keep your advantage? Well, if you take your cell phone with you, FruCall may just be the answer.

FruCall works off a very simple premise - barcodes. Almost every product has one. And if you were smart enough to set up a database, matching products to every published price available, well you'd have a database with which to comparison shop, just like the online sites we all use. FruCall has such a database.

Just sign up for a free account and you can tap that database anytime you like, as long as you're armed with your cell phone. Let's face it, who doesn't carry the preverbiable ball and chain with them everywhere they go?

I've been using FruCall on and off for about three weeks now, and I'm very happy with it. Whenever I'm out and about and see a purchase I'm interested in, I whip out the cell phone and hit my speed dial FruCall number. Then I input the barcode and wait for the results.

The automated voice takes a little getting used to. It's a cross between a human and a speak 'n' spell. But once you get used to her strange voice, you soon get the lowdown on the bargains out there. She'll tell you the price range of the item you're currently looking at, new and used, and where to buy it. So, if you see a cool TV for $1000 and find out someone else has that same TV for $800, not only do you know of the deal, you can actually order it right there and then through your cell phone. You can also use the service using text messages and mWeb. Handy.

FruCall has some other handy features, including VoiceNotes which remind you of products you've been hunting for. You can also set a bottom-line price for a product and the service will alert you when that product hits that rock-bottom price.

I couldn't go shopping without this handy feature. And when I'm not out and about, the website has a bunch more tools for bargain hunters, including gift ideas and product searches. It's all free and very easy to use. Give them a try folks. A free service that saves you money is always worth a look.

Main image courtesy of Nemo's Great Uncle.

This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Are these genuine bargains, or a pile of garbage?

Paul Michael — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 21:43:58 +0000

One of the great things about being a blogger for Wisebread is that I have a large community of people to call on for help and advice when I need it. So far I've rarely called on your sage advice, but today is different. I have stumbled upon quite a few deals in the last 24 hours and they all look good to me. But are they?

I have published my shopping list below. If you think the item is a good idea, I'll jump on it (and so should you if you want it). If you scream at me that I'm a moron for even considering such an obviously crappy buy, I'll avoid it. I'm hoping they are all steal, but hey, 2 out of 5 would be fine.

1 - DVD Home Theater System - $20 - Office Depot

Every piece of common sense in my brain is screaming that this sytem probably sucks. But for $20, what if it really is a deal?

2 - LaCie 500GB External USB Porsche Hard Drive - $119 with FREE S&H

This one looks great. 500GB of storage from a known hardware maker like LaCie. But is this one a complete waste of cash?

3 - Sharper Image Woofi Power Subwoofer - $9.95 at Sharper Image

Seriously, can this be all that bad? I know it's reduced from $70 to $10, and there must be a reason for that. But it looks like such a steal!

4 - KitchenAid Hand Blender, Onyx Black - $17.99 - Amazon.com

I usually trust KitchenAid, but why the huge drop in price on a great hand blender? Should my spidey-sense be tingling on this one?

5 - Compound Miter Saw with Laser - $53 - Amazon.com

I'm a sucker for tools. But I worry cheap tools will break and sever a finger or other appendage. Is this one a steal?

Well, that's my shopping list. Prices were correct when I published this article. If they have since gone up, I will obviously not be buying them anyway. I am a deal hunter after all.

Main photo by The Stock Exchange.

This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Being Frugal with Froogle

Paul Michael — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 23:54:25 +0000

Note: Froogle is now Google Shopping.

I’m sure most of you are already fans of Google. But I wonder how many of you use Google Shopping (formerly Froogle), Google’s thrifty shopping aid, on a regular basis? Well, it’s well worth using if you’d like to save yourself a little cash on a lot of purchases.

1. Where Is It?

Back when it first launched as Froogle, it had a place on the Google homepage. Now, it’s a little buried. The easiest way to get to it, other than clicking on the link on this page, is by navigating to the Google.com homepage, then clicking on the "Google Apps" icon in the top right. Scroll through until you find "Shopping."

2. How to Use It

It’s a no-brainer, really. Just type in the product you’re looking for and hit search. Instead of finding sites about that product, Google Shopping finds places that sell it with the prices listed. Now just order your results from "low to high" and you’ll find out just who has that product for the lowest amount. Sometimes, the difference between stores is quite surprising, even for an experienced Internet shopper like me. But, as good as Google Shopping is, make sure you cross-reference your golden price on a few other price-comparison sites.

3. The Other Good Comparison Shoppers

Bizrate

I love Bizrate almost as much as Google Shopping. Same deal, just type in what you’re looking for. Bizrate will give you a list of subcategories to search within, and then you’ll get your product/price list. On Bizrate you can enter your zip code and get a good estimate of the shipping price too. Usually it’s bang on. I’ve often found stores listed on Bizrate that aren’t on Froogle, so make sure you check here before deciding on a purchase.

mySimon

I actually used mySimon before Google Shopping or Bizrate. I don’t find it as useful as them though — it doesn’t seem as intuitive, and it also seems to have a much smaller list of places to buy from. But, still worth a look from time to time.

So, whether it’s Father’s Day and you’re looking for yet another bad tie, or you’re doing your holiday shopping and need to save a few pennies here and there, try Google Shopping, Bizrate, or mySimon. I guarantee they’re money-savers.

This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: