Forbes declared Groupon the fastest growing business anywhere and as a testament to Groupon’s success, there are many, many imitators. How’s a bargain hunter to keep track of all the incredible “social” coupons?
Enter Yipit.
This new site aggregates deals from Groupon, LivingSocial, Scoop St, HomeRun and about 90 other social deal sites. Who knew so many existed??? I’m so excited about what Yipit has to offer I’ve installed a widget in the Partners section of the right sidebar.
Yipit currently aggregates deals in seven major U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego and San Francisco. The site hopes to be in 30 markets by (more…)
I met almost 92 bloggers at BlogHer this past weekend. Here are six sites that stand out. I hope to add more notable sites as I sort through the business cards I picked up at the conference. I also picked up a lot of goodies, so don’t forget to enter the contest to win $249 worth of BlogHer swag.
OnceAMonthMom.com - Blogger Tricia put together a month’s worth of meals and menus, which you can download, print out, or listen to on a podcast. Her philosophy is that any meal can be prepared ahead of time and frozen. One big cooking day leads to a month of meals.
MothersAgainstDebt.com – Blogger Amy is a one-woman government tax watchdog who aims to bring national debt down to the household level. Don’t be scared by her libertarian politics, this woman knows how to crunch numbers.
SoYouThinkYoureCrafty.com - This blog is not about saving money, but making beautiful crafts. The projects featured on this blog are by no means amateurish. The site has great photos and is very easy on the eyes!
LoveThatMax – Blogger Ellen writes about her special needs son, Max, her daughter, Sabrina, and her Clueless Husband. I find her writing to be honest, funny, and very engaging. One recent post describes when she realized that Max, who is seven and has cerebral palsy, has never asked a question. Ever.
DaddyDeeds.com – Blogger Ben writes about family life, BBQ’ing, and living in Arizona. Here is a recent post about the bad words his kids picked up at school.
WheatlessAndMeatless.com – If you are trying to eat healthy, lose weight or have strict dietary requirements, this blog is for you. Bernice updates her site about once a week, so it’s not an overwhelming amount to read. She has amazing pictures of her culinary creations and detailed recipes. Many of them solve a problem I often encounter in the kitchen, which is how to make vegetables appetizing.
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By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of Bobbisbargains.
It’s HOT and you blew it by ignoring my advice to buy an air conditioner during the winter. Before you make an impulse buy, do a bit of mathematics for best results.
The first thing you need to do is measure the space that you want to cool. You need to know the square footage, which is easy to figure out. Just measure the floor. Measure in one direction and then measure in the other direction. Then multiply the two numbers. Ta-da! Square footage.
Now take your square footage and multiply that by 35. That will give you a general idea of what SIZE air conditioner to buy. That doesn’t mean how big in inches. It means how big in BTUs – British Thermal Units.
Every window air conditioner has a cooling capacity number that ranges from about 5,000 to 18,000 BTUs. (Larger systems are usually rated in tons of cooling with a ton being equal to 12,000 BTUs.) The higher the BTU value, the stronger the air conditioner is. BTUs determine how much cooling the unit can deliver in an hour. Too little BTUs and you won’t get cooled off. Too many BTUs and you will waste energy and MONEY – yikes!
For those of you living in high humidity areas here is a bit more insight: Many people buy an air conditioner that is too large, thinking it will provider better cooling. However, an over-sized air conditioner is actually less effective — and wastes energy at the same time. Air conditioners remove both heat and humidity from the air. If the unit is too large, it will cool the room quickly, but only remove some of the humidity. This leaves the room with a damp, clammy feeling. A properly sized unit will remove humidity effectively as it cools.
Once you determine your BTU need (square footage multiplied by 35), make sure that you make adjustments for room location and heat load:
- If the room is shaded, reduce the BTUs by 10%
- If the room is very sunny, increase the BTUs by 10%
- If the air conditioner is in the kitchen, add 4,000 BTUs
- If the room is going to be occupied by more than 2 people most of the time, add 600 BTUs per person
Another thing to consider is EER, which stands for Energy Efficiency Ratio.” Air conditioners’ EERs usually range from 8.2 to 10.5. The higher the number, the more efficient the machine and the more expensive to buy, but cheaper to operate. It’s a numbers game.
OK, so now that you know what size air conditioner you need, look on Craigslist. If you can’t find what you are looking for there, check out one of the big box warehouse stores like Sam’s Club, Costco, or BJ’s. They have competitive prices and their return policies are fabulous. Don’t buy an air conditioner online because the shipping cost will be enormous.
When installing your window air conditioner, use a window that is in the shade. Ensure that there is space around the inside and outside for air flow. In other words, don’t put the air condition up against the back of your couch or right up against a bush outside. Insulate where the window and air conditioner meet to make sure there is no air leakage around the unit and the window. Make sure that you clean the filters on a regular basis as this will increase the efficiency and life of your air conditioner.
OK, those are my tips. Good luck and stay cool.
Duane_Brown/Flickr
Here is a cool new site that capitalizes on all the unused Groupon deals floating. CoupReCoup.com is a free site to buy and sell coupons bought at steep markdowns on Groupon, Living Social, Tippr, Fresh Guide, Social Buy, and others.
CoupReCoup explains its appeal on its How it Works page. “If you bought a coupon but realize you won’t get to use it, you now have an easy way to sell it. If you missed a chance to buy a hot deal from a local coupon site, you can check CoupRecoup for second chance deals.” The site operates much like Craigslist, so use caution when sharing personal information with others.
Posting a deal requires three steps. Link to the original deal page, submit an asking price, and share your email, which remains private. Your listing stays up on the site until the deal expires.
Finding a deal to buy is just as simple. The site has listings in eight major cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle. Filter deals by city or by the percentage discount. You can also sign up for their weekly email.
There were 10 deals in Los Angeles when I last checked. A Living Social deal for the restaurant Food Fair by Diego is selling for $15 and has a value of $30. I have eaten at Food Fair by Diego and would definitely return for their fresh California cuisine, servied in a very casual setting. I would definitely go back. The LA page also had a coupon for 60% off food at Jack ‘n Jill’s.
CoupReCoup is based in San Francisco and launched June 15. The site does not make money off of buy/sell transactions but may charge a user fee down the road. “Right now we’re just focused on creating a vibrant marketplace that is useful to people,” said CoupReCoup co-founder Aren Sandersen.
Thanks for the tip, Liz!
There are so many coupon sites that it’s hard to distinguish one from another. CouponCactus.com, however, is worth taking a look at. The site combines coupons with automatic cash rebates based on your purchase total. It’s the best of eBates and RetailmeNot!
The amount of discount information on the CouponCactus.com is staggering. The site has tabs for free shipping coupons, coupons that expire soon, new coupons, coupons with the biggest discount, the most popular discounts, and exclusive coupons. Plus, you can search for coupons by category or store name (there are 3,600). Phew! That’s a lot of online coupons.
For each discount, the site lists the percentage cash rebate, the expiration date, and has a link to restrictions, if any. You can share each coupon via buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and email. When you shop using links on CouponCactus.com, the coupon discount will be deducted from your purchase – although sometimes you will need to plug in the coupon code yourself. Double check your tab before clicking purchase. The automatic cash rebate takes a little longer to arrive.
Coupon Cactus pays out via check or Paypal each quarter. So the money you save now won’t be in your account for about 120 days. You must have at least $10 in cash back rewards for CouponCactus.com to send you a check.
This is paid content. Interested in an ad? Read my Advertise page.
Have you checked out Swagbucks? It’s my favorite way to win gift cards just for searching the internet.
Get 80% off at Restaurant.com with this coupon code.
Get a free sample of gel that relieves sore muscles. Lots of uses!
Exclusive coupons for Frugal Festival Swappers via sponsor WalletPop.
Check out all the coupons and deals on my WalletPop blog.
Best website logo ever.
Here are four cool new money-saving sites I’ve been meaning to share with you, plus a link to a explainer piece on invite-only shipping sites like Gilt Group.
Clicker.com – the site’s motto – “what’s on online” – had me fantasizing about finding free episodes of my favorite TV show, 30 Rock. Sadly, Clicker.com is so comprehensive it took me 8 minutes to find the show’s homepage. Once there, I see glorious links to every episode ever with links to watch. Many are paid, i.e., require me to pay for access.
Clicker.com has similar pages for movies, music, web originals, live TV (FIFA World Cup, for instance), and there is a page for trends. You can create playlists and get a notification when a new episode is available. Clicker.com is a bit confusing at first, but I recommend setting aside 15 minutes to familiarize yourself with the site. If you are really confused, scroll over the teeny tiny arrow to the right of each tab, and when that teeny tiny arrow expands into a drop down menu, click on the “browse by alphabet” link.
SiteJabber.com -this site aims to inform consumers about websites and online businesses to avoid fraud by collecting reviews from regular folks like you and me. It also has tips for consumers on evaluating sites, which I wish more people did. Plus, SiteJabber.com has one of the best slogans ever, pictured above. This site is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
HalfOffDeals.com – this is an oldie, actually. HalfOffDeals sells gift certificates for restaurants, spa, golf courses, and a lot more for 50% off flat. The discount isn’t as big as say, Restaurant.com, but there are many fewer restrictions. In Los Angeles, a $50 certificate to La Fonda Restaurant, which is renown for its mariachi show, is $25. You can search for deals within 10, 30, and 60 miles of a particular zip code. The site makes a cut of each certificate sold.
BillShrink.com – also an old site, but it has a new feature that may apply to you. The site, which suggests credit cards and phone plans that save you money over your current ones, now lets you compare the price of TV services in your area. The site earns a referral fee for each person who signs up for a new service through the site.
Bonus: Curious about how invite-only shopping sites like Gilt Groupe work? Switched.com explains how they work and reviews the major ones.
Horia Varlan/Flickr
Is your utility bill too high? Now you can actually check how your rates compare using a tool on WhiteFence.com, a site similar to BillShrink.com in that it helps you find low-cost providers for household services like cable TV and cell phone service. WhiteFence paid for a sponsored post on BargainBabe.com two months ago, but it wasn’t until now that I realized the site has valuable pricing information that consumers can use to get a good deal.
Such as a comparison of average utility bills in 21 major cities. The most expensive cities and the corresponding average monthly electric bills are Baltimore ($132), Houston ($120), Orlando ($115), Minneapolis ($114), and Portland ($108). The least expensive cities are San Diego ($30), San Francisco ($36), Los Angeles ($36), Denver ($43), and Atlanta ($48). I live in Los Angeles and I can’t imagine paying $132 every month to turn the lights on!
You can also compare average monthly rates by state for cable TV, phone, natural gas, and high speed Internet by clicking on the “More Info for Services” tab. If you want to lower your electricity bill beyond getting a better rate, consider unplugging appliances. Not convinced your appliances cost much to run? Plug in numbers on your fridge and you may change your mind.
Data for the rankings comes from the hundreds of thousands of orders placed on WhiteFence’s websites for household services. WhiteFence used relationships with service providers to get utility prices. Read more about the survey’s methodology.
stevendepolo/Flickr
Get $10 off a purchase of $30 or more at Bath & Body Works now until May 9, 2010. Print the Bath & Body Works coupon (updated!).
Borders just released a 33% off coupon that expires today, May 3, 2010. Act quick or wait for the next coupon.
Have you signed up for Groupon yet? The site shares daily deals in 55 cities across the country. I’ve seen restaurants, spa deals, and outings for 50-90% off.
Get 70% off at Restaurant.com plus get a $15 credit at ProFlowers for an order of $30 or more. Perhaps you’ll find a gift cert for a Chinese restaurant that makes crispy egg rolls.
Check out all the coupons and deals on my WalletPop blog.
Ross/Flickr
I check the Consumer Reports sales calender once a month to check if the purchases I am contemplating line up with when CR says is the best time to buy. The calender is based on data from industry surveys and publications, and consultations with CR’s in-house experts. Here is what they say will be priced nicely in May:
- Athletic apparel and shoes
- Camping and outdoor gear (my camping pad no longer holds air, but I don’t have any trips planned so I’m going to pass)
- Cordless phones
- Lawn mowers
- Small consumer electronics
And here is what’s on tap for June:
- Camcorders
- Computers (buy early for back to school?)
- Indoor furniture
- Small consumer electronics
- Summer sports gear
- Swimwear (I totally disagree with this one! July and August are the best time to get steeply discounted swimsuits and not sacrifice too much selection.)
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains
DIY is my mantra. One of my best defenses against paying too much for anything is knowing how to do it myself. Over the years, in an effort to stay in my budget and to teach my children to be self-reliant, I have learned many very useful skills that have saved me enormous amounts of money. Here are just a few of them.
Take and retouch headshots
A professional headshot can cost anywhere from $150 to $500 before retouching. You can learn digital photography at your local community college or occupational center for a fraction of the cost of the tuition at a fancy art school. If you are really good at learning on your own, then there are tons of free online tutorials on photography and retouching. An excellent subscription online software tutorial site that I have used for years is Lynda. For $25 a month you have access to fabulous tutorials on just about every piece of art software that exists.
Check the fluids in your car
All of my mechanics in the past have told me that if people only checked and maintained fluid levels in their cars, mechanics would practically go out of business. Many major car repairs can be avoided by proper maintenance, thereby saving you a bundle of money. By watching YouTube videos on the subject and asking my mechanics to show me, I have learned where and how to check my vehicle’s fluids. Search with the make and model of your car and you can most likely see how your engine should look.
Alter your own clothes
This is a skill that I learned as part of my visits to Swap O Rama Ramas where I also scooped up hundreds of dollars of free clothes. Who knew that you could actually cut down and re-sew a t-shirt so that it looked attractive?
Read musical notations
Music gives me great pleasure. Instead of feeling like I need to take a vacation to chill out, I can just spend some time with music. Check out your local library for how-to videos for kids. If you really want to understand music the easy way, then I suggest attending one of Duncan Lorien’s “The Understanding of Music” seminars. I’ve taken this seminar before and it is simply brilliant. Plus, it comes with a 100% money-back guarantee.
Build things out of wood
Great and free places to start to learn how to handle a hammer and nails are the free workshops given at Home Depot and Lowes. Lowes has how-to project videos online as well as free kids clinics each Saturday morning. Learning to be your own handy person can save you up to $100 an hour on simple repairs.
Along with the savings you get when you do things for yourself, you also gain competence and the satisfaction of knowing that you can do things yourself. What are your favorite DIY sites?
Remember how I was going to rush over to Macys to buy a food processor? Well I just used the online price comparison site PriceTrace.com and realized the current sale price is actually $35 higher than it has been in the past! I’m going to use PriceTrace’s simple, three-step process to make sure I buy a food processor at the lowest possible price. Here’s how it works.
First, plug in basic information about the product you are looking for (such as the item’s name, UPC code, SKU, or product url from a retailer) into the PriceTrace.com search box and click “Go.” Select the specific item you want to buy among the results and click “Trace it.”
Next, compare prices for your item. PriceTrace.com draws prices from all the major retailers, like Amazon, WalMart, Macys, Best Buy, and lots of smaller ones, too. PriceTrace.com shows you how the current price compares over the past year in a Price History Chart to the right of your results. The chart highlights the date when the item was at its lowest price, which is a super cool feature.
Lastly, if the current price is not near the lowest price, you can plug in your email with your target price and set up an alert when the product drops to your target price. (I’m doing this for my food processor.) This feature is called the Price Drop Alert and it helps you buy at the right time.
PriceTrace.com also has a one-click toolbar for Firefox and Chrome (IE coming soon) so you can compare prices with one click. If you need more guidance, editors at the site pick the top price drops each day so you don’t have to search for the best deals. Check out PriceTrace.com next time you are shopping online.
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cpchannel/Flickr
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
Chances are you are paying WAY too much for your printer ink. It doesn’t matter if you are using an ink jet or toner cartridge. All store bought brand-name ink cartridges are insanely overpriced. I can’t believe how much I used to pay for my printer ink. What a rip-off! The only reason that companies get away with continuing to convince consumers to overpay for their product is fear.
I’m sure you have read, heard or been told that if you use off brand ink in your printer that you will void your warranty. But according to Jeff Bertolucci at PC World, third party printer ink cartridges are as good or better than the original equipment manufacturer ink. “Our tests show that all of the third-party inks in our test group yielded more prints per cartridge–on top of costing less–but that, with some notable exceptions, the printer manufacturers’ ink we evaluated usually produced better-quality prints and proved more resistant to fading,” Jeff’s story said.
There are lots of companies that sell discount ink cartridges – sometimes at 50% of the manufacturer’s price. My favorite is Abacus 24-7. Their inks have always been super cheap and reliable. Another source of discounted products, including printer ink, is Deal Extreme. I have not used their inks, so I can’t vouch for them.
Now, here is the neat bargain trick. Instead of paying $15 or more for a cartridge, I buy drastically reduced-priced third party ink cartridges and when it is empty, I take it into Staples for a $3 per cartridge rebate that you can use towards your next Staples purchase. This can result in a profit.
That, my friends, is how great bargainistas think.
What is your favorite way to reduce ink/toner costs?
boulter/Flickr
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.
The day I got my driver’s license my mother bought me an Automobile Club of America (AAA) membership. She continued to gift me the renewal fee on that membership for many years. Her gift, thankfully, kept me from being stranded on the road many times.
Every time I whipped out my AAA card and called for a service truck, I always thought of my mother. I would call and thank her while I waited for the tow truck to arrive. I think she planned it that way.
I have used my membership privileges (this link opens a word document) to get help:
- jump starting my battery in the dead of winter
- changing a flat tire in the blazing sun
- opening a locked car door when the keys were still in the car and I was not
- towing my car to a mechanic when I broke down in the middle of nowhere
- registering my car with the DMV without having to GO to the DMV (priceless)
A basic AAA membership averages a $1 a week. (Prices vary in different parts of the country.) Any one of the above services would have cost more than I paid for my yearly membership. Upgrades to the membership give you additional benefits including a much larger free towing radius. Check to see if there are current coupon codes available before signing up.
You can even use your card to get roadside help if you are just the passenger in the car. This is the biggest difference between AAA and other roadside assistance programs. A gift of an AAA membership is a great way to help out a low income friend.
Without a doubt, I have gotten my money’s worth from this company. Besides the roadside services, you can also get discounts on phone service, amusement park tickets, air fares, free maps and atlas’, hotel and food discounts, discounted car rentals, free reviews of auto repair shops, passport services, and international driving permits. Check out the discounts in your area.
I never fully appreciated the value of my AAA membership until the day that my son got his driver’s license. I realized that he was about to hit the road and I wouldn’t be there to watch over him. On that day, I purchased his AAA membership. Maybe someday he’ll call me and say “Thanks Mom.”
irina slutsky/Flickr
By Mike Barclay of 10CentsWorth.com.
A few weeks back a friend of mine who works for a local radio station approached me. “Would you be interested in passing out a bunch of flyers for an event we’re doing if I got you some concert tickets?” I instantly said yes, seeing as I’m the world’s biggest concert guru. Now I am the proud owner of free tickets to two shows I’ve been hoping to see.
But were they really free?
Technically the tickets were not free. Did I have to pay money for them? I did not. Was there some type of exchange that was beneficial to both parties? Yes there was. We used a medium that most people today don’t really think about, or even understand they may be doing. It’s called bartering.
Bartering is defined as trading goods or services without the exchange of money, according to Dictionary.com. We should all look into it. How much money would we end up saving if we traded services or items around the house for something we did need?
Here are three great sites I’ve found in my swapping frenzy as of late.
Most people use Craigslist for classifieds, but have you ever clicked on the “barter” section in your cities? Craigslist is great if you want to go super general. And it’s always going to be local. If you’re looking for more specific swapping, check out these next two sites.
SwapTree.com – As I mentioned before, I’m a big music fanatic. So when I found SwapTree, I wet myself. It’s all about media: books, DVD’s, CD’s, etc. You can trade your stuff or browse what other people have and make an offer. Needless to say, I’ve had it up on my computer screen for the past week, constantly looking at what I can find.
Zwaggle.com – Zwaggle is strictly for all things tot-sized. Babies, toddlers, you name it, they’ve got something for it. It’s a perfect site for new couples having their first child and for the couple with kids who’ve outgrown everything and want to get rid of the stash.
So the next time you want a new CD, clothes, books, or need something fixed and can offer something in return, remember you don’t always have to use dollars. Look into trading or swapping and see if you can do it without having to touch your wallet.
