If you have not joined Swagbucks, now is a great time because the site has doubled the bonus you get for signing up, from 30 to 60 Swagbucks using a special code below. The bonus is to celebrate their second anniversary.
Swagbucks is a site that rewards you for searching for stuff on the Internet. Basically, you sign up, install the Swagbucks toolbar and every few searches you do you’ll earn a few Swagbucks. Then you trade in Swagbucks for gift cards and prizes. I’ve earned more than $300 in about six months of using the site. Where do you think I get all those Amazon gift cards for BargainBabeLA.com, eh? Hehehe.
If you join by March 4 and plug swagcode BARGAINBABE1 into the box that says “Enter your swagcode,” you’ll earn 60 swagbucks instead of the normal 30. The code is case sensitive and only works for new members.
Note, as part of the second anniversary, Swagbucks decided to inflate their currence, so everything is not multipled by 10. So if you had 45 bucks in your account you will now have 450. If a prize cost 45 swagbucks, it not costs 450. The ratio is the same the prizes still cost the same amount, relatively.
I don’t have kids and I’m excited about a new site I just learned about called ConsignmentMommies.com, which lists kids consignment sales across the country. The site capitalizes on a newish trend – people buying and selling gently used kids clothing, toys, and gear at massive sales that resemble garage sales on steriods. There are 544 sales listed already.
You can search for sales within 5-100 miles of a particular zip code. A search in my hood resulted in two sales I already knew about and four new ones. Now if only I had kids!
You can post a sale on the site and review sales you’ve been to – all for free. Business listings are for a fee, however. A mother-daughter team launched the site in 2009 and they are still adding features, like a page listing all sales by state.
ConsignmentMommies.com also has a blog with helpful tips. One recent post shared pricing guidelines for maternity and kids clothing:
• Tee shirt $1-2
• Casual Top $3-4
• Dress Top $5
• Jeans $5
• Jean Shorts $2-5
• Shorts $1-4
• Pants $1-4
• Dress pants $3-6
• Casual Dress $3-5
• Dress $5-8
• Suit $10-$15
• Swim Suit $5-10
These sound like great prices to me! One parent I interviewed years ago said she made enough money selling her kid’s old gear, clothing, and toys, to buy what they needed for the next growth spurt. I hope this site helps you find a sale with great prices near you.
You’ve heard of Groupon, right? It’s a group coupon site that offers city-specific discounts for restaurants, spas, and gyms. My friends at MainStreet.com recently wrote about a new Groupon rival, or imitator, depending on your perspective:
The success of their site has spawned a fair share of imitators and, as far as Groupon is concerned, blatant rip offs.
The most recent example of this is SocialBuy. Like Groupon, SocialBuy partners primarily with hospitality businesses to offer deals on a ticking clock and is founded on the notion of collective buying. This might not seem so egregious if the layout of the site itself did not also appear to be an exact replica of Groupon (judge for yourself.) When we brought this site to the attention of Groupon’s CEO and founder, Andrew Mason, he did not seem pleased.
“We have a patent on all of this so everything they are doing is illegal,” he said.
What’s the upside for you and me? Keep reading the story.
This week I blogged about three great sales for WalletPop.com (think of this site as my other blog) plus a way I make money browsing the Internet.
Grab this Staples coupon for 15 percent off good through Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010. Thanks, Tina!
Get 25 percent off Aeropostale jeans when you donate gently used jeans for homeless teens in Haiti through Feb. 14, 2010.
There’s a big ol’ sale at Old Navy right now. Everything is 30 percent off Jan. 29-30, 2010. Nice!
Have you heard of Swagbucks? I’ve earned gift cards from Internet browsing by signing up with Swagbucks. Sounds like a scam, but it’s the real deal.
One of my favorite coupon bloggers, Bargain Briana, has put together a map of frugal bloggers across the country. You can use it to find a blogger near you who shares coupon matches, freebies, and saving tips.
Right now there are 35 bloggers listed in 19 states, including AR, AZ, CA, FL, GA, KS, KY, IL, IN, MD, MI, MO, OH, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, WI. Gasp! BargainBabe.com is not listed! Just a minute folks…I’m adding myself right now.
Beyond finding a blogger that writes about stores in your neighborhood, you can look at an RSS feed of blog posts from everyone in the network, connect with individal bloggers on Twitter and Facebook, and embed the map on your site.
The Frugal Map is a great idea. I wish I had done it myself!
I just learned about a new site that helps college students, faculty and anyone under age 26 get travel discounts. StudentUniverse specializes in airfares, hotels, rail passes, and travel insurance. The site is free to use and you don’t need to buy a student ID card to get their discounts (like some sites).
When making a reservation the site asks for your school issued email, what school you attend or teach at, and your expected graduation date. I’m skeptical that they verify enrollment or faculty status of each person who uses their site because they claims millions of students do. Hmmm…
StudentUniverse claims the verififcation process is what allows them to offer low fares. “Since we verify that our members are students, faculty, and youth the airlines give us special pricing and terms,” the site says.
When searching for flights, you can pick an exact date or look for flights up to 3 days before or after your target date to increase your chances of getting a deal. The site’s FarePlay tab will help you find a cheap vacation if you are flexible on the destination. It’s not a bad place to start if you are a student, enrolled in college, or a faculty member looking for a price break.
Thanks, Tina!
Related:
Textbook trade in save students money
Student discounts from a learned expert
Two great websites for student discounts
AmazonFillerItem.com
I know you’ve been there: checking out at Amazon.com when you fall a few dollars short of the $25 minimum to get free shipping. Doh! Well now there’s Amazon Filler Finder to help you find something that fills the gap.
The idea is that buying an extra item for a few bucks to qualify for free shipping is cheaper than pay for shipping. You could do a search yourself, but you’d probably go crazy. Amazon.com is an awfully big store, afterall.
I was impressed with the results when I tested the Finder for three different price gaps.
I checked how close the site could come to filling a hypothetical gap of $1.17, $3.78, and $.49. Each time the site hit it or came within $.02! Plus, they listed dozens of items starting from the closest matching price going up. You can also limit the categories of items they show results for if you are holding out for a filler item that you might actually want. Ha!
If you feel like you are taking advantage of the system, you are not. The Amazon Filler Finder is a tool created in conjuction with Amazon.com to get you to shop more on their site.
brianjmatis/Flickr
This post is brought to you by Codero, which provides managed hosting services designed to reduce your total administration costs while improving server efficiency.
Get ready for tax season! Preparing will be a little easier knowing you can file for free thanks to a partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance LLC, a group of private sector tax software companies. The site does not go live for 2010 until Jan. 15, so this is really just a heads up.
Here’s how it worked for 2008 taxes filed last April. I expect the free filing options to be very similar for 2009 taxes.
Option No. 1. You can file your federal returns for free using the traditional Free File, which offers step-by-step help, if your adjusted gross income is $56,000 or less (this number could vary slightly for 2009). The software puts your answers directly into the forms and does the math for you. You can get a refund as quick as 10 days if you opt for direct deposit. This service is available in Spanish.
Option No. 2. You can fill in your own tax forms without the help of software using the Free Fillable Forms. This hands-off approach lets you prepare and e-file your 1040, 1040 A and 1040EZ federal returns. There are no income limits, as with Option No. 1. State forms are not included.
Both of these options make it possible to file your federal tax forms for free. State forms are not included, however. Does anybody know a way to file state taxes for free?
Thanks, Tina!
This post is brought to you by Credit Loan, offering debt consolidation.
Simple is good. And that’s part of the reason why I like PriceYeti, a new site that tracks prices for anything sold on the Internet. (The other part is the site’s adorable mascot, above!)
Registering is not required to use PriceYeti, though you have to share your email address so the site can alert you to price drops. Just plug in the url (website address) for the item so PriceYeti can find the item’s price.
You can return to the site to add items to your “watch list.” I entered three cashmere sweaters for a price comparison, one from J.Crew (full-price, $145), one from Nordstrom (on sale for $58), and one from Macy’s (on sale for $90).
PriceYeti aims to be your shopping cart for the entire Internet so it can track prices for plane tickets, event tickets, houses, and services – as long as the item has a barcode and a url (website address). If you want to make your wish list private, set up a password. The site makes money when users click through from the site and purchases an item.
The site’s design as a Twitterish feel to it, though it has no connection to the popular social networking site as far as I know. PriceYeti is a privately funded start up from Seattle. Read a little about the four guys behind PriceYeti.
eBates has a slew of double cash back offers – but they are good today only!
MyPublisher, a site similar to Snapfish, has a buy one get one free offer on photobooks that ends today.
Check out all the coupons and freebies I’m blogging about on WalletPop.com.
Shop through Cashbaq.com and get automatic cash rebates on top of some amazing Cyber Monday sales. Never used an automatic rebate site? Read how they work in this earlier post.
Canvas People ($6 cash back) : Free 8×10 canvas portrait of your favorite photo. Just pay $14.95 for S/H.
Year-long subscription to Southern Living (25% cash back) : Only $5! Expires 12/1.
BOGO and Free S/H on ScoopFree Automatic Self-Cleaning Litter Boxes (5% cash back) : Buy one for a gift and get one for yourself for Free! Expires 11/30.
eBags (8% cash back) : 25% off any item. Expires 11/30.
Real Simple Magazine Subscription (25% cash back) : Only $5! Expires 12/1.
Macy’s (3% cash back) : Extra 25% off clearance items and Free shipping on $75 or more with code CYBER. Expires 11/30.
Overstock.com (5% cash back) : Storewide Free shipping and big markdowns on jewelry, watches, household goods, toys and more! Expires 11/30.
New York & Company (5% cash back) : 50% off everything and Free shipping on any order with code 4136. Expires 11/30.
Dancing Deer Baking Co. (5% cash back) : 25% off all of their yummy cookies, brownies, cakes and gift baskets with code SAVE25. Expires 11/30.
Aeropostale (3% cash back) : 50-70% off storewide. Free shipping on $75 or more. Expires 11/30.
Yves Rocher (10% cash back) : 20% off any order with code DISCOUNT20. Over 100 gifts and stocking stuffers starting at just $1! Expires 12/2.
Plus…
Liz Claiborne – 50% off & Free S/H on everything (2% cash back)
Betsey Johnson – 40% off everything (4% cash back)
Ann Taylor – 40% off everything (3% cash back)
eDressMe – 30% off everything (5% cash back)
Lucky Brand Jeans – 30% off everything (3% cash back)
Arden B – 30% off everything (3% cash back)
Ann Taylor Loft – 30% off everything (3% cash back)
Chinese Laundry – 25% off everything (10% cash back)
Famous Footwear – 20% off and Free shipping (10% cash back)
Cost Plus World Market – 20% off everything (3% cash back)
This is a guest post by Nicole of Nicole’s Nickels, a great coupon blog that I’ve been a fan of for awhile. I interviewed Nicole months ago about how to make money as a mystery shopper. Now she’s back with advice on how to make money doing online surveys.
If you’re looking for ways to earn some extra money each month from the comfort of your own home, online surveys may be just the thing for you! I have been doing surveys for over a year now and earn approximately $100 per month. It’s certainly not enough for me to retire but it is my gas money that I don’t have to worry about!
I love that I can sit in my pjs or while I watch TV and earn money. You can also get product tests from doing surveys where they send you not yet released products to report back about. There are a lot of survey sites out there and I am signed up with over 30. I only blog about the ones I have had no issues with.
Before signing up with your first survey company, get a new separate email address for surveys only (I use gmail). I don’t get any spam in my surveys email account but I do get a lot of survey invites which could clog your inbox. All of the survey companies I blog about are completely free to sign up for. Remember, they are paying YOU for YOUR opinions!
Many surveys are looking for people that fall into certain demographics so you won’t qualify for every survey you do. I qualify for approximately half of all surveys I attempt. Don’t get hung up on why you’re not qualifying, it’s just the way it is.
Each survey company handles payment differently. Some pay in cash while others may pay in merchandise. Read the terms and conditions as you sign up to make sure you understand how you’ll be paid and if there is a minimum amount to be paid. I make an effort to redeem every month so I can maximize my monthly earnings.
Here are 6 survey companies I recommend:
My Survey
HCD Surveys
Ipsos-I-Say
Opinion Outpost
Global Test Market
Toluna USA
To read more about the survey companies I am signed up with, check out the survey page on my blog, Nicole’s Nickels.
If I had a nickel for every coupon site that existed, I would be able to retire. If I had a nickel for every GOOD coupon site, I would come up short at Starbucks. And I drink the cheap stuff.
Here are the coupon sites on my short list.
DealBlabs.com – a new site that has a few added perks, like stats on how likely a particular store is to offer any given promotion. For instance, when I clicked on a Toys R Us coupon, it told me that there was a 71 percent chance the store would offer a coupon code and a 29 percent chance it would offer another type of discount.
I scrolled down past the coupons for Toys R Us and found a more detailed breakdown. DealBlabs believes there is a 14 percent chance the coupon code will be for free shipping, a 57 percent chance there will be a percentage off discount, and a 29 percent chance there will be a dollar off coupon. Another chart listing the days of the week shows when a coupon is most likely to be published or distributed.
The stats are based on info gathered over time. They are a great way to decide if you should hold out for a better coupon or use the one at hand. Either way, you’re making an informed decision. I’d love to see the site share data on what percentage and dollar off coupons are typical. In other words, is a 20 percent off coupon typical for a given retailer or extremely rare?
My other favorite sites for general retail coupons (grocery coupons are another story):
Savings.com – tons great coupons, including many exclusives. The site just launched a new program called DealPros where everyday folks share deals they find. Disclosure: Savings.com was a Frugal Fe$tival sponsor.
RetailMeNot.com - the grandma of online coupon sites still has great deals. The annoying thing is they often don’t tell you the coupon code. Instead you have to click on a link and shop before the code is applied to your checkout.
FreeShipping.org – my go to site for free shipping codes. Expect this site to get busy this holiday season as consumers pressure retailers to offer free shipping as a standard perk. Watch out for handling charges, though!
Where do you go for coupon codes? I’d love to know!
Looking for a restaurant coupon in your neighborhood? Then consider CouponMap.com, a website that primarily offers deals for eating out.
The site maps out more than 100,000 coupons across the country from sources like Restaurant.com and ValPak. The site also lists local gas station prices, though it’s unclear where they are getting their pump prices.
Enter your city or zip code and a map pops up with tiny red deal markers. You can also scroll down the right side for deals.
The coupons are not especially distinctive – many require you to sign up for an email list or buy a gift certificate to get a discount. But it’s not a bad place to make a quick check before you go out. Most of the coupons can be printed from home.
Examples include:
A $25 gift certificate to Pacific Grille in Los Angeles for $10
A free entree at TGI Friday’s in Austin, TX when you buy one entree
A one-day free pass to Crunch Fitness in New York City
$1 off a burrito at Pancho Villa Tacqueria in San Francisco
There’s a new website that makes swapping clothes awfully easy. It’s called ThredUp and the idea is you offer up clothes you no longer want and agree to receive similar items in the mail from other members.
The first step after you register is entering brief descriptions of your unwanted threads, including the brand, size, color, pattern, and condition. Then you tell the site what kind of clothes you want to receive in return.
The last step is buying envelopes, which you use to mail your items to others. In order to receive any envelopes, you must have purchased some. A set of three envelopes is $25 (so each item you receive is about $8). Get 50 percent off your first set of envelopes with code FirstOrder. Payments are done through PayPal, so you don’t need to share your credit card info with ThredUp.
You can keep what you receive, or trade it in for something else. What makes ThredUp work is when users obey the golden rule – send only what you would want to receive. No one wants to receive your sweat stained shirt – even if you only wore it once! Got more questions? Check out their FAQ page.
I heard about ThredUp from a reader named Debbie, who has a clever use for the site:
It’s like clothing consignment meets Netflix. Personally I don’t know if I’d want to trade for clothes for me but for kids…awesome! Trade up for a larger size that fits them as they grow.
ThredUp is invite only – but guess what? I scored you an invite! Use code bargainbabe to check out ThredUp for yourself.
