My frugal friends at Savings.com shared these coupons.
Get $20 off $100 or more at HP. Expires April 30, 2010.
Get 20% off entire order at The Limited. Expires July 21, 2010.
Get 20% off $50 or more at Harry & David. Expires April 5, 2010.
Get 10% off at Modcloth. Unknown expiration date.
Get $5 off at TOMS Shoes. Unknown expiration date.
TODAY ONLY! Get a free serving of honey walnut shrimp at Panda Express.
Get a free turkey product from Jennie-O with this $5 mail-in rebate.
Restaurant discounts are happening at Restaurant.com right now with a coupon code that expires Thursday, March 11, 2010.
If you live on the East Coast, check out this Filene’s Basement coupon for an extra 10% off their designer sale.
Here’s a Coldwater Creek coupon for 20-25% off when you spend $100 or more, now through Saturday, March 13, 2010.
Snag a Kenneth Cole coupon for 20% off when you donate gently-used shoes for Haiti. Ends March 31, 2010!
Buying books, DVDs or Blu-Rays? Check out these two Borders coupons for 25-40% off.
Plus, did you hear that Disneyland gave away all its free passes for 2010? The volunteer-for-a-day-and-get-a-free-pass proved more popular than Mickey Mouse.
TheConsumerist.com
Jetblue is selling a bunch of flights from JFK for $10 each. The site was getting hammered last time I checked so give the pages time to load.
New customers can get a free photobook from Picaboo or, if you already have an account with them, there is a BOGO free coupon that is good through March 31, 2010.
Use this Gap coupon code to get jeans at 30 percent off. Just trade-in an old pair by Sunday, March 14, 2010.
Snag a bag of free dog treats from Science Diet when you share your name, email and address.
Coldwater Creek coupons! Get 20-25 percent off when you buy $100 or more. Good in stores and online.
Do you live near a Dunkin Donuts? Then get free coffee every Monday in March.
Get a free one-week gym membership and a customized fitness plan to help you lose weight through Curves. Note, you’ll have to share your name and phone number to take advantage of this deal.
Emergen-C has new flavors of its vitamin-packed powder mixes, including some that suggest cocktails! Get a free sample here.
Coming later today to my WalletPop blog: a free sample of dog treats, and a tip on how to get 30 percent off Gap jeans.
Charkrem/Flickr
Who has the biggest spending regret of them all? Reader Vikki fell prey to a pair of too-small shoes, which I completely sympathize with.
Have you ever loved a pair of shoes and just knew you had to have them?! I recently bought a pair I had been eyeing for some time. Unfortunately, they didn’t have my size at that time. Knowing I couldn’t wait any longer to have them and afraid they would be gone, I went ahead and bought them a half size smaller than I normally wear! Needless to say, after one wearing, I realize I can’t wear them again but they sure look pretty sitting on the floor!! I should have waited…
I’ve put my size 10 feet through this ordeal, unfortunately. Once, however, I successfully stretched out a pair of size 9 leather walking boots over three painful months. Now they fit like a glove!
Vikki wins a hot pink BargainBabe.com T-shirt for sharing her spending regret. This contest started with my decision to single out one purchase on my credit card bill each month that I regretted. I hope that reviewing my bill with a critical eye will reduce my credit card spending and help me stay on budget. Unfortunately, I can’t return the item – it cost me $8.10 in shipping but was otherwise “free!”
cesarastudillo/Flickr
I was not the only one who regretted making a particular credit card purchase last month. Readers had plenty of regrets themselves. Post your own regret as a comment to be automatically entered to win a hot pink BargainBabe.com T-shirt. The contest ends Thursday at 11:59 p.m. PST so leave a comment today. The winner will be announced Friday!
Becki can’t say no to flowers:
I not only bought flowers I didn’t need, it is too cold to plant! I love pansies, and they were only 67 cents apiece, but now they will sit till it gets warmer, and then they will die when it’s hot…if only I had bought them last fall…It’s an addiction I have, I have to stay out of the nurseries!!!!! Someone please help!
ChrisM is kicking herself for paying shipping:
My 17 year old daughter wanted a pair of TOM’S shoes for her birthday in February, so I went on line, ordered them, paid for shipping. $17 for shipping–only to realize they came from Valencia and —we live in Sylmar.
Wish I’d looked into shipping fees first.
Tami regrets her hasty purchase:
Our microwave suddenly ceased to work after having it for about 6 years. We thought we couldn’t live without one, so we rushed out and bought a generic microwave oven at Target for $80. Fast forward to a week later and we noticed one for $20 at the local Goodwill shop. Goodwill stands behind their products and will refund purchases if you bring in the product/receipt, so by being hasty, we wasted $65. Next time we’ll comparison shop.
Blakely fell victim to a sale for something she doesn’t need:
I purchased a waffle iron at Kohl’s. It was only $25.00 with a $10.00 mail in rebate. I haven’t used it yet and I haven’t found anywhere to store it. It was something I wanted, but not something I needed.
Smashion.com is the answer to every woman who has a closet of clothes she never wears and doesn’t know how to sell. You can buy and sell clothes for free, which makes Smashion.com a lot more attractive financially than a traditional consignment store, eBay, or Etsy. Plus, the site leaves up listings indefinitely.
When I checked the site had 1,633 items for sale. Impressive considering they launched in October. There were 62 pairs of women’s jeans. All the clothes are new or lightly worn. Some items still have the tags!
One of the cool things about Smashion is that browsing the site feels like going over to your girlfriend’s house and trying on all her clothes. How awesome is that?! It’s fun to browse, and you never know what you’ll find, like this sparkly party dress that has got the seller doing her best moves, above. It’s going for $40.
Smashion is focused on fashion forward clothing. Most of the sellers are regular folks though there are also a few independent designers, too.
Clothing prices are set – no bidding – and payment is directly between buyer and seller through Paypal. Sellers agree to ship your new threads within two days.
In between searching for your next clothing purchase, you can chat with other frugal fashionistas about age appropriate clothes, fake handbags, and other trends. The forums page on Smashion.com has dozens of topics and is pretty active. The site also has a gallery section where people can share fashion inspirations with each other. And there is a blog that is updated daily with tips on how to dress for a specific situation, fashion trends, and reviews of up and coming designers.
Smashion.com comes at a great time. Who isn’t looking to save a few bucks these days – while still being able to afford new (to me) clothes?
Consumer Reports recently updated their sales calender showing when is the best time to buy some 55 items like cars, clothes, and furniture throughout the year. Here is what’s on the list for March:
- Digital cameras and small consumer electronics like MP3 players, DVD and Blu-ray players (electronics sales surge leading up to Christmas then trail off)
- Humidifiers (winter is almost over so demand is dropping)
- TVs (now that Christmas and the Superbowl are over demand has fallen)
- Winter coats (retailers need to make room for summer swimsuits!)
- Winter sports gear (so there is room to stock summer sports gear)
And here’s a sneak peak for April:
- Computers
- Digital cameras
- Lawn mowers
- Spring clothing
This post is brought to you by CouponCactus.com, a great source of online coupon codes for taxes, groceries, and more.
My spending has gone crazy over the past few months. A new set of gears for my bike ($90), yards of brown suede for new curtains ($88), two new outfits for a trip to NYC ($152), and a pricey sushi lunch ($34).
Sure, I have reasons behind each purchase (I’m doing a race in May that requires additional gears, buying fabric is cheaper than buying curtains, I had a gift card and a rare coupon for the clothing store, and I hadn’t seen my friend in months), but this kind of spending is not sustainable.
My credit card bill, which I pay off in full each month, has risen on average by a few hundred dollars. Not good. Here are two things I’m doing to shift my habits downward.
1. I only buy groceries on Wednesday. I started this two weeks ago and it has made me more aware of how much money I’m spending on food because it is easier to remember my total purchases from one day. Two weeks ago I spent $92 at Trader Joe’s, which included many staple items, beer, and wine. Last week I spent $27 on groceries. My target weekly grocery spending is $25.
Toward the end of the cycle I challenge myself to create tasty meals with what is left and finish off the last vegetables before they go bad. There is a lot you can do with beans, onions, and garlic!
2. I single out an item on my credit card statement that I didn’t have to buy. This month the dubious honor goes to an $8.10 purchase at Stamps.com. I got sucked into their $100 offer for newbies: sign up and get a $5 supplies kit, $45 in free postage (which is strung out over four months), and a free $50 postage scale (which actually sells for about $20 and is useless after my 30-day trial period unless I join Stamps.com for $16 a month).
I don’t buy enough business postage to make it worthwhile to join Stamps.com for $16 a month. So when I read the fine print the $100 sign-up package evaporated into nothing. At that point, I had already spent $8.10 to get the “free” scale mailed to me. Blerg!
I wish I had been more skeptical of the $100 intro offer, which really was too good to be true. Being greedy cost me $8.10.
What do you wish you hadn’t bought in the past month? Leave a comment and the reader with the best story wins a hot pink BargainBabe.com T-shirt, above. There are only about a dozen left!
My frugal friends at Savings.com shared some great coupons with me this week.
Get 20 percent off accessories of $30 or more at Verizon Wireless. Unknown expiration date.
Get free shipping on orders of $30 or more at Avon. Expires March 11, 2010.
Get $15 off $75 or more at Smashbox. Expires March 1, 2010.
Get 20 percent off orders of $50 or more with free shipping at Kate Spade. Unknown expiration date.
Get $10 off most orders of $64.99 or more with free shipping at GameStop. Expires March 5, 2010.
CVS.com is putting a bunch of CVS-brand products on sale by 20-30% off, including products for weight loss, dieting, hair loss, and smoking cessation. Plus, toothbrushes are as low as $.69 and vitamins are on sale.
A reader named Tami let me know about a fabulous sale + rebate offer that makes money and gets you free Olay Body Wash at Target. This week only!
Here’s another hot drugstore sale. All Rite Aid brand products are buy one get one 50% off Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 25-27, 2010.
Get a free sample of Tide Febreeze laundry detergent (not as pictured) when you sign up for the P&G email list. Already on it? You are still eligible.
See all the deals and coupons on my WalletPop blog.
This post is brought to you by BuildDirect.com, which sells laminate flooring and other building materials for less.
I really outdid myself with this week’s Friday Freebies, if I may say so. The list includes free candy, toothpaste, movie rentals, two magazines, free tacos, and free pretzels. Check it out!
Get 25 percent off regular-priced Gap clothes with a coupon that is good through Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010.
Get 25 percent off at Ann Taylor Loft when you buy pants. Once you put a pair of pants into your bag, everything else is on sale too!
Rite Aid’s medicine sale includes 20 percent off over the counter medicine through Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010.
The Walgreens sale is not as big as at Rite Aid – get 10 percent off through today, Feb 19 – but it applies to nearly everything they sell online.
My frugal friend and author Stacy Johnson (I reviewed his book Life or Debt not long ago) shared his five tips for negotiating a lower price, a better room, a free upgrade, and lots more. In his post Stacy links to a Consumer Reports video about when bargaining works best. He also shares these stunning statistics from the CR survey:
“These results came from interviewing more than 2,000 men and women who had tried negotiating for at least three years,” he writes. “The numbers below reflect how many achieved a discount at least once during that three year period, along with the greatest discount any of them achieved.”
- Furniture: 94% of those who asked got a better deal at least once.
- Medical Bills: 93% of people who tried negotiating a lower bill were successful at least once.
- Home Electronics: 92% were successful at least once.
- Appliances: 92% were successful at least once.
- Floor Models/demos: 91% were successful at least once.
- Credit Card/Bank Fees: 87% were successful at least once.
- Jewelry: 86% were successful at least once.
- Cell Phone Plans: 80% were successful at least once.
- Collectibles: 78% were successful at least once.
Those are pretty amazing statistics! Of course, they neglect to say how many attempts were made before success. I am successful about 25-50 percent of the time I ask for a discount or perk. But I don’t ask every time, and it’s taken me a lot of practice to get good at playing the customer service game. Here are the negotiating tips I live by.
Watch four movies for free with these Blockbuster Express coupons (similar to Redbox).
Clothes for children, babies, and moms-to-be are up to 40 percent off at Old Navy. Plus, you’ll get free shipping with this Old Navy coupon code.
If you like to go on cruises, sign up for a free subscription to Cruise Travel magazine.
The Bev Mo nickel wine sale is on! No coupons or codes needed.
Check out all the deals on my WalletPop blog.
Walgreens brand products are 20 percent off today only. Many other products are 15 percent off because of their friends and family sale. Some caveats.
Use my Amazon coupon code and get 50 percent off certain magzines, like Esquire ($4) and Maxim ($5).
I found a JC Penney coupon code for $10 off your purchase of $10. Gotta pay for shipping, however, which is $4.50 and up.
Get 25 percent off or more on in-flight WiFi using this GoGo coupon code next time you fly.
Check out all the deals on my WalletPop blog.
