Illustration by OConnorCartoons.com
This contest has two winners: Wanda Goeden is the winner for “liking” the BargainBabe.com Facebook fan page and @FrugalHomemaker is the winner for following @BargainBabe on Twitter!
Each winner will receive one $100 gift card to Restaurant.com, which can be redeemed for certificates to specific restaurants. Please contact me to claim your prize, which was donated by Restaurant.com.
Thanks for reading BargainBabe.com.
tiffanywashko/Flickr
Did you know you can use an Old Navy gift card at Gap online? And a Banana Republic gift card at Piperlime or Athleta? All five retailers are owned by the same company and gift cards to the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, and Athleta are interchangeable online. I had no idea!
This makes these gift cards more valuable because you have more options to spend them. The five retailer sites are linked and offer $7 flat shipping when you shop online at one or more of the sites.
This morning I used the last $12.64 on my Old Navy gift card to buy a pair of Athleta yoga shorts, which were on sale for $29.99 (orig. $44). With the gift card and a free shipping Athleta coupon code, WELCOME, I paid just $17.35. Score!
Does anyone know if these gift cards are interchangeable in stores – or is it just online?
Caveats: coupon code WELCOME expires July 1, 2010.
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.
Horia Varlan/Flickr
UPDATE: This contest has ended. Thank you to everyone who commented for a chance to win.
UPDATE: Today is the last day to comment and win!
PREVIOUSLY: I am giving away a $50 Sears gift card to the person who best answers this question: why do you read BargainBabe.com?
Is it for the retail coupons? Reader comments? Personal finance book reviews? Grocery saving tips? Giveaways? Freebies? Personal stories about spending money? Budgeting tips? Restaurant deals? Polls? Something else?
Comment on this post with an informative answer by Wednesday, May 26 at 6 a.m. PST to be considered for the prize, which was generously donated by Sears. For every $50 you spend at Sears’ big memorial day sale this weekend, you’ll get $10 off your next purchase of $25 or more on apparel, footwear or bed bath and window fashions. For each $100 you spend, you will get $20 off your next purchase of $50 or more in fine jewelry, housewares, luggage and mattresses. The sale is May 28-June 1. Redeem your bonus June 2-8.
Your input is truly appreciated and makes BargainBabe.com better!
The top three winners in my recent gift card giveaway all emailed me back claiming their prizes. Better luck next time to the runners up and everyone else who reads BargainBabe.com. The winners are:
First place – jenncf@ who won a $25 Amazon gift card
Second place – mariedimacali@ who won a $25 Marshalls gift card
Third place – dldevineol@ who won a $25 TJ Maxx gift card
Stay tuned for another giveaway next month.
I just emailed the three winners and six runners up in the latest reader giveaway! Prizes include a $25 Amazon e-gift card, a $25 Marshalls gift card, and a $25 TJ Maxx gift card. Every reader on my daily email list was eligible. The winners are:
First place – jenncf@
Second place – mariedimacali@
Third place – dldevineol@
If these three winners do not respond to my notification email by 9:30 a.m. PST on May 13, the prizes will go to these runners up, in order:
First runner up – techeapril@
Second runner up – annayoakam@
Third runner up – gerriantolini@
Fourth runner up – rashley2@
Fifth runner up – eve868@
Sixth runner up – zeytonezea@
Winner were chosen when the help of Random.org. Partial emails listed to protect privacy.
Marshalls
Have you signed up to win one of three fabulous prizes – a $25 Amazon gift card, a $25 Marshalls gift card, and a $25 TJ Maxx gift card? To be eligible to win, sign up for my daily email list.
Sign up by May 10 at 11:59 p.m. to be eligible to win. If you read my blog through an RSS reader, you are not eligible (I have no way to contact you!) If you are already on my daily list, you don’t need to do anything.
Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my notification email, which will be sent on May 11. Good luck and thanks for reading BargainBabe.com!
~ Julia
aka Bargain Babe
basykes/Flickr
Part of me relished my doctor’s prescription because if any prescription transfer coupons came up, I would be eligible. These offers – typically a $10 to $30 gift card to transfer a prescription to a new pharmacy – come and go through the year as mainstream pharmacies try to recruit new customers.
In the past when I’ve written about taking advantage of certain coupons, like opening a new bank account to get $100, readers have charged that fulfilling the deal was unethical. Here is why I think it is fair to use prescription transfer coupons (like I did last month to earn $25 at Walgreens).
- It is the business’ decision to offer the coupon
- I am fully eligible for earning the gift cards according to the terms the business sets
- For every person like me who is going to transfer a prescription for the gift card, there are many, many more who will sit tight
- The pharmacy is most likely making money off filling my prescription, even after the gift card, because of reimbursements from my health care provider
- The gift cards push me to test more than one pharmacy and eventually I will choose one
A reader named Ellen emailed me this warning:
Hi Julia: I know you’ve addressed the subject of gift cards but I wanted to give you and your fans a warning: Watch out for gift cards to stores that have gone under! The other day I was in 7-11, which sells a variety of retail gift cards. Well, my eyes popped out when I saw a display for Circuit City! That retailer has been out of business for quite some time. I was going to alert the management but for some reason chickened out. However, next time I’m in there, I will definitely do so, if only as a duty to the customers.
jakerome/Flickr
As it turns out, Circuit City still operates an online electronics store under new ownership, so Ellen’s worry was unfounded. However, Ellen brings up a good point. In this ridiculously tough economy when market forces, natural disasters, and new spending habits are re-shaping the face of American and international businesses, it is wise to doublecheck that the company you want to do business with is still IN business.
The best thing to do is call the business and see if someone picks up the phone, especially if you are considering buying a gift card through a third party. If you are in a store and want to know if it is on the brink, look for these signs while shopping.
Another useful tool is a Wikipedia page of businesses that have failed. This list is not foolproof nor does it indicate that the company is not still operating in some form or fashion, like Circuit City. The list includes national and regional businesses, but not local ones. It is a good starting place if you are researching the solvency of a company you want to do business with.
Don’t forget to enter my $100 CVS gift card giveaway, which ends Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. PST. One winner will be randomly selected from my daily email list. So sign up to win!
For this giveaway I partnered with Friendgiftr, which donated the prize. Friendgiftr just launched a mobile gift card store, so you can buy and swap gift cards on the go. They work with more than 100 mainstream retailers, including Zappos, Barnes & Noble, Dell, Sephora, the Gap, Macys, and many more.
Good luck and thanks for reading BargainBabe.com!
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.
Get 20 percent off your entire purchase at J.Crew when you and three friends each spend $125. Group buying has its perks.
Get a $25 gift card to Rite Aid or Kmart when you transfer a prescription using this coupon.
Michaels coupons – there are 8 of ‘em! – give 20-50 percent off all kinds of stuff in the store.
Remember Friendgiftr? They sell gift cards that you can swap among 125 retailers and they just lowered the fee to $.99-$1.99 per card (it used to be as much as $5).
Here’s a new Borders coupon for 30 percent off much of the items they sell, with the normal caveats.
Check out all the deals on my WalletPop blog.
Super fab deals on my WalletPop blog today!
Spirit Airlines is having a major air fare sale with one way flights starting at $16. Holy cow! But you have to book today.
Barbie, Hot Wheels, Toy Story, Dora the Explorer and everything else at Mattel is 20 percent off! Spend $50 and get free shipping,too!
Looking for a free movie rental code from RedBox? Now there is an iPhone app that aggregates all the codes and shares them every 12 hours. Downside is the app costs $.99, but if you use it once it’s a money maker. More info here.
Get a $5 gift card at TGI Friday’s when you buy one for $25 through Dec. 31, 2009.
My self-imposed gift card challenge – spend all 9 of my cards worth $431 before the new year – is not going so well. One down, eight to go. Here are my plans:
Anthropologie – $91.04. Should be easy to spend as me and my sisters luuuuv their clothes. I just need to make time to shop!
CVS – $12.04. I’m going to use this for a gift basket for one of my sisters. Through Tuesday there are some great deals at CVS, including:
- Essence of Beauty Bath and Body $4.99; Earn 4 ECBs Limit 2, Pay $0.99 each after ECBs
- Revlon Cosmetics or Beauty Tools (psa $1.99); Spend $15 Earn 7 ECBs Limit 1, Use $2/1 coupon from the 11/15 SS insert or $1/1 Beauty Tool from the 11/15 SS insert, Free after coupon
- Neosporin Lip Health $5.49, Use $2.50 off CVS Clip-Free coupon, Use $3/1 Printable HERE (IE) or HERE (FF), FREE after coupons
Dollar Tree – $20. There is one two miles from my house, gosh dang it. Perhaps I’ll use it to buy new holiday decorations.
SPENT! Gelsons – $20. I can’t bring myself to shop at this overpriced grocery store, so I gave the card to a friend to buy groceries for a turkey dinner we cooked. She bought a sweet potato pie, which we have yet to eat.
J. Crew -$211. I’d love a new pair of chords or maybe a cashmere sweater.
Jo Anns – $4.37. I’m going to add money to this card and gift it to a crafty friend of mine.
Marie Callender’s – $10. I could use this to buy a pie for a holiday party.
Old Navy – $12.46. The clearance rack is calling me.
TJ Maxx – $50. BINGO! TJ Maxx is great for gifts because there is a wide range of items for sale.
Meanwhile, I acquired a $5 Starbucks gift card, but I don’t think I’ll have any trouble using it. Hmmm, lattes.
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Time for a refresher on how and where to get discounted gift cards.
At PlasticJungle.com you can buy gift cards others have sold to the site for anywhere from 5-40 percent off. Look for cards from mainstream retailers like Sears, Gymboree, Kmart, and lots more. They guarantee all the cards they sell. Once you register on the site, you can sign up to receive an email when a gift card you want becomes available. That’s pretty cool.
GiftCardRescue.com is another great site to buy discounted gift cards. Expect to see cards mainstream retailers like Bed, Bath & Beyond, L.L. Bean, and Victoria’s Secret. You can also sell a gift card you have or exchange it for another on this page.
GiftCardBuyBack.com is a sister site to GiftCardsAgain.com. Sell your unwanted cards on the first one, buy discounted gift cards on the second one.
If you are a Costco you can get discounted gift cards to spas, restaurants, theme parks, gyms, movie theaters and more. The selection varies and some cards sell out (like Starbucks last year). For instance, a $50 iTunes gift card is $47. See all the discounted gift cards at Costco.
