Free-after-rebate: 2GB Portable MP3 Player (manufacturer-refurbished)

Looking for a small MP3 player without shelling out too much green? Right now at Newegg they have an offer for the SanDisk Sansa m250 Silver/Black 2GB USB 2.0 Portable MP3 Player. The price is $65 and there's a $65 rebate!!! Just $4.99 shipping.

The item is refurbished by the manufacturer (they've now taken to calling it "recertified") but still, the unit gets generally good reviews from their customers... The rebate is good for purchases until July 15th, and requires the UPC code and the receipt with the purchase price and date circled. I've dealt with Newegg in the past several times and always been satisfied with their service.

Here's the link to the offer.

If you happen to be looking for one of these small MP3 players, it's a nice deal that could leave you singing along!

Today Only: Bluetooth Laser Mouse, starts at $69.99 ends at $9.99, and Free Shipping Promo Code!!!

This one may appeal to the technology fans... If you have a bluetooth-enabled Mac, PC or laptop here's an amazing drop in price on a Targus Bluetooth USB Rechargeable Laser Mouse. You can use the mouse up to 33 feet from the computer, no separate receiver needed, and the batteries charge even while the mouse is in use.

The regular price at CompUSA is $69.99, but if you buy this today there is an instant savings applied of $20 (expires June 30), and the product has a $40 mail-in-rebate. But to make it more appealing, there's also a free shipping offer expiring today! You type this code - shipitfree - in the promo box and the ground shipping costs will vanish!!! Here is the link to the deal.

So when all is said and done, the net for this slick piece of technology is $9.99 + sales tax. Pretty sweet!

Using Fare Tracker to Get Savings on Favorite Destinations

Here's one more way I try and keep an eye on getting the lowest airfares. Travelocity's Fare-Watcher keeps an eye out for any drops in price for my five chosen itineraries, and sends me an e-mail whenever the lower price occurs. That way, instead of always looking for airfare wars and maybe missing some, I can let the system notify me. Costs nothing and the sign-up is pretty simple.

Many of us probably have a few airline routes that we'd be most apt to fly. For some it might be to where family members live, or some other place we might have reason to visit at different times through the year. Travelocity.com has a Fare-Tracker that has space for five specific itineraries, and lets you enter the parameters when you wish to be notified.

You can choose to be notified when the fare drops below a certain dollar amount. If you know the usual base fare is $350, you could choose to get an e-mail anytime Travelocity reports a fare under $275, $295 or whatever your choice.

The other option, if you're not sure of the regular fare, is to have them send you an e-mail whenever the fare drops a certain amount below what's regular. So you could choose to get an e-mail if the fare drops by $25, $50 or whatever might make it worth checking out.

The itineraries must be specific as far as airports, so if you want to check fares from the San Francisco area, you might choose to look at both Oakland and San Francisco airports - those would be two itineraries.

You can change any of the Fare-Watcher itineraries or parameters any time, so you don't feel locked in when you first sign up.

Travelocity.com Fare Watcher: a handy little tool just to check up on those trips you probably need to take sometime. This way, maybe a savings pops up that's enough that you might take advantage and say hello to that special someone or someplace.

Tons of Software, Free After Rebate!!!

Now at Frys.com there's a boatload of software available free-after rebate until July 4th (some rebates expire a couple of days later so check any that might interest you). Besides a number of utility programs like registry repair, password encrypter, back-up creation and security, there are lots of useful packages for people who want to do creative things, learn a language, etc.

Highlighting a few:
Nova Art Explosion T-Shirt Factory
Nova Business Card Factory
Nova Label Factory (Business Labels, DVD Labels, etc.)
Berlitz Chinese and Japanese
Berlitz Spanish
Berlitz English
Sony DVD Architect
Punch 5-in-1 Home Design (House, Deck, Landscape, Furniture)
Namo Web Editor (upgrade rebate)
Cakewalk Music Creator

Here is a link to the 2nd page of the listing (that's the page with more of the 'fun' software). From there you can also go to page 1 for the other ones available. Check the rebate details for each.

Fry's will charge shipping for the software, but nonetheless it's a chance to try some new software without shelling out too much.

They also have a G7 Versajette printer free after $50 rebate. I was thinking of writing it up but I'm not familiar with this brand. The real cost of printers becomes so intertwined with ink replacement, so I wouldn't be sure how good a deal it is long-term... I also couldn't find any on-line customer reviews. Still, if you need a printer, getting this one for just shipping may be a shot worth taking.

So take a look, and maybe use this deal to expand the possibilities for your home PC! And while you're at it, don't forget my earlier post about free-rebate with free-shipping 3D Home Design software...

Amazon.com 4-for-3 Offer

Amazon.com has a promotion going on where you buy 3 items in certain departments and you get the 4th item free (4th one is the lowest-cost item of course).

The promotion is for a limited time but doesn't specify when it will expire. There are 4-for-3 items in books, home & garden, DVDs, music, and single magazines. It looks like an automatic savings at checkout, doesn't look like you need to enter any promotional code at check-out, just buy four qualified items (not everything on amazon is eligible). Amazon's free shipping policies would also apply.

Here is the link to the overall promotion. There are windows there for each of the different categories.

For someone who wants to stock up on their summer reading material or get those few items for around the house, this looks like a nice opportunity.

Using Hotwire and Priceline for Airline Travel - Get the Better of Two Deals!

There are a number of travel search engines around, such as Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity and others. Those can be helpful in finding great fares for flights, hotel prices and rental cars. But there is another way to go depending a bit on your flexibility in time of arrival at your destination and time of day when you return.

Hotwire.com is a site that lets you select an itinerary and dates and will return a number of options. The lowest cost ones are listed showing a price but not the airline nor the times of your flight. The benefit is that the prices they offer this way are usually markedly lower than if you picked a scheduled flight. The hotwire tickets are still on major airlines, so it's not as if you're flying in a baggage compartment or an airline no one's ever heard of. (If the degree of uncertainty isn't something with which you're comfortable, they also offer prices for more clearly labeled flights/times, similar to Orbitz etc.)

Booking with hotwire means you know you'll be flying on the date you requested, not knowing for sure the time of departure or exact arrival. With certain trips you might still be able to generalize... overseas trips usually depart times of day (i.e. most European flights from the east coast depart in the late afternoon or evening with arrivals early the next day)... but since it's just a generality your flexibility still has to be there.

But let's say you want to make that trip to Europe and you know you can fly on a Tueday of one week and return the following Tuesday. If it's not critical whether you fly at noon or at 6:00, if it's not critical if you arrive at 8:00 am or noon, then maybe the hotwire savings might make the difference worth taking. You still are sure the dates are met, so you can still fit it into your overall vacation schedule. We have saved a couple of hundred bucks at times with this kind of travel option, so it might be worth considering.

But here's step 2 of the process: if you've decided to check hotwire and get a price on a flight, don't book it instantlty. That hotwire quote is generally good for a brief amount of time (I cannot recall if it's an hour or if it's less, but there is enough time to do the following):

Go to priceline.com. Again, they offer lots of ways to book tickets but the way they started was to let you offer how much you'd be willing to spend and they'd see if any airline would accept your bid (they also would not tell you the airline or exact times). So why use them now? Because hotwire's price gives you a price range for bidding. You can quickly put in the same itinerary and dates into priceline, and decide how much below the hotwire offer to bid. You would bid below, because if priceline says 'no' then you simply go back to hotwire and book it. If priceline accepts your lower offer, all the better and you've saved even that much more!

The thing to be aware of with this step is the length of time the hotwire price is valid, so you have that price floor as a safety net. You don't want to have it expire while you're dealing with priceline (I think you usually get a priceline answer back in several minutes). You'll have enough time without rushing, but it needs to be done promptly. I was once able to save an additional $30 off a $189 roundtrip to Houston shown by hotwire when priceline accepted my bid.

As far as how much below hotwire to bid, that's a matter of judgment; you want the savings to be enough that it would be worth it to get accepted. I would judge how 'hot' the ticket should be (are you traveling peak times/days, popular destinations or less so) and try to pick a number that's reasonably below hotwire's based on those considerations -- also, with a very expensive ticket, a difference of 10% might be worthwhile and on a smaller one, it might need to be 15-20% to make the digging worthwhile.

Also be aware that hotwire and priceline, like all the other engines whether expedia, orbitz etc., work with the major airlines and not with names such as Southwest, Frontier, Spirit etc. So no matter what you find on hotwire, there may still be better fares looking elsewhere on the web. But the hotwire/priceline combination might just fit the bill for some of your future travel planning.

Restaurant.com Offer Till June 30: $25 Dining Certificates for $4!!!!!

Another yummy deal: now until June 30th Restaurant.com is offering 60% off the price of their already-discounted dining certificates!!! I've used Restaurant.com in the past and found them a very easy site to navigate, find restaurants in my area (or where friends/family live) and use the certificates. I've been to casual pubs, Moroccan restaurants with belly dancers, and very upscale establishments. The possibilities are divine.

Normally a restaurant.com certificate for $25 at a restaurant costs $10. A $10 certificate is regularly $3. But for the next few days till June 30, you can get 60% OFF their standard price by entering the following promotional code at checkout: freedom

That means you can get a $25 gift certificate for dining out and pay just $4!!! A certificate for $10 will set you back just $1.20. I just tried through checkout and the discounts were applied correctly when I typed freedom in the box marked 'Enter discount code and recalculate total' and then hit the recalculate button.

So if you go to a restaurant and the check comes to $35, you would give them the certificate and $10. If you figure that you've paid just $4 for the certificate, your $35 dining experience cost you just $14!

When using these, remember to be fair to your waiter/waitress and calculate your tip on the original amount, not the after-certificate price. It's only fair.

There are restaurants available virtually everywhere. Many certificates may have conditions but they are usually very reasonable ones. Examples are minimum purchase of two lunch or dinner entrees, or a purchase amount floor. Some exclude price of drinks from being applied against the certificate. But usually the conditions aren't unusually restrictive and let you try that new restaurant you were always wondering about. Or go back to a favorite place just a bit more often.

Even though the offer is good till June 30th, you may want to order as soon as you can. Restaurants can and do put limits on the number of certificates that are sold in any period so sometimes you may see that restaurant.com certificates are sold out for some establishments.

If you enjoy dining out and saving money, this combination is terrific. Pass it on to your friends and family too. Mmm...mmm...good!

Auctions - Worth Visiting?

About six years ago after moving to a new area, a neighbor mentioned a local auction house as a must-see. After a few visits I wished I had known earlier before we had bought some of our furniture! The deals I saw sometimes were jaw-dropping! One time I saw an 8-piece sectional sofa/loveseat/ottoman piece unused and still with Bloomingdales tags go for $85!!! Another time, a gorgeous kitchen table with inlaid woods for $2!!! I've seen plenty of beautiful items go for way less than what you might pay at retail. I've found unusual items that you wouldn't have even known existed. And antique machines/items that would make nice collectibles/displays...

But auctions have their own ups-and-downs, in-and-outs. Within the same location, some weeks might have a treasure trove of items and other weeks not so much of interest (since they're subject to whatever is consigned them for auction). Prices are always subject to who else is bidding. Still, I'd say they are definitely worth checking out, and there are plenty of ways to use them to your advantage. Here are some things I learned along the way:

The first thing is obviously to find out if there are local auction houses in your area. You can check newspaper classifieds, because in at least some places, auctions are required to place a posting for upcoming sales. You can certainly check the yellow pages, but also talk to neighbors, maybe a tourism office in your area, etc.

Once you've found one, you may want to attend some auctions to get its feel, get information on any buyer fees etc. When I started visiting my nearby auctioneer, buyers did not have fees added to purchases (only sellers paid a commission fee on what was sold). Since then they added buyer fees of 10% so when you bid you have to keep that in mind.

Find out when they have pre-auction inspection where you can look at items closely, examine them for cracks or chips, look for names/brands, etc. This way you know if you're bidding on a quality item or something that has some flaws. Pay attention to the size of crowds, what kinds of items draw interest, whether bidding is brisk or slow, whether auctioneers are quick to say "sold" or leave plenty of time for bidders to jump in, whether auctioneers start close to the final selling price, etc. Each auction house will have its own rhythm and probably each auctioneer too.

There'll probably be some antique dealers there as well, looking for inventory for their own stores. After a few visits you may recognize many of them. While having dealers may seem daunting, it can also help provide a good gauge if you see an item you like. If there is a piece of furniture you think would make a nice addition and want to purchase, here's how a dealer can be a resource:

First off, if the dealer has been bidding on other good-quality pieces and he/she is bidding on the same one you are, it carries some assurance that the piece has some value as a quality item.

Secondly, if you and the dealer are the last two bidding, the dealer has to drop out at the point he/she thinks they can't resell it for a good profit. They obviously can't be in business if they pay close to the price at which they'll be able to sell a piece. I would gather that they bid about 1/3 to 1/2 what they would price the item in their stores (depending on traffic, the demand for the item, their customer base etc.). But if the piece is an ideal fit for you, and you are the winning bidder over an antique dealer then you can be fairly sure you would have paid double or triple for the same piece if you found it in an antique store.

My own observation is that antique dealers don't generally bid as high for stuffed furniture like sofas as they would for wood furniture pieces. The size of the furniture can be a constraint for them, which is why a big wood kitchen table might slip through at a bargain price.

Auction houses often seem to have a wide variety of articles in different ranges of price/quality etc. At a main table they may be auctioning high-quality items of greater value and collectible interest. Elsewhere they may have boxes filled with items of more general interest, where the quality may vary or where the items may just not warrant individual auctioning at the main table. This also can be a source for great bargains.

Here it takes a bit more elbow grease, going through the boxes and looking to see if anything within a grouping jumps out at you. The advantage is that as the auctioneer is working on the boxes at one side of the room, you can still be looking through boxes he hasn't gotten to yet -- you don't only get that chance during previews, as with the better items.

By looking at some of the "lesser" items, I've found an old 1940s console radio that just didn't seem to draw attention that week and bought it for $1!!! I've found Hess Toy Trucks from the early 1990s for under $5 that fetched much higher on ebay. I bought an antique dental drill for $7 when it seemed to get overlooked -- another ebay winner... there are too many great finds to mention. It always depends on who else is looking and how high they're willing to pay -- but to be fair, I've also sometimes paid more than I should. Usually one of two reasons: either I got caught up in the auction hype and made it about me-vs.-the-other-bidder, or because I didn't examine the item during preview and wasn't aware of a blemish or flaw.

I've also found the auction visit a lot of fun. One of the local auctioneers will give some details about what he is selling, and I'll sometimes be amazed at what people invented or built to meet a need at some time in the past (one week I was tickled to see a mailer to send eggs through the postal system!). In modern times, it's nice to be reminded how things were accomplished in simpler times.

There's so much more to know about auctions, way more than I can cover in one blog entry, so I will discuss auctions again in a future entry. In the meantime I wish you fun and adventure if you decide to visit an auction house for a taste!

Free Home Design/Remodeling Software with Free Shipping Too! Till July 8th

How about this one for anyone who's thinking of remodeling a kitchen, bath, or other rooms in your home or even designing a new home: FloorPlan 3D software (3D Designing/Modeling), completely free after rebates!!!

It's on sale right now at buy.com for $30 and has two rebates adding up to $30. Buy.com offers free shipping for orders over $25 so you don't even have to pay to get it to your front door! Here's the link.

The combined rebates are good for purchase made by July 8th, so if you are interested this would be a nice deal to jump on. (Even if you're not sure, you can get the software at no net cost other than stamps to send in the rebates so it's pretty risk-free.)

Looks like a nice offer!

Great Site for Discount Airlines around Europe

Over the last few years there's been a lot of interest in discount airlines around Europe. Some of you may have heard of Ryan Air, an airline that flies between many cities for sometimes super-low fares, 19 euros or even much less (although they do usually have more restrictions on luggage weight and charge for extra). I have a friend who creates his own interesting discounted version of luxury travel by flying on Maxair (all business class) to London for $999 roundtrip and from London tacks on Ryan Air to get to his final destination.

But I recently got to realize that Europe is filled with bargain airlines, and the potential city combinations are endless! Many of the airlines are actually quite well rated too based on a recent article in the New York Times. For example, they rave about Flybaboo, extolling virtues of its airport lounge, service and amenities, all while flying from Switzerland to Prague for 8 Swiss francs!

So how to find out if you can use these discounted airlines to create a European itinerary that has you hopping between wonderful cities and countries? Go to flylc.com and you will find a search engine that shows you lists of cities and for each city every airline which services it, and all the destinations possible!

The first time I looked, I was astounded by all the possibilities... you could create an incredible and varied vacation by just getting to Europe and then hopping all around. If you ever think of taking a trip there and want to see if you can enhance it, flylc.com might be a great place to investigate.

$100 Cash Bonus to Open Free Chase Checking Account - with Direct Deposit

For those of you who live in an area serviced by Chase Bank (I think it's largely New York City and its suburbs, but also some other cities like Chicago, Dallas, Houston and more -- you probably know if they're nearby), here's an offer that may be worth paying attention.

From now through August 31, Chase is offering $100 bonus if you open a checking account that includes direct deposit. As long as it has direct deposit the account is free. To keep the $100 bonus, the account has to stay open at least 6 months, and the $100 is considered as interest for tax purposes. If you need to find a new bank or are just flexible with where you can keep your money, this is a great way to make some free cash while still getting free checking.

This is the link to the offer. When you click on it, it will generate a unique code which you print out and bring to the branch to open your account.

Good luck to those of you near Chase branches!

Free Custom-Printed T-Shirt!!!

Here's a deal that's a bit of fun -- get a free custom-printed T-shirt at vistaprint. Here's the link to the offer.

They are actually offering a free printing of one T-shirt, using their design templates (if you want to upload a picture for printing that's extra). But they have a pretty good variety of about 30 designs/ graphics and you can choose 3 lines of wording -- so you can do a company name, slogan and website or you can do a name and some cute sayings, or whatever else floats your boat. Could make a great little gift for someone too.

The shipping costs vary with how fast you want it. If you can let it take some time (3 weeks) it's about $4 shipping.

I'm not how sure the offer lasts. If it tickles your fancy I'd jump on this one.

Update July 10 -- already received the shirt way sooner than budget shipping date promised. They did a nice job, and included a 25% off coupon for future orders. A winner all around.

Buying in Bulk at Amazon.com - saving on household items

Like many of you, I got introduced to amazon.com as a retailer of books. Good prices, free shipping, customer reviews were all part of their allure. Over time they grew into a mega-site, selling all sorts of things you couldn't imagine. A couple of years ago, I decided on a lark to see if they sell soap -- sure enough they did, and it led me to a real nice deal.

Our preferred brand of soap was Irish Spring with the Aloe scent. It wasn't always easy to find that scent, as stores often carried just the original Irish Spring. When we did find it, the price could be in the $2 for a 3-pack range, though sometimes we'd see it on sale for $1.49 for a 3-pack.

One time after not finding it at the supermarket I typed Irish Spring Aloe Vera into the amazon search, and it showed that they did sell it and showed it then at a price of $1.00/3-pack! A nice deal but to make it work it would take free shipping (otherwise the shipping costs would wipe out the lower price). Soap is one of those staple items we'll always need and which doesn't go bad. So what would be the problem with ordering $25 of soap to get the savings? So that's what I did, and a few days later we had a package with 75 bars of soap that would last for quite a while.

The funny thing was that not long afterwards, a friend informed me that soap is actually better if the package isn't opened for a year (something about it getting more dense). Little did she know that I had enough to probably last for two if not three years. All thanks to amazon.com... the savings along with convenience of not having to keep our eyes out for it at the stores and look for sale prices.

Free Photo Mug + 30 Free Prints!

Found this listing for a deal at Snapfish.com:

New customers can get a free photo mug along with 20 free photo prints until June 30th (shipping is $0.99). But if you combine coupon codes you can make it 30 prints with with no extra shipping. The link to the basic offer is here.

$0.99 Shipping on your first order (Exp 06/30)
You can add coupon code AFF10FREE0607 at checkout for 10 extra free prints (Exp 06/30) (combinable with above offers)
Code AFFSHIP0607 for free shipping on up to 10 prints (Exp 06/30)

I also saw a note that new customers will also get 1 free 11x16 Poster credit automatically added into your account (Shipping is $1.99 for the poster).

There's one additional coupon code if you want to add anything else to the order: 15% off any order -- code AFF15OFF0607 (Exp 06/30).

These kinds of photo mugs make nice gift ideas, so this can make a nice present for someone special. You can pass this deal on to your family and friends, and everyone can see each others' faces with their morning coffee!

How I Found Dress Shirts for $2.56

Clothing shopping is a slightly different animal. There are matters of size, style and all sorts of variables that enter into it. With other stuff I can post about a great deal and you can easily check if it's the right item for you. Clothes aren't that simple, so it becomes more a matter of buying strategies. So let me tell you how I bought several Geoffrey Beene dress shirts about 5 years ago for $2.56 each! First-quality, excellent shirts, nothing cheap about them... except the final price I paid at the register.

Near my office in Philly was a Strawbridge's (since sold to the Macy's parent and many renamed as Macy's). At one time it was one of those grand department stores with a rich history, like Lord & Taylor, Gimbel's, Macy's, Bloomingdales and the like. Over the course of time, I got familiar with the rhythm of their sales promotions -- every few Wednesdays, and often with early-bird specials for the first few hours the store was open. Then to top it off, they would also have coupons for additional savings. And all these offers went hand-in-hand. So I knew that by waiting for one of those Wednesdays, taking an early lunch so I could hit the early bird and using coupons, the savings could be good. One day I was surprised by how good.

This particular day, the regular sale price for selected dress shirts was going to be 40% off the marked price, and during the early-bird time they had upped that to 60% off. I guess they wanted to clear some space for new inventory. The newspaper that day contained a coupon which was an all-day pass for another 20% off. So the antennae went up and went in to play the game.

I went over to the racks where they had the men's dress shirts that were on sale. There were a few brands, and among them were Geoffrey Beenes. I found the racks with my size was and started checking what was available. What I noticed was that many of them had a marked price of $19.99 but there were several lower prices mixed in. So now not only was I looking at the color/pattern of the shirt but started looking to find the price tag. I found a few lower price ones and then came across a Geoffrey Beene cranberry-red shirt with a price tag that had been reduced to $7.99. So this was a great deal in the making. I went over to a register to check out. The salesman rang it up, the discounts were applied, and he did a double-take when he saw the total -- $2.56. He thought it was as funny as I did, asked me for payment and thanked me for shopping there.

But before I left the store, I had to check... were there more like it? Now I had the shirt which had gotten the price, so I could look at the UPC code. The UPC was much more prominent on the plastic bags holding the shirts, so I could look through them more quickly this time. And since UPC codes are what match up to the price at the computer, I knew that if the UPC code was the same, so would the final price. It didn't take terribly long, and I was able to find 4 more shirts with the same code. I took them back to the register, where the salesman rang up the order and came to just over $10! He looked at me with amazement and asked, "where do you find these shirts?" I told him they were just among those in the racks and a little digging really paid off; he was laughing as he handed me my bag. Those of you who know me know I don't whistle very well, but I sure felt like whistling as I left Strawbridge's that day.

I realize it's probably easier for men than women to do these things, since men's styles don't change as radically, and the variety of clothes is less of an issue (I was wearing dress shirts every day to the office then). But I think the strategies still can be applied for anyone: get familiar with the selling rhythm of stores you like and then blend that with some good searching and strategy. And if there are multiple promotions going on, combine them to make the savings bigger. You can sometime parlay that into a great deal in the end!

Price-Matching Policies, or How I Saved $75 on this PC!

If you look at the policies of many stores, one of the hidden benefits is the concept of price-matching. They will meet or beat any price if you show them proof a competitor is selling the same item at a lower cost. Some will even refund the difference if you buy something and then find a lower price elsewhere. It's a way of reversing the risk, making it a bit easier for the purchaser to go ahead with buying, having a little bit of 'insurance' against finding a better deal later and regretting it.

I saw a suggestion a few months back on a webpage board about asking for price-matching. I used it and got a store to drop the price an extra $75 on the laptop I'm using to post this blog. Here's what happened:

I had gotten to the point of being ready to upgrade my old PC and started researching what make/model/specs would meet my needs. I had found one laptop that seemed to offer good bang for the buck, with a 17" display, good processors and hard drive as well as brand reputation. Then looking through the Sunday paper one week I found that two retailers, Circuit City and Office Depot, were offering a sale on that model. Both of them had an ending price of $699 but the forms they took were different. Circuit City simply had a $699 price, while Office Depot offered an $849 price with a $150 rebate.

My normal way of thinking would have been to go to Circuit City as it would be less money out of pocket, less in sales tax and none of the rebate paperwork. But the price match suggestion I had read triggered me to try something else. The suggestion had been to ask in this kind of situation if the price-match policy for the store would be matched to the selling price at the other store. In other words, if Circuit City's price was $699, would Office Depot match that price? And the item would still be valid for rebate so the final cost would be lower.

The poster who made that suggestion said his local Office Depot had said yes to this kind of situation but that they knew him. One of the things about price-match is that it is largely at the interpretation and discretion of each store manager.

I figured it couldn't hurt to try. The two stores has locations about a mile apart so I wouldn't burn a lot of time or gas if I needed to go to both. So, ads in hand, I set off for Office Depot. I found the PC, double-checked the specs, model and price and then got some sales help. When I said I had a question about price-matching, the department manager came over and I asked if they would sell me the PC that day at the price offered by Circuit City (I told him I was ready to buy that day). He only took a few moments and then said he would do the price-match. I was thrilled. To get the better price and the rebate -- best of both worlds, right?

A couple of minutes later though, he returned with some bad news-- the store manager wouldn't do a full price-match because of the rebate offer, but they still would knock $50 off the price. Sounded good, but I figured it was an opening to negotiate a bit. I asked them if they would do $75. The store manager agreed, and voila! I had a computer + $75 less than I would have had to spend otherwise (actually about $71 with the sales tax difference).

I figure the store is still making money on the sale (they wouldn't agree otherwise) and I walked away a bit happier. I think it helped that I tried to create a win-win with my offer -- if they accepted it they would get my business on the spot. So my tip for the day is to check around for price-matching policies when you are looking for big-ticket items, the kinds that might be offered by a variety of stores. Know that it will be up to the store personnel's discretion, so use an approach that is positive and gives them a reason to want to match. And don't be afraid to at least ask.

Updated -- Computer Mouse - FREE after rebate + free shipping! Till July 1st

Here's a nice deal if you could use an optical computer mouse. I just ordered one myself and wanted to share the info. The site is eaglebit.com and the mouse on sale is the Yamada 800dpi USB Optical Mouse Red Wheel Mouse. The price is $29.99 so the item qualifies for free FedEx ground shipping. There's a $29.99 mail-in rebate that's good until July 1st. So you have a slick-looking optical mouse for free!!!

Here's the link.

I've never ordered from them myself so I checked BizRate and they seemed to have good ratings. I did see one note from a shopper who had a rebate denied because he didn't send in the correct invoice. I looked at the rebate form, and it says to send in the form, the original UPC and the shipped invoice. I think that means that when you first do the order there is a pending receipt while the order is processed but they create an updated shipped invoice once the item is sent. To be on the safe side, I'll go into my account after I get it, print the invoice at that point (it should show shipped) and also send in the packing slip just to be on the safe side.

Update June 27th: The mouse arrived today by FedEx Ground -- quick delivery for free shipping. Cute mouse, installed without a hitch. Just plugged it into my USB port and off it went. Box is written primarily in Chinese as is the instruction book, but most of these devices are plug-and-play so you don't need much detail. Also had a connector from USB to regular mouse port if you wanted to plug it into a mouse port. Comes with driver software disc but that shouldn't be needed on most operating systems. The box also contained a shipping invoice which would be what gets sent in with the UPC code and rebate form.

Reading Reviews - Some Sites to Check

One way to try and make sure the good deal really works out is to read reviews of items before you buy them. When I come across something I might plan to buy, I'll check a couple of places to see if anyone has reviewed them. I've used epinions.com before many purchases, but I find dealtime.com a nicer resource because it links to epinions reviews, gives price ranges and gives ratings people have left for the merchants too. I take things with a grain of salt because you can't be sure who posted the reviews or whether they're objective. Nextag.com is another good shopping comparison site, again showing prices at different stores, reviews and ratings (appear to be different than the ones at epinions). I also often go to amazon.com to see reviews that might have been put on that site -- amazon has the advantage of having such a big customer base that there always seem to be reviews of almost everything. I figure if I look at those three sites, I get a pretty good picture of users' opinions.

The amount of time I spend on reviews obviously will depend on the cost of the item and my familiarity with the item, manufacturer etc. I recently was in the market for a couple of webcams, and although I found a great sale price on some, the reviews had many really negative comments. That prompted me to check reviews that had gotten better ratings. I then used some price comparison shopping and was able to track down some rebates on a couple of highly rated ones. I'm glad I did the reviewing because the webcams I got have been top-notch!

Here's Your Chance: 8-CENT AIRFARE SALE Today!

I wrote that one of the reasons I started this blog was the reaction of people when I told them about my 2-cent roundtrip to Las Vegas. Well, I just spotted this and if you hurry, you have a chance to perhaps book a 16-cent roundtrip!!! Here's the link.

Sale is today (June 20) until 11:59 EDT. Spirit Airlines. Some city pairs are $8 each way and other are 8-cents! Dates vary but this time it isn't necessarily that you have to make the trip overnight to get the 2-cent fare like I did. This time, some destinations look like you could stay a few days or over a week!

Most of the deals are east-coast. Some examples:
Atlantic City and Myrtle Beach, 8-cents each way several days in July
New York and Detroit, 8-cents each way several days in August
New York and Myrtle Beach, $8 each way several days in July
Atlanta and Orlando, 8-cents each way several days in July
Fort Lauderdale and Guatemala City, Grand Cayman Islands,
Santo Domingo, Kingston (Jamaica) $8 each way.

Taxes and airport fees are additional (for the foreign destinations they are steep but they'd be steep even if the fares were full-price).

Amazing travel deals if you can get them... again, click here to get to Spirit.

Credit Card Tip to Save 2%-3% on International Travel

I wanted to let you know about a credit card that ends up saving you money when you use it in foreign countries.

I travel occasionally to other countries, so exchange rates to foreign currencies matter to me. It always irked me when credit card companies would add a fee to transactions made in anything other than a US dollar. What irked me was that the umbrella company (Visa, MasterCard) was already adding a fee for the transaction (I believe it's 1%) and they were doing the conversion and then passing the transaction in dollars to the bank/credit card company. To have the credit card company add another fee when the currency exchange had already been processed by Visa or MasterCard was adding insult to injury. It seemed to be a fee for doing nothing.

And it wasn't a cheap fee. Many banks were adding 2%-3% to each transaction (again, this on top of the initial conversion fee by Visa/MC).

And over the last few years it seemed as if more and more credit card issuers were going to this additional fee. But I have found that Capital One credit cards still do not charge any fee/exchange premium on top of what's put there by MasterCard. The base fee by MasterCard is added into the transaction but nothing more. So using this card instead of others means that I automatically spend about 3% less than I would have if I used a different card.

The Capital One cards I've seen carry no fees, so having one available for international travel would cost nothing, and could add up to big savings -- imagine paying 2%-3% less on every hotel transaction, meal and souvenir purchase you made while on that exotic trip to Paris, Rome, Venice...

And they have some credit card types that have reward features, so it's not like you have to sacrifice reward-point-earning to save this way.

So if you have occasion to take a trip to that exotic destination (or some not-exotic but foreign destination) it's probably worth applying for one of the Capital One cards a couple of months before your travels.

Updated -- Totally Free After Rebate till June 25 (Free Budget Shipping): Allume Morpheus Photo Morpher Software - Expired

Found this deal on buy.com just now. Photo software that lets you play with your digital photos, animate them and more. They are selling it for $28 and there are 2 rebates that add up to $28, so it's free. And it has free budget shipping too, you don't even pay for that! If you like working with photos or just like the idea of trying this out to see if you like it, what could be better than getting it for free??

The rebate period to make the purchase expires June 25. You have 30 days after the purchase to submit the rebate paperwork.

Click HERE to bring up the item at buy.com.

Here are some notes: when you order, the shipping might show up at checkout as standard and cost about $7, but if you click on budget shipping it changes to free. There are 2 rebate forms you have to print out. The $10 rebate requires its form, the original UPC, the original completed software registration card (don't miss that step), and the buy.com receipt printout. The $18 rebate requires its form, a copy of the UPC, copy of the registration and a buy.com receipt printout. The two rebates get sent separately.

If this tickles your fancy, pass this post (and my blog) around to people you know.

Update June 26th: Software received already. I've ordered from buy.com before and the items always arrive much quicker than I anticipated considering I'm using free budget shipping. Sometimes I've actually gotten the items via UPS the day after I placed an order!

Save Thousands - yes, THOUSANDS - with Balance Transfers

If you're like me, you get a bunch of credit card deals in the mail. A lot of people consider them junk mail and toss them. I try to at least glance at them because every so often comes something worth jumping on. I did recently and will save a couple of thousand dollars on my home equity line-of-credit interest this year!

I had been getting envelopes from Washington Mutual that had been offering a 0% on purchases for a year if you transferred a balance -- but the balance transfer rate was 9.9%. So that wasn't going to be a great deal. I have credit cards I use for purchases which I pay off each month so I'm not paying interest on those purchases. So those Washington Mutual offers weren't giving me any big advantage. But then one day I spotted an envelope with a different offer... 0% on balance transfers for a year, and allowing a credit line up to $30,000.

The only cost was a balance transfer fee of 3% with a maximum fee of $75. I did a quick calculation in my head, and since I'm at 6.99% on my equity line, I knew it was just about $2100 interest I could avoid paying by transferring. And since it's a equity line-of-credit, at the end of the year I'd have the flexibility to transfer it back. That way I wouldn't be stuck paying some higher interest rate on the credit card down the line.

So I made the call, verified that the balance transfer could be to an equity line and not just to another credit card account (they said it could) so I applied. I didn't want to push the envelope too much but I wanted to make sure I got as much of a credit line as possible, so I told them I would be transferring $25,000. They told me that if approved, I would get a chance to review the transfer one more time before it was processed -- an added chance to think things through. I was happy when I found they gave me the maximum line available. That meant I could up the balance transfer to just under $30,000 (they needed $100 left untapped and there was the $75 fee). I called, they took the revised information and the balance transfer went through without a hitch.

So over the next year, that'll help keep my home equity interest at $2100 less than it would've been.

My advice is to keep giving at least a look at the stuff that looks like junk mail -- it might contain gold!

Blog Note - Added a Permalink so you can Make a Favorite

There may be some tips that you find particularly useful or worth keeping. To make that easier, below each post is a time stamp with the words 'Bookmarking Link.' If you click on that you will see an Internet address link for just that single post. You can then add it to your Favorites in Internet Explorer or to Bookmarks in Firefox.

Also remember, if you like a savings tip and want to share it with friends, you can e-mail the post to them by clicking the envelope image below any post.

High Gas Prices -- Trying to Get at least a Little Break...

High gas prices are tough. There's no way around them but I take at least a little bit of the edge off with their branded credit cards. I have a couple of them, one with Hess and one with Sunoco. They each offer rebates back on purchases at their company gas stations -- my Sunoco card has a 4% rebate, and the Hess card is 5% back. With gas currently at about $3.00/gallon, that would save 12 cents a gallon at Sunoco or 15 cents at Hess. So the prices are still high but at least there's a bit of a break. And while I'm filling up, psychologically I can focus a bit on some savings.

They also offered special introductory deals when I applied, with Sunoco offering a $20 rebate credit, and Hess offering to double the rebate to 10% for the first 90 days (so while I'm at Hess right now, I can look at the 30 cents a gallon I save -- a fill-up of $40.00 doesn't feel quite as bad if I know it will be a net of $36.00).

Other companies also offer the cards but I don't get them all because I wouldn't just want to stuff my wallet with too many different ones. I use these two because they are the stations closest to the areas I frequently pass by in my regular driving. You may want to check with your own most-frequented gas stations and see which offer the best deals.

Every little bit helps.

Why is a Rebate sometimes BETTER than a lower price?

You might think that having a lower price on an item would be better than having a higher price and then having to send in for a rebate. But that's not necessarily true, especially when you're buying something on-line.

At buy.com recently I found great after-rebate prices on items like 1Gb flash drives ($46.95 - $42 Rebate for final net price of $4.95) and 1Gb SD cards ($23.95 - $22 rebate for a final net of $1.95). Paying the higher price and doing the rebate was actually to my advantage! The vendor offered free shipping on purchases over $25. So if the price I paid was just the final lower cost I would have had to pay for shipping of maybe $6 bucks each time. But this way, the shipping was free (I ordered two of the SD cards to be over the $25 since the rebate offer had a limit of two per household). So after the paperwork and getting the check, I really spent a lot less this way!!!

Super-Hot!! TODAY ONLY - $25 Restaurant for only $5!

Had to post this as soon as I found it. I haven't written yet about restaurant.com, but it's a site I've used to get great deals on dining out. They have a lot of restaurants that sign up, and you are able to get a $25 dining certificate for $10. (For some restaurants it's a $10 certificate for $3.) The certificates are usually valid for food but not alcohol (each restaurant sets its own conditions). I've used it several times to try out new restaurants in the area, and sometimes to be able to eat more frequently at a restaurant I like. There are some other details about limitations (no more than once a month at a particular restaurant, expire in a year, and some restaurant-specific limits), but they've always worked out well for me.

But the reason I wanted to get this out quickly today is they are offering a special today for 50% off the price of certificates! That means you can get a certificate for $25 at a restaurant for only $5!!! Go to http://www.restaurant.com/ and search for restaurants in your area (you can search by zip code, state and such). If you find one you like add it to your shopping cart. Then when you're finished (maybe you'll find multiple restaurants nearby) and you are checking out, enter the code DAD in the box for promotional code. Hit 'recalculate' and you'll see the price just dropped in half!

Once you enter your payment information and process the transaction, they send you an e-mail with the certificate. I have used the restaurant.com certificates several times and have never had a problem at the restaurants.

Getting a $25 value at a nice restaurant for just $5 if you order today. A tasty deal!

Travel Newsletters by Email -- great source of ideas (and daydreams)

In one on my earlier entries, I mentioned how I found a 2-cent round-trip airfare to Las Vegas when I saw a note on one of the travel newsletters to which I subscribe. I can't recall exactly when or how I first found the newsletters but they've been a blessing. I've gotten some great deals on trips I was taking anyway, found a couple of amazing bargains, and (if you love travel the way I do) gave me a chance to daydream about some great new destination I hadn't thought of.

The first one to which I subscribed was called Travelzoo -- every week they send an email with the best 20 travel deals they find. It's all text so it's pretty quick to scan. When you click on a link in the email it takes you to that travel deal so you can get the details and book it if the deal works for you.

Not long after I found Travelzoo I stumbled onto a second one called Shermans Travel. They function similarly, although they send out a Top 25 instead of 20 and their email includes some photos. Sometimes they will have several of the same offers but there are always some that one has and the other doesn't. So I think it's worth subscribing to both.

I like both of them because they are just providing me info, they don't seem to be pushing to make a sale. So it becomes fun just to look, browse, occasionally click on one just to see some more details and get ideas for future travel.

After I subscribed, I didn't notice any rise in commercial emails into my in-box so it doesn't look like this opens you up to lots of spam emails. But I know you can never be sure. So here's what I did and would suggest for people who want to keep some email sanity: for my commercial dealings, I got a second email address. There are many sources now for free email service (I use hotmail, my wife uses yahoo, and there's always google too). I set up a second box there, so the main address I give out to friends and family is one address, and there's a second address where emails from businesses etc come in. It can take a bit of time to look at two email accounts, but this way when I want to check on my more individual and direct email from people I know I use my main account and this system keeps it more free of commercial spam. And on the business/general email account I figure I'll get more spam but rely on the spam filters to at least keep it somewhat manageable.

So my advice: if you like to or need to travel, subscribing to Travelzoo and Shermans Travel is a no-brainer!

Rebates do work -- sometimes better than you think! (or how I got back $15 more than I spent, legally)

When I talk about rebates, people usually have a reaction that they're too much trouble, or you don't really get the money back... but I can tell you rebates work. Earlier this year I got back $180 in rebates when I spent $165 on software! Yes, I got back $15 more than I spent, and got some useful software for free. If that isn't a great deal, I don't know what is.

Staples was offering free software by rebate when you bought some tax preparation software. I have been using this tax software for the last few years, and had gotten familiar with the timing and types of their rebates at Staples. In past years, the rebate involved just some related tax software and some money-management software but this year the deal offered up to 9 software titles free with purchase of the tax stuff. Some of it was quite useful, like an art software program that I would have wanted anyway.

Of the 9 titles, I picked the 4 that I could really use in addition to the tax program and planned to buy them. The way it was set up, I would end up spending about $15 after all the rebates -- and since I needed to buy the tax software no matter what, that would've still been OK. But in the newspaper midweek, Staples ran an ad with a coupon for an additional rebate. Not one tied to the software package but a general rebate of $30 back if you spent over $150 the next two days. Well, the five software titles added up to $165, so -- whoop-de-doo! -- I could go for that rebate too!

So I bought the five software items and was on my way. One of the things I appreciated about this store is they automatically print extra receipts for you if a rebate is involved. They were printing me so many receipt copies I felt bad for the trees. Then it was just a matter of checking each offer to see if there were any special proof-of-purchase requirements or additional items. One item required a software registration card filled out, and on another there were actually 2 rebates that added up to the full price, so for one offer the proof was a UPC code and the other had a proof-of-purchase logo in the inside flap when you open the box.

I filled out the forms, made copies (an important step), and sent them off. Another benefit of many companies now is that they will e-mail you confirmations of rebates, so it's easier to keep track. Over the next 6-12 weeks (because different companies process them differently), I got my checks... all $180 got rebated, so it felt great. With the benefit of having gotten a bunch of really useful software.

To me, finding and using rebates becomes a matter of rhythm and familiarity. Once you use them a bit, you realize that most of them follow similar rules. And although there always seems to be a lot of fine print at the bottom, it looks overwhelming because they have lots of info about restrictions for groups, and other legalities. Usually the parts of the legalese at the bottom that affect individuals wanting to submit them are the date by which it must be postmarked and whether they allow P.O. Boxes.

The proof-of-purchase requirements and receipt are usually standard, and on just about all the offers I've seen the requirements aren't buried in the fine print, they are fairly conspicuous. Normally they are the UPC code, the receipt and the rebate form. But you have to check to make sure. Sometimes they specify an additional item or step, a slightly different proof-of-purchase, circling the price on the receipt, or some other nuance. If you deal with the same retailer often, you'll also get used to their rebate pattern and what they typically request.

Even with all the checking of details and filling out forms I would estimate that most rebates really only involve 5-10 minutes of time. So they're not as intimidating as they might seem.

Staples also created a system where you can just register online for many of their rebates so you don't even have to send in UPC codes or anything. And you can track your rebate as well.

And the companies do follow through on their rebate offers. When I talk to some people, there seems to be a belief floating around that the rebates never really come back. But that hasn't been my experience at all. To me, they've become a great investment of a little time and strategy. As I say in my blog, finding a great deal is like a game, and with rebates it's easy to feel like a winner!

When is a Good Deal a REALLY Good Deal?

It's really a good deal when it's right for your situation. But that doesn't just mean that you need to get the item/trip right now. By expanding the way you think about deal-hunting, you can find more and even be of help to friends and family. You can match bargains with something you planned for the future or match great deals with someone you know is interested in certain things.

To expand the list of what I consider great deals, I try and keep several shopping options open while I look. My hunting isn't just for myself to buy at that moment in time , but other ideas as well. I try and keep ideas in my head for future gift-giving occasions. Who says you can't buy Christmas presents in February? If you have someone with a passion for Swatch watches and you find an amazing deal in February, consider buying it then and having it ready to give at Christmas. Saves time later in the year too.

Also try and keep in mind where your friends and relatives live or where they like to travel. Then, if you find a great deal on Travelzoo or Shermans Travel, call them and let them know, or email the link. Last year I found an amazing airfare on SAS from NY to Warsaw and sent the link out to my Polish relatives. Even though the timing wasn't working for me to travel during the special, I wanted them to have the chance to take advantage of the deal.

Tell your friends and family about some of the deals you've found. Often, they'll mention an item they've been looking for. That way when you're looking, you can keep an eye out for their items as well. Since I look at deal-hunting as a game, I figure I've won the game even when I'm not the buyer -- I've won when I can tell my friends or family about the deal and they get the win too! Had a friend tell me he was looking for a 4Gb SD card at lunch this past Wednesday and on Friday I spotted a bargain with a rebate and let him know.

To me the making of a great deal is the match-up of what's needed/wanted with a great price for it. By expanding the field of people and time-frames, there are more deals to be had, and more fun too. If I know people can benefit, it makes the searching for deals more inviting.

Now till June 30, a Deal for Stereo Headphones Free After Rebate!

Found a nice deal if you're looking for stereo headphones. Onsale.com has a choice of regular over the top of your head headphones or the style that goes around the back of your head. The price is $49.99 and the rebate is $49.99. So the you end up getting them for free. At onsale you still pay for shipping so it'll end up about $6-$7 with UPS Ground, but it still looks good. Go to http://www.onsale.com/search/search.aspx?Search=able+planet+headphones Onsale part #7214511 is the Clear Harmony headphones that sit over the head, and part #7214512 is the Clear Harmony behind-the-head headphones. Even if you pay a bit for shipping, it's a nice final price for quality stereo headphones. The rebate offer is good on purchases till June 30th and limited to 1 per household. As a reminder on rebates, read the rules and follow them precisely so you do get the money back.

Finding Travel Bargains - like a TWO-CENT ROUNDTRIP!

So I thought I'd start off with a recent story about how I was able to find a round-trip airfare to Las Vegas for 2 cents (plus airport security fees and tax). This was an airfare that I bought, not anything where I used frequent flier miles to get a free flight.

A while back I somehow stumbled onto Travelzoo and subscribed to their weekly e-mail. What I love about them is that they send out a list every week of the top 20 travel bargains they find. They aren't trying to sell them or pressure you, they just have links to the companies that have the bargains being offered. I like that about Travelzoo. Sometimes the deals are for airfares, some for cruises, some are hotels -- there are usually a great variety.

The lists are always interesting to look at, and often you can find a travel deal that is so good, it's hard not to go. Last year, they had a May 16 sailing Alaska Inside Passage Cruise on the Princess Line (no slouch) for 7 days for $499!!! That was for an inside cabin, of course, but you could upgrade to outside cabin for $200 for a $699 total -- an Alaska Cruise on a top line for under $100/day! I tried to figure out how to take advantage because it seemed like such an amazing chance, but the timing just didn't work out. Still, it was fun imagining...

Sorry about the detour. Now the 2 cent fare. A few months ago, Travelzoo's list of Top 20 deals had a listing for penny airfares on Spirit Airlines. Spirit is a lesser-known airline that flies between many cities in the U.S., the Caribbean, Mexico etc. Sometimes they fly out of smaller airports (for example, near us they don't fly out of Philadelphia or Newark but they fly out of Atlantic City). But they do serve major cities, like in New York they fly out of LaGuardia. I had occasion to fly them about 3 years ago to Detroit and their service had been fine.

The deal Spirit was offering was for 2 consecutive days in June and 2 consecutive days in September -- they were offering 1 cent fares on flights between many of their cities. They had a list from each city showing all the 1 cent destinations available. Now I figured the reason the promotion was for two consecutive days was that they figured most people would take the penny fare one way and pay regular price when returning a few days later (which would still have been a good deal). But being the deal game-player that I am, I had to see if they would really ring up a 2-cent roundtrip if I went on the first day of the promotion and came back the next. I saw that Las Vegas was a destination available from Atlantic City. I asked to fly to LV on day 1 and return on day 2. I figured that it would be a kick to just fly out there and have fun for a day or so if I could do it at (almost) no cost. Sure enough the fare came back as 2 cents!

So I went ahead and booked it -- fly out, maybe see a show, play some games, and for not much more than it would cost for an evening out locally. As I mentioned, you can't get around security fees and departure taxes etc. so the final price actually ended up at $20/roundtrip, but the fare was really just 2 cents.

I also booked the same 2-cent deal on the other two-day pair of the promotion, between Atlantic City and Fort Lauderdale, and again got the 2 cent deal!

Now the kicker, or the extra smile: when they sent me the notice that my confirmation was OK, there was a note that they could reduce my airfare if I joined their frequent flier plan! I thought it very funny that they were offering to reduce a fare below 2 cents, but I went ahead and applied, and they said the fare was now $0.00.

I was able to take these trips and make the deals because my schedule is fairly flexible -- I recognize that this isn't the case for everyone. But still, I think for anyone who likes to (or needs to) travel, it would be worth doing some things to help find bargains so our travel dollars go further -- after all, wouldn't you like to take the money you saved on an airfare and get a nicer hotel, or eat at a nicer restaurant? Every dollar you don't spend on something, gives you more to spend on something else that you prefer.

So I would suggest you visit Travelzoo and sign up for their weekly e-mails. You just might find a special that makes that 'dream trip' affordable. I would also suggest that you check around your area to see what are the smaller airports that might get traffic from bargain carriers. The more airports you can select as a point of origin, the more discount alternatives you may consider. The added benefit is that those smaller airports are often less crowded and easier to navigate as far as parking and avoiding long lines at security.

I have some other travel tips for future posts, but I figured this would get you off to a good start.

Good luck finding your own travel bargains, and let me know what great deals you can find!

Tips and Ideas on Getting Great Deals

I've always been a bargain-finder... not just a hunter but someone who seems to be able to find a great deal -- the kind that's too good to pass up. I always figured why should I pay more money than I have to? If I don't spend the money it's like having earned that much more. (It's really even better than earning that money because if you earned an extra $100 you'd have to pay tax on it, but if you find a way to not spend it you get the whole $100 for yourself).

A few years back I went into a department store in Philadelphia and was able to buy several Geoffrey Beene dress shirts for $2.56 apiece! Set up my business attire wardrobe for a year for less than one shirt normally cost by itself. Later this year my wife and I are flying round-trip to Vegas for 2 cents. Yes! TWO CENTS!!! (Well, the taxes and fees on the trip made it $40 for two round-trip tickets, but the base fare was 2 cents.) And that's not by using any frequent flier points or anything. It was an actual deal I found!

I've shared tales of my shopping adventures with friends and drawn reactions of amazement, laughter and some disbelief -- but they usually ask me to share my tips with them. One of my friends got me an interview on the Sally Jesse Raphael radio show and she named me the King of Getting a Good Deal. So I figured if my friends wanted to see how I do it and Sally Jesse was interested and impressed, maybe lots of other people would like to hear about it too.

These are going to be real tips, ideas, concepts. Sometimes they have to do with websites that help find the deals. Other times they may have to do with specific stores. I do things with rebates and coupons. I'll also talk about some of the concepts that you can apply in your own environment, at the stores you shop or the places you go.

I've also developed a bit of a knack on ebay for both ends of the transaction. Both buying and selling have their own aspects for getting a good deal. I'll share some of my tips for helping ways of making the stuff you sell there get better results.

All the stuff I'm talking about is above-board and legal. We're not talking about any kind of deception, switching tags, or other underhanded ways. When I walk out of a store I want to know I got a good deal but did it in a way the store's own system and policies allowed me to do. And when I make an ebay sale, I want my customers to be satisfied (the way I would want to be if I were on the buying end of an ebay deal) -- I still have a 100% feedback rating after over 600 transactions.

OK, so that's enough introduction. If there are specific areas you want to know about, contact me. I can't promise I'm an expert in finding every deal everywhere -- there are too many things out there. But I'll bet even if I don't know the exact info, some of my concepts will still apply and you may find that better deal anyway.

I hope you will find this readable, enjoyable and most of all, worthwhile!!!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned.