Low Prices at Sears on Women's Tops, Pants

Update October 1 -- The lowest priced items have all sold out or been pulled from the website. After I posted this on the blog I went to order some and there were plenty of choices. In the middle of ordering them yesterday the site sent messages that by the time I reached checkout some weren't available, and each time I got to checkout more of them disappeared. Must have been a ton of shoppers at Sears.

Sears.com is having a clearance on some women's pants as well as some tee shirts and tank tops. The prices are way, way down there. I know it's late in the season but these should still be good for wearing next spring/summer. Plus maybe you'll find a great travel deal for a cruise on my blog and be able to wear them where it's warm in the winter!

Here's a link to a variety of tee shirts and tank tops starting as low as 39 cents!

Here's a link to a variety of pants and shorts beginning as low as $1.09.

Sizes and quantities are limited so you may want to check these fast.

Eat Special K, Save $10 on Jeans

Special K cereal is having a promotion offering savings toward jeans. If you send in stamps from 5 specially marked boxes, you get a certificate for $10 toward the purchase on any pair of jeans!

The offer is good for specially marked packages of cereal, but also for Eggo Special K waffles, Special K protein bars and Special K2O protein waters.

It's valid for a whole year, till September 30, 2008 (although you must use stamps from specially marked packages so who knows how long those will be on the shelf). Limited to one per household.

Here's the link. It will take you to an intro page and you can click on 'skip intro.'

Special K just became a little more special!

Convert $30 Loose Change into $30 Amazon Credit and Receive a Bonus $10 Amazon Gift Certificate!

From October 1st through November 4th, Coinstar will let you use their coin-counting service to get $40 worth of shopping at Amazon.com for $30 worth of change.

You need to take at least $30 worth of coins to your local Coinstar machine, and when the machine prompts you as to how you want your payment you would select an Amazon.com certificate for the amount (which also makes the coin counting free if I read it correctly). Then you would fill out an additional claim form and mail it in to receive a bonus $10 Amazon.com gift certificate.

So you could make that $30 of loose pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters add up to $40 on Amazon! That's a 33% gain on your money. Then just wait for a special deal on Amazon and make the savings go even further!

Here's the link. There's a link there with some more detailed rules. It's limited to one offer per name/household. Remember that it doesn't start till Monday the 1st so don't rush out tomorrow.

Maybe tossing that loose change into a container wasn't such a bad idea after all!

Update October 1st -- Just returned from doing my Coinstar transaction. Was quite simple, using the touchscreen to pick Amazon.com, which entitles you to free coin counting -- their regular fee for coin counting redeemed for cash is 8.9%. You just load the coins onto a slot to feed into the machine. The counter shows the progress in total amount and breaking down the types of coins counted. When you've finished and it's over $30 you press 'done' and then press the Amazon logo on the screen, and the machine issues a receipt. The top part of the receipt shows the redemption code at Amazon.com for the gift certificate in the amount you fed the machine. The bottom part of the form is a mail-in form for the extra $10 certificate. It has to be postmarked by November 8th. There's a limit of one per household (too bad, I would've had enough change to get two certificates). So that's the scoop on how easy it was.

Free Museum Entry Today!

Today is a special promotional day for many museums across the country offering free admission. It's held in conjunction with Smithsonian Magazine, but there are tons of museums around the country which are participating.

To find a museum in your area, go to this link.

After you find a museum you'd like to visit, click on it, then on the "Admission Card" link at the top. You'll have to fill out info for an admission pass that will get you in without paying the fee.

Culture, and at a bargain! Twice as nice!

Halloween's Coming -- Need a Mustache?

Every once in a while, it's nice to smile at a deal...

DealExtreme is offering a 12-pack of assorted fake mustaches for $2.66 including shipping. They're self-adhesive, and meant for fun. With Halloween coming up, maybe they can help dress up a costume or two. If you have children getting ready to trick-or-treat, they might get a kick out of these.

Here's the link.

Trick or treat!

Flash Drives: 1GB $11; 2GB $17; 4GB $33

Flash drives are one of those wonderful new developments that have made storing and moving computer files so much easier. I have done a lot of graphic design work that I've needed to take to professional printers, and I always had to burn a CD or DVD to bring it. If there were any updates/revisions I had to burn new discs... the time and expense of the discs could add up.

Now with these USB flash drives you can just plug them into a USB port and store your files. Then you have it all on a nice little gadget that slips in your pocket until you need it. If files get revised, you can just load the new files. When you're done, the files can be wiped off and the gadget is free for its next use. The amount you can store on these is remarkable considering what you needed to store an equivalent amount just a few years back.

A friend asked me to be on the lookout for a good price for a 2GB unit, so I figured I would look for deals in varying sizes... The best prices I found right now are on the Kingston brand at buy.com -- I've used this brand (in the 1GB size) and have been very pleased with the performance.

1GB Kingston USB Flash Drive $10.95 with free shipping
2GB Kingston USB Flash Drive $16.95 with free shipping
4GB Kingston USB Flash Drive $32.95 with free shipping

If you need a mega-memory Flash Drive, you can try this 16GB PQI USB Flash Drive on sale at supermediastore.com reduced from $199.95 to $155.45. Then apply coupon code USB15DOFF at checkout to bring the price to $140.45 with free shipping.

Memories -- you can take them with you!

4-Night Baja Mexico Cruise from Los Angeles Only $169 plus $75 Shipboard Credit; 4-Night Caribbean from Miami $199 plus $75 Credit

Cruisedeals.com has listed some nice deals on 4-night cruises with Royal Caribbean. Very nice? I'd say they're even better than that!

Among the highlights is an amazing $169 out of Los Angeles down the California coast and into Mexico. In addition to what's already a great deal, they are adding a $75 shipboard credit per cabin. You can even upgrade to Oceanview for just $229 (and still get the shipboard credit). There are four sailings available, one each month between January and April.

For east-coasters, there are $199 deals into the Caribbean out of Miami or Port Canaveral. They also have the $75 shipboard credit, and the Oceanview is still just $229! These are for sailings on several dates in December and January.

If they appeal to you, I'd hurry 'cause I don't think it'll be long before they sell out this offer.

Here's the link.

So if you'd like to plan a break from some upcoming winter weather without breaking the bank, check these out!

NYC to Switzerland Non-Stop $446 Roundtrip on Swiss International - with chocolates!

Swiss International Airlines has a terrific fare on non-stop service from New York City to Zurich or Geneva. It's just $446 roundtrip before taxes/fees. I just checked what the final price would be and the fare came out to just $516.90! That's really an amazing deal for European travel...

The fare is valid for travel between October 29th and December 13th, as well as travel from December 25th through March 20th.

They have other cities with nice fares, but these Swiss non-stops really stand out.

Here's a link to swiss.com.

You even get free Swiss chocolates on board -- with this deal, could anything be sweeter?

NCAA Football Fans -- School Hoodies $11.99

If you're a fan of four schools (or know someone who is), you might want to take a peek at this one...

The schools are Alabama, Tennessee, Washington State or Florida State (Syracuse was included but they're out of stock).

Amazon.com is offering Old Varsity Brand hoodies for these four schools for $11.99 (usually $29.95). The hoodies are gray, and are screen printed with a large name of the school, a small nickname and logo. They're 80% cotton 20% polyester so they should be good for those crisp fall football Saturdays.

They'd make great Christmas presents for that football fan you know and love. If you get a few (or other stuff at Amazon that totals over $25) they're shipped free as well.

Here's the link.

Go, team, go!

Photo Explosion Software Free after Rebate (Free Shipping)

Buy.com is offering Photo Explosion 2.0 software free after rebate, along with free shipping. This software package lets you edit your photos with special effects or turn them into panoramas. They have a SmartEnhance feature that automatically does normal simple repairs like red-eye correction.

There are two rebates which combine for the full price, good for purchases by October 1st.

Here's the link.

If you like taking digital pictures and want more tools to work with them, free is good.

2 GB Compact Flash Card $9.95 After Rebate

With all the higher resolution digital cameras people are using, higher memory on cards has become essential. I've seen some deals recently on SD cards, but if you have equipment that uses a Compact Flash card, this one is a really great price.

Buy.com is offering a Dane-Elec 2GB Compact Flash Card which normally goes for $49.99 on sale for $26.95. And there's a mail-in rebate of $17.00 for purchases by October 1st, bringing the final total down to $9.95.

Adding to the bargain is that it qualifies for free budget shipping, so that's the final price at your door!

Here's the link.

So if your camera takes Compact Flash cards, why not grab this one and it'll probably be the only one you'll need to carry around...

7-Day Trip to Morocco $999 + Tax/Security Fee

Want to visit an exotic destination without breaking the bank? Here's a trip offered by GateOne travel offering 7 days in Morocco (they call it 8 days but I don't want to count an overnight flight as a day of vacation).

It includes visits to Casablanca, Rabat, Fez and Marrakesh as well as views of the Atlas Mountains. 6 breakfasts and 6 dinners are included, as well as hotels, airfare on Royal Air Maroc and transportation through Morocco. (The price is based on airfare from New York)

The price for booking by October 5th is $1,099 but if you enter the promo code BBM100 you get an additional $100 off this trip. (After October 5th the price rises to $1,299)

Here's the link, with details about the specific itinerary and highlights.

If you've ever wanted to visit the land of Bergmann and Bogart (OK, I know it was a movie), this may be a chance to make that dream come true...

Sierra Trading Post 60% Clearance Today

Sierra Trading Post is a site you'd probably expect to use only for camping, hiking and fishing items, but they're loaded with regular clothes as well. Until midnight Monday, September 24th, they have a clearance sale of 60% or more going on. They have clothes, shoes and gear available in all kinds of categories, so it may be worth checking them out.

If you click on gear, footwear or apparel on their home page, you will also see a small banner that you can click to get a coupon e-mailed for $5 off your first order if it's over $50.

They seem to have a nice selection of sweaters and other cold weather items, so this may be a good chance to stock up before the coming winter!

Early Christmas Shopping for an NFL Fan? Replica Jerseys $15 Off Plus 20% Off Code

Well, football season is underway, and before you know it, Christmas will be here. Do you know a fan who's crazy about the team? Maybe there's a new player who's a new favorite? How about a nice deal for a replica jersey featuring the name and number of that favorite player?

Now till September 29th, Sports Authority is taking $15 off its price for replica jerseys (usually $74.99 cut to $59.99) and there's also a promo code you can use for 20% off any single item which brings it down to $44.99. There's a shipping charge of $4.99 so the final price for a jersey delivered to your favorite fan is less than $50.

Here's the link.

When you've added the jersey to your shopping cart, put TSA20 in the promo code space and the recalculated total will drop 20%. The TSA20 code is for just one item.

If you're buying a couple of items and the total goes over $100, use promo code TSACYD2 instead for $25 off (you can't combine the two codes unfortunately).

Seeing the smile on your NFL fan's face should make this deal even sweeter...

Two Audio Books Download Free

Audible.com has an offer for a 14-trial of its Platinum Plan, which allows you to download two books for free and try their service.

They have over 35,000 book titles from which to choose so you could certainly find a couple of books that appeal to you.

Membership continues automatically if you don't cancel within the 14 days, so keep that in mind if you just want to keep the two books free.

Here's the link.

So if you like audio books or just want to give them a try, check out this incentive deal.

Restaurant.com Promo Code 60% Off!

Restaurant.com has another promotional code available, this time for 60% off their restaurant dining certificates. That means you can get $25 of restaurant dining for just $4.00!

The promotional code is SEASONS and the code expires September 30th.

For those of you who haven't tried it yet or aren't familiar with restaurant.com, various restaurants offer certificates to dine. $25 value certificates are usually $10, and some restaurants have $10 value certificates which are usually $3. The restaurant can put some restrictions on them such as minimum check, number of diners etc., but those are clearly written in the description before you buy any certificate. The restrictions seem relatively simple to meet, and the feedback I get from people is that this is one of their favorite deals when promo codes come along.

Getting $25 worth of restaurant dining for $10 is already a nice offer; getting it for $4 is worth a WOW! So if this tickles you, visit restaurant.com and search for the restaurants in your area. You might find one of your favorites (and you'll be able to enjoy it more often), or maybe find that special restaurant that would be worth a try.

Yum-yum!

Report from Deal-Land: My Two-Cent Roundtrip to Vegas

I'm back... landed early this morning after a one-night trip to Las Vegas. All thanks to the fun deal I found using Spirit Airlines special offers -- the two-cent roundtrip airfare from Atlantic City!

My wife and I had a ball, and here's my report about Spirit, at least based on the flights we flew.

First off, flying out of small airports is more pleasant than from major cities. The lines don't seem as long, things are easier to find, and you just seem to be able to get done with everything just a bit faster and easier. Of course, small airports don't offer as many options on airlines and destinations, but if you can find a trip leaving a small airport it might be a nice change from leaving out of a major airport.

The planes on Spirit appear new, I believe ours was an Airbus A319, and seats are gray leather. They have small headrest flaps that you can adjust so you can lean your head to either side and have some support. The seats don't recline as far back as in planes I've flown with other carriers. At first it felt odd not to be able to lean far back to lounge as comfortably as in other planes, but then again it was nice not to feel like the person in front of you was leaning back into you lap.

The width of seats seemed fairly average, and they had two rows up front with wider seats at a premium price. Legroom seemed a hair better than on some airlines I've flown but just marginally. I'm average height and was able to have my knees not touching the seat ahead of me. A tall person would probably still have some squeezing to do, but I don't know of too many airlines where that wouldn't be the case.

Spirit had allowed on-line seat selection 90 days prior to the flight, which was great -- we were able to book seats in the fourth row for quick deplaning at the end of our flights. They also allowed on-line printing of boarding passes 24 hours prior to the flight. This was another help in our travels since we didn't have to allow as much lead time for our airport arrival (we weren't checking any bags so once we arrived at the airport we could just go straight to Security).

One way Spirit makes up for low airfares is by charging for certain items you'd routinely expect to be free. First is a charge for any checked baggage -- we didn't have to pay because for a one-night trip you can certainly make do with a carry-on. But if you have carry-on luggage you pay a fee per bag. If you pay at the airport it's $10 per bag for the first two bags you check. You can prepay on-line for checked bags, the charge drops to $5 per bag. These fees are in each direction, so it's $20 roundtrip per bag if you arrange it at the airports or $10 roundtrip if bought on-line. If for some reason you need to check a third bag, it's a hefty $100 whether you do it on-line or at the airport.

You are allowed one carry-on and one "personal item" such as a handbag, computer case or such, at no cost. The bins on the planes seemed big enough to accommodate all the passengers' carry-ons without hassles (and the plane coming back was 100% full).

The other item where you pay additional is for snacks or beverages. I've seen some airlines charging for meal services such as sandwiches you can buy on board, but Spirit doesn't offer any type of meals for purchase. They have an assortment of beverages for sale, as well as a small selection of snacks for sale. They only take credit cards for payment.

They will still pour you a glass of bottled water for free, but you pay for coffee or sodas -- right now it's $1 but on October 1st it's going up to $2 for any non-alcoholic beverages except a poured glass of water. If you want your own small bottle of water you pay for that. Wine, beer and liquor is $5, which seems like a more standard charge compared to other airlines.

Unfortunately with today's security restrictions, you can't really plan ahead by bringing beverages from home since they'll be confiscated. I saw a woman at the Security checkpoint have to give up her "ice-cold" Coca-Cola (the TSA agent specifically noted it was ice cold and told her she could go back outside Security to drink it or else it would be thrown out). Once past Security you can buy beverages you can bring onto the plane -- those are usually more expensive than buying them at a local store but it may still be worth your while.

As far as snacks, the selection was fairly small and the prices on the high side -- a bag of pretzels, cashews and almonds is $4 as is a bag of Combos. For $2 you can buy a small canister of Pringles, a Granola Bar, Grandma's Cookies or an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin. So for a long trip I would plan to bring along some food such as a sandwich to tide yourself over. Not only to save money but there just isn't any substantial food available if you really get hungry.

There is one hidden benefit to the lack of meals available. They didn't seem to lose much time on the ground having to load hot meals onto the plane, so turnaround times were shorter than on other airlines I've flown and both flights were easily on time.

There is no in-flight entertainment, no movies, music, headphones etc. Spirit's on-board announcement was that they encourage people to bring their own entertainment and I saw someone bring a portable DVD player to watch a movie -- on a long flight this would be a really good idea. They do have an in-flight magazine, and the content is really focused on the various destinations to which Spirit flies. It was also filled with offers for hotel/resort packages in locations to which Spirit flies. I actually preferred this kind of in-flight magazine to one that has all sorts of articles on random topics but that's a personal preference.

There were no blankets nor pillows on board for passengers to use. I saw a couple of people actually bringing their own pillows along for the trip. This also probably helps with the quick turnaround of flights on the ground, but you should just be prepared. I felt that they kept the cabin comfortable temperature-wise, so a blanket wouldn't be needed but just another point to remember as you prepare for a trip on Spirit.

The service on the plane was fine. The pilot on our outbound flight was very friendly and enthusiastic in his announcements. The cabin crew was pleasant and seemed pretty quick to respond whenever a passenger rang the 'call-attendant' button overhead.

The return flight was a red-eye, and the pilot minimized any announcements to try and let people sleep. As with any red-eye the ability to sleep is related to how chatty the people in surrounding seats are, or whether babies cry (unfortunately we had two couples who seemed insistent on talking for most of the flight, but that can happen on any airline so it's not a Spirit matter, just a fact of flying life). When you're trying to sleep the fact that the seats recline a bit less seemed to make it a little harder to relax comfortably.

So all-in-all, I think Spirit seems to be a well-run airline, and the fares certainly make it worth considering and using when their itinerary meets your needs. Particularly for flights to the Caribbean and Central/South America they offer some interesting choices through Fort Lauderdale. They also have a route from Los Angeles to Guatemala and Detroit to Cancun. As a discount airline, the fares look great as long as you factor in any additional costs for baggage -- forewarned is forearmed.

Would I fly them again? Yes.

Spirit Airlines Negative Dollar Fares!!! Yes, Flights for -$4!

Spirit Airlines is really making deals now... today through midnight tomorrow September 19th, they are offering fares for less than zero! They have some city pairs available for -$1 to as low as $-4!

The negative dollar fares are for selected dates, and there are security fees and taxes that apply, but the negative values are applied against these so the total comes down to less than the taxes and fees combined!

I guess they really want people to sit up and notice. Here's the link.

Some city pairs and dates are:

Myrtle Beach to Boston 11/20, 11/29, 12/3, 12/9; Boston to Myrtle Beach 11/29, 11/30, 12/15, 12/16 for -$3 each way or a total of minus $6!

Atlantic City to Fort Lauderdale 12/3, 12/16, 1/10, 1/11; Fort Lauderdale to Atlantic City 12/6, 12/7, 2/1, 2/7 for -$1 each way, or -$2 roundtrip!

New York City to Myrtle Beach 12/3, 12/4, 12/5, 12/6; Myrtle Beach to New York 12/3, 12/6, 12/7, 12/9 for -$1 each way, or -$2 combined!

Atlanta to Orlando 9/27, 9/28, 10/30, 10/31; Orlando to Atlanta 10/1, 10/15, 10/22, 10/31 for -$2 each way, -$4 roundtrip.

Washington DC to Fort Lauderdale 1/20, 1/28, 1/30, 1/31; Fort Lauderdale to DC 1/25, 1/31, 2/1, 2/5 for -$2 each way, or a total of minus $4!

Detroit has some negative fares, to/from New York, Atlantic City, Myrtle Beach and Orlando.

Spirit even has some international travel from Fort Lauderdale for negative dollar fares... Cancun, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Guatemala...

WOW!