Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Good Deal

Get a $25 gift certificate for $2!

Ends 7/28/09.

To redeem, use code: NAPKIN

Enjoy!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

A Bad Investment

Ok, Ken, part 2 of your many home-owner questions answered. What's the one home purchase we regret the most?

That would be the Ionic Breeze air purifier by Sharper Image. I'm not sure what we were thinking there! It just didn't do what the commercials promised & it makes an annoying sound when dust finally does start to stick to the electrostatic plates. Wasted money.

Things we've bought that we're disappointed in?

We bought new windows for the purpose of being more energy efficient but haven't been able to tell any difference at all. They look nice & are easy to clean though.

When the central air was installed they put in a unit that just didn't cool the whole house--not even close. We called them & instead of replacing it with a bigger unit they just added some fans to the vents. It's never really worked up to our expectations. Also every couple of years the drain pump quits working & Randy has to buy a new one & replace it (about $60). Either that or call somebody in & have it replaced for about $200. What a pain...

We had a privacy fence set up in our side yard. The first windstorm we had & the whole fence blew down. That was really disappointing considering what it cost in the first place.

Things we've bought we're happy about?

Definitely the bed. We have a king-sized Sleep Number bed. We originally bought it after much research & our main reason for buying it was that it has twice the warranty of any other bed out there--20 years. Also it is way more sanitary. Regular mattress's harbor dust mites--ecck! I have sinus/allergy problems & know that dust mites contribute to them. This bed doesn't have a mattress in it at all, just a mattress pad over it that is washable. So no dust mites! What we didn't expect was how dangerously comfortable it is. I could easily spend too much time in it if I let myself. Randy's sore back was history after about 3 weeks. Money well-spent.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Ken's Questions Finally Answered

My friend Ken (yes you) & his wife just bought a home & he is full of questions about saving money, home projects that are "worth it", etc. I thought I would answer some of them here.

First some background. Randy & I bought our house in 1995. It was built in 1963 & is brick. The couple we bought it from are the original owners. It is a typical ranch (think shoebox), oil heat, decent sized yard with lots of trees. No carpet--thankfully. When we bought the house it was in pretty good shape for the most part. The owners were in their 60's when they built it & their 90's when they sold it to us, so no children had ever lived there & the house pretty much had original everything--even down to the swag lamps (anybody remember those) & floor-model record player. There had only been one coat of paint ever on the walls.

Randy is a true fix-it guy & has really transformed this place into something that is very comfortable for us & truly easy to maintain.

Ken wanted to know which project has been the "best" one for us. With an industrious husband, many have been "best" for us. The one set of projects that has saved us the most $$ has been making the house more energy efficient. We use 80% less oil than the previous owners & believe me, we stay warm. We have their old records & are able to compare them to our current ones.

A couple of cheap projects did the trick.

One thing that made a dramatic difference to our heating bill was adding insulation to the attic (about $300) & sealing up cracks around the doors, windows, & attic space. (about $45 for sealer). Additionally we added vertical blinds to every window & keep them closed when we weren't home (about $300). Voila! Instant savings on the heating bill.

A few years down the road we actually replaced the single pane windows with more energy efficient ones but truthfully I didn't notice much of a difference in our energy consumption.

When our hot water tank broke down a couple of months after moving in, we replaced it with a more efficient one at a cost of about $150. That helped our electric bill to the tune of about $10 a month. Last year I started hanging out most of our laundry & we saved a little over $500 in one year. Also, keeping our trees makes the house cooler. We had central heat & air installed (don't use the heat) & cooling the house definitely costs a lot, so being able to wait before using it has been very nice. We just turned it on for the first time a few days ago. Again simple things like keeping the blinds closed during the day have enabled us to keep cooling costs to a minimum. And we monitor everything--every bill, all our consumption records, all of it.

So Ken since you've asked (repeatedly) my advice to you is to make your first project winterizing your home. The money we've saved on our bills have already covered the cost of the central air & the new windows.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Here's Are Some Good Deals

Shop World Kitchen has select Pyrex Cobalt Blue baking dishes on clearance starting at $2 each.
Shipping starts at $6.95.Coupon A20350 gives you 20% Off.
If you used this code before, then you may need to sign in differently.http://www.shopworldkitchen.com/inde...=cobalt%20blue

PYREX® Cobalt Blue 3-qt Oblong Baking Dish
Was: $7.99
Now: $1.99
Final: $1.59 Plus shipping.http://www.shopworldkitchen.com/inde...34715&brandID=

Here's another one, this from Holland Bulbs:

$100 in Hardy Perennial Lilies, Dahlias, Cannas, Gladiolus and Calla Lilies for $19.95
Coupon "SAVEON1" to take 50% any one single item.

60% OFF $100 + coupon 50% = $19.95 (2 for $38)

60+ Flower Bulb & Perennial Variety Pack

You get the following flowers
(6) Dahlias - Size No.1 or No.2
(6) Cannas - Size 2 to 3 eyes
(10) Hardy Perennial Lilies - Size 12/14cm or 14/16cm
(30) Gladiolus - Size 10/12cm
(10) Calla Lilies - Size 1 3/4" to 2"

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Good Deal At Old Navy

Oriental Trading Company Has Party supplies, Crafts, Toys - $10 off $10 Purchase
Use Key Code: SE1019772
Shipping is $6.99

Click here to get to the site.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Win Win

How's this for saving $$ ?

Randy & I have lived in the same place since 1995 & have had our electric bill averaged since 1997. Since that time we have been able to monitor our consumption pretty closely.

Last fall I decided to put out a small clothesline--the kind that is shaped like an umbrella. I did it for environmental reasons. What I didn't anticipate was how it would transform laundry from a ho hum kind of thing into a fairly enjoyable experience. Funny how little I actually used to go into my own backyard. It's kind of nice out there : ) So I consider it a lucky side effect to doing laundry now. I watch the birds & squirrels (of which there are many), I check out the backyard plant life--doing pretty well this year, & I get a bit of fresh air at the same time. Not to mention that our clothes smell great too.

Here's another benefit--we got our new electric bill average & we're actually going in to the year with a $500 credit! That's pretty good don't you think?

I love a win-win situation!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Alotta Crocs

Seems like most people either love Crocs or hate them with a passion. I am with the first group. I have had a pair of Crocs Hydros for 4 years now, have literally walked all over the country, gone to convention, etc., & they still basically look & feel like they did when I first purchased them.

Lately I've been trying to find a replacement for them & getting a bit anxious about it since Crocs has now discontinued the Hydros--the style I prefer. Hydros look more like a shoe--they cover the ankle & are really light, so light they float in water. I found a couple of pairs (not in my size) & one pair on eBay listed for $70. Since I only paid $49 for them brand new, I passed on that offer.

Now, I often say that I'm the luckiest person I know. Here's another example:

Randy & I were at Myrtle Beach a couple of weeks ago. I shopped all day & looked everywhere I could think of trying to find a pair of Hydros, to no avail. At the end of the day Randy decided to wash his truck. I told him to drop me off across the street at the Tanger Outlet mall & I would meet him back out front in half an hour.

About 4 or 5 stores in I spotted a Crocs store. What? I didn't even know there was such a thing! I went in & found out that I was there on their opening day & everything was 70c- 90% off. Yep, it was Crocs nirvana for me.

I walked out of the store with (gulp) 8 pairs for me & 1 for my aunt. What did it cost you ask?

$63.42
In case you're wondering, that's an average of $7.05 per pair! Pretty good huh? Randy was mortified--he is in the latter group of course.

And yes, I did find a pair of Hydros.

Check it out:

Friday, April 17, 2009

Good Deal on Acer Aspire Netbook

Newegg.com has the Acer Aspier One Netbook for $345 (shipped). It comes with 1 gig ram, a 160 gig hard drive, built-in wireless, a webcam, card reader, bluetooth, & 3 USB ports. The user reviews gave the battery really good reviews as well. It weighs 2.9 lbs--perfect for traveling with.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

A Great Deal on Verizon Blackberry Phones


Verizon is offering a BOGO on Blackberry phones till 4-24. It will automatically enroll you in the "new every two" plan, which is basically what usually happens when you buy any of their phones at a discounted price.

I've been a Verizon customer for a long time now, since they were Bell South Mobility DCS (about 10 or 11 years ago). I don't think they are perfect, but I am happy with their customer service & their coverage. My "re-up" date is 4-23 but the guy at the store (in Skyland) allowed me to re-up today. Those folks at that store have got it together. They are so laid back & have always treated me well. Just a plug for them, in case they're working on comission.

I ended up with two Blackberry Storm 9530's for $99. I used my $99 re-up credit to buy the $199 phone (which is selling on bestbuy.com for $599), then got another one just like it for free. I ended up paying $99 for both phones.

I love saving money!

I'll review it as soon as I have time to take a good look at it. Right now all I know is that I can send & receive calls & that the touch screen is going to take a bit of getting used to.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

A Good Deal

If you've ever been to Broadway at the Beach (in Myrtle Beach) to shop then you've probably been to the Beyond the Wall store. It's filled with unusual posters, wall hangings, etc.

There have been several times that I've been there but didn't buy anything because I didn't want to have to carry it around with me.

Friday the gal at the counter told me that if you go to their website they have a bunch of stuff on sale & if you call them (instead of ordering from the website) they ship it out to you with no shipping charge. That's pretty cool : )

Here's the link to their site.
Here is the phone number: 843 443-9001

Happy shopping!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Good Deal

Staples has an Acer X183Hb 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor
Reg: $199.99
Save: -$100.00
Price after savings: $99.99 Each

Click here for the link.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Good Deal

GraveyardMall.com has women's Foster Grant Sunglasses for $10 each while they last.

Here's the link.

Enjoy

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Half Off Deals

This site sells certificates for...you guessed it, half off. They have alot of restaurant deals, but what makes them different from restaurant.com is that they also have certificates to other places as well. Currently in Asheville there are certificates being offered for Foot RX, a car wash, a tshirt shop for gals, etc., along with about a dozen restaurants--many that can't be found on restaurant.com.

This site is nice if you are going out of town, they offer lots of travel deals.

As always, caveat emptor. Make sure to read the fine print : )

Enjoy!

Here's the link.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Tightwads Rock


Don't get me wrong--I know how to spend money, & I can do a great job of blowing a budget. It's just that I don't want...stuff anymore, & that's led me to find a new hobby that works for me--saving money.

When I was younger I wanted, wanted, wanted. I didn't really go for the typical girl wants (big diamond, new car, designer clothes), but I always wanted something that was just out of reach. When I got married there were 2 incomes but we still really didn't have much--just enough to pay bills & go out to eat occasionally. Then came middle age, a new job & a new group of friends & co-workers; people who evidently had an endless pool of money to draw from. What I mean is that they charged everything, went everywhere they wanted, ate out daily, & never seemed to worry about anything. What a fun group! I happily jumped in the pool but never could quite keep up. Pretty soon I gave up trying & realized that all that shopping & bar-hopping & keeping up appearances is not only tiring, but also a bit annoying to me. Seemed like I never had a conversation with any of them that had anything in it worth remembering. I still like those folks, but from a distance now.

I work for myself now & it's not exactly easy all the time. I gave up security, a (tiny) bit of schedule freedom, & a life & job I was familiar with in the hopes of...well, I don't really know. I just knew when it happened that it felt like the right thing to do. What I didn't realize at the time was how hard it would be to suddenly not have an ad budget to work with, to not have a guaranteed income at the end of the day, to not have anything guaranteed--not even the ability to pay bills--unless I was doing it myself. What a change for me! I was soft & didn't even realize it.

So the past few years have really been eye-opening for me. Life has trained me to prioritize, to get my ducks in a row, & to really let my inner cheapskate come to the forefront. You know what? It's been fun! Seriously, what a challenge to be able to make it work in tough economic times. To remind yourself that taking a walk outside is free, to hang out with friends in the living room is free, to play music is free. In other words, the best things are free. Funny how hanging out with the wrong crowd can make you forget that.

The rest can be pretty cheap too, if you know where to look--& I am nothing if not internet proficient. So, here's the deal. Once a week at least there will be a post here with a link to one of my favorite money-saving sites or an article, or something that I do now that saves me money. I'm having so much fun with this that I want to share it with all my friends. Hopefully, I can learn something from you too!

With that in mind, here is a link to today's Yahoo! article about cheapskates to get us all in that money saving frame of mind...

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Harris Teeter Triple Coupons Triumph


Grocery shopping is one of my chores & while I don't really care so much for it (as opposed to doing something fun), I do like saving money. Putting a little effort into learning the "insider couponing techniques" then being able to see a tangible return on my investment of time is acceptable to me.

Here's today's receipt from the Harris Teeter triple coupons sale:

$94.33 Total before discount
$35.16 Total amount I paid after coupons applied
$59.17 Total savings

Not too bad for about 3 hours of time altogether.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Triple Coupons at Harris Teeter



WNC Coupon Mom just let us know Harris Teeter is going to triple coupons again. Good for them, really good for us too. It's been less than 8 weeks since last time they tripled coupons.

I have alot of coupons. Let me know what you need & I'll see if I have any for you.

The way it worked last few times:
  • tripled coupons up to $1--correction-- .99 (thanks Merle)
  • no more than 20 triples per purchase
  • no more than one transaction per day
  • must have a VIC card to participate
I don't know if it is going to work the same way this time--check WNC Coupon Mom, cuz she has the goods on the deals...

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Here's a Good Deal for You

Restaurant.com is having a sale this weekend. 70% off of their certificates, which means you can buy a $25 certificate for $3! Or to my way of thinking, $250 worth of food for $30.

Use the coupon code SAVE at checkout.

Today is the last day to get this deal. I've used these certificates before & really love the program. Asheville & Hendersonville are full of great restaurants & I do eat out so this has been a great way to save money. It's a little different than the Dining Dough certificates I bought last week in that you pick your restaurant ahead of time, effectively eliminating a step & also locking in your restaurant at the same time.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Office Depot Deal--it's gone

That was fast!

Great Deal at Office Depot

I've had really great luck with Restaurant.com & the promotion they had going right before Christmas (now expired). I've eaten at 3 restaurants using the coupons, haven't had any problems yet, & spent a fraction of what I would have without the coupons.

Office Depot has clearanced out the "Dining Dough" card--buy $25 worth of food for $5. You can go to the site & check to see if any of the restaurants you eat at are there. If you buy $50 worth of cards Office Depot will ship them to you next day air for free & you end up with $250 worth of food. Dining Dough is owned & operated by Restaurant.com & the participating restaurants are the same.

I saw a couple of pissy reviews about the product & read them to make sure the deal really was as presented. Turns out that the bad reviews were from folks who got a free card (during another Office Depot promotion), & they didn't have very many restaurants in their area. That hasn't been a problem for me at all since Asheville, Arden, & Hendersonville have lots of participating restaurants, but I do recommend that you check out what's available before you buy.

You can go to the website & check by zip code to see if there are any restaurants featured there you would like to eat at.

I thought some of you would be interested in this. Here are the links:

Office Depot

The Dining Dough Gift card is item Item # 300-676795

Here is the direct path to check for participating restaurants by zip code.

The free shipping should be added in automatically by Office Depot. Check it though, just to make sure.

I do enjoy saving money!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Word of the Day

The word of the day is simplify.

I was talking on the phone today with someone who read last night's post & wanted to know why a techy person like me wouldn't buy the gadget I wrote about. Aside from the fact that when (not if) it tore up it would take about 10 functions away till it got fixed or replaced, the fact is I didn't like it because it was just too much. What I mean is I don't like tech that adds complication to my life. I want something that saves me time or $$ or whatever, not something that adds to my already long list of things I have to remember to program or set up.

I know I'm not alone in this. I have customers who tell me that they need someone they can trust who will help them figure out (fill in the blank). Things are complicated, time is precious, & technology has added another layer of complication to our already busy lives.

That's why a watch that does 10 other things holds no interest for me.

Now if I could find a watch that does laundry...