Sunday's media madness...

Did your New Year resolution involve getting in shape?  February 1 marks the release date for Rock Band Country Track Pack 2.  It is standalone software that lets you play the guitar, bass, drums or vocals on 21Country hits.  It can be played either as a single player or with friends, either working together or competing.  If you own any of the other Rock Band games you can merge your songs all together for a larger song list.  Country Track Pack 2 works with all the Rock Band games and most other Music game controllers.

Buy.com has the lowest price on the PlayStation 3, XBOX 360, and Wii versions, only $28.99 with free shipping and no tax.  Buy.com has also launched a new rewards loyalty program where you can earn Rakuten Super Points, which for someone like me is exciting news in itself.  The program seems to be similar to the Best Buy Reward Zone program with points redeemable for certificates good at the store.  That means that when I shop through Quick Rewards I will get 2.10% cash back from them, use my credit card earns reward points I will get those AND now I get the reward points from Buy.com.  I love triple dipping!

I hope you are all having a great weekend!

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

I have had a long time love of movies and when DVDs first came out I started collecting them, to the point that they now have their own cabinet as well as shelves build in around the TV to house the TV series and holiday film.  You would think owing over 500 DVDs I would have found Disney's Movie Rewards a long time ago!  I guess I thought Disney Movies were just for kids and I only had a couple, but guess what? Disney is so diverse I actually had 14 of them and now have over 1500 points in my account.  What does that mean?  Well, depending on how patient I am it could mean a trip to Disney Land.  In the 0 - 400 range you can get a free 0 point reward mini story book that goes along with the new Tinkerbell movie release, or if you want to spend some points you can make a donation to one of several organizations, get free Snapfish photo prints or a movie poster.  If you are willing to save up a little longer the 2810 and up category has $100 Delta vacation certificate, Hannah Montana guitar, Mary Poppins and the Lion King tickets on Broadway  and the Walt Disney Studios Special Private Tour for four.  Signing up for the program is easy, just enter your basic information and start putting in your Disney codes, you can find the code numbers on the DVD and Blue Rays as well as the Disney CDs.  You can even earn reward points by uploading a photo of your theater movie ticket stubs.  So go check your DVD collection, bet you will be surprised by what you have, then start saving your points for something fun for you, your child or grand kids.

Have a fantastic Sunday everyone!

Thursdays picture perfect deal...

The picture...

While at the Renaissance Fair last year my friend and I stumbled across this set of friends. The horse had its eyes covered because of the flies and couldn't see so when the horse would whinny the pig would stand up and tug on its harness lightly to let it know it was there. They seem to be pretty close buddies, they reminded me of friends from Charlotte's Webb.

The deal...

Like most women I can not stand to purchase a new swim suite! I usually got at least 5 years between shopping for a new one. Newport News has taken a little of the sting out of a new suite with their buy one get one free semi-annual sale. They have 18 suites to choose from in One piece, Tanktini and Bikini's that won't break the bank. They also have plus and tall sizes in many of them. While your there be sure to check their clearance section for some really great deals on the rest of your wardrobe as well. I found a coupon for 10% off using code 604 at checkout, however I am not sure if this will work on the summer sale items, but its worth a try, if you really like Newport News and plan to shop there frequently then it may be worth checking out their Newport News Club, the cost is $25.00 for the year so you will want to make sure you will save at least that amount over the next 12 months.

Hope you are all having a great day.

C.Q.

Abundantly free apps...

Last week a close friend got an iPod Touch for her birthday, my husband, knowing how badly I had been wanting one finally gave the OK to use all the Ones I had saved all year to go get one. I opted for the 64G iPod Touch because I love all the applications that are out there and wanted to be able to make my grocery list and play any game I want if I get stuck waiting in the car or a waiting room. I knew there were a lot of apps but really, I was ill prepared for the actual vastness of how many there are!

In doing some research I found a wonderful site called TouchMyApps that has been so very helpful! I went though their lists of free apps and was stunned at the great offerings. One of my all time favorites is CardStar. I had mentioned this in a prior blog, you can put in all your reward card info and not have to carry all the cards around with you anymore, I was so excited that this was the first app I downloaded. My 2nd recommendation would be YPmobil, you can set the Yellow pages to your area and there is so much more in this app than just name, address and phone number! Along with all that you get local events with detailed information, browsing by category, a white board for your up coming plans and notes as well as being able to save your favorite places, there are even review of places that you select and an email function to send the info to a friend.

For shopping information both Walmart and Target have apps available. I downloaded Targets app which shows their weekly ad, clearance and registries. There is also a built in gift finder, store locater and a search feature. The thing I really enjoy about this app is being able to go into the weekly ad categories and narrow it down to all the items that are offering a gift card with purchase.

If you love games there are a lot of free games as well. There are the card games Uno and Black Jack as well as a multi level game called Dungeon Quest.

Today I am going to be looking at my TV apps, there is one for Direct TV which I have as well as one for TV Guide. I also found one for the Internet Movie Database, a site I use all the time.

Hope this gives you some ideas on what is available and actually useful for free apps and inspires you to spend some time looking at the fun stuff that is out there, the iPods and iPhones cost enough, you shouldn't have to shell out the big bucks for the apps too.

Have a great week everyone!!

C.Q.

Its in the cards....Part three

Yesterday I had some problems with the blogger program dropping some of my loyalty programs links so I have included them in today's information. I am also posting the information about discount programs that offer savings up front but often are not free to join. Its important with discount cards that charge fees to know if your going to use it enough to make back the fee over the course time until the next fee is due. Barns and Noble for example charges a $25 annual fee, for me this is not a problem, I can usually make up the $25 in under 2 months, but if your not an avid reader this program would not work.

Wyndham Hotels

Choice Hotels

Hilton Hotels

Priority Club which has Holiday Inn Hotels and a few others like the Indigo Hotels which I am looking forward to trying sometime when I can't find a Kimpton Hotel where I am staying.

Hyatt Hotels

MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas

Amtrak

Every major US airline has a reward program and it can be hard to sort through all the information to find the one that's best for you, especially since they all partner with different hotel chains, car rentals and some even with cruise lines and department stores. There is a web site dedicated to helping you find the one that is right for you, its called Frequentflier.com

Discount Cards:

Barns and Noble again, there is a $25 annual fee for the card so make sure you can save at least that much per year. The discount card also works in the coffee shop section so be sure to use it for any snacks as well.

F.Y.E. you can only join at the brick and mortar store but you can use the discounts on line, there is a $25 per year fee.

PetCo is free to sign up.

PetSmart is also free to join.

Starbucks Coffee, they have several levels to their program, each offering different discounts. The cards are free at the base level but there is also a Gold level which has a $10 fee for the year.

Sears offers a program for all their Craftsmen products.

Spencer Gifts

GNC Nutrition stores, there is a $15 fee for this card and it is very limited in its use.

There are quite a few different grocery stores that offer discounts, in the Midwest where I live there are only has a handful that offer any type of frequent buyer program, but if you have one near you its worth checking out, they are all free to join to the best of my knowledge.

Harris Teeter

Winn-Dixie

Ingles

Safeway

Giant Eagle

This will be the last blog until after Thanksgiving to give me time to prepare the feast. I am going to try to make as much from scratch as possible, frozen fruit salad, cream of carrot soup, zucchini bread, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce all from scratch, hopefully the house will still be standing when I am done.

Hope you all have a fun and safe Thanksgiving, and for those of you heading out for Black Friday I wish you all the best.

C.Q.

Its in the cards....Part two

As I promised yesterday, today is the continuation of reward cards because the list was rather long.

There are some considerations with all reward cards:

* Is it free? Although most are free, some rewards programs charge membership fees to enter. If you're considering one with a fee, make sure you've weighed its benefits carefully and will be able to get out of it what you paid to be a member.

* How easy is it to earn points? Earning points shouldn’t be complicated. Find out how much you need to spend in order to earn a point. The easier it is to earn, the faster you get your reward.

* Do the points take to expire? In some programs, the points you earn will expire after a certain date. Before you sign up, find out how long points take to expire. If you have a few sites that have expiration dates it’s a good idea to put a reminder in a calendar so you won’t forfeit them.

* What can I earn with my points? It’s important that the type of rewards you can redeem with your points are of value to you, if you get a free steak but are a vegetarian then that’s not going to be of value to you. Personally I don’t fly so the rewards for miles don’t interest me, however a lot of the miles can be converted to other items, be sure to check if you can interchange things you don’t want for things you do want.

* How do I track my points? Your points should be easy to track either online or by phone.

I hope that these will help you on your quest for the perfect holiday gift this season!

AMC Movies

Regal Cinemas

CVS

ACE Hardware

True Value Hardware

Auto Zone

Tops Grocery store

Staples, Inc

Office Depot

Block Buster movie rental

Max and Erma's Restaurants

Blackwoods Restaurants are local to Northern Minnesota and there is a one time $10 fee which you get back at the time of purchase as a gift certificate.

TGI Friday's Restaurants

Lawry's Restaurants, there is a $25 enrollment fee but you get a $25 gift certificate back right away.

Lettuce Entertain You has a wide option of places to dine, here is the full listing of their restaurants.

iDine

Kimpton Hotels

Marriott Hotels

Wachovia

I am having some problems with the Blogger program so tomorrow I will post some additional reward sites as well as discount cards, which are different because you get the savings up front instead of having to wait for a reward.

C.Q.

Its in the cards…..

I was going to post about Black Friday, but because Black Friday is as exciting to me as the Black Plague was in the middle ages I will post something that can maybe make those sales and the rest of the season a little bit sweeter.

I can’t begin to count the number of times I have been waiting in a check out line with my loyalty card in hand waiting my turn when I have heard the cashier say to the person in front of me “Are you a member of our rewards program? Its free to join if you would like.” and the customer says “no thank you“. Now I think to myself; why the heck wouldn’t you sign up? If you got a free candy bar of your choice with purchase, no strings attached you would take it, even if you didn’t want it for yourself you know someone you could give it to, so why would you not join a loyalty program that offers cash back or free merchandise? I have seen folks at Best Buy checking out with a large screen HD TV and DVR, spending thousands of dollars turn down the card and I just cringe, they assume its nothing big, but in fact they just told Best Buy “Thanks, but we are happy spending tons in your store and really don’t want $200 back in store cash.” Look at it this way folks, even if you never set foot in the store again its only a minute or two to give your name and address, so why not sign up, your spending the money in their store anyway, let them reward you for doing it. Here is a list of the companies I know of that have loyalty programs that are not attached to a credit card in the stores name, most of them are free to join unless I have stated otherwise. You may be surprised at just how many companies have loyalty programs, everything from your local coffee house punch card to your investment company, if you know of something that’s not on the list please post it in the comment section for everyone.

Here is a list of the Stores that offer programs, tomorrow I will list entertainment, dining, grocery and travel.

Nordstrom

JC Penny; This one is a little different and follows what you purchase on credit cards registered under the program, still very easy but you will need to use the cards you register to receive points.

Big Lots

Kmart

Shopko

Hallmark Gold Crown Card

Borders Books

DSW Shoes

Famous Footwear

Nine West

Finish Line

Best Buy

Sephora

Ultra (Program Varies by State)

Gymboree

American Eagle

Eddie Bauer

Tired of carrying around all the rewards cards? Guess what...there's an app for that! If you have an iTouch, iPhone, Blackberry or other smart phone you can download Card Star and it will store all your card info and it can be scanned at which ever store your in.

Hope this list get you thinking before you head out on Friday, I will get the rest of the list and more pointers out tomorrow for you.

Have a wonderful day!

C.Q.