Update and stuff...

Well I know I have been remiss for the last month and I hope to get back on track now that the weather is going to start getting cold.

The update:  I went in for my 3 month follow up with my radiologist and my oncologist today and all is well, just need to go in for a blood test since I started a new medication but aside from that I don't have to go to a "scary" doctor for another 3 months.  October is breast cancer awareness month, be sure to get your mammograms and remember to do a monthly self exam. 

I thought since I hadn't posted anything in awhile I would share some of the great deals I have gotten this month and let you in on how to find them.

Shop #1 was with 1800PetMeds, my dog takes Dasuquin and it is pretty expensive, 1800PetMeds has the lowest price I have found on it anywhere and they currently have a sale going on to make it even a little lower.  I then added on coupon code W5PER from Retail Me Not to get an additional 5% off site wide and free shipping.  I ordered through Ebates so I also got 6% cash back on my transaction. 

Shop #2 was with Buy.com and was a whopper!  Our vacuum went kaput so we ordered a new Dyson Animal, it is fantastic at picking up pet hair and is so nice because there is no bulk to it, we will have it a long, long time; but what a price tag!  I was able to find it for the lowest price of $499.00 at Buy.com with free shipping.  Because I could not find a coupon code for this one I did a lot of digging for the lowest price.  Then I placed the order going through Quick Rewards so I will get an additional 2.1% cash back; it's not a lot, but $10.48 is about the cost of a CD for my husband for Christmas.

Shop #3 was with DeepDiscount where I ordered 2 things that will help with the winter Blah's, Frozen Heat on CD, the third book in the Nikki Heat series based on the TV show Castle. (I love books on CD because I can listen while I work on my scrapbooks.)  I also ordered season two of Haven.  Just going through DeepDiscount saved me $32.00 but I also went through Ebates again so I will get an additional 3% cash back.

The last shop was through Kohl's, they are having a huge sale on their throws and I found one I loved that is 60" x 80" marked down to $19.99 from $39.00, then I used a one day coupon code from Brad's Deals that brought the price down another 20%.  I also made sure I was shopping through Quick Rewards so I got 3.2% cash back.  There was tax on the item since I live in a state that has Kohl's but there was no shipping.  My total cost was a few cents over $17.00.

On all my shops online I only use one credit card and it is one that earns me points to use towards miles, gift cards, hotels or merchandise and then pay it off at the end of the month.  My motto is never miss an opportunity to earn something for all your hard work shopping!

What deals have you found this month?  I would love to hear about them!

Have a great week everyone!

Michele

Friday's freebie

This holiday season while you are out doing you shopping be sure to take a little time for yourself.  With these goodies you can get a free milkshake with nothing else to purchase, or if you are feeling like grabbing bite to eat you can get a free large fry with any purchase at Rally's or Checker's.  Just print the coupon you want and bring it in with you, these offers expires on 12/31.

Hope you are all enjoying your Friday.

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

Not a lot of folks know that September 25th is National Comic Book Day, but I thought I would give it a little attention.  There is also a Free Comic Book day in May where many stores give out a free comic book.  I don't know if your local stores may be celebrating today with some sales or freebies but its worth checking out if you or someone you know is a collector (its not too early to be thinking about your holiday shopping).  If you like today's artwork it is an actual mural that you can purchase at Stargate Cinema for 42% off its original price of $250.00, today its $145.99 with free shipping, and it is huge ~ a whopping 6' x 10.5'  so if you have an avid collector this may be a perfect holiday gift.

Growing up I read a lot of the Archie comics, they were my favorites and I was not even sure if they print them anymore or who's comics they were, but with the help of the Grand Comics Database I was able to find out that the comic is still around today and that when it started it went through many transformations, large and small.  Its a great place to start looking for information on starting a new collection or filling in an existing series.

Currently one of my favorite authors has one of her book series being made into comics for Marvel.  I purchased the first in the series and liked how it followed along with the book and brought the characters to life, it had been a very long time since I read a comic.  Your can check out Anita Blake for your self at Marvel.  Also be sure to check the other major comic publishing house DC Comics for whats new with them, there are so many more characters than when I was a kid, and the ones I loved, like Wonder Woman are still there (she does appear to have been pumping iron over the years though, she has gotten some beefy biceps).  Dark Horse Comics features Star Wars and Buffy among other well known names, and Image Comics is the home of Spawn and Whitchblade.

There is also a growing amount of comics on the web, just check out Online Comic Books, it can be your own guilty pleasure because no one will ever find comic books sitting around your house.  Can't get enough comic book movies? Stop over to Comic Book Movies to discuss Ann Hathaway as the new Catwoman, your favorite episode of Dr. No or the upcoming Superman: Man of Steel currently being filmed. 

Have a current comic and wondering about its value, you can sign up free at Comics Price Guide and find out more about your one comic or your entire collection, you may be surprised to see what you have!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

C.Q.

Thursday's picture perfect deal...

The picture....

With summer coming to an end its time to say good-by to the state and local fairs.  I was able to get to a small one this year but this photo is from a couple of years ago at our county fair.  I loved the feel of possibility from the Duck Pond booth and the colors were so cheerful I just had to take a picture.

The deal...

Woman Within is having an awesome sale right now for the Labor Day long weekend, plus, when you use coupon code WW61427 you will get an additional 50% off your highest priced item with the purchase of three things, if you buy five things you will get another 50% off your second highest priced item.

I hope you are having a nice Thursday!

C.Q.

Thursdays picture perfect deal...

The picture...

I took this picture last Spring on Lake Superior, this ship is the Isoloda, one of Polsteam's fleet of ships. The five vessels, the Irma, Iryda, Isa, Isadora and Isolda are all bulk carriers, 34,600 tons, 365 feet in length, and were built in Japan in 1999 - 2000. These ships will take passengers to Europe in private cabins, but you better know some Polish since the officers and crew and food are Polish and depending n your destination, the trip can be long.

The deal...

Save 20% on your entire purchase at Dress Barn with their coupon, just print it off and present it at checkout.  If you have a Dress Barn credit card you will save 25% off your total.  To use the coupon on line enter code ESUM20 for the 20% off or ESUM25 if you have the Dress Barn card.  The coupon expires 6/19/2011.

Hope you are all having a nice week.

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

This holiday season why not let your iPod and Smart Phones make your shopping a little easier?  There are some really great cool apps available that can help get your shopping done in short order so you have more time to relax and bake those cookies for the office cookie exchange.

First lets start with know how much you can spend, you can use Mint to help you with a budget, its available for free download to both the Android and iPhone, if you don't want that information on your portable device they are also available on Yahoo.com.  When you have your budget set you can stretch it using application such as Coupon Shurpa, it offers coupons to over 5,000 stores from your home computer, or download the free app and it will send coupons to over a hundred stores directly to your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Need directions or store information?  One of the best apps available is YPMoble, this is not the Yellow Pages of your childhood, now it is super charged with a search feature, driving directions, web links, reviews and a way to save your contacts or favorites lists. YPMoble is free and available for your iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Android, Palm and Blackberry.  Now that you have made it to the mall and parked in the sea of cars, will you ever find your car again?  You will if you download Carr Matey, this app is available for the Android and will help you find a place to park, let you enter parking garage information,and remind you when your meter is set to expire.

Well you made it, look out shoppers your off to the races!  But which direction do you need to go?  With Mall Maps Mobile you can find your way around almost any mall with ease, its great for finding new places that have just opened or when you are traveling and shopping an area you are unfamiliar with. This free download is available in the iTunes store for the iPod, iPad, and iPhone.  Now that you have found your favorite store are you getting the best deal on your purchase? Used to be you had to run all over town to find out, now you can just use an app like Shop Savvy 4 by using the camera on your iPhone or Android camera to scan the bar code and compare prices with other stores and on line.

Ahhhh, almost done but where did you put all those reward membership cards?  With an application like CardStar you can keep all that information together in one spot.  With an ever growing list of merchants that are supported as well as the ability to add your own this is one of the easiest and most beneficial apps available, epically since its free and available for the iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android, Blackberry and Windows phone.  All you do is find the card info and show your phone to the cashier, no more extra plastic cards to carry around.

I hope you all have a rewarding shopping experience this holiday season!

C.Q.

Old fashioned holiday saving...

Have you tallied up your Black Friday sales purchases yet? Planning on shopping on the highest grossing day for retailers, Cyber Monday?  What about a budget?  If your like most shoppers this time of year its easy to get carried away in the frenzy of deals and overspend.  With the recession a lot of consumers have changed strategies and started using only cash, that way when its gone you stop spending and don't end up with that dreaded January bill from your credit card company.  A great way to have some extra cash for the holidays is the Christmas Club, a tried and true method of saving that was devised during the Great Depression and is seeing a resurgence of use.  Its simple, you put away a little bit of money every month starting in January and in October or November you can take it out for your holiday needs.  If you save as little as $10.00 a week starting in January and go through October you would have $420 at the start of November.  You can earn interest compounded on many of these types of accounts as well because you are not allowed to withdraw your funds until a specific date for the holidays, its kind of like a mini CD.  Some Banks and Credit Unions offer these accounts (be sure to ask since its usually not advertiesed), but if not you can also consider short term CDs that will offer a higher yield than your general savings account will, the down side is that you may need a higher amount down to open an account for a CD than a Christmas Club account. 

If you run into a problem finding a bank that offers a Christmas Club, or the CDs terms are too high consider opening an account with a group by pooling your money together. If you require that two signatures are needed to withdraw any funds it would cut down the temptation to take anything out early. Its also fun at the end of the term to get together with that group of family or friends to get your cash, have a little lunch, get caught up and then shop together to kick off the holiday season with a smile.

Another option that is super easy is simply saving all your ones over the year and then bundling them in groups of $100.00.  This is something that my husband and I do at usually at the end of the year we have between $500.00 and $600.00 for shopping or a vacation.  Its fun to watch the cash grow and the bank will convert it to larger bills for free when we are ready.  You don't earn interest but because its so easy we both do it every time we shop with cash.  My husband laughs because I don't call them One's any more, I call them "Fun's".

I hope you all have a relaxing Saturday!

C.Q.