Cats and Coupons

I have a bunch of membership tags on my key chain. Some are for stores here, one’s for a store in Florida when we go to Walt Disney World and yet another is for a store in upstate New York when we go camping every summer. It’d be great not to worry about carrying all of them all of the tine. I’d love to see all grocery stores use one common club card. They could still run their sales and people would still be able to take advantage of specials, but it would make it easier on the customer. But since that day isn’t likely to happen soon, a site like Just One Club Card is a useful one for people like me.

Just One Club Card allows people to enter card membership numbers for up to eight stores. It’s free to use. After you enter your numbers you print a new card that contains the numbers for all of the ones you entered, allowing you to carry only one card to all stores. He’s even made it possible to add in pet store cards, and other stores. The guy that thought of this had a great idea!

I found out another way to save money at the grocery store, a site called Shortcuts.com. Shortcuts is a site where registered users can find coupons that will automatically be attached to their grocery store savings cards. The service is free to use. To register you need to provide your name, date of birth, zip code and provide your savings card numbers. Then you look around the Shortcuts site and add the coupons you want to your account. The coupons are searchable by category. When you go to the grocery store the coupons will be deducted from your total, just like a regular coupon or a discount because you have a savings card. Right now the site only works with some grocery stores, unfortunately none of which are in my area. If you’ve tried Shortcuts I’d like to hear how you liked it.

The CouponCabin website offers what a person might expect when they hear the name - coupons. Users can search for coupons by name and by category, results will show all of the coupons associated with the site searched for. There are at least twenty categories that coupons fall under. There’s even a category just for Vegas. (No Orlando vacations though.) They have special categories containing printable coupons, mall stores, free shipping offers and clearance sales. The site is free to use and does not require registration. The folks at CouponCabin monitor more than 950 stores for new coupons and offer a newsletter containing the hottest coupons.

Big Fish Games sent me  is running a special promotion until September 3rd, offering 40% off all games on Bigfishgames.com! To use it just shop as usual on Big Fish Games and when you get to the checkout use the coupon code BACKTOSCHOOL when you check out.

I noticed when I went online this morning that my grocery store is now offering the ability to shop online. After shopping you can have your order delivered (in some areas) or you can pick it up at the store and have your car loaded. I am one of those people that goes down almost every aisle when shopping, because every once in a while I see something that didn’t make it onto our grocery list or something that there’s an unadvertised special on. If I were buying online I think I might end up spending less, because I wouldn’t be buying things that I hadn’t planned on buying. But then, who can resist a good unadvertised special on things like shampoo or the best acne treatments? These are the kinds of things I stock up on. What do you think of online grocery shopping?

I found a new site that helps people try to save money. It’s the TheGroceryGame.com.  TheGroceryGame tracks product pricing at many grocery stores in a database, as well as manufacturer coupons and supermarket specials. Users can log in and get a list that matches up coupons with sales and shows that week’s good deals, great deals to stockpile, and free items available at their grocery store. TheGroceryGame offers a free first month trial. After that they charge a nominal fee of $10 for every 8 weeks, which breaks down to $1.25 per week. If you save more than that it becomes worth it to join. Let me know what you think of it if you try it.

I have this compulsion to do lots of research and price comparison before buying something online. I buy many things online, because as a full time working mom I don’t always have time to go to the store. Today I learned about a new website that offers lots of coupon and discount codes. The site is called Retail Me Not.

Retail Me Not is very organized, easy to navigate and pleasant to look at. It offers a browse by category option as well as the ability to search for whatever coupon or store you’re looking for. You do not need to sign up to be a member to use the site. Users can submit their own coupons and discounts to the site as well. Other features offered include printable coupons, user forums and a newsletter. They even offer a Firefox extension that will alert you if any coupon codes are available for a site you’re visiting.

Be sure to check out Retail Me Not during your online shopping trips.

I never knew there was a National Cheesecake Day. That in itself is surprising since cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts, if not the most favorite. Eli’s Cheesecake is offering 25% off of any one item ordered online before 08/01/08. COUPON EXPIRED. Eli’s Cheesecake is online at http://elicheesecake.com/. Yummy!

THIS POST WAS EDITED A COUPLE OF TIMES TODAY DUE TO EMAIL I RECEIVED FROM ELI’S. IT SEEMS I MISUNDERSTOOD AND THE PTB AT ELI’S HAVE GIVEN ME THE GREEN LIGHT TO LEAVE THE COUPON CODE UP. ALTHOUGH THE MISUNDERSTANDING COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED I MUST SAY THE LEVEL OF RESPONSIVENESS FROM THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM ON THE SITUATION WAS OUTSTANDING.

EDIT 2 - 08/01/08 - The coupon has expired so I have taken it down.

I need to lose weight. My friend sent me a link to a $10 coupon for an over the counter weight loss product, Before I was willing to try it I spoke with my doctor and asked him what reliable, safe products might be available over the counter. Some people would say they’d sooner try the product than waste their money going to a doctor first. But I think it’s good to check with a doctor for a couple of reasons. A doctor can tell you how products will interact with any prescription meds you’re taking, what side effects the products might have and how the products might effect existing health conditions. A doctor writing a prescription is different than a company marketing something you can buy over the counter. I mean, how do you know who to believe? Take a product like Alli. Their site offers testimonials and a $10 coupon. That sounds tempting, until you read a review of Alli (click to read) that makes you not want to take it. I don’t know aobut you but I’ll believe my doctor every time.

I can’t use this coupon, but maybe one of you can. I got an email today for 25% off of purchases made at The Top Secret. Not knowing what it was I went to the site, where I was greeted by a login area for members only. Curious, I did a little more reading and learned that The Top Secret is an invitation only website that offers sample sales. According to the email they’re currently having a handbag sale on 06/12-06/13/08. So, if any of you are members of The Top Secret and you purchase a handbag, enter the code “SECRET” when you checkout and you should receive $25 off your purchase. Since I’m not a member, I’d appreciate it if somebody would leave me a comment on what else they have going on there if you can.

Do you collect points or codes from soda products? How many soda manufacturers have these programs? I know Coke has offered My Rewards for quite a while now. I have a My Rewards account, but half the time if I have a code I can’t enter it because the printing isn’t clear enough to read. Today, I went on a quest looking for contests for an xbox 360. My son’s been really wanting one for a long time. Anyway. While searching I found out that Mountain Dew also has a program to collect codes from their products. Not being a soda drinker I don’t know if they do theirs the same as Coke. Are their codes legible? Just wondering. Sometimes I think that the codes are purposely made hard to read so less people win.

I found out today that I have the opportunity to take part in another online Treasure Hunt sponsored by Jewel Elegance this week. I was in one of their online treasure hunts last month and had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it looks like I won’t be able to join this one because it’s in the middle of the day and I’ll be at work. I heard there will be more online treasure hunts coming up, so it’s ok if I don’t get in on this one. I did learn something new just by receiving an invitation. Jewel Elegance carries military rings and other military jewelry, which is something I’m sure my brother in the Navy might be interested in. Go check out Jewel Elegance. They have lots of nice things. Don’t forget, Mother’s Day is almost here! Are you ready? If you still have shopping to do, be sure to use coupon code THTM10P801321 in order to receive 10% off a purchase at Jewelelegance.com. Happy shopping!

This past week I participated in Bloggy Giveaways. Two of the giveaways I ran were for a total of twenty coupons for free yogurt. The terrific response made me realize that this coupon was a very good one because it was worth a couple of dollars. That and because it’s a healthier type of food, people could eat it without needing to get into corsets. Anyway, I got to thinking about all of the coupons I’ve found and/or cut, and realizing few had a value as great as the ones I’d just given away. I was wondering, what is the best coupon you’ve ever found?

My sons and I tried something new this week, Yoplait Kids Yogurt. This yogurt was designed especially for young children as a healthy snack. Kids enjoy the taste of Yoplait Kids while adults enjoy that it has 25% less sugar than the leading brand of kids yogurt and contains vitamins, protein and Omega 3 DHA which helps promote brain development. It is available as a yogurt drink or in a cup. If you live anywhere in the United States except for CA, ID, LA, NV, NJ, ND and TN you can request a free sample of Yoplait Kids yogurt just by filling out and submitting the request at www.yoplaitkids.com. I will be posting a review of Yoplait Kids yogurt on Val’s Views shortly.