Cats And Coupons

Here’s a neat site for those of you that research prices and wait to buy things until they are selling at a price acceptable to you. The site is WishRadar. To use it sign up for a free account. Then input items you want, or import your wish list from Amazon. When the price of an item drops to the price you’ve specified you’ll get an email notifying you. That’s it. One item that we need is outdoor chair cushions. But I always think they’re too expensive for something that will only be used 3-4 months out of the year so I don’t buy them. If I put the cushions and outdoor furniture covers on my list now and use WishRadar I might actually find cushions at a reasonable price.

Price Protectr is a price protection service that allows users to register, or list, online purchases made from any of 134 stores. It’s free to use. All you have to do is put in the url of where you bought the item and your email address. If the price drops you’ll receive an email notification so you can request a refund. There’s also a deals page that allows you to put in keywords and be notified of new price drops. It’s an interesting concept.

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.

One of my local grocery stores offers discounted items in the back of the store. In one corner near the deli there’s a couple of shelves with discounted bread. Most of the time the bread is a day old. Further along the store, near the middle of the back, is a table where you will find products that are being discontinued. Discounted meats are sold from the meat case obviously, usually they have a sell by date of that day. In the other corner is a group of bins containing discounted or damaged health/beauty and pet products such as expiring flea collars and acne creams, and anything that’s been dented or dinged. Usually the savings is between 25-50 percent off of retail. Does your grocery store have bargain bins?

Yes, that’s right. The title said where to get free sterling silver jewelry. You can get it at the Silver Jewelry Club. I saw this mentioned on the Today show and had to check it out. This site offers free pieces of sterling silver jewelry, all they ask is that you pay a small shipping charge. I ordered a piece and it’s quite pretty, well worth the few dollars I paid for shipping. They only sell a number of pieces at a time and the inventory is always changing so if you’re a jewelry lover you’ll want to bookmark the site. Visit SilverJewelryClub.com and get your free Sterling Silver jewelry today.

Don’t wait until the last minute to get a passport. Passport processing takes some time. My parents just got theirs and because time was a factor for them they paid some extra fees. If you’re not in a hurry you can spend less by getting regular processing (4 weeks), rather than the expedited processing (2 weeks) my parents needed. Another way to save money is to compare prices on where you get your photos. Passport photos can be taken in my places from professional photographers to department type stores to drugstores. Taking the photos yourself is not advised.

There’s a good time and a bad time to buy many items. Any item that can’t be used regularly year round should be bought in it’s off season. For example, buy snow skiing equipment at the end of winter. Buy patio furniture after the beginning of fall. This works for clothing too, if you’re willing to buy several seasons ahead. Shop clothing clearance racks for clothes for your children for next year. It’s all in the timing. I truly believe that you don’t have to pay full price for most things.

Do you like to camp? Have you not gone camping but think you’d enjoy it? Want to save some money? Now’s your chance. KOA is holding Come Camp & Care With Us Weekend this weekend,  May 9-10. Campgrounds all over the country are participating, so there’s a good chance there’s one near you. All you have to do is pay to camp for the night of Friday May 9 and you’ll receive the night of Saturday May 10 for free.  To learn more about the non profit Care Camps, visit www.koacarecamps.com. To find the KOA nearest you participating in the free night giveaway visit http://koa.com/comecampwithus/list.htm.