FREE Will & Trust Kit from Suze Orman

From now until Saturday, Oct 3rd, you can download a FREE Will & Trust Kit from Suze Orman's website.

From Suze Orman in O Magazine:

Create the Four Most Loving Documents in Existence

One of the most tragic disconnects I see is when someone tells me she loves her family to pieces but hasn't set up these four must-have documents: a revocable living trust, a will, a durable power of attorney for finances, and a durable power of attorney for healthcare. I realize these don't sound like a "small" undertaking, since estate lawyers may charge $2,500 to create them. That's why I am thrilled that O readers can download a free copy of my Will & Trust Kit from Hay House for one week. Go to the Will & Trust Kit page on SuzeOrman.com from September 27 to October 3, 2009. Then click on the Gift Code button and enter code 898989.

Expires Saturday, Oct 3, 2009.

A great big shout out to my Uncle Jon for this tip!

The Bargainista

FREE photobook at Walgreens

If you become a fan of Walgreens on Facebook by Friday, Oct 2nd, you will receive a free 5x7 photobook (just pay shipping). Details will come on Oct 2nd.

Become a Walgreens Facebook fan now!

The Bargainista

Restaurant.com AGAIN

Restaurant.com is again running a great promotion! If you missed out on getting some certificates at 90% off, you can now get some at 80% off by using the code CHEF ! Be sure to go through ebates first for 15% cash back. You can even get a $5 bonus just for signing up for ebates and making a qualified purchase (this one qualifies!). Here's how...

1. Sign up here for an ebates account with $5 bonus: Ebates sign up
2. On the ebates website, click on the "Stores" tab, find Restaurant.com and click on the "Shop Now" button next to it.
3. On Restaurant.com, find the restaurant(s) you want to purchase from and add them to your cart. Be sure to read the fine print first!
4. When on the shopping cart page, enter the discount code "CHEF" and check out when you're ready, you can pay with credit card or even Paypal.

Keep in mind that the restaurant specific certificates expire 1 year from purchase.

If you are unsure on which restaurants you want, but don't want to miss out on this great deal, you can purchase generic Restaurant.com certificates. They will stay in your account indefinitely until you want to use them - they NEVER expire! You can purchase them by going to the "Give a Gift" tab and choosing the denomination ($25 for $10, $50 for $20, etc). When you enter the discount code CHEF at checkout it will bring down the price by 80%.

You will find more restaurants available at the beginning of each month - each restaurant only has so many restaurant.com certificates they will sell each month and once they sell out for the month you can't even see them as an option. Since this is the end of the month (and the CHEF code expireson 9/30), I would recommend buying the generic certificates and then checking the restaurant list on Oct 1 (or the beginning of whatever month you think you want to use a certificate).

Offer expires Wednesday, Sept 30th @ midnight.

Yum on the cheap!

The Bargainista

Museum Day this Saturday

This Saturday, Sept 27th is Museum Day. Many Smithsonian Museums nationwide will be offering free admission! Go here: Museum Day 2009 to read details and download your free admission card.

Locally, the following museums are participating:

Omaha:
Durham Museum

Lincoln:
International Quilt Study Center and Museum
Nebraska History Muesum
Sheldon Museum of Art
University of Nebraska State Museum

Ashland (just off I-80, between Omaha & Lincoln):
Strategic Air & Space Museum

There are tons more museums participating in Nebraska (and across the nation), but those are the only ones in Omaha/Lincoln.

To see what museums are participating in your state, check the list of participating vendors on the Smithsonian website. At the bottom of the page you can search by state.

The Bargainista

Great Magazine Deals

Amazon has several 2-year magazine subscriptions available for only $5-10 (depending on the mag). When you go to the links below, the prices are are $5 higher, but then $5 will come off instantly when you checkout. You can order a new subscription or add onto an existing subscription by using the same information as the current subscription. These 2-year bargains will expire at the end of September.

Redbook magazine 2-years for only $5, so $2.50 per year!

Marie Claire magazine 2-years for only $5, so $2.50 per year!

Seventeen magazine 2-years for only $7.00, so $3.50 per year!

Good Housekeeping 2-years for only $10, so $5 per year!

Amazon's Weekly Magazine Steal this week is for In Style magazine for $5 for 1-year. Save about $45 off newstand price! You can order a new subscription or add onto an existing subscription by using the same information as the current subscription. There are no strings attached, this is just Amazon's weekly steal. This price is good for one week and will expire this Saturday (the 26th) at 11:59 pm.

All magazine orders from Amazon have free shipping, but they also qualify towards your total for free super saver shipping (if there's something else you want to order from Amazon).

Target - 75% off School supplies

Target has marked remaining school supplies to 75% off! This includes notebooks, filler paper, backpacks, lunch bags and specially marked Funtainers. I LOVE the Funtainers - they are made by Thermos and are stainless steel straw sippy cups with cute designs on them. I picked up 6 today, all girly ones of course! These are the ones I got:

Hello Kitty 091100688
Barbie 091100669
Disney Princesses 091100671
Littlest Pet Shop 091100694
pink monkey 091100687
ni hao, kai-lan 091100679

The number to the right is the item number (Target calls this the DPCI). You can input this number here and click through to eventually put in your zip code and check inventory at your local stores:

http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/mobile.jsp

The first two (Hello Kitty & Barbie) you can click on the following links to check local inventory (input your zip):

Hello Kitty check inventory
Barbie check inventory

The Bargainista

The Secret to Consignment Sale Shopping

Spring and fall are my favorite seasons of the year. Not just because the weather is beautiful, not too hot and not too cold, but also because it's consignment sale time! As I said in my last post, at a children's consignment sale you can find everything you need for a baby all the way up to your teenagers! You can even find stuff pre-baby such as maternity clothes. And best of all you can sell your own stuff that you no longer want and get good money for it. I've shopped the consignment sales for the last 5 years or so and a couple of years ago I figured out the real secret to getting the best deals.

You have to think of a consignment sale as one big garage sale. Everyone knows that the way to get the best stuff from a garage sale is to be there right when they open, after all the early bird gets the worm, right? A consignment sale is the same way. In my below post for the Take2 sale I posted the hours they are open, they opened to the public today at 10:00am. Notice I said, "to the public" - because prior to the 10:00am start time today, there had already been hundreds of people through there that shopped at the sale and scoooped up the best stuff! As a consignor, you get to preshop the sale before the general public. In fact, at most consignment sales I've particiapted in , you get two passes to get into the consignor preshopping, so you can bring a friend!

BUT...even before the consignors shop, there is one more group that gets to preshop...the volunteers. When you volunteer for a consignment sale, you get the absolute first pick of all the items for sale. I spent 4 hours on Sunday afternoon organizing toys at the sale. I then got to go back the following day, along with all of the other volunteers, and preshop the sale for a whole 2 hours before they even let the consignors in! And when 1/2 price day comes (Saturday), the volunteers again get to have first pick of all the 1/2 price items.

I've always gotten good deals at consignment sales, but since I started volunteering to work at them, I've gotten great deals! :) Plus, there are other benefits to volunteering. At Take2, when you volunteer at least 4 hours, you get to preshop the sale, plus you get an extra 5% back on what you sell. In a couple of weeks, The Kidz Shoppe will be having their consignment sale. When you volunteer at least 8 hours at The Kidz Shoppe, you get to preshop the sale and you get your consignment fee waived.

Maybe I'm strange, but I actually enjoy the volunteer time. It's very gratifying to me to organize things and make everything look nice for the shoppers. For some reason it's easier to organize other people's things than my own! And it gives me the chance to socialize with other adults, and it gives the hubby time along with our girls, too. A win/win all the way around!

The Bargainista

FREE portrait package from The Picture People

Once again, The Picture People is offering a great deal! You will get a portrait session, one 8x10, two 5x7s, and eight wallet size portraits of the same image for FREE! You can get your coupon for this here on the Picture People website.

Offer expires 10/4/09.

Fine print: A portrait package consists of one 8x10, two 5x7's and eight wallet sized portrait sheets of the same image. Not valid on existing orders, reprints, CD's, enhancements, frames or special orders. 25 for $25 discount is valid only for the first 25 invitations or thank you cards ordered. Standard pricing applies to additional quantities. Offer valid in-studio only. Coupon cannot be used in combination with this or any other offer and must be presented and redeemed at time of session/purchase. Limit one coupon redemption (this or similar offer) per person or family/group during event period dates (09/14/09 - 10/04/09). Offer expires 10/04/09. © 2009 The Picture People. All rights reserved.

No purchase necessary!

The Bargainista

Take 2 Consignment Sale begins 9/16

The Take 2 Kids Sale begins tomorrow! This is one of my favorite sales, they always have plenty of stuff that I just "have to have". Everything you need for a baby can be found at this sale: strollers, carseats, cribs, toys, books, clothes (including coats & halloween costumes!), shoes, outdoor playsets, nursery furniture, the list goes on and on!

Location:
90th & Maple, on the northwest side next to Dollar Tree (old Hancock Fabrics bldg)

Hours:
Wed Sept 16: 10:00am - 7:00pm
Thur Sept 17: 10:00am - 7:00pm
Fri Sept 18: 10:00am - 7:00pm
Sat Sept 19: 10:00am - 5:00pm (1/2 price sale!!)

More consignment sales will be taking place in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for my next post: "The Secrets of Consignment Sale Shopping".

The Bargainista

$10 off Juniors dept at Sears

EDIT: It looks like Sears is pulling this coupon, claiming someone hacked their website, so they probably won't accept it in stores. If you have Seventeen magazine, there is a coupon in there (the same one) and they SHOULD accept that one. OR, if you go to the store and use their computers there to find what you want online, you can then ship your order to your home for FREE. Online, you can only use the coupon in the juniors section on regular and sale merchandise (won't work on online clearance).

Save $10 on a purchase from the Juniors department at Sears. No minimum purchase indicated, just that it has to be from the Juniors dept, so find something for $10 and just pay tax! Here is the link to the coupon on Sears website:

Sears $10 off coupon

Fine print: For ordering online at sears.com, use coupon code 17SEARSAPPAREL No minimum purchase. Savings apply to juniors’ apparel only. Not valid on Lands’ End merchandise, Outlet Store purchases and catalog orders. One coupon per purchase, not valid on prior purchases. Discount is applied before sales tax and cannot be used with any other coupon or associate discount. Void where prohibited by law. Any other use constitutes fraud. Cash value 1/20 cent. In an event of a return, coupon savings may be deducted from your refund. ©Sears Brands, LLC. Sales associate: If unable to scan manually enter the coupon number. Valid 9/15 thru 11/14/09 in the USA only.

The Bargainista

Save with EBATES at Restaurants.com !

If you're going to take advantage of the 90% off sale that restaurants.com is offering (see post below), don't forget to go through ebates.com - you'll get 15% back on your purchase!

Ebates is a website that offers cash back on your purchases at over 1,000 retailers online. It is free to use and pays you cash (check or paypal) once a quarter if you have earned at least $5.01 cash back. If you don't earn at least $5.01 cash back, your balance will remain in your account and roll over to the next quarter. You won't ever lose your balance, it will remain there until you earn at least $5.01 and then they automatically send it to you at the end of the quarter.

If you sign up from my link, you will earn a $5 bonus deposited into your account (not counted toward your $5.01 needed to cash out):

$5 bonus for signing up for ebates here

Once you have an ebates account, you can use it at 1,000s of other online retailers. Simply go to the ebates website, search for the store you want to buy from, then click on it and ebates will create a tracking ticket, and everything you buy at that time, you will receive cash back on the purchase! Each store specifies how much cash back you receive. Sometimes ebates has coupons you can use in addition to the cash back, so keep you eye out for that as well. :)

Shop online. Save money!

The Bargainista

90% off @ Restaurant.com

To celebrate 9-9-09, for 99 hours (starting midnight PDT), Restaurant.com is offering 90% off the purchase of gift certificates. This means you can get a $25 gift certificate for only $1.00 !! Now be sure to read the fine print - most of the restaurants require that your bill is at least $35 to use the $25 gift certificate, so you'll end up spending a minimum of $10 + tip at the restaurant. Still a great deal! Check it out here:

www.restaurant.com

Enter promotional code NINETY at checkout for the 90% discount. Eat, drink, save money!

The Bargainista

Coupon Organization

Since there weren't any coupons in this weeks paper (due to the holiday, in case you're wondering), I thought I would take the time to share how I organize all my coupons.

I was spending too much time clipping & organizing coupons, so this is what I decided to do. If a coupon comes out that I want more than just a few of, I will buy them from either ebay, mycouponhunter.com, thecouponclippers, or thecouponmaster. For instance, I bought 20 Yo-Plus yogurt coupons for $1.00 off a 4-pack on ebay for $1.50 toal (including shipping!). This is a great deal for us as we buy tons of yogurt and we can freeze it.

This how I organize my coupons:

• I get 3 copies of each weeks coupons (we get the paper delivered and my mom gets both Lincoln's & Omaha's paper and she gives me her coupons.)
• Put the date on the front with a big black marker. The date is always in very small font on the outside spine of each insert.
• I flip through them quickly and cut only the coupons I already know I will use (yogurt coupons mostly)
  
• File the coupons by date in an expandable file folder. I have 2 so I can keep about 4 months worth of inserts which should be long enough until all coupons in that insert are expired.
• When there is a sale, or I find out about a deal, or I see clearance items, I use an online coupon database to look up if there are any coupons and then I pull the correct insert and clip the coupon. I use this database: http://www.afullcup.com/coupons/
• To use the database, type in a keyword (try yogurt) in the "description" field and click "submit".
• Look through the list and when you find a coupon you are interested in, look in the "Coupon Type" column. If it came out in the newspaper, the source will say "Sunday Supplement" followed by a date and either "SS' or "RP" or "PG" or "GM" (If it says printable, you can click on the description and go print it!)
• For instance it may say "Sunday Supplement 8-1-10 SS". This means it came out on Aug 1, 2010 in the SmartSource insert. The front of the insert will say "Smart Source" usually along the top.
• There are 4 sponsored inserts:
• SS = SmartSource (pretty much every week)
• RP = RedPlum (pretty much every week)
• GM = General Mills (not very often)
• PG = Proctor&Gamble (once a month)

For the coupons I clip, I keep 2 letter size organizers, one is for food and the other is for everything else such as HBA, cleaning supplies, store coupons, etc. These two organizers are kept in my car most of the time and I can carry them into the store if I think I need them.

I have a small 3rd organizer that I keep in my purse that is organized by store. I found that as I was preparing for a shopping outing, I liked having my coupons organized by store so I wouldn't forget anything on each trip. I was carrying around envelopes of coupons for each store, so I custom made an organizer that I love - it has spots for Target, Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, misc stores and receipts. You could do the same thing with a small coupon organizer, often found in the dollar section of Target, or at Dollar Tree.

When your expandable file folders are full, it's time to start purging the oldest inserts. You can either flip through and check the expiration date on each coupon, or you can first check here:

www.taylortownpreview.com

Taylortown Preview lists all the coupons that came in each insert, and they have a master list of all current (unexpired) coupons, organzed by insert. Click on the link above and then scroll down to find the insert you're looking for. If the insert is not even listed. then all the coupons in it are expired, so toss the insert. If the insert is listed and there is only 1 or 2 coupons listed in it, flip through your insert, see if your region received that coupon (not all regions receive all coupons, the larger the city, the more likely it received the coupon). If you find the unexpired coupon, clip it and file it in your small letter size organizer, then toss the insert.

This all sounds like a lot of work, but really, it's much easier than clipping and filing all coupons each week. You will have to spend an hour or two every few months to purge the old inserts, but your weekly efforts will be low as you simply clip a couple coupons, write the date on the insert and file it away and you're done!

The Bargainista

Aerie Freebie

Every month on any Thursday you can go to an Aerie store & pick up a FREE gift - no purchase necessary! This month, you can get a FREE pair of Aerie boy brief or a thong ($7.50 value). You can sign up for reminders of each great deal here (scroll down, under the big pictures it says, "Sign up for email...", click the "sign-up" link).


If you can't make it in today, mark your calendar for next Thursday, or any Thursday this month!

The Bargainista

Swagbucks

Have you heard of Swagbucks? Maybe you've seen a post on Facebook talking about it but don't really know how it all works. Let me fill you in. Swagbucks is a website that will reward you with digital dollars (called "swagbucks") that you can then use to buy giftcards and other free fun things in the swag store. It's easy to earn bucks, just use their search engine like you normally would throughout the day, and when you win a buck it will show at the top of the search results. The best deal available for redemption right now is a $5 Amazon giftcard for 45 swagbucks. So far, I've redeemed $85 in Amazon giftcards! That's FREE MONEY right there for doing nothing that I wouldn't have done anyway! You can also redeem for $5 Paypal (70 swagbucks) and some other great stuff, but the best value is the Amazon giftcard.

Sign up is here: Swagbucks signup. And right now, you can earn an extra couple of bucks when you enter the following promotional code when signing up (promotion code valid through 9/10/09): phanscode1 (case sensitive). A non-member signing up with this promotional code will start off with 5 swagbucks in your account!

Tips for winning:

1. Download the swagbucks toolbar so it's easy to use and will always be at the top of your screen. Here's the toolbar to download: http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-plugins . The Swag Guy (otherwise known as TSG) will also randomly release free codes for bucks and the toolbar has a spot where you can see when he's notified you that there's a code. (More on this below.)
   
2. Search randomly, just like you normally would use a search engine. The more spread out your searches are (the more time inbetween each search), the more likely you will win bucks. So search a bit in the morning, a few at lunch, then some more in the evening.
   
3. Save regular websites that you visit as a swag search. For instance, I check our local Craigslist quite often, sometimes several times a day. So I did a swag search for "Omaha Craigslist" and then bookmarked the search results. Now, whenever I want to go to Craigslist, I just pick that swag search from my favorites list and then click through to Craigslist. It's one extra click that I have to do, but I've won several swagbucks just from that saved search. When you save the search, be sure to change the name so you know what it is! You can do this with so many websites, blogs, online stores, etc that you frequent and and it's just like a free search that you normally wouldn't make.
4. Invite your friends! When they sign up under you and win, you win also! You will get matching buck-for-buck for the first 100 swagbucks they win (not including codes posted by TSG). It's only one level deep, so you only get bucks for the people signed up directly underneath you.
5. Use multiple computers. I can't confirm this for sure, but from what I've read online, the searches you do are somehow tied to your actual computer you're using. So if I search from the laptop in the morning and win right away, I can then go to the desktop computer we have and do searches from there and also win bucks, even though I just won on the laptop!

The toolbar mentioned above is the latest new thing from Swagbucks, it was very recently introduced. It is compatible with Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari, but also has some very handy quick links to different parts of the Swagbucks website. If you download the new toolbar, EVERYDAY this month (September) they will release a special code to earn an additional free buck, allowing the opportunity for you to get an addtional 30 bucks in September! These codes are exclusive to the toolbar, there is no other way to get them, and they are account specific, so they can't be shared. Using this new toolbar is the best way to search and earn swagbucks easily and quickly!

The Bargainista

The Cutest Blog on the Block

Okay, so let's start with a quick and easy bargain. Don'tcha like my cute blog? Green is one of my favorite colors, it's so calming and reminds me of "life" and living things, both of which I'm a big fan. But I digress, back to the bargain. Do you see the little words in the upper left corner of my blog? They say, "cutest blog on the block". That's not just my own opinion of my blog, it's actually the name of a website that offers free backgrounds for blogs! So if you've ever wanted to start a blog, or maybe you already have one and want to change it up a bit, you can make it fancy for free! Just go to www.cutestblogontheblock.com and pick your background. She makes it really easy to install and walks you through the steps. If you do use her site, leave your blog address in the comments so I can see. Happy blogging!

The Bargainista

Welcome!

I love bargains. Sometimes it doesn't even matter what it is, if it's free or almost free, I'm going to get it, because there's always something I can do with it, or someone I can give it to.

Anyone who knows me at all, knows I will do anything to get a good deal.

So here I will be sharing the details of the great bargains you can find at Target, Walgreens, eventually CVS and other stores as the deals come about. But that's only one part of saving money - there are so many other things like crafts, homemade cleaning solutions, garage sales and more. Journey with me into the life of a Bargainista!

The Bargainista