Veronica is not the only one! I saw this sign in Long Island.
Reader Veronica wrote in with a real problem – she is limited to what coupons she can use. She writes:
No store where I live accepts coupons from internet, only newspaper or from retailer. By the way, I live in Port St. Lucie, fl.
There are five things Veronica can do.
1. Start a coupon train to get more coupons from newspapers. In a nutshell, a coupon train is when 5-10 clippers mail each other the coupons they cannot use. The packet goes from one person or “station” to the next person in the group. You take out what coupons you want, and add what you cannot use.
2. Buy coupons from (more…)
SkyMall.com
My least favorite thing about flying is SkyMall. I’ll put up with stinky closet-bathrooms, screaming jet engines, and ear aches, just please banish SkyMall.
The items and prices in this catalog are so ridiculous, it’s an affront to my bargain sensibility. I mean, who really shops at SkyMall? Have you EVER purchased something from SkyMall? What would compel you to shop there? Please enlighten me. I really don’t understand who would pay $59.95 for a bug vacuum.
I’m writing about SkyMall because one of my favorite things about flying – GoGo Wireless in-flight Internet – has partnered with my flight nemesis (more…)
By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of Bobbisbargains.
donation receipts
It’s tax preparation time; the time of year when you get rewarded for all of your efforts of having a yard sale and then donating the leftover items to charity. You diligently got your donation receipt and filed it away with a detailed list of what you donated. Good job!
Now you have one very important last step. You need to determine how much you can deduct on your taxes for everything you donated. IRS Publication 526 “Charitable Contributions” explains how to claim a deduction for charitable contributions. And IRS Publication 561 “Determining the value of donated property” says you may deduct the Fair Market Value of the item.
Fair Market Value (FMV) is defined as “the price that property would sell for on the open market.” So, how do you determine the price someone would pay for the sweater your Aunt Martha gave you for Christmas five years ago? Fortunately, there are several sites that will help you on this pricing journey. (more…)
I know I just gave away more than 100 prizes totaling well over $1,000 to celebrate BargainBabe.com’s two-year anniversary, but I just realized we have almost 10,000 email subscribers. So I couldn’t help but throw another contest to thank everyone!
The prizes include:
- $100 Amazon gift card
- Six copies of H&R Block’s At Home Premium tax prep software (priced at $49.95). Federal filing fees are included; state fees apply. Donated by H&R Block.
- Free 30-day fitness boot camp at Tiger Fitness LA (worth $299) donated by Spaphile, an LA spa discount site.
To win, join my daily or weekly email list AND leave a comment about which prize you want to win. This ensures that people who really want to win, have a BIG chance of winning. Keep in mind the boot camp takes place in Los Angeles. If you want to be in the running to win every prize, that’s okay too!
The contest ends Monday, Feb. 14 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Winners will be announced the next day.
This post was brought to you by Diesel Link. For even more Fuel savings use a Fuel Card, Diesel Link have a wide range of fuel cards to choose from.
A company called MyGallons.com offers regular drivers like you and me an intriguing way to save money. Buy gasoline at today’s rates and then use the fuel as needed. It sounds like a huge money-saving opportunity, but the process is semi-complicated.
You pay MyGallons upfront for the gas, including a 6-cent per gallon surcharge MyGallons takes to cover costs, then fill up at any station. MyGallons reimburses you for as many gallons as you pre-purchased.There are multiple ways to get reimbursed and you can buy as many – or as little – gasoline as you like. Joining costs $30 for one vehicle, plus $10 per year for each additional vehicle (up to 4).
Would you hedge your bets against rising gas prices with MyGallons? First consider these factors.
Pros
Ends result is great if (more…)
Click below for an Auntie Anne's pretzel coupon!
Holy guacamole – 15 coupons and freebies total today!
Free sample of Emergen-C – Get a free sample of Emergen-C when you share a little info about yourself.
New grocery and DVD coupons – Coupons.com just released a ton of high value grocery coupons and coupons for DVDs, including $4 off Eat Pray Love Blu-ray or DVD, $4 off The Karate Kid Blu-ray or DVD, $4 off Grownups Blu-ray or DVD, and $3 off Mr. and Mrs. Smith on Blu-ray or DVD.
Robitussin coupon – Get $1 off cough syrup with this Robitussin coupon. (more…)
Illustration by OConnorCartoons.com
UPDATE: All three winners of this contest have replied and claimed their prizes.
The winners of the Cheep-sponsored contest to win $150, $100, and $50 Visa gift cards have 48 hours to claim their prize or the loot goes to the first runner up, and so on. If you haven’t checked out Cheep, it is a social shopping experience that shares reviews and ratings for specific products you want from the Cheep community.
And the winners are… (more…)
Illustration by OConnorCartoons.com
Free glasses in CA – If you live in California, mark your calender for Feb. 10, 2011. That’s when CoastalContacts is giving away 10,000 pairs of free glasses.
Free Sears photos - Get a free photo collage at Sears. A reader complained that she was charged a fee even with a free photo coupon, so call ahead and confirm before you sit for photos that the deal is truly free.
Free oatmeal or coffee - Get free coffee, cappuccino, hot chocolate or tea with this Pilot Travel centers coupon. (more…)
calamity_Sal/Flickr
I summarized this list of 17 healthy and cheap food items from the March 2011 issue of ShopSmart, one of my favorite magazines. I put the benefits of each food in parenthesis. How many of these foods do you eat regularly?
1. Cabbage – $.16 per serving (vitamin A and C). I eat cabbage raw as a salad with lemon juice and chopped cilantro, or with broken up Ramen noodles, almonds, tangerines, cooked chicken, and an Asian-style salad dressing.
2. Canned unsweetened pumpkin – $.38 per serving (beta carotene). Use in muffins, breads, and pancakes.
3. Dried (more…)
SnapTax from TurboTax
There is a new way to file your federal and state taxes that claims to be easy and cheap. Whip out your iPhone or Droid to download TurboTax’s SnapTax and then file your taxes from the palm of your hand. The app is free to download but costs $15 when you file. The $15 covers both your state and federal 1040-EZ return.
The way it works is that SnapTax takes a picture of your completed W-2 (yes, you still have to fill it out), asks a few questions about your status, checks your math, then presents you with a “File Now” button. Tap it to file your tax returns electronically.
This works great for folks who have very, very simple returns. The price tag – $15 for both returns – is not bad, though if you make less than $58,000 you can file your taxes for free on a computer. You can also mail in your returns for free. Just remember to make a copy for your files!
My returns are too complicated to use SnapTax, but would you take advantage of something like this?
Illustration by OConnorCartoons.com
What additional stores would you like to see featured? Leave a comment and I’ll do my best to include it!
Target - This week’s list of Target coupons includes three Valentine’s Day cards for as low as $2 with coupon, Quaker Instant Oatmeal for $.75 with coupon, and Vaseline Intensive Rescue Loation for $2 with coupon.
Staples – Hip 2 Save has not yet listed the hot Staples coupons this week. I hope she posts them soon as I have $24 in Staples Rewards to use! (more…)
Clover_1 / Flickr
This recipe was brought to you by JR Holland Fruit and Veg Wholesalers, Newcastle. JR Holland Food Wholesalers supply fresh fruit and fresh vegetables throughout the North East of England covering Durham, Gateshead and Newcastle. Enjoy the easy vegetable soup recipe!
This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.
Soups are a must during the cold winter months, especially if you are fighting a cold like I am. I’ve been using this recipe from Everyday Food and have tweaked it to suit my taste. I use the recipe as a base and add different vegetables and spices depending on what I’m in the mood for. So you can make this soup with a vegetable of your choice. When I make it with butternut squash I add cinnamon and nutmeg to bring out its flavor.
You can sip these soups with warm bread or serve them as a side with half a sandwich. The best thing about these soups is that they freeze well. For more options, try my pumpkin soup or my cheap lentil soup.
Ingredients (more…)
I share five must read blog posts about saving money every Friday.
I’m not a payday lender. But I play one on TV. If you only read one post today, make it this one loaning money to a hard up friend from Surviving and Thriving.
Grocery coupon aggregator - Lozo.com, one of my favorite money-saving sites, has launched a new tool that lets you search and find coupons from Coupons.com, Redplum, and SmartSource from one page! They’re calling it a coupon bundler and you can click and print whichever coupons you want from all three sites without having to go to each individual site. Pretty nifty!
4 ways to sneak in vegetables - Mrs. Accountability shares four dishes where she routinely sneaks in vegetables that are about to expire. These also apply if you are trying to get your family to eat more greens!
Grocery checklists – The grocery planning and shopping site Ziplist just added grocery checklists, so you can create your own list of items you regularly buy or use one of their themed ones (like a Steeler’s Super Bowl Party or a Packer’s Super Bowl Party).
10 signs you are spending too much - Are you spending too much? Find out how many of the 10 signs of overspending are true for you. (The Digerati Life)
Auctioneer with a funny T-shirt. Credit: rochelle, et al/Flickr
Ripped open my latest copy of ShopSmart (March 2011), the magazine put out by Consumer Reports, only to find a bizarre tip on saving money on groceries. Auctions?!!!! Here’s how it works.
Supermarkets and warehouses reject pallets of food because one or two boxes are damaged, or they have overstock to unload. Grocery prices at auctions can be amazing. ShopSmart saw three DiGiorno Cheese Stuffed Crust Three Meat Pizzas for $14 – that’s half off what you’d pay at your local grocery store – and Kellogg’s Rice Crispy Treats were 78% lower than Amazon.
Sites like AuctionZip.com and Craigslist have listings for auctions that detail the contents to be sold, including groceries. Make sure to check the local auction rules so you know what rules to play by.
ShopSmart recommends using a smartphone app like RedLaser or Google Shopper to compare prices on the spot. These apps work by scanning the product’s UPC bar codes and looking up prices at online merchants.
Review “sell by,” “use by” and “best by” dates so you know how quickly you need to eat or freeze an item. Auctions can go quite late so bring coffee and a cooler to stash perishables that you win!
I paid $1.66 for each Anthropologie bowl, orig. $5 each.
Anthropologie is one of my favorite stores but because its stylish clothes are so pricey, I only shop there once a year. (Okay, maybe twice. It’s kind of like Nordstrom. If I enter the store, I will find something way over budget and convince myself to buy it.) But shopping at Anthropologie doesn’t have to be expensive. Here’s how I got an amazing deal.
1. Sign up for the Anthro card, which tracks your purchases so if you lose a receipt, the store can retrieve the price you paid. Friends and family can put a digital receipt on your card, too, if they buy you a gift.
2. Register your (more…)
