February 16, 2009 Meeting

Our Show & Tell meetings are always popular, with members bringing in anything that they find interesting.    

Sharon Smith has presented a list of links to sites that will save us $$$ on purchases that we make every day.  Sharon's links are shown below on this page.  

Members also contributed a link to http://woot.com, where they sell only one item a day at a deep discount.  Locally, there is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LenaweeFreecycle/ where you can either find something you want or get rid of something that you no longer need.  http://wlen.com has an excellent classified page, neatly categorized with most items having digital pictures.  Contact information is provided by the seller.  You can also list something that you need on this site and see if you can find a seller.

Paul Hover gave a detailed demonstration of a "Black Box" that plugs into the diagnostic socket of any vehicle made since 1996.  He compared the information obtained as being similar to the information available from airplane flight recorders, but on a scaled down basis. 

 

www.ebates.com  When you do your online purchasing through this website, you get cash back in the form of periodic checks.
www.vitacost.com  Lowest priced EXCELLENT website for vitamins, supplements, and eco-friendly and organic bath/body products (if you get to Vitacost through ebates.com, you save even more, this is what I do)  Shipping is only $4.99 per order.  Great service, quick shipping.
Subscribe to the online email lists for any stores I regularly shop at, they often send out discounts, sales, and coupons
Whenever ordering online, you can almost always find a coupon code for a discount.  Simply google something like: "coupon code" "kohl's"   and then look through the results and you are sure to find at least a 15% off, up to 30% off at times.  Also, there are "free shipping" coupon codes you can use on top of that if you use your Kohl's charge.  This can be done for most online stores.  One of these websites I often use is www.retailmenot.com.
I have heard www.couponmom.com is a good coupon website, but I have not gotten into using many online coupons yet.
Instead of buying books, search Amazon.com for best reviewed in that topic.  Then go online to your library's website and request whatever books you like (for free, without a trip to the library, except to pick up).  Often, libraries also link up to larger library share networks too (or interlibrary loan), where you can get nearly any book you like.  Sometimes I do this to look at a book before I decide whether to buy it.
Craig's List http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites is a great place to buy or sell used items of almost any kind in your local area.  We've gotten many good deals on furniture and other items that way.  Also a good way to sell.
We use our Chase Freedom Visa credit cards as a way to earn cash back.  We have one account for each of us, more cash back.  You get a percentage back for whatever you spend on the credit card (of course you have to pay it off each month).  We usually make around $30/month.  We wait til we have $200 in rewards and can cash in for $250.  Here's info about it:
"You earn 3% cash back automatically on purchases in the 3 everyday categories where you spend the most each month.* There are 15 categories in all. Your spending habits may change from month to month — the triple rewards you earn for them will stay the same. You also earn 1% cash back per dollar on all other purchases. Here are the categories:
Gas Stations & Convenience Stores
Grocery Stores
Quick Service & Fast Food Restaurants
Utilities (Gas, Electric, etc.)
Drugstores
Cable/Satellite TV & Internet Providers
Department Stores
Pet Stores & Veterinarian
Phone/Cell Phone Bills
Movie Theatres
Gym Memberships
Beauty Salons & Spas
Movie Rentals
Dry Cleaners
Local Commuting
You have a choice when it comes to rewarding yourself:
Reach $50 in rewards and redeem for a $50 check, or
Save up $200 in rewards and redeem for a $250 check – that’s a $50 bonus! (I do this for the extra $50)
With Chase Freedom, you have the freedom to reward yourself the way you want to. You can change your mind and switch your rewards to earn points instead of cash back. You can redeem your points for rewards like gift cards to popular restaurants and retailers, travel, brand-name merchandise or a charitable contribution. To switch, just click on the ‘Switch to Earn Points’ link.
My mom/dad use another credit card just for their gas, get even a higher percentage back.  You can ask her the type of card.
We buy an Entertainment book from http://www.entertainment.com/discount/home.shtml each year.  Just use it a couple times to make it worth the money.  We always save far more than that on restaurants, events, stores etc.  Also they have additional deals online once you have bought the book.
www.pricegrabber.com to find the lowest price website whenever wanting to buy something online.
The Internet is a great resource for shopping around, rather than needing to do it in store.  Can find the best reviewed type of a product for the best price.
I ALWAYS check reviews anymore before buying almost anything.  www.amazon.com www.epinions.com
www.slickdeals.net is a good website that tells you about great deals all the time
www.yorkphoto.com has always had the best price I've found for developing pictures.
Pay bills online to save stamps.
Before going to any restaurant, look for coupons online (google or the restaurant's website).
If you have a Sam's or Costco membership, often they have excellent prices for items they carry, plus easily returnable.  If you are shopping for an item online, check www.samsclub.com or www.costco.com to see if they have it.
Know the right times of year to buy clothes online.  Kohls.com is always the best deal I've ever found, esp. with the 20-30% off and free shipping coupons.  Especially if you look in the Clearance section of their website (where I buy most things).  But nearly every clothing store has great deals at certain times of the year.  I particularly look in EARLY FEBRUARY for final fall/winter clearance (80%), LATE JULY/EARLY AUGUST or so for final spring/summer clearance.