Habitat for Humanity ReStore

Are you familiar with Habitat for Humanity? They are located across the United States and they build decent affordable housing worldwide for those in need.

"We are a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian ministry founded on the conviction that every man, woman and child should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live. We build with people in need regardless of race or religion. We welcome volunteers and supporters from all backgrounds."

It is a volunteer organization that sometimes finds itself overstocked on housing materials which they sell locally. You can great some great bargains on flooring, furniture, appliances and many other items in their retail locations called ReStores. You can also support the cause by shopping online for gifts & other merchandise.. Check to see where there is one near you and support a good cause while you support your wallet!

Ta ta for now...save money!

The Orange County Fair 2013 Discounts

It's time for the Orange County Fair,  July 12 - August 11, 2012! Here is a list of all of the specials just for you:

• Free Hour opening Day. Free admission and parking July 12 from Noon to 1pm.
• 2013 Super Pass - Daily admission for 23 days for one low price ($35.00/general, $30/Senior and $25/youth)
• We Care Wednesdays. Free admission noon to 4 pm with a donation.

1. July 17 - Food Drive noon to 4pm
2. July 24 - Children's Book Drive noon to 4pm
3. July 31 - Clothing Drive noon to 4pm
4. Aug 7 - School Supply Drive noon to 4pm

• Rise and Shine - $3.00 General admission every Saturday and Sunday 10am - 11 am.

You can also follow OC Fair specials and promotions by following them on facebook.

 Shop and check at your grocery stores to see if they are running a fair promotion!

Ta ta for now...save money!

Del Mar Fair 2012 Discounts

I'm a little late getting this posted, but if you are still looking for discounts and bargains for the Del Mar Fair which opened June 8th and runs through July 4th, check out the Fairground's Website.

They have an entire page filled with money saving ideas, travel tips and bargains.

Ta ta for now...save money!

Are Online Deals Really a Deal?

Are online deals really a deal? This crossed my mind today as I sorted through all the emails bombarding my inbox and tossed them into the trash one by one.

If you are in the market for whatever is being offered, maybe. If you are getting caught up in the moment on a limited time offer, probably not.

It is so important to always read the "fine print" associated with these offers. Therein lie the clues, parameters, blackout dates, exclusions, disclaimers and limits on the offer. Here are some important questions to find out before you hit that "buy now" button.

• When does the offer expire?
• Are there blackout dates?
• How many total are being sold?
• Are there any hidden costs such as freight to ship, and if so does it make the item un-affordable?
• Is tax included?
• Are there handling charges or surcharges?
• What is the return policy, if any exist at all? Some sites do have refund or replacement policies.
• How far in advance do you need to book?

Keep in mind that there are also some great discounts and offers to be found in all those junk mail circulars and ValPak coupons that hit your real mailbox! They are usually geared to your neighborhood, so you don't have to travel too far to use them and you are supporting your local economy.

Ta ta for now...save money!

Last Minute Spring Break Ideas

Did you want to get away for spring break, but you forgot to book something in advance. Here are some ideas and websites to check out for last minute savings.

• Travelzoo.com - check their tab labelled "last minute" for some money saving ideas.
• MouseSavers.com - A constantly updated website covering deals and discounts in Florida, Anaheim, San Diego and other theme park locations.
• LastMinuteCruises.com - With all the bad press that has been happening in the cruise industry, you might just score a bargain on this year's cruises!
• PriceTravel.com - If you are not afraid to travel to Mexico in light of all of the bad press from that country, you should check out the deals they are having! Check out their Hot Deals tab.
• CheapCaribbean.com - Beach lovers should check out the offerings in Bermuda, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic and Mexico.

Reading all these makes me want to get away!

Ta ta for now...save money!

Dinner & a Movie for 2 Only $22.00 until Monday, Jan. 9

BUY NOW  FOR THIS INCREDIBLE SAVINGS!

click: Dinner & a Movie for TWO: $22! 

Deal seeker bargain!  Now through Monday you can get a night of dinner and movies for two--for $22! You'll get a $50 Restaurant.com gift certificate plus two tickets to the movies for that incredible price. But you have to act fast--once this deal is gone, it's o-v-e-r.

Do you need a belated holiday gift or a January birthday coming up? How about a nice date night? This is the perfect package to snap up.

As always with Restaurant.com purchases, there will be some restrictions with the gift certificates. At most restaurants that simply means a minimum you must spend to use it. But the deals on these are worth the fine print!

Warby Parker Designer Frames and Eyeglasses

Have you ever heard of Warby Parker glasses? They have stylish frames and wonderful eyewear. A lot of celebrities wear their awesome glasses. Their website is very interactive and even allows you to upload your photo to enjoy a virtual "try on" of glasses you are considering. I tried it and it is very neat.

"The Warby Parker aesthetic is vintage-inspired, with a fashion forward twist - and every pair is custom fit with anti-reflective, polycarbonate prescription lenses.

Available exclusively through the Warby Parker website, our glasses retail for $95."

As my eyesight graduates from over-the-counter readers to prescriptions, I am definitely going to buy eyewear online from here! For every pair they sell, they also donate a pair to someone in need. What a great company.

They also have free shipping and home try-ons! 

Free Shipping in the US

Contiguous 48 states	FREE
Alaska & Hawaii	$15
Canada	$35/order
International	Not yet

Home Try-Ons. 5 pairs, 5 days, 100% free!

We'll send you up to 5 pairs of glasses to try on at home for 5 days free, we'll include a pre-paid return shipping label to send them back to us with no obligation to buy. Available to anyone in the contiguous 48 states.   LEARN MORE HERE >

Free Returns

We offer a no questions asked, 30 day free return policy from the day you receive your order. For US-based orders free return shipping is included. If you're not 100% satisfied with your new glasses for any reason, you can simply call or email us and we'll send you a pre-paid return shipping label allowing you to return your glasses for free. No questions asked.

Ta ta for now...

LA County Fair Update - COSTCO DISCOUNT 2014

Costco is selling a LA COUNTY FAIR DISCOUNT CARD! For $59.99 you can buy a Pass valid for four any-day fair admission during the Fair Season (Aug 29-Sept 28, 2014). This pass includes:

• 4 Any-Day admission tickets valid Aug. 29-Sept. 28, 2014
• 44 Ride passes
• 1 General parking pass
• Children ages 5 and younger free

What an incredible BARGAIN!

Check the LA County Fair website  for all their specials & discount offers for fair admissions! They include Ralph's Anyday tickets for $11.00, Wells Fargo, T-Mobile, Toyota,  Metrolink and Metro offers!

Read my previous blogs about details and specials during the Fair

FIFTY and THRIFTY: LA County Fair
FIFTY and THRIFTY: LA County Fair - Ralph's Discount

Ta Ta for now...save money!

The Truth About Dollar Stores

Even though everything for a dollar sounds like an incredible deal, the purchase at such a store does not necessarily make it a good buy.

Here is what is A DEAL:

• Party Supplies - paper goods, decor, invites, party favors and helium balloons with the helium included.
• Seasonal or Holiday items - paper goods, decorations inexpensive secret santa or gift exchange items.
• Greeting Cards - Birthday, Anniversary, Graduation, New Baby, Retirement or you name it. Nothing beats a $1.00 greeting card! Sometimes they are even less than a dollar and the sentiments and quality are comparable to the much more expensive cards.
• Cleaning Supplies - Even though they might not be the brand names that you are familiar with, read the contents and you will probably find that they have the same ingredients as the more expensive brands. They will suit your basic cleaning needs just fine and don't forget to pick up a few sponges and gloves!
• Gift Wrap - I love to buy beautiful or cute gift bags at the dollar store. They have so many sizes and colors available that you are bound to find the perfect one for your gift. I also love to pick up tissue paper to compliment the bags. If you like to wrap your gifts, they usually have a good selection of wrapping paper, tape, bows and ribbons.
• Cooking and Dining - if you are in the market for some inexpensive but reliable utensils, specialty gadgets, plates or glasses you are sure to find some here to suit your needs. It is especially helpful if you know someone just starting out that needs to furnish their first kitchen. You can get what you need without breaking the bank. Dollar stores are also a great place to buy lunch bags, plastic storage containers, baggies and bowls.
• Beauty Supplies - combs, brushes, hairspray, nail polish, emory boards and other nail care items are a great bargain. I would probably stick to name brands, however, on shampoo and conditioners.

Here is what is NOT A DEAL:

• Medications - such as aspirin, ibuprofen or other pain medications may be expired or may not list the source of manufacture. Look for coupons in your local paper and then price match them with sales at Target, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart or your local pharmacy. The same applies to vitamins.
• Canned foods and other food items - you can probably get better prices by buying store brands or by making your purchase at Target or Walmart. You might also want to note expiration dates for freshness. Sometimes movie candy can be a bargain, but be careful of the sizes. Some companies package smaller sizes especially for this market.
• Cake and baking mixes - for a true price comparison you would have to check the per unit pricing as some of the box mixes are packaged in smaller sizes.
• School supplies - pricing here is pretty comparable to prices at Target or Walmart, where the prices are even better during back to school sales July through September. It is a good place to find coloring books for those long road trips.
• Toys - the toys are usually low quality and the safety is questionable. I don't think that I would trust the origin of manufacture to have the same safety standards that we have here in the USA.
• Electronics - Dollar store electronics and extension cords may have fake UL labels and could be unsafe. It's better to spend a little extra for quality and safety. Also, cheap batteries may be prone to leakage and may not last as long. Some stores sell carbon-zinc batteries which are less efficient than the alkaline variety.

Ta Ta for now...

Back to College Shopping

Well, my daughter is back to college in Chicago next weekend. This semester she is sharing an apartment with two other girls, and of course to make things more challenging it comes unfurnished! Since we live on the West Coast I needed furniture that wouldn't break the bank.

She actually came up with a great idea, using an inflatable mattress. So I will share my shopping strategy with you. I first researched them on Upromise to see which stores would automatically give my purchase a 1 - 3% rebate. I also needed to learn a lot about different options since I knew nothing about air mattresses. We narrowed it down to 5, then 3, then 1 and the hunt began.

We really liked the Intex Queen Comfort Frame Air Mattress with pump in black. Linens&Things had it for $239.00 with free shipping, so that was my price point to beat. I found the same item at Target for 129.99, but it only came in grey and it wasn't available instock for 2-4 weeks. No good! Taking the brand name, I searched through PriceGrabber.com and found it at three other websites ranging from from 108.99-119.00 shipped. Along the way I found another wonderful comparison website, ShopWiki.com, which I have now added to my "favorites" for shopping. I ultimately bought it at BudgetAirbeds.com because they had the lowest price of $114.74 shipped. The web page offered  Google Checkout as a payment option and by opening an account I received an instant $5.00 off, bring the price down to $109.64.

So the end result? I went from $239.00 down to $109.64, a grand savings of $129.36! Now there's more to spend on bedding, a desk, rug and other incidentals. I will update you on how this website performs on shipping the product!

Ta Ta for now...

This is the style we ordered, but in black.

Filling in the Blanks!

Now that Christmas has past, it's time to fill in the blanks of presents not received but wanted! I don't mean to sound selfish, it's more like now that we have a new family wii game, I would really like to have the Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board to help me get started, or rather, ready for New Year's resolutions of getting in shape!

The wii was our big family present to ourselves and I love it! We only have the sports resort games that came with it right now, but we have been testing each game and learning how to move or set up the controls. It certainly keeps my mind working trying to figure out all of this new technology. My daughter would like to have Epic Mickey, so today I will begin my online search for the best deals. Hopefully there will be some good ones out there.

I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Ta Ta for now...

Deal Hunting

I have been checking facebook for discount advice, signed up for emails from my favorite vendors and have used retailmenot.com for additional coupon discounts while looking for Christmas bargains. Here is what I have come up with and used so far, although I can't give out too many item details because family members may be checking by my blog and I don't want to blow the surprise!

• I went to the Disney Store to buy one gift, and when I asked the clerk if they had the toy I was looking for he said no. When I told him my 20% discount would expire soon he gave me a coupon for free shipping online. So by shopping online I saved a total of $18.85! Not bad at all! 
• I received a free gift when I ordered my work paper supplies online at Staples. 
• I bought 8 pairs of semi-precious stone earrings valued at $479.60 and only paid for the shipping amount of $35.70. They will come in soon and I will see what kind of quality they are. Hopefully I won't be disappointed.
• I had a GAP 30% off discount code, but unfortunately I couldn't find anything I liked as gifts for others. I know that there will be more discounts coming up.
• I have an Urban Outfitter code that I am waiting to use in the next couple of days. Just waiting to see if something better than 10% off shows up!
• I collected 2 perfume samples which wasn't a total bust because that was the day I got the free shipping coupon from the Disney Store

Despite my dislike of shopping, especially going to malls and hunting for parking, I have manage to capitalize on some savings. A lot of it has to do with the challenge of bargain hunting!

Ta Ta for now...

Loving My Facebook Discounts!

I love the discounts that are showing up on facebook! It is now so much easier to feel "in the know" about bargains, and I am sure that there are a lot more out there that I don't even know about. Today I used my 50% off Old Navy outerwear coupon and bought a jacket with a hood for my daughter. Time will tell if she actually likes it, so it's a good thing that they have a 90 day return policy. Out the door for under $25.00!

I also went online to Costco and signed up for a free deodorant sample which will be mailed to me. Thanks again to the facebook posts! Refer back to my 10/25/10 post for those sites.

Some of these coupons require you to go to a manufacturer's website and sign up with your email. No worries, I have an account for just those kinds of emails.  If they  start to become overwhelming I will just unsubscribe!

Ta Ta for now...

Black Friday

With Holidays around the corner, and every store vying for our hard earned dollars, the push to sell has begun!  Every week there is some new holiday, some new celebration that the stores are using to gain our business.  I started following "Black Friday" a  couple of years ago out of curiosity.  Now there are abundant websites that advertise all of the supposed deals out there, even posting the actual store ads for quick viewing.  

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which traditionally signals the start of the Christmas shopping season.  I personally would not care to brave the malls on such a day, or stand or sleep in a line to purchase some beholden item.  I did notice however, that there were some fantastic bargains offered online.  Now that would appeal to me.  I think it would be smarter to have an item in mind that I would like to have, vs getting caught up in buying stuff I don't need just because it was priced well!

This year, if I see something being sold at an unbelievable price, I will set my clock and race to my computer!

Ta Ta for now...

Bargain Movie Day

I don't go to the movies that often. I can usually wait until it hits Netflix.  But since I love horses so much, I really wanted to see Secretariat on the big screen with some else's airconditioning. My husband and I had Columbus Day off, so I dragged him to the 2:15 showing. I bought his senior ticket for $8.50, I had a gift voucher, I used my Regal Points card and was rewarded with a voucher for candy for $1.00. Whew hoo!

We did splurge on the combo pack for $12.00, but upgraded the drink from a medium to a large for an extra .50 cents so that we could share the drink and popcorn. Of course I bought the dollar box of candy because I can't refuse a bargain (this is why it is so hard to keep off the extra pounds). All in all it was a nice afternoon at the movies for $21.00. Not bad for two people.

The movie was fantastic!   But a word of caution - drinking an extra large soda can make one have to " --- like a racehorse" by the end of the movie!  You get the picture!

Ta Ta for now...

Going Out of Business

On Saturday, to kill time before I saw that crazy show "Bat Boy" (which, by the way was pretty crazy!) I went to the Mall across the road from the theatre.  I was reminded that Saks Fifth Avenue was closing in that location by big sign spinners on the street. Wow! Why not? I have only stepped foot in that store twice in the 28 or so years that I have lived here. Even in New York I only went in for the experience, the thrill, the ambience, never expecting to buy anything.

But this was a "Store Closing" sale! Maybe now was my chance! What could I buy so that I could have bragging rights? Bright signs decorated every rack, every table -  "50% off lowest marked price", "70% off lowest marked price". Had I died and gone to heaven? EXCEPT when I looked at the price tags. A beautiful blouse $328.00, an interesting handbag $498.00! Are you kidding me?  I am not one of the Housewives of Orange County! Who can afford this stuff?

I finally found an area where there might be hope?  Underwear, bras, slips and nylons beckoned me.  I could use some new nylons.  I settled on a pair of Spanx, double duty leg trimming, tummy flattening hosiery. List price? - $38.00. What the heck!  I bought a couple pair at 50% off and excitedly called my husband to tell him that I had actually bought something at Saks! 

Now I can wear overpriced undergarments and even brag about it!

Ta Ta for now...