Coupons and Promo Codes

The following web sites offer you access to printable coupons that you can take to the retailer in person, as well as coupon and promo codes that you can use when shopping online.

1. Coupon Sherpa: Find coupons for thousands of retailers. Deals and coupons are tested to make sure that they work. Coupon Sherpa even has an iPhone app that you can use, allowing you to present your iPhone to the cashier to scan the barcode. Shipping deadlines for Christmas delivery are also offered, so that you know whether your gift will make it on time.
2. RetailMeNot: This is a full-on community where you can find coupons and promo codes, as well as get money saving tips from other members. Sign up for the coupon email service, and have popular money-savers delivered to your inbox.
3. CouponWinner.com: Compare different deals from up to five retailers with the Coupon Scout. You can find these coupons according to category. Another great coupon site is Coupon Shoebox.
4. Alex’s Coupons: If you want to do a little good while you shop, you can get coupon codes through Alex’s Coupons. This site donates money to fight childhood cancer. Your use of these codes actually provides money for charity.

Getting the Lowest Price

If you are interested in the lowest prices on a variety of items, these web sites can help you find exactly what you’re looking for.

5. PriceGrabber.com: This popular web site allows you to compare prices from several merchants at once. You can also sign up for email alerts on deals related to preferred products and brands. Read reviews as well.
6. Dealio.com: Use downloadable tools to help you locate low online prices, as well as visit the web site to compare prices on different projects. You can also get coupon codes for products that you are looking for.
7. Google Product Search: This used to be Froogle, but people didn’t really get it. Now, it is a little easier to make the connection. While you won’t see things like a shopping guide on the Google Product Search, you will find straightforward information and reviews. And you can even use an option to help you find products at local stores.

Deals

Instead of just looking for lower prices, you can visit sites that offer you the inside scoop on the hot deals happening right now. Visit these deal sites to scoop up something amazing today — something that might not be there tomorrow.

8. CheapToday.com: See the latest deals for today, and when they expire. You can also get an idea of how big a discount you are getting. The focus, though, is mainly on apparel and accessories.
9. dealnews.com: Hordes of deal hunters watch for the hottest deals on the hottest products. Like CheapToday, the deals are hand picked and updated throughout the day. You can sign up for alerts, and feel confident knowing that dealnews bans stores with poor customer service.
10. DealsofAmerica: If you are into electronics, this is the place to go. Find the latest discounts on technology and gadgets, get coupon codes and get email alerts.
11. Gift Card Granny: This site aggregates discounted gift cards. Gift cards go for less than their remaining balance as retailers and private parties alike try to get rid of them. Makes a great gift — or a great way for you to get more for less.
12. FreeShipping.org: Save money on shipping by heading to this site for discount codes on free shipping at nearly 1,900 retailers.

Image source: Crunchbase

Post from: EveryJoe

12 Web Sites to Help You Find Holiday Deals

The way Amazon does Cyber Monday is they release deals throughout the day and there are only so many of the discounted items offered. You can see what I’m talking about below:

Tekken 6 Limited Edition Fight Stick Bundle for the PS3 is still around for 60% off [!!!] and at the time of me taking that screenshot, you have four hours to grab your bundle.

If you scroll through the deals, you’ll see stuff that hasn’t been revealed yet along with how long you have until you can see what Amazon is teasing you with.

The thing that’s so brilliant about the way Amazon structures its deals is that it’s almost like an auction. You don’t want to miss the great deals that are available to you right now but you also feel compelled to keep checking back to see what else they’re going to reveal.

Well played, Amazon, well played.

If you’re still trying to get some great deals on the games that are on your Christmas lists, Amazon might be just the place to check out today.

Happy hunting.

Images|Screengrabs

Post from: EveryJoe

Cyber Monday Gaming Deals at Amazon!

This morning, investors work up and sent the Dow plunging more than 200 points. While the losses have moderated so far, with the trading day almost over, there are concerns that Monday could bring another round of losses. After all, today is a short trading day — ending at 1 p.m. Eastern — and many investors are traveling or enjoying time with their families. Time to consider the information may lead to bigger losses on Monday. The news is also taking away from optimism, prompted by Black Friday, about the holiday shopping season.

The investors participating in the markets today, though, are mostly gravitating toward U.S. Treasuries and the U.S. dollar. Stocks are considered riskier, and in times of uncertainty and in times when the markets are in upheaval due to such monumental news, it is little surprise that investors are turning to the relative safety of government bonds and the U.S. dollar, both of which are backed by the most stable taxpayer base in the world.

Image source: lardo via Wikimedia Commons

Post from: EveryJoe

Dubai Shakes Things Up for World Markets

As one might imagine, investors latched onto this news and took it as a cue to sell the dollar. After seeing gains for the dollar last week, Bullard’s remarks prompted a round of profit taking. Additionally, the comments also helped stocks. Confident that the Fed is willing to continue propping up Wall Street, investors are in a buying mood, sending the stock market higher an hour and a half after opening. The gains do appear to be slowing, though, as day traders swoop in to take their profits from earlier.

However, this week is expected to be a good one for stocks. Investors are hoping that the holiday shopping season, which kicks off with Black Friday the day after Thanksgiving, will help provide some fuel for the fire. With a short trading week, and the news so far good, it looks as though this week, at least, will be a good one for the stock market. We’ll see if it holds if Black Friday turns out to be a disappointment.

Image source: Fletcher6 via Wikimedia Commons

Post from: EveryJoe

James Bullard Helps Stocks, Destroys Dollar

• Leave me and our son home: Obviously, he is getting me gifts, so I can’t come along. But our son stays home, too, because he would just get in the way. You should leave unwilling shoppers behind so that they don’t slow you down.
• List the sales: He looks at sales fliers ahead of time, and lists out what is where. He also has a back-up list, just in case they’re all out at one store. Included on the list are special discounts, and places where he has coupons so that he can save a little money.
• Plan a route: My husband plans out a route, based on what is most important for him to get. He hits the most important stores first, and then goes down his list in order of importance, so he has a better chance of getting what he really wants to buy.

Here are some more Black Friday shopping tips, in video form from iMommyTalk:

Image source: Daylife

Post from: EveryJoe

Black Friday Shopping Tips

Costco is offering Vizio’s VBR110 Blu-ray player for $99 on Black Friday. It’s important to note that the VBR110 is considered an “entry level” Blu-ray player, meaning it doesn’t come with some of the bigger bells and whistles that other players are sporting these days, like streaming Netflix digital rentals. But Vizio’s player comes with an Ethernet port for BD-Live capabilities, and they throw in an HDMI cable.

Walmart has the best deal I’ve seen so far, with a bargain-priced $78 Magnavox Blu-ray player available on Black Friday. (I’d suggest getting there early if you want to score one of these — they’re sure to go fast!) The Magnavox player upscales regular DVD videos up to 1080p, so they look more like the quality of Blu-ray discs, but it includes no other major extras. But it does not include BD-Live capabilities, so you won’t be able to download any additional content that way. Still, it’s the best Black Friday price overall, and that’s likely to go unchallenged by any other retailer.

Best Buy is offering a $99 Blu-ray player from its own brand, Insignia. The Insignia player upscales DVDs to 1080p, streams Netflix if you connect it to an Ethernet cable, BD-Live, and even plays BD-ROM discs. Best Buy is also throwing in a free Blu-ray copy of either Superman Returns or Beetlejuice. If you want the most options for the best price, the Insignia player is my recommendation.

Post from: EveryJoe

Black Friday: best chance to go Blu-ray?

Have you been to your favorite stores and mapped out your routes for Black Friday? You must have a game plan. Don’t expect to just waltz in there and get the games and systems you’ve been pining for. You’ll end up leaving empty handed.

The two Black Friday ads that I’ve found thus far are for Best Buy and Toys “R” Us and the deals are pretty freakin’ hot. I’m sure Target ads will be leaked soon and when I find it, I’ll do a new post with those deals.

Here’s what looks good from Best Buy:

• Xbox 360 Elite 120GB system that includes Pure and Lego Batman in box PLUS Sonic the Hedgehog, Spiderman Web of Shadows, Wall-E and Ghost Recon 2 for $299.99
• 120 GB PS3 with Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time and Little Big Planet Game of the Year Edition for $299.99
• Madden 10, FIFA Soccer 10, NBA Live 10, NHL 10, Need for Speed Shift, Dragon Age: Origins, Brutal Legend, and Left 4 Dead 2 for Xbox 360 or PS3 for $34.99 each

Here’s the deals for Toys “R” Us:

• Spore Hero and Dead space for the Wii for $24.99
• Wii Fit Accessories between $9.99 and $19.99
• Need for Speed shift, Halo 3: ODST and Forza Motorsport 3 for $34.99 each
• Hannah Montana Guitar video game for $24.99
• Tons of Wii and DS games for $9.99 each
• FREE EVA Sleave Kit and DSi Car Adapter when you buy any DSi Holiday Bundle
• Xbox 360 Arcade System, Xbox 360 Carry Case and 3 games for $229.95

More deals will be posted as I find them since I’m sure more will be coming in the next few days.

Images|Black Friday 2009

Post from: EveryJoe

Black Friday Gaming Deals

I had been opinionated about using push buttons and organizing program files, worried about the rising types of blog fraud and spam mail, conscious about the precautions to be taken in a cyber cafe and disposing e-waste responsibly, sad about the layoffs and the Mumbai attacks, and excited about the Ancient Rome 3D and the LIFE photo archive projects. I also began an ongoing series on Cygwin: pre-introduction, introduction, installation. For all the things in between, refer the November archives.

I thank the readers for stopping by here, the fellow bloggers for link love, the spammers for spam that couldn’t be caught by Akismet, and the fraud bloggers for blog clones. Or not.

Looking forward to a better blogging experience this December.

Post from: EveryJoe

November Month in Retrospect

Before you jump on to the buying binge, Lance Ulanoff, the Editor-in-Chief of PCMag Digital Network, warns of what not to buy, what to buy, and things in between. That is one wonderfully timed useful article, eh? Lance also announced today that the PC Magazine will be completely digital (no more printed editions) from the Feb 2009 issue. Whether it is because of the current recession that hit the publishing industry like Hurricane Katrina or because of any other reason, I welcome the change. Is there anybody else in line?

Those of you who feel plain lucky should also make it a point to give a shot at the HP Magic Giveaway. Who knows? You could win several PCs.

You must agree with me that free deals beat everything else. So here is a useful list of ten favorite free Windows programs that I discovered on Reich Consulting. Instead of Brian’s suggestions in 2, 3, 4 and 5, I use Notepad++, KeePass, Free Download Manager, and simply don’t dig Firefox as much as the fans do. Still, there are a few programs like Microsoft Office Accounting 2008 and Quicken Online (which isn’t exactly a PC software) that I should start using.

I wish you all a very happy thanksgiving.

Post from: EveryJoe

Internet Roundup of Black Friday Deals