by Christy on April 20, 2011
Just because something is on sale, doesn’t mean it’s a great deal, even if it 60% off. You need to weigh the value of a deal for you and your family. For instance, today on Groupon they are offering a large Domino’s Pizza with up to 10 topping for only $8.00. (60% off regular price). Now, one large pizza with 10 toppings for only $8 may be a great deal, but it’s not really that great of a deal for our family and here are a couple of reasons why:
- We don’t normally order 10 toppings, we rarely order 3, we’re boring like that! I can get pizza’s for around the $8 price with coupons.
- We have 7 people in our family (3 of which are teenagers) and 1 pizza isn’t going to cut it. We would have to order 2 more additional pizzas and pay regular price, because you can’t use additional offers or deals with the Groupon.
Here is the cost breakdown for dinner at Domino’s:
1 Large 3 topping pizza @ 8.00 (Groupon)
2 Large 2 topping pizza’s @ $15.39 (regular price, can’t use additional offers or coupons with the Groupon)
Total for 3 pizza’s = $38.78
Here is the cost breakdown for dinner at Papa Johns:
1 Large 3 topping pizza $10.00 (special)
2 Large 3 topping pizza + 2 liter pop @ $18.99 for both (Sounder’s special)
Total for 3 pizza’s + 2 liter of pop = $28.99
Am I telling you not to buy the Domino’s pizza Groupon? Absolutely not! If you only order one pizza and love lots of toppings, then the Groupon deal is great for you. If you need more pizza’s and don’t really like a lot of toppings, you will probably find a better deal somewhere else.
Doing a little research will go a long way when it comes to saving your family money!
by Debbie on December 23, 2010
Need to make up some Christmas Cash? December 24 – January 03, when you open up a new checking account at any US Bank in-store location, they will give you $75!
Here is what you need to do to take advantage of this deal:
- Visit an in-store US Bank location
- Open a new, no-fee checking account
- You will need to deposit at least $75 into your account
- You will be issued a temporary Visa Card to access your account
- Once you get the card, you will need to make a purchase of $75 in the first 30 days and
- Save your receipts and then take them into US Bank and they will credit your account with the $75. (you must show them the receipts totaling $75 to get the credit)
Deals like this do work, remember I scored a FREE iPod Touch just for opening an account at Key Bank. What would you use your free $75 on? Dinner out? Groceries? Target toy clearance?
by Christy on September 1, 2010
Heather over at Queen Bee Coupons has put together an amazing resource for all of us Costco shoppers. She has created a Costco price list database. The database breaks down the cost of all the items so you know how much you are paying per item, per ounce, etc. This is a big help when deciding if a large Costco item is a good price or not.
She also has a great post that explains what kind of deals you can get by shopping at Costco, or shopping with coupons. It’s very informative and worth checking out!
by Christy on August 27, 2010
This is an awesome deal! If you are a new Key Bank customer, you can get an Sony bloggie camera for FREE when you open a checking account. There are some requirements in order for you to get the FREE camera, you can see the complete list of details HERE, but I will list the basics for you.
- Open either a Key Express Free Checking or Key Advantage Money Market Checking account by October 8, 2010.
- Make one Key Bank Rewards debit Card transaction.
- Have a combination of two direct deposits and/or automated payments each of $100 or more by December 10, 2010
You must enroll in the KeyBank Rewards points program. You can enroll by requesting a KeyBank Rewards debit card from the branch, by calling 877-KEY-ONLY, or through the online application on key.com. There is a $20 annual fee for the KeyBank Rewards Program that will be waived for the first year.
You can get all the answers to FAQ HERE. This offer is available in the following districts: Cleveland, Eastern OH, Idaho, Western NY, Oregon, Seattle Cascades, South Puget Sound, Central NY, Rochester, Maine, Northwest OH, Michigan, Capital Region NY, and Hudson Valley NY.
You can either apply online or apply at one of their branches if you are interested in taking advantage of this deal.
They has a similiar offer awhile back where they were offering a FREE Ipod Touch, I have had several people inform my that they have in fact received their Ipod, so these types of deals do work, you just need to make sure you pay close attention to all the requirements. I did the Ipod offer, and I am still the in the process of qualifying for it, but I will be sure to let you know when I receive it.
by Christy on August 25, 2010
I enjoy eating out, mostly because I don’t have to do the cooking or the cleaning. However, I don’t like paying the high price tag that comes with eating out. With a family of 7 (and 3 kids that can no longer eat of the kids menu) we don’t eat out all that often as a family. When we do eat out, I always try to find a way to save some money.
Here are some of the things that we do that save us money when we eat out:
Restaurant.com – I have used Restaurant.com tons! They often have sales, so you can end up getting a $25 restaurant.com gift card for only $2-3. By using these gift certificates we can drastically reduce our bill for nicer restaurants. Our final bill is usually fairly close to what it would have cost us to eat out at a fast food restaurant.
Free Gift Cards – I have earned gift cards for FREE by using MyPoints. I have been able to redeem my points for gift cards to Panera Bread, The Cheescake Factory and more.
Restaurant Websites – If you have a restaurant that you really enjoy, you should check out their website. Lots of times they will have printable coupons or email clubs that you can sign up for. Here are a just a few of the websites offering deals:
- Sweet Tomatoes – They will email you coupons for Buy One Get One FREE meals and more.
- Famous Dave’s – They will send you a FREE offer on your birthday ranging from a FREE dessert to a FREE All-American feast.
- Qdoba – Exclusive offers and FREE gift on your birthday.
Entertainment Book – I usually always buy the Entertainment book each year, there are lots of coupons in the book that can get you FREE food.
Groupon – I am finding that Groupon is a great way to get some great discounts for local restaurants. I picked up the discounts they had for Fatburger and Garlic Jim’s. Keep an eye on Groupon for your area and something may pop up that interests you.
IKEA – Ocassionaly we take advantage of the great food deals you can get at IKEA. IKEA regularly has FREE food for kids or $1 Meatball meals.
Skip the drinks – Sometimes we will skip the drinks all together and just go for water. It’s healthier and cheaper!
Share a Meal – Sometimes restaurants serve an enormous amount of food and there is no way I could eat everything that is on the plate. Instead or ordering a kids meal for my daughter, we will occasionally share my meal. It’s a great way to save money and not feel stuffed too.
What are some things that you do to save money when eating out?
by Christy on August 24, 2010
I mentioned that we would be saving all of the gift cards we earned throughout the year, for our Disney World vacation. Here is the finally tally of all the gift cards we earned.
$415 – Disney gift cards (Applying for (2) Disney Visa’s and accumulated rewards)
$125 – Target gift cards (MyPoints Rewards, Prescription & Target gift card offers)
$100 – The Cheesecake Factory (Rewards from husbands work)
$50 – Panera Bread (Mypoints Rewards)
$50 – Chevron (Auction)
$40 – Visa gift cards (Rewards from husbands work)
$40 – Tully’s gift card (gift)
$25 – American Express gift card (blog giveaway)
$25 – Costco gift card (blog giveaway)
$25 – Aldi (blog giveaway)
$25 – Jamba Juice (gift)
$10 – Walmart (blog giveaway)
Total = $930
That is $930 in gift cards we can add to our vacation fund to help pay for food, gas, groceries, souvenirs and more! I usually like to save all of my gift cards and use them for Christmas shopping, it’s amazing how fast they can add up when you save them for something special. Anybody else like to save their gift card for one big event?
by Christy on August 10, 2010
Swagbucks has some fun things planned for this week to celebrate the kids heading back-to-school. Plus, if you are a new member you can sign up this week and get 70 Swagbucks for FREE!
Here is some of the fun that Swag Bucks has planned for this week:
- Swag Store sales
- Limited edition collectible Swag Bucks Bills
- Huge Swag Code Extravaganza on Thursday
If you haven’t yet signed up for Swagbucks, you can sign up now and get 30 Swagbucks just for signing up, you will get an additional 40 Swagbucks for entering the code BackToSchool. That will give you a total of 70 Swagbucks for FREE, and you will be well on your way to earning enough to get your first $5 Amazon gift card. The special Swagcode is only good for new members and until 11:59 PM PDT on August 15, 2010.
You can earn Swagbucks by searching the Internet like you usually do, but instead of going to google, you would go to SwagBucks.com and search from there. Make sure you download the Swagbucks toolbar, because it makes it so much easier to search and earn Swagbucks. Plus, you will find special announcements with free Swag Codes every now and then. To really maximize your earning potential, you will want to share Swag Bucks with your friends, family or blog readers.
I use the Swagbucks I earn to buy Amazon gift cards and it helps me to pay for birthday and Christmas gifts. I also like to save all my gift cards to make bigger purchases that aren’t necessarily in the budget. Swagbucks has become my favorite way to earn FREE gift cards online. Give it a try today and get your FREE 70 Swagbucks!
by Christy on July 14, 2010
Mint.com is a FREE online money management and budgeting tool that will help you keep track of your finances. I have to admit I am a pen and paper kind of girl when it comes to keeping track of our finances, but I guess that’s primarily because I don’t currently own any software that can track everything for me. With Mint.com I don’t need to buy any software, it is totally FREE! We all love FREE!
If you don’t currently have a budget, this tool can help you determine what you spend in each category and then you can determine what your budget will need to be. It can help you decide which areas you need to cut back in if necessary. If you already have a budget, this will help you to keep track of all your spending. It sounds like a great resource.
Mint.com already has over 1 million users, so it must be pretty good. I am going to give it a try for a month and I will let you know how it goes. Is there anybody that is currently using this FREE service? Let me know what you think. If you are interested in signing up for your free account, you can do so HERE.
