January 21, 2007 | Hot Hot Hot!

Looking for cotton blankets? Check out these 100% Egyptian cotton blankets at Amazon. You have to have a little patience; they’re out of stock in most of the (very long) list of colors, but at last peek they still had at least 5 different colors in stock to choose from. It looks as though only twin size is left, but those twins are just $6.99 apiece.

I use polarfleece blankets on my kids’ beds in the winter, but a cotton blanket like this is ideal for the warmer months. Or, I suppose, under a bunch of other blankets in the colder months. Either way.

January 19, 2007 | Hot Hot Hot!

The Amazon Friday Sale is looking promising this week. I’ll be back with some of my picks after I throw my children under the bus. Er, after I walk the kids to the bus stop and kiss them goodbye with the utmost of care and love even though they left their boots at school and it’s snowing and they’re crying that their feet are cold.

Er, I’ll be back in a little bit.

(Okay! I’m back! And everyone is… not my problem until 3:15 or so.)

Once upon a time I hired some people to make our closets pretty. Suffice it to say that it cost a lot more than this deluxe closet, which is nearly the same thing except that you have to install it yourself.

You all went crazy over these headlamps last time they came around. I still don’t know why. But there you go.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t get the excitement over Prada stuff (particularly given the price). But that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy Prada plex parrot pin as a tongue-twister.

Ooooh… here’s an awesome tricycle at a great price. Perfect if your little dictator demands that you push, sometimes.

Excuse me while I pet the pretty Calphalon. What?

I have no idea why this is in the Friday Sale. But it sure looks neat, doesn’t it?

These blue full spectrum lights almost never go on sale. That’s an awesome price; so awesome, I’m thinking of trading in my old-fashioned light box for one. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about or why, then you don’t have SAD, and you are very lucky.)

Like Luna bars? Add $39 worth to your cart and you can take $10 off with coupon code BARS2007. Coupon code GROCERY4 may still be working for $10 off, as well. I’m gonna go test that out. Okay, yes—if you get your cart up to $49+, you can also use the GROCERY4 coupon, so you can get 4 boxes of Luna bars (that’s 60 bars) for under $30 shipped.

January 18, 2007 | Hot Hot Hot!

This one is only going to work if you have plenty of storage, but hear me out.

Hop on over to Amazon and check out this case of 10 reams of HP white multipurpose paper for just $6.34. It’s probably a price mistake, but who knows? Maybe not.

I added one to my cart. Shipping was about $10, and at first I thought, forget it—I’m not paying more for shipping than for the product. But then I thought about it, and that’s still 10 reams of paper for just over $16, which isn’t bad at all.

Then I thought about it some more and added a second case to my cart. Shipping only went up to $13. Now I’m getting 20 reams of paper for just over $25. Adding a third case brings the total to around $35 for 30 reams of paper.

Really want to milk the deal? Note on the product page that there are dollars-off coupons available from the merchant once your total (before shipping) hits $50. I can’t really see embracing the deal quite that fully, but there you go.

Go in on this with a few friends—say, a case or two for each of you—and you have an awesome deal on a product you always need.

Hot Hot Hot!, Pets

I find the format of this promotion a little disturbing, but then, I’m not a cat person. *achoo*

Go stare at a cat and when you’re done, you can register for a coupon to get $3.00 off your next bag of Iams Multi-Cat cat food.

(If you just enjoy staring at cats, well, don’t bother with the coupon at the end. Also please stand a little further away from me, because you’re creeping me out.)

For the kids, Hot Hot Hot!

For me, the most frustrating part of my son participating in soccer was finding a suitable pair of cleats in which he could stand in the middle of the field, staring at the sky, remarking on birds or squirrels, while the ball went by.

I’m not saying he wasn’t any good. Heck; he surprised me a few times. But cleats are expensive, and it’s hard to justify the cost when your kid spends more time asking what’s for snack than kicking goals.

If you need cleats for your darling at a discount, check out this pair from the Fogdog Sports Outlet. (There’s a few others in the Outlet, too, but I think those are the cheapest.) Shipping is free, an additional 20% comes off the price in your cart, and if you’re new to Google Checkout, take $10 off. Making them practically free.

Which is perfect for serious skygazers who tend to do their best work during soccer games.

Contests, Hot Hot Hot!

Psssst… got a kid who’s a fan of Spider Riders? Or are you staring at me blankly, wondering what in the heck I’m talking about?

This isn’t my only blog, you know. Sometimes I write informative things other places. And sometimes it even involves free stuff.

So if you like free, and you like books (and I don’t know about you, but as the song says, these are a few of my favorite things), come on over and enter for your chance to get some prizes. I’d be tickled to have some Want Not folks end up winning.

Hot Hot Hot!

Once again, today (January 18th) is one of those “List anything you want for just a $.20 insertion fee” days at eBay. It won’t save you much on small items, which don’t cost much to list in the first place, but if you have something a bit pricier that you’ve been meaning to list, today might be the right day to do it.

This promotion excluded eBay Motors, which is too bad, because just the idea of being able to list your car for under a quarter tickles me.

January 17, 2007 | Hot Hot Hot!

There’s a bunch of exclusions in the teeny-tiny fine print, but you can find (among other things), a coupon for $40 off a $199+ purchase at Circuit City to help you with that next big purchase. Coupons are valid through March 31st, 2007.

Also, it says “reproductions will not be accepted” but it’s a printable internet coupon… so… I dunno. Don’t draw a picture of it and try to use that, I guess.

Hot Hot Hot!

I know, I know; I’ve posted Cranium deals before. But who doesn’t love Cranium? It’s wacky family fun! In a box! And it doesn’t make me want to kill myself the way Candyland does.

Right now many Cranium products are marked down at Toys ‘R’ Us. The Cranium Primo Edition is just $9.97, down from $39.99. And Cranium Hoopla is only $5.99, down from $16.99. (I know, the holidays are over. Think gift closet; the former is great for almost anyone, and the latter is a great birthday party gift for the kids.)

If you haven’t yet succumbed to the lure of Google Checkout, you can sign up and get $10 off your first purchase, making the deals even sweeter. And really, can you put a price on not having to play Chutes and Ladders for the umpteenth time, anyway?

Quick Tips

(I found this via the lovely Karen at verbatim. Thanks, Karen!)

Is there anything more frustrating than calling for customer service and finding yourself stuck in the never-ending maze of menus and infobots (”Your! Current! Balance! Is! Zero! Dollars! And! Zero! Cents!”) when all you really want is to speak to someone?

Bookmark the database at GetHuman for not only the phone numbers of many U.S. companies you may call, but the input shortcuts for reaching a real live person. I hear some of them even speak English.