September 24, 2007 | Contests

I don’t expect this will come as much of a surprise, but I sat down with my daughter this weekend to ask her to pick a winner for the kajeet contest based upon your comments, and she said “that one sounds good” or “maybe her” a couple of times, right up until we got to this:

April says:
Wow, where to begin? I write this for our newest member of our family. My 11 year old niece just came to live with us on Monday. Her mother is an alcoholic who drank away their rent money and proceeded to get them evicted from their apartment. My niece was homeless for 2 days before we could get her down to us. Her story got worse last when at the dinner table we laid a few ground rules and found that that my sister abused her by slapping her around and pulling her hair. This child has never had anything nice or anything to call her own. Birthday money was spent by her mother for items her mother wanted or at the bar. I think she deserves a cell phone because it would be something that is all hers and she would not have to share it with anyone. Also because we would love to show her than we think she is responsible and mature enough to have one and not the useless thing her mother would make her feel like she was. I’m EXTREMELY happy to say that we’re prepared to have her live with us until she’s 18 and a cell phone would be a great start at showing her that we trust her.

“Mom, you have to give it to her,” she said, immediately. (I did talk her into listening to the other entries, but she stood firm in her decision. And I have to say that I concur.) Congratulations, April! Your niece is getting a kajeet cell phone and $20 worth of prepaid minutes. It sounds like the bigger bargain is getting you, but I hope she’ll enjoy the phone, too!

Thanks to everyone who played, and a huge thank-you to kajeet for providing the prize!

Hot Hot Hot!

Ooooh, I just noticed there’s some great stuff over in the clearance section over at Red Envelope. Peasants like me can’t afford to shop there at regular price, of course, but the sales often yield some very nice deals.

No free shipping code, this time, I’m afraid… but you can use coupon code COUPCAB15 to take 15% off your order. That should help.

Check out the photo totes. Those have “Christmas gift for Grandma” written all over them.

Hot Hot Hot!

Did you catch it last year? If not, don’t worry—Smithsonian’s Museum Day is an annual event, and it’s happening again this coming Saturday (September 29th, 2007).

Look for a participating museum near you and then mark your calendar and get your admission card. Because the only thing better than a day at a museum is a free day at a museum! (Thanks for the reminder, Jennifer!)

September 23, 2007 | Contests

Wowza, you people really want some free food. The drawing for Oh Mama! bars received 161 entries, which sort of makes me want to whip y’all up some snacks right now, because who knew so many of you were so hungry? Not me.

Unfortunately, I only have 5 boxes to give away, so 156 are you are going to continue to be malnourished. I’m sorry.

My children took turns picking numbers (it was so cute… sort of like a midget auction… “84! 35!”) and in no time at all we had our five winners. I have already emailed these folks, so if you see your name but don’t have an email, maybe someone else shares your name.

Our winners are: Mel, Missy, Alicia, Heidi (there were at least 3 Heidis, much to my surprise) and Kel. Happy snacking to all of you, and thanks to the kind folks at Oh Mama! for making this contest possible.

September 22, 2007 | Hot Hot Hot!

(You mean, there are people who don’t have to get up on Saturday and head off to the fields? What’s that like…?)

Here’s a few deals for your weekend, to alleviate either your soccer-lacking or soccer-induced boredom.

As several of you already discovered, free popcorn is back at Dale & Thomas. You pay the $5.90 shipping and get two bags of their deluxe popcorn. I do this deal every time they have it, and then give it away as teacher gifts while eating a rice cake and grumbling. (Note to the charming human who feels the need to leave a “wow, delicious trans-fats, just like eating garbage!” comment every single time I post about Dale & Thomas—I don’t know why you feel the need to do that, but we heard you already, so you can just go kick a kitten or something instead, today. Thanks.)

It’s an O-Day weekend! Take 7% Off your order and get $1 shipping at Overstock all weekend long through that there link. Coupon expires Monday, September 24th, 2007.

Need a stroller? Chicco is giving away one stroller every day through the end of September. (Thanks, Kris!)

Oooooh, a weekend code for Restaurant.com for a change. Actually, through the end of the month you can take 60% off your dining certificate order with coupon code SEASONS. That’s $25 worth of dining for $4. Not too shabby.

Still need Halloween stuff? save up to 40% in the Spooktacular Halloween Boootique at DisneyShopping.com through the weekend. (Just a note: I suspect they will drop costume prices after this promotion ends, but that’s also when stock will be a bit thing, so you have to decide how much you’re willing to gamble if you have your heart set on something.)

Last—but not least—go get some free Tide 2X. (Thanks, Cindy!)

September 21, 2007 | Hot Hot Hot!

Even though I am—as usual—extremely psyched for the Amazon Friday Sale, I have to confess a bit of disappointment that this week cannot possibly top last’s. It just can’t. That’s because during last week’s Friday Sale, I got a new ice cream maker for $2.48.

(I had a gift certificate balance. And a promotional credit from a problem with a prior order. But dude—I got an $80 ice cream maker for under three bucks. I needed a cigarette after that deal, and I don’t even smoke.)

Anyway, here’s wishing similarly excellent shopping karma for you, this week.

Supposedly red is very hot this season, and I’ll confess that I’ve started looking for a red purse for the Fall. This red bag is too large for me, but it’s really cute, and guess what? It’s not just shoes you can price match. If you like that bag, go buy it at Zappos and with the price match you’ll pay about $58 for a $260 bag.

It’s not a rock-bottom deal, but if you’re needing a bike helmet for your child, I’ve gotta say I’m digging that dragon.

Only at Amazon can you buy your ice cream maker, purse, and inflatable kayak all in one trip. God bless America!

Scoooooooooooba!

Still need some sheets after all this time? (Sheets deals being my second-favorite, right after shoes.) These ones have great reviews. (Now is a good time to remind you to always always always read the reviews. Some of the sheets in the Friday Sale are cheap for a reason.)

Dude, do I really want gel in my pillows? Hmmm… at that price, maybe I do.

Gosh, I wish there was an easy way to make all of my dishes smell like cinnamon apples. Oh wait—there is!

Is that a fancy stick blender in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Brew your own with Mr. Beer. Or just spend a lot of time mocking your husband in your best Mr. Bill voice. (”Ohhhhh noooooo! Mr. Beeeeeeeer!”)

Oh, look—my new ice cream maker is on sale again. I can’t guarantee you can get it for $2.48, but it is a mighty fine make of frozen confections. Just sayin’.

Enjoy!

September 20, 2007 | Contests

It’s contest day here at Want Not, apparently. First you had a chance to win some Oh Mama! bars and now, well, this one is going to be just a smidgen harder.

If you’ve somehow not heard of kajeet, they’re a new pay-as-you-go cell phone service designed specifically for savvy kids. The phones are fully-functioned (does your kid refer to Migos and Fireflies as “baby phones?” Mine does!) but still customizable by the parents—plus the paying ahead means you never get socked with a huge overage bill. When Junior’s out of minutes, too bad. Parents can set how/when the phones can be used and block/allow phone numbers as desired. It’s just a smart way to manage a cell phone for a kid.

One lucky Want Not reader is going to receive a LG 225 phone and $20 of prepaid minutes from kajeet. This prize has a retail value of $90, not to mention the bazillion Cool Mom Points you’ll get from your kid for finally providing him with a cell phone.

Interested? Leave a comment on this post by 11:59 pm on Saturday, September 22nd, 2007 telling me why your child needs/deserves/wants a cell phone. I shall interrupt my daughter’s wailing over the injustice of how she’s not getting a cell phone to allow her to select whom she feels should receive the phone and the minutes. The winner will be announced on Monday, September 24th, 2007. Go!

Contests

I’m having a very busy day over here, but I just wanted to let y’all know that I’ll be back with another contest this afternoon—this one with a significantly higher retail value to the prize.

Sit tight and check back later for details.

Hot Hot Hot!

The very pretty Erin wrote in to let me know that Ryka is giving away 50 pairs of shoes and 50 performance t-shirts every day through October 25, 2007. Erin already won a pair a shoes!

And for every pair they give away, they’re also donating a pair. That’s nice shoes with a side of good karma. Gotta love that.

Contests

Pregnant? Nursing? Just plain hungry? The very pretty people over at Oh Mama! Bars have graciously offered to give away 6-packs of their yummy, award-winning nutrition bars to to five lucky Want Not readers. Each winner will receive two bars of each flavor (chocolate peanut butter, frosted white lemon, and frosted white raspberry).

They’re low in fat, high in protein, and full of vitamins and something called DHA which is really important for making sure your baby doesn’t have five heads. (Okay, I may have made up the five heads part. But not the DHA part! Pinky swear!) Creator Beth Vincent is a health care professional and mother of three and presumably has, you know, taste buds, so these are not only optimum nutrition-on-the-run but probably taste pretty good.

The bars normally retail for $2.50 apiece, so for the math-impaired, that means you stand to win $15 worth of yumminess. How do you win? You leave a comment on this entry by 11:59 pm on Friday, September 21st. I will tally up the number of entries and then let my kids pick 5 numbers which will then correspond to the winning commenters. One comment per person, please, and do me a favor and don’t enter if you won a t-shirt in the last contest (let’s spread the winning around). You have a day and a half to get in on the action. And with five winners to be had, there’s an excellent chance one of them will be you. Go!