Archive | August, 2010

Patience is a (frugal) virtue

by Mir at 1:57 pm on August 31, 2010 in Hot Hot Hot!

If you’re not in a hurry—and I think we can all muster up some patience when savings are on the table—now’s a great time to hop over to Graveyard Mall. It seems that their president wants you to celebrate his anniversary with him! (That’s… not weird at all….)

They’ve got a huge assortment of already-marked-down items where you can save an additional 50% with coupon code shipbyseptember17, provided you’re willing to wait a while to get ‘em. There’s plenty of toys in there, gift-closet-stockers.

Do keep in mind that shipping at Graveyard Mall tends to be kind of steep, but depending on what you want to buy, the coupon should more than offset that. I’m still combing through, but there’s a few astounding bargains, like a Gibson guitar set for your budding rocker. Definitely worth a look!

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Winner of the Nestle contest

by Mir at 12:54 pm on August 31, 2010 in Contests

Were you around this weekend, and smart and pretty enough to enter the contest to win some Nestle Toll House goodies? If so, you may be about to be a whole lot happier. And cookies-ier. Cookier? Whatever.

(Aside: I love how some contests which I expect to be hugely popular end up being kind of lukewarm, but then I announce I have coupons for free cookies and y’all come out of the woodwork. I like the priorities here.)

Anyway! I have only one prize pack to give away, on account of my children already swarmed over the other one. Hee. Our winner out of 237 entries—according to the random number generator—is commenter number 10, Brunette. Congratulations, Brunette (thinking that may not be your real name…)—please check your email! I’ll be sending you Nestle Toll House aprons, cookie recipe ideas, and coupons for free chips and cookie dough.

As always, big thanks to all who played, and special thanks to the generous folks at Nestle for donating the goodies both to my rotten kids family and to our winner. If you don’t love cookies, you may just be dead inside. (That would be a great tag line, Nestle. You have my permission to use it, free of charge!)

Don’t forget, you can still enter this week’s contest to win a Babies ‘R’ Us certificate from Trading Cradles, so don’t forget to do that if you haven’t already.

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I am feeling a little peckish

by Mir at 11:35 am on August 31, 2010 in Groceries, Hot Hot Hot!

We are big fans of Kashi snacks here in my house, so of course I’ll be signing up for a free Kashi snack. You can, too!

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Wii Wii Wii, all the day long

by Mir at 9:03 am on August 31, 2010 in Hot Hot Hot!

Amazon is doing an all-Wii even in the Gold Box today, starting with the Lightning Deal that just went live—Gold’s Gym Dance Workout for just $19.99.

The idea of something like that appeals to me, though it’s the sort of thing I would only play at home alone, with the blinds closed, rather than risk the humiliation of anyone seeing me try to combine both dancing and working out (when I can’t do the former and can barely manage the latter, separately, to begin with). Maybe the workout comes from laughing at yourself…?

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One day to save big

by Mir at 6:57 am on August 31, 2010 in Hot Hot Hot!, What to Wear

Today—Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 (dude, where’d my month go?)—you can save 30% at Gap, Old Navy, or even Banana Republic with coupon code SAVENOW.

Some restrictions apply (and some restrictions make sense, like you can’t use it on leather outerwear at Old Navy, but others are just mean, like you can’t use it on jeans at Gap!), but you may be able to scoop up a bargain or two if you play it right.

But this offer is only good for today, so don’t see something shiny and forget about it. Not that that ever happens to—oh, look!

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Buy, sell, upgrade, win

by Mir at 1:50 pm on August 30, 2010 in Contests

If you’re all about the bargain, you’ve probably done the jumping-through-hoops thing for eBay, the weeding-through-the-crazies thing for Craigslist, and even the hours-of-your-life thing to yard-saling when it comes to getting the gear you want for your kids, at prices you can stomach. Here’s a new tool for your arsenal: Trading Cradles is the newest destination for parents looking to buy and sell gently used baby gear, and it couldn’t be easier. It’s completely free, too! (Take that, sliding eBay fees that I could never decipher.)

Just pick your area and start buying or selling. I like it so much, I reviewed the site for Cool Mom Picks long before they ever came to me about a contest.

But. But! Now they’re sponsoring a contest for us. They’re hoping you’ll check them out and maybe connect on Facebook and follow them on Twitter, too. And you? You’re hoping to win a gift certificate to Babies ‘R’ Us, for whatever you can’t find on Trading Cradles (or need to buy new because some things just need to be bought new).

So. The rules on this one are going to be a little different, so pay attention. For this contest, two lucky Want Not readers are going to win $25 gift certificates to Babies ‘R’ Us. However, if you also post a (legitimate; don’t try to cheat on this, please) ad on TradingCradles.com during this contest and then win, they will double your gift certificate value to $50. Cool, right?

To enter, first go review the contest rules and regulations, then come on back here and leave a single comment on this post completing this sentence: Trading Cradles is great because __________ . You may also tweet about this contest and then leave a link here in the comments for a second entry. Entries must be submitted by 8:00 a.m. Eastern (that’s 5:00 a.m. Pacific) on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010. Winner to be determined by random number generation and resale value. (You’re all priceless, though, so I guess just the random number thing.)

Ready? Go!

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Before the weather outside gets frightful

by Mir at 11:05 am on August 30, 2010 in Hot Hot Hot!, What to Wear

I’m busy picking out all of the Lucky Brand t-shirts I want today over at 6pm.com (hint: all of them), but their main featured deal is deep discounts on The North Face, which is especially good news if you live in the land of ice and snow.

What do you care if those boots are technically last year’s model? You probably don’t. Particularly if you can now get them for over half off.

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Ongoing gifts for the kid with everything

by Mir at 10:18 am on August 30, 2010 in Everyday Wisdom, Questions Answered

The lovely Crista writes:

My husband’s brother and his wife had their first baby this year. Hubby and I are thinking ahead to Christmas and we know it’s going to be a toy orgy. The parents can afford to get the kid whatever they want, and she is the first grandchild. Hubby and I want to do something different. For my sister’s kids, we adopt an Angel Tree kid or something similar. They love that idea and as they have gotten older have helped us pick out who to donate to. My brother is broke and they very much appreciate the clothes and books we give to their kids.

My in-laws are different. I don’t think they would appreciate the charity thing. And like I said, they don’t need us to buy clothes and books for their baby. We want to start a tradition. Hubby doesn’t like the idea of savings bonds, and that is the only thing I can come up with. I have thought of things like dance classes or paying for her sports, but that is a few years off, and what if she ends up not doing any of that. We want something we can start now and continue into infinity :) . Any ideas?

I think savings bonds are the obvious answer, Crista, but if your husband objects, there are a couple of different routes you can go, instead. (more…)

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Say cheese!

by Mir at 8:52 am on August 30, 2010 in Hot Hot Hot!, Product Talk

Been looking for a cheap little point-and-shoot for yourself, or a decent-but-not-too-fancy camera for your kid? Take a look at today’s Amazon Gold Box to find the Kodak EasyShare C182 for under $60 shipped! It’s hard to go wrong at that price.

I’ve found that handing a kid a camera (one that makes them feel like a grown-up, but which won’t cause me to have a grown-up-size conniption if anything happens to it) makes any vacation more interesting, both for me and for them. Just sayin’.

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Insert your own (joke about) vodka

by Mir at 6:12 am on August 30, 2010 in Hot Hot Hot!

The last time I highlighted a stainless steel thermos deal, I talked about the hot drinks you could put in there once Summer ends. And several of you chided me, because hey—you can certainly put cold drinks in a thermos just as easily as hot ones. Understood.

Of course, if you prefer cold stuff, you probably want a different kind of lid. Which is why you might rather pick up this deal on a two-pack of flip-top stainless thermoses for just $10 shipped. They’re 24-ounce stainless steel thermoses, but with the kind of lid you’d expect on a water bottle rather than the typical thermos screw-top.

And I’m sure you’re not going to put anything but water in there, but frankly, that’s your business.

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