Want Not

How many times have I talked about potentially replacing my (dying) power toothbrush, lately? I think of it, I see a sale, but then I spot something shiny and wander away. Alas.

This is the month I do it, though. Why? Well, because Oral-B is offering 50% off mail-in rebates on a whole bunch of their brushes. And Amazon just happens to have bunches of eligible models available, many already marked down.

And that means it may just finally be toothbrush time. Sure, this deal runs from now until the end of November, but just imagine how many shiny things I could see between now and then. I should probably take care of this now.

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’.

On the lookout for a quality printer at a bargain price? Today’s Amazon Gold Box deal is a Canon PIXMA all-in-one with great reviews, for just $69 shipped.

Among its many features is automatic two-sided printing, which may be enough to tempt me to pick one up (because apparently a Masters degree isn’t enough to make figuring out which way to re-feed the paper to accomplish printing at the right orientation on the opposite side any easier, ahem). It’s also wireless, so you can put it wherever you want and have it work with every computer in the house. Or pop the memory card out of your camera and plug it in directly and print your photos in a flash. Whatever.

Remember the good old days, when you couldn’t get these kind of features at three times the price? Kids today have it too easy, by golly. Get off my lawn!

Look; I’ve gone on and on about how easy it is to cut hair at home, before. Pretty much every time there’s a good deal on a clipper set, in fact. But here’s the thing: I’m torn, because the difference between good clippers and crummy ones is significant.

However, despite my misgivings about the low price, the Conair clipper set in today’s Target Daily Deals has great reviews. So maybe you really can get a great set for just $12 shipped? (Maybe even less, with coupon code TOEY738U.)

Nevertheless, I think I’m going to take a tip from the reviewers and grab a set… to use on my dog. I still have a Wahl clipper set going strong that I use on my guys, so we’ll let Licorice be the guinea pig for this one. I draw the line at buying her that adorable bracelet that’s also in today’s deals, though.

Been looking for a great camera bag for your SLR camera and lenses? My husband the photographer would scoff at a bag in any color other than black or khaki, but some people actually like color. Heh. And if you’re one of them, you might want to check out the discontinued colors of this Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Bag, currently marked down to $70 at eBags.

Personally, I think it’s adorable in either red or blue (the reduced colors), but to each their own.

It’s easy enough to score a great deal on a printer, these days… the problem comes in when you go to buy ink cartridges, only to discover that the ink costs more than the machine did. Yikes.

Never fear! Office Depot may have the deal for you. Just visit their Ink Depot to find the right product, then stack a couple of coupons to make the price palatable.

First, code 374678967 takes 20% off all ink/toner purchases. Second, code 477200537 takes 10% off ink/toner. I’m not sure you’re supposed to be able to stack ‘em, but right now it’s working.

Next day shipping is always free on your $50+ order, and if you’re buying ink, that shouldn’t be a hard threshold to reach….

Whenever I go to the dentist, they try to sell me a fancy Sonicare toothbrush. At a discount, you understand. (And I am to be congratulated for never once saying, “That word, I do not think it means what you think it means.”) I actually already have a sonic toothbrush, but I’ve had it for years and it’s nearing the end of its lifespan, so I’ve been looking around for a replacement.

I came across these Sonicare E-Series Replacement Brushes because they’re a hot item on Amazon today; at $16 shipped (via Subscribe & Save) for the pair, that’s about as cheap as you’re going to find Sonicare heads. But how much would the actual unit cost? It turns out that the Sonicare Essence is the $50 no-frills Sonicare model, delivering all of the stuff my dentist is always going on and on about, but in a slightly less futuristic-looking package (and for a lot less money).

Hmmmm. I’m thinking that qualifies as a “discount” a lot more readily than what they keep offering me at the dentist’s office. Just sayin’.

If you have older kids and need a sturdy backpack more than you need a super-cutesy backpack, check out today’s Daily Deals at Target for a JanSport spectacular. That page links to the SuperMax pack in black at $20 with free shipping, but if you do a quick search you’ll see that there’s a dozen different JanSport SuperMax packs available at that price (and they all ship for free). Coupon code TOEY738U is still working for 10% off, just to make it even sweeter. Hard to beat $18 shipped for a quality bag.

JanSports come with a lifetime guarantee, too, so this could well be the last pack you ever have to buy.

Still not backing up your computer, because you’ll “get to it later” or “it’s not that important?” Don’t risk your data; it only takes one crash to make you wish you’d taken a few minutes to back up those pictures of your kids, you know?

Today’s Amazon Gold Box Deal is on a 640 GB portable Toshiba drive, currently just $69 shipped. That’s about $25 off anywhere else, and even if you could put a price on peace of mind, this would be a bargain.

[Edited to add: oh, look! Now there's a lightning deal on a 1 TB drive, too. Data storage for all!]