MyPoints.com

I signed up to do MyPoints.com 3 months ago. I just shopped for my first reward which is a $10 gift certificate for Panera Bread Company.

MyPoints sends me emails every day (usually 1-3). All I do is click on them to earn points (usually 5 points per email). If I qualify to complete a short survey they will give me 500-1,000 points (points vary with surveys).

It takes seconds to open an email and delete it. I’m not getting any points or money for telling you this. I’m just passing it along.

Once you get above 1,000 points you can start ’shopping’ at My Points for free meals at local restaurants, gas cards etc. in the form of gift certificates sent to your home free of charge. It has taken me about 3 months, working about 10 seconds per day to earn my first $10 gift certificate. The pay isn’t great, but it’s nice to get the reward.

The list of restaurants & stores gift certificates to choose from is extensive.  I haven’t gotten any unwanted emails from participating in MyPoints - just a sweet $10 off at Panera’s!

Free Redbox DVD Rental Today Only

Until midnight you can rent a DVD for free through Redbox.com. Just use the code X4N19P.

Yes, I’m back.  We had out of country family come for the month of August.  We just said our good-byes and life is getting back to normal.

CVS Weekly Ad Scan 8/17/08-8/23/08

Here is the worst CVS ad scan I’ve ever seen, but something is better than nothing, right? This is all I could find out there.  It’s so bad I think I’ll still be buying Friday’s paper.

CVS Weekly Ad Scan 8/17/08-8/23/08

Wouldn’t you just know it.

1.) Apparently I’m in one of the test market areas for CVS (Dallas/Ft. Worth). Through the rest of August we’re getting our sale ads in Friday’s paper, not Sunday’s. The chatter is that the new sale week will start on Friday instead of Saturday. I haven’t confirmed this at any of my stores, so if you’re in one of the test market areas, you may want to call one of your stores or CVS corporate directly.

2.) No ad scan for this week because word is Photobucket was getting bombarded with hits and had to take it down :( Well now, I guess I’ll be buying Friday’s paper.

Here’s hoping the deals will be worth the hassle this week.

If scans are posted elsewhere today I’ll let you know.

I went to TaylorTownPreview.com to look at the coupons coming out in this Sunday’s paper.  None of them are the “great deal” kinds of coupons, so for the first time in a long time I won’t be taking any papers.  Yikes!  I hope, buy saving the $15 for 10 papers I usually get, I’ll be saving more money in the long run.  We’ll see.  The first test!  Hope I’m not kicking myself next week.

Cheaper College Textbooks

For those of you with kids in college, you might try textbooks.com or abebooks.com for new and used textbooks.

Attention Priceline.com Users

Got a question for you. What are websites you go to before you hop on Priceline (for airfare & hotels) and actually start bidding? Here’s my list in no particular order.

betterbidding.com
travelaxe.com
hotwire.com
hotels.com
vrbo.com
sidestep.com

I’m always looking for helpful travel sites. Thanks for any you can give.

$74 in Procter & Gamble Coupons

Read this article to find out how to get them.

For Little Boys

Oh, Wouldn’t this be a great Christmas gift/stocking stuffer for a little boy!

Elmo & Oscar 14 inch black polyester boys clip-on tie
Product ID: WS214061
Retail Price $35.00
Deal of the Day Price! $0.95
You save 97%

LINK to the TIE

Credit Card Deals

I’m not big on credit cards in general, even though I know they have their benefits when used (and paid off) “properly”. Please don’t send me a bunch of emails about the evils of credit cards and the faulty reasoning of posting them on a frugal website. I don’t buy into that either. This post is just a “passing along of info” if you’re interested.

Best Card For Smaller Spenders: Chase Freedom Visa Signature
Users get 3 percent back in the most-used category — like gas, gym memberships or hair salon services. They get 1 percent back on all other purchases, and a $50 bonus after their first purchase.

Best Card For Bigger Spenders: Amex Bluecash
Users get 1 percent back on everyday purchases like groceries, gas and drugstore buys, and half a percent back on everything else. But after they spend $6,500, they get 5 percent on everyday purchases and 1.5 on the rest. Plus, there’s no cap on the rewards.

Best Gas Reward Card: Chase Perfectcard Mastercard
Users earn 6 percent cash back on gas for the first 90 days and 3 percent after that. Other purchases earn 1 percent cash back .

Best Travel-Reward Card: Capital One No-Hassle Miles Rewards

This card lets users earn miles on any airline and has no annual fee. It collects 1.25 miles for every dollar spent — about 25 percent more than most airline reward cards — and there are no blackout dates, seat restrictions or limit on earnings.

CVS Circular Moves to Friday’s Paper

Not sure if this is nation-wide or just in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Starting August 15th the CVS circular will be in Friday’s paper, not Sunday’s. This is only good if you already take the Friday paper. For folks like me, this makes Thursday’s ad scan that much more valuable because I’m not spending the extra cash for a hands on look.

CVS doesn’t put the circulars in the store display racks until Sunday, so if you shop when the new sale week starts on Saturday afternoon, you’re out of luck if you want to hold the circular in your hand and be able to flip through it as you walk through the store.

Just another CVS setback. They’re starting to make it harder and harder to get the wonderful freebies we’ve been used to. Take heart…we still have Thursday’s ad scans here!