E-Bates: $10 Gift Card for New Members!

I've posted about E-Bates before, but I feel it's worth mentioning again as they are currently offering $10 gift cards* to new members.

Basically, if you shop on-line, you should be using E-Bates.  It's entirely FREE to sign up and offers various amounts of cash back through almost every on-line retailer (including Wal-Mart!).  Simply sign-up and then any time you shop on-line, head to E-Bates first.  You will search for the retailer you want and click through the E-Bates link to go straight to your retailer of choice and earn credit for your purchase (E-Bates might even let you know of a sale or coupon code to use!).  You will then receive a percentage of your final purchase price as cash back.  Every quarter, E-Bates cuts the "Big Fat Checks" - if you have a minimum of $5 in your E-Bates account, you will get a check in the mail - you don't have to do a single thing!  If you have less than $5, the amount will roll over to the next quarter until you have earned at least $5.

You can get a few more details about E-Bates by reading my post here.

Sign-up here if you're interested!

*For the $10 gift card, you will have the option of Barnes & Noble, Target, Home Depot or Magazines.com (or $5 cash from E-Bates) - you will receive your gift card after your first purchase of $25 or more through one of their thousands of retail partners.

The Children's Place: FREE Shipping and 15% off

Right now, The Children's Place is offering FREE shipping on ALL orders (no minimum!) and if you use code W7D2011 at check out, you'll receive 15% off!  I just ordered some adorable sunglasses (pictured above) for our kiddos for only $2.55 each, but they have lots (including flip flops!) on sale for $3 or under!

If you're interested in helping those ravaged by recent disasters, new clothing items are always a need - order something extra to donate!

Don't forget!  Shop through e-Bates and earn 3% cash back!  It's FREE to sign up - no strings attached!  I just cashed my latest eBates check for $14.14 - not a lot, but it would buy two medium pizzas from Dominos!

Vacations on a Budget

My husband and I recently returned from a mini-vacation to Branson.  Though our trip wasn't free, it was considerably less expensive than it could have been.  I thought I would share a couple of tips for taking a vacation on a budget.  Keep in mind I am no expert, so if you have any tips of your own, feel free to share!

Daily Deals - Because I knew we would be visiting Branson a few times this year (thanks to a season pass to Silver Dollar City we received for Christmas), I subscribed to the Springfield (near Branson) version of Groupon, just in case any deals came up for hotels, shows or restaurants nearby.  And it worked!  Only four days before our trip, a Groupon came up for The Legend of Kung Fu, a show in Branson I had wanted to take my husband to from the moment I first heard about it last year.  Because of the Groupon (and a $10 credit I had), we paid only $26 for two tickets for the show - which typically sell at $38 each! 
I also currently subscribe to the Groupon and Living Social sites for Los Angeles (where we plan to visit this summer) and St. Louis (where my parents live, so we visit frequently).

Booking Travel - Similarly, I subscribe to Southwest Airlines e-newsletter, so I can keep my eyes open for sales.  As mentioned, I know we'll be visiting L.A., but we have yet to book a flight, so I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a good sale.  There are also sites, like Travelocity, Expedia and HotWire which help you find the best deals on flights anywhere.

Accommodations - I typically refer first to hotels.com when booking accommodations.  For our Branson trip, I found a one bedroom suite with a full kitchen, fireplace, and balcony overlooking the lake for less than $90/night through hotels.com.  Any of the aforementioned travel sites also offer hotel bookings.  And the daily deals sites occasionally offer deals on hotels.  Another option, if you're looking for high class lodging at middle-class pricing, are some weekly "flash deal" sites.  Some I subscribe to are Living Social Escapes (after you sign up, you can see the "Escapes" tab on the left side of the page) and Snique Away.  The catch on these is that the deals are only offered for a week, you have to book your stay (for specific dates) at the time of purchase and these are typically non-refundable, so you need to know for sure when you intend to travel. 
Before I book anything, though, I always check TripAdvisor to read reviews on the lodging of choice, because you never can tell.  Reading honest reviews from other travelers is my best insight to what I'm looking at and seeing what the hotel won't tell me.  Is it in a bad location?  Not in the best condition?  Are the staff friendly and accommodating? 

Always go through E-Bates! - When I booked for our Branson trip, I visited E-Bates and used their link to visit hotels.com in order to earn 3.5% cash back on our hotel stay.  I also went to E-Bates before purchasing the Groupon for our Branson show, earning me 2% cash back on that purchase.

These are my favorite ways to vacation on a budget.  What are some of yours?

E-Bates: 20% Cash Back from Gap.com

Currently, E-Bates is offering 20% cash back on all purchases from Gap.com!  Plus, Gap offers free shipping on any purchase of $50 or more.  This is a limited offer, so if you're excited about this deal, head to E-Bates to register or sign-in.  Then, do a search for Gap and find this offer for 20% off.  When you click through the deal it will take you to Gap's website where you shop as normal.  E-Bates will credit you for 20% of your purchase and you should receive a check in the mail within a couple of months (they send out rebate checks quarterly).  What a great deal!

Want to know more about E-Bates?  Check out my post here.

Groupon: $20 for $40 worth of Flowers from FTD

For you women out there, this might be one to pass on to your man ;)  Or you could take advantage of this deal and save it to send flowers to your mom on Mother's Day - it doesn't expire until June 15!

Today's Groupon deal, nationwide, is $20 for $40 of flowers or gifts from FTD floral.  Plus, if you go through E-Bates, you get 3% cash back - but as that's only $0.60, it would be a better deal to go through Swagbucks - which offers 315 swagbucks (and it only takes 450 for a $5 Amazon gift card) if you purchase the deal of the day!

Here's what to do:
1. Sign in/Register for Swagbucks.
2. On their homepage, click on the "Earn" tap along the top and find "Daily Deals".  On the list of deals, you should see your Groupon offer for FTD.  Click through that link.
3. "Buy" your Groupon as normal. 

Your Groupon appear in your account immediately but won't be ready to use until tomorrow.  You have until June 15 to use your Groupon.  You may buy 2!  But, you can only use one per purchase.

Here is further fine print.

E-Bates: Cash Refunds for Shopping On-Line

It's pretty nice getting an e-mail saying "Your Big Fat Check is in the mail!"  That's the e-mail I received today from E-Bates (coincidentally the same company who sponsored my recent iPad win).  Granted, my "Big Fat Check" is only $21.87 - so, I'm not sure I'd call that "Fat" but it's more than I had yesterday.

What is E-Bates?  I'm so glad you asked!

It's a website that allows you to earn cash back on your on-line purchases.  Basically, anytime you shop on-line, you should check E-Bates first.  If your chosen retailer offers cash back through E-Bates, all you need to do is click through the link there on the E-Bates page and make your order as normal.  For example, Old Navy is currently offering 2% cash back through E-Bates.  So, if you made a $50 purchase (to get free shipping, of course ;) ), you would earn $1 through E-Bates.  It doesn't seem like much, but it adds up.  Plus, they often have promotions increasing the amount of cash back (I've seen up to 8% at Old Navy and higher elsewhere).  They even offer 3% on your Groupon purchases! 

In addition, they'll help you find coupon codes for your chosen retailer.  Nice.

So, check them out and they'll even start your account with $5!  Once you've earned another $5, you'll be eligible for your first Big Fat Check - which are mailed quarterly (if you don't qualify for a check at the time of the mailing, your balance rolls over until you qualify).

Since I used E-Bates to purchase a heated dog-house in preparation for winter weather (and wanting two VERY large puppies neither running through my home nor freezing to death), I earned a pretty nice amount of cash back.  Totally worth it!