Let's Make a Deal!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Because I'm currently sans income, I'm constantly looking for sneaky ways to stretch what little money I do have. As a result, I've become a deal-hunter of the first order, which is not quite as exciting as, say, the Order of the Phoenix, but which does result in some killer bargains. Because a few people have asked me to share my penny-pinching wisdom, I've collected a bit of insight for you:

  • By sheer luck, I stumbled upon a few Groupon credits, which meant snagging $30 free. Like... free. Thirty bones, just sitting there in my Groupon account, waiting to be spent on something practical like groceries or an oil change. Or, more likely, something indulgent like a massage. And you'd better believe that I'm now obsessively scouring the internet for the existence of any additional free credits.

  • As much as I enjoy Groupon & LivingSocial, I'm confident that Offermatic is about to blow them both out of the water. You sync it up with your credit card (sounds dodgy but Reuters & TechCrunch swear it's legit), & it offers you deals based on money you're already spending. I, for example, dropped dough at WalMart (don't judge) last month; today, Offermatic offered me $5 off my next WalMart purchase; it's offered me similar deals for Macy's, Fandango & my next gasoline purchase, wherever it may be. Best of all, I acquire points in a variety of ways, & when I reach a certain number, I can trade them in for a $25 gift card to Target or Macy's or someplace else where I'm inclined to spend far too much money I don't have. Except I will have it - for free.

  • At this point, nearly everyone is familiar with Restaurant.com, which sells seriously discounted gift certificates to a number of desirable dining spots. What you may not know is that the coupon code "DEAL" nearly always saves you 80% off your Restaurant.com purchase, which is how I scored a $25 credit to a fancy local bistro for... $2. Excited about the bonus cash, Nathan ordered a $40 steak, just because he'd never done it before. Maybe we went overboard? But it was all the more delicious knowing that some of it was free.

I'm sort of addicted. (And please, no Jewish jokes? Thanks.) Free stuff is fun stuff. Got any deals to share?

11 comments:

  1. ...And yet still more exciting than PEMDOS: Order of Operations.

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  2. Edit: PEMDAS haha

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  3. I love free stuff... or discounted stuff. In Korea, whenever you buy something, it usually comes with something free taped to it. I am going to feel like I'm being ripped off when I return to Canada and there's no yogurt taped to my milk, or no badminton set taped to my cereal, or when my shampoo doesn't come with a free shampoo of the same size taped to it.

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  4. I <3 groupon sometimes, but I love restaurant.com all the time. It is my go to gift and all of my friends love it. This is the first I am learning about offermatic, but it sounds cool.

    @Tara, I would be in heaven if I found free stuff taped to stuff, lol.

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  5. Actually, I hadn't heard of any of those sites, so thanks for sharing!

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  6. I love these ideas! I'm realllly budgeting lately so things like this are a big help. I'm sure everyone knows of retailmenot.com by now, but that's another of my go-to resources for deals and coupon codes.

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  7. Offermatic? Haven't heard of that one. I will definitely have to check into that, even if it does sound a little suspicious.

    And you're right - free stuff is fun stuff and I wouldn't have thought of making any Jewish jokes had you not mentioned it. Due to a long term relationship with a Jew, I, unfortunately, have far too many (tasteful) Jew jokes stuck in my head. But I'll spare you cause I like you :)

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  8. Penny-pinching tips and a Harry Potter reference? Love it.

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  9. i keep buying great livingsocial deals.... and then never using them. IM DOIN IT WRONG.

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  10. Congrats on the side-job!

    You and your mom are so cute on Skype.

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