Origins Free Gift Through April 30th, Plus Free Shipping Through May

For a limited time only, you can receive free shipping plus Shedonism™ Deeply hydrating butter cream sample with any $25 Origins.com order. No coupon code required. This offer is valid only through April 30th.

I also found this offer along with the following Origins coupon codes.

Origins.com sends your gifts on time for Mother's Day. Receive Free 2nd Day Upgrade with any order 5.1.08 - 5.5.08. Enter code 05082LS

P0408 - Free Shipping on Any Order by 7/31/08 - 90% Success Rate

04081NJ - Free Shipping plus Samples by April 30, 2008

Origins.com

Macy's Spring Fashion Clearance + .99 cent shipping!

Macy's is having another big clearance sale with .99 shipping for the next few days!
I just went absolutely crazy at an outlet mall yesterday, so for this sale I focused mainly on the kids.

Greendog Little Boy Long-Sleeve PoloOrig. $10.98Now $2.74

Greendog Little Boy Wide Stripe PoloOrig. $9.98Now $7.99

These are the only 2 things I ended up with, but the sale is worth checking out for sure.

Here area some additional coupon codes/offers from Macy's:

Expiring today! - Free Travel Bag + 6 Samples with $21.50 Clinique Purchase Code CLINQUEG

Free Shipping with $60 Intimates purchase. Code INTIMATE Exp 4/29

Free Shipping with purchase of TWO Sun Products from Clarins. Code SUMMERTOTE Exp 5/14

70% off + $25 off $50 Code at NY&Company

New York & Company has been one of my favorite stores for a while. I don't care much for their casual line and jeans, but you really can't top their business casual and business attire for work. They have amazing deals when the seasons change. We are catching them in major clearance mode, and I've found a coupon code for half off!

Because I am "with child", I didn't buy any clothes this time, but I did grab a new bag and some accessories.

The code for $25 off $50 is 4179. This code might expire soon, so I highly recommend doing a quick search at the top of the page for nyandcompany.com to find current codes.

New York & Company is On Sale Up To 70% Off

Spring Flower Basket $13.99 at 1800flowers.com

Looking for a way to reconnect with family members? Have a friend in need of a smile? I sure do. I just ordered several of these pretty spring flower arrangements for a few friends and family members that live far away.

I ordered 3 of these baskets. The delivery charge is only $5.99, and you can use the code MYCOUPON2 to save %15 on the total order. In order to use this coupon, your order needs to total over $50, but the deal is pretty good even without the code.

Blooming Crocus Basket
(was $19.99) (now $13.99)

You can also find a ton of other flower arrangements on sale. To find their best bargains, click on the "Price" link at the top of their site. Then choose "sale" and sort price from lowest to highest.

I also found the following deals at 1800flowers.com:

Multicolored Roses, 30 for only $30! exp 4.15.08
Save 15% on Birthday Flowers & Gifts, code HPBDAY exp. 4.15.08

Gaiam.com Incredible Clearance + $10 Off Code

Swimsuit season started this weekend in Texas. Yuck! Some years are easier than others, but I've been a little stressed out and haven't been able to catch the diet and exercise stars in alignment since the holiday season.

I think part of the problem has been an unrealistic expectation of what I need to do to get on the right track. I think I've been stuck in the "all or nothing" mode, which is why I've decided to ease back into activity though walking. Walking will be good for stress relief as well.

As with any new endeavor, I simply had to go hunting for some fun bargains to support it.

The winning retailer today was Gaiam.com. They are having a spring sale with 20% - 70% off items in their outlet. Take a look at today's brag list -




Stretch Workout Kit
A low-impact way to keep fit

Original: $13.00 Sale: $6.99







Walking Fit Kit
Walk fit

Original: $15.00 Sale: $7.99

Clearance grab bag with pilates, toning and cardio
Original: $81.00 Sale: $6.99

To get the $10 off code, you need to sign up for their newletter. They will then email the code to you.
Gaiam's Online Clearance Outlet Save up to 75% instantly (while quantities last)

How to Use Coupon Codes

Coupon codes and promotions are essential to making sure you are getting the absolute best deal on whatever you're after. Today, we will take a look at the different types of coupon codes and how to use them.

Types of Coupon Codes and Promotions

• Promotional Links - A promo link will simply look like a text link describing an offer. All you need to do when you see these is click on the link. You will be directed to the website and you will see that the offer is active when you add items to your cart.

Example for Drugstore.com: Free Shipping on orders of $25.00 or more! New Customers Only. See site for details.

• Coupon Codes - Also known as promo code or offer code, these "codes" are the key to big savings a popular online retailers. In most cases, coupon codes are entered during the checkout processes and are reflected in your cart once you hit the update button.

Example: Get $10 of $15 at Gaiam.com (exp unknown) = CSDJ

1. Shop the site. Add the desired items to your cart. Click Checkout.


2. During "Step 1" of the checkout process, you will see a field for "Key Code/Web Code". Enter your code here.
3. Click the continue button. Before you enter your credit card info, click back on the "Shopping Cart" button to make sure your code was processed.
   
4. Now that your discount as been applied, check out and enjoy your savings!

The Basics of Coupon Code Hunting

Since most great online deals start with a coupon code, it is essential that you know exactly how to find the latest and greatest codes. I wish I could say that coupon code hunting were as easy as a quick search on Google, but you will find that, with a little practice, you can be sure to always have the very best bargains at your fingertips.


There are 2 main avenues to follow when searching for codes; coupon code sites and message boards. Let's explore each.

#1 Coupon Code Sites


If you do a quick google search for "coupon code" you are bound to come across page after page of these sites that focus on getting coupon codes to the public. You can even search for "target coupon codes" or "old navy coupon codes" for more specific results. I have a favorite site I like to use for search: RetailMeNot.com


You simply enter the name of your retailer, and like magic, a list of coupon codes is returned with expiration dates and even comments from users on their success using a particular code. I have included a search box at the top of this blog that will search the RetailMeNot.com coupon database. Try it out.



#1 Message Boards and Forums


Doing a coupon database search should be your first stop, but consider that, in most cases, these site are getting these codes directly from the retailer by way of xml feed. While retailers want you to use their promotional codes, there are often additional codes that are more hush hush. These codes are often only found by searching shopping community message boards. Again, I have a favorite. I've been doing this a long time and the site, MyCoupons.com, has one of the most amazing message board communities. MyCoupons isn't the largest community, but since it is targeted toward the same audience as this blog, I think you will find it to be the most helpful. For the largest forum community, check out Fatwallet.com. Again, I have included a way to search MyCoupons.com's message boards directly from this site if you wish.



If you use these two methods to search for coupons, you can rest assured that you are getting the best deal out there at any given moment.

Not sure how to use coupon codes? Check my post, How To Use Coupon Codes.

Macys.com Clearance Time

We are rapidly approaching the spring season, ladies. Do you have cute spring shoes? I don't know about you, but I'm really strapped for cash this season. I recently put on a little weight and none of my warmer clothes fit. It's really depressing, but nothing cheers me up quite like finding amazing deals online.

Macy's is having a sale and their clearance merchandise is an additional 25% off the already reduced price. Check out what I was able to find tonight...

Bandolino "Yaletha" Slingback
Orig. $69.00
Was $20.70
Now $15.52
Savings of $53.48!
They still have plenty of colors and sizes.





Frye "Reese" Slide
Orig. $160.00
Was $48.00
Now $36.00
Savings of $124.00!

They also have a dark brown color. It was a tough call. They are both really cute.

There are amazing deals like this throughout the site, but I am really trying to only buy what I need, so I stopped with these shoes tonight. I want to offer some strategies that will help you shop this sale. Follow these rules to make sure you get the best deal while you shop.

1. Go to Macys.com and click on the "Sale" tab (or on the giant banner that says sale)

2. Click on the "CLEARANCE" link at the bottom of the menu sidebar on the left

3. Browse the category of your choice located under CLEARANCE (they try to trick you by putting the regular sale product categories about the clearance categories)

4. This next step isn't very obvious, so listen up! That same menu will expand to show you an option for "Shop by Size". By clicking this, it will allow you to then sort by price, which is the trick to finding the best deals.

Enjoy the sale!

UPDATE : Use the code WAREHOUSE
$10 off any Clearance purchase of $100 or more
Expires 03/25

Best Deal Strategies: Magazines

I have a thing for magazines. Recently, I went to my rather small mailbox and found a note from the postman saying that my box was full and that I would need to drive all the way to the post office to pick up my massive stash of magazines and freebies. I have a few guilty pleasure mags, such as People and US Weekly, but I also get National Geographic and other brain candy type mags. One day I came across a wonderful strategy for getting magazine subscriptions for a few bucks each.

Here you go...

There are 2 avenues I would take to hunt for cheap magazines.

Strategy 1: Ebay.com of course. The trick here is to search for the magazine you are looking for (or just "magazine subscriptions") and sort by price from lowest to highest. I have saved hundreds of dollars on subscriptions this way. In fact, I went a little overboard, but at prices like these, you may get crazy too. The point is that you should always use this method first. I don't know how they get them so cheap, and I don't really care. They really do come as promised. Please read these warnings carefully, as Ebay is full of scam artists which you can avoid with this simple instruction. There are 2 main scams going on in the ebay magazine world:

1. A seller will sell you a magazine subscription, along with hundreds of other folks within a period of a few days, and then un-register their account. I learned this the hard way. I bought a mag for my sis for Christmas. The price was way too low to be a real deal, (USWeekly for 24.99) but I was just a novice mag hunter at the time, so I tossed it up to lessons learned. It wasn't the price that should have tipped me off, but the feedback. It seems simple enough, right? Check the feedback for these sellers. I wouldn't do business with anyone who has a feedback rating of under 100 or less than 99% positive feedback. This only applies to magazines. There are plenty of legit sellers out there. You can pay the extra buck to get an honest seller.



2. The second scam is in the fine print on the listing. Make sure they aren't selling you an auto-renewal. This is where they will give you a low price up front, but it auto-renews for full price after the term of the sale. This is easy to avoid. Just read the ad carefully.
   

These things seem scary, but a.) check the feedback, and b.) read the ad, and you should be fine. Don't worry about bidding on them. Elect to search "buy it now" only. There are too many listed out there, so sellers are putting their best offer on the table right away. Happy hunting...

Strategy 2: Online Magazine Outlets

There are dozens of great magazine outlets on the web, which all provide legit magazines at wonderful prices. Here is my favorite one:

BestDealMagazines.com - This one is really cool because they offer a "Deal of the Day" which today happens to be Sporting News for $3.89. I don't really give a flying leap about sports, but I will check back in with them daily to see what they are offering. Most of the time they feature chick magazines.

Here's another tip to save you some cash at BestDealMagazines = Coupon Codes "baby, yeah!" (that was my Austin Powers voice by the way)

Here are the most current codes:

$5 off $30 - MNDCJ316

$7.50 off $40 - MQQCJ316

15% off any purches - PXCJ316

$10 off $50 - MQPCJ316

bestdealmagazines.com

If you find that any of these have expired, please comment. I'll go in and see if I can dig up the latest and greatest. You can also scroll to the top of this page to do a quick search.

BookSwim: It's like Netflix, but for books!

I found this new site today. It has a really interesting concept that just might work! It basically works like Netflix, but it's for book titles instead of movies.

• I was able to find a coupon code - CWINNER1
  This is for 50% off the first month's membership dues.
  
  Enjoy!

Alert: Ann Taylor Loft - Free Shipping on Any Order

I just stumbled upon this. I'm shopping this site for today's blog entry, but wanted to give you a heads up on this free shipping offer. It just says "for a limited time" so no real end date here. I guess it could be 5 minutes or 5 days from now. Hurry

http://www.anntaylorloft.com/

Update: Here's the scoop on this sale:

• Sizes selection is running out fast.
• Their regularly priced merchandise is a bit too pricey
• They DO have a great sale/clearance going on now
• Free Shipping is applied automatically
• Use Promo Code $25 off $50 - (80200012 expires on 4/13)

I bought the following:

Belted Snap Placket Polo Dress
Was: $79.00 Now: $39.99 (Deep Blue)

Hyannis Crisscross Wedge Slide
$19.50 - (Deep Blue)

Deal Breakdown:
Dress - 39.99
Shoes - 19.50
Tax- 2.76
SubTotal 59.49
Promo Code -25.00
Total Paid $37.25
Savings around $55 +Shipping

This dress was marked down, but I chose to buy shoes that weren't marked down because they matched the dress. I usually don't do this, but this coupon code is amazing, so I went for it anyway. I'll use the a lot this summer. I sure hope they are comfortable!

Best Deal Strategies: Books

I'm the type of gal that likes to pick up books featured in magazines and talk shows. I also buy a lot of to technical books, which can really add up in cost. Traditional stores charge the cover price for books, which can cost a fortune. One way to get around paying full price is to head to your local used book store. We have one here in Houston called Half Price Books. It's great to pop in with a cup of coffee and browse, but you aren't likely to find exactly what you are looking for.

What if I told you that you can access hundreds of used book stores from one website? Well, you can! I stumbled upon alibris.com a while back, and now I always check with them to make sure I'm getting the absolute best price on a book. The shipping is usually well below what you would pay at a traditional store as well. They are more likely to have the media mail option.
This is the last purchase and savings I got from alibris.com:
New List Price: $24.95
Traditional Shipping Costs $ 5.99
Total Cost $30.98

alibris.com price: $ 2.49!
Shipping Costs $ 3.99
Total Cost $ 6.48

Total Savings $24.50

My total was actually 5.48 because I used the coupon code 7W21 for $1 off any order. I got this book in yesterday and it is used, but in great condition. alibris.com also has movies and music. I haven't actually bought a movie or cd from them, but it's worth looking in to for sure.

Here's a list current alibris.com promotions going on right now:
$5 off $50 - Code: NEWS5 (new customers only)
$3 off $30 - Code: NEWS3 (new customers only)
$5 off $60 - Code: ALCOTT expires 3/30/08
$3 off $30 - Code: MITCHELL expires 3/30/08
$10 off $100 - Code: BRONTE expires 3/30/08