I can’t believe it is tax time again, ugh. I have been a long time user of Turbo Tax and logged in a couple weeks ago to start the process this year. While doing taxes is no fun, it is nice to be able to log in and have everything load up from the previous year. It is also cool to be able to log in and do some of my return, then save and exit and come back another day and pick up where I left off. For the first time this year I actually imported some of my tax records and was surprised at how quick and easy that process was.
While there are plenty of options for doing taxes, I have to say that my preference has always been Turbo Tax.
OK, I guess I better get back to my taxes (and watching the Olympics, go USA!)…
We were just talking about Black Friday yesterday and it got us thinking about how many questions there are.
Some people who will read this post are Black Friday veterans who already know a thing or two about the day. We’d love to hear from you about your best tips, lessons you’ve learned and what confused you the most when you were staring out.
Others may be brand new to Black Friday. Some many not even know what Black Friday is. To those, let us know what most confuses you or what you’d like to know more about.
Leave your questions (and answers) in the comments!
I have the privilege of writing a column for our parent company’s publications that gets into several of our newspapers each week. OK, so I have written two columns so far and this week’s just got out online at GoDanRiver.com. It is in tribute to the Avon Walk that I did, but also goes more broadly to this month – October (which I will now always consider to be “Pinktober” for the numerous reasons mentioned in previous posts) – THE awareness month for Breast Cancer. Please read and consider ways you, too, can participate.
DealTaker had its first “leaked” Black Friday ad posted this week (Half Price Books). Here is the press release announcing the start of the 2009 Holiday Shopping Season -
FIRST BLACK FRIDAY AD OF THE YEAR NOW ON DEALTAKER.COM
Premier Coupon & Deal Site Features Most-Anticipated Sales of the Year Well Ahead of Schedule
PLANO, Texas—October 7, 2009—DealTaker.com today announced the official start of the holiday bargain shopping season with the first Black Friday ad now at www.DealTaker.com/blackfriday.html.
“It’s a great day for bargain hunters everywhere,†said Kevin Strawbridge, President of DealTaker.com. “With pent up demand at an all-time high and retailers eager for consumer dollars, sales will abound and organization will be the key to sorting through myriad opportunities. Perusing the ads well ahead of Thanksgiving makes it easier for deal takers to optimize their time and money, and for retailers to ensure traffic to their stores,†Strawbridge said.
There are 50 days before November 27 which could be the biggest shopping day of the year. To prepare, consumers can quickly and easily find the most up-to-date Black Friday deals, coupons and sales at DealTaker.com. The popular site also features a countdown calendar, a handy downloadable Black Friday Organizer ® exclusively available at DealTaker and a searchable list of free shipping codes for consumers who also take advantage of the online deals every day and on Cyber Monday.
Besides sales from nearly 2,000 merchant partners, more than 225,000 DealTaker.com members actively post deals, ads, coupons and offers on DealTaker.com every day, saving consumers millions of dollars over the past 5 years. Historically, members have posted Black Friday ads directly to the Black Friday forums. But some retailers have balked at members trying to help each other. Already, one major retailer has made a pre-emptive strike with a cease-and-desist letter, insisting DealTaker.com police the forums and remove ads that members post.
About DealTaker.com
DealTaker.com is the premier destination for consumers looking to spend less and get more. A free coupon site for members to share and take deals, DealTaker.com makes it easy to save on merchandise and services including food, travel, electronics, home furnishings, jewelry and pet supplies, among others. Founded in Plano, Texas in 2004, DealTaker.com works with more than 1,900 stores, nearly 19,000 followers on Twitter and more than 225,000 deal-sharing members to provide over 8,000 active coupons and deals every day.
While vacationing in lovely Northwest Arkansas, we were honored to present DealTaker on a live segment on KNWA. Back to school was the topic of the day and the morning anchor was particularly interested in how good our deals really are. Needless to say, I shared that DealTaker always has some of the best deals around (if you have not gotten your BTS deals yet, check out our landing page with tons of deals). Here is a link to the spot (my first time presenting from the anchor desk) – fun fun – http://nwahomepage.com/content/video/?cid=109711
I am happy to report that Travel Deals continue to roll in steadily here at Dealtaker. Not a lot of change in the biggest sale areas – Still seeing great deals and pricing in Las Vegas & Orlando, with Chicago & Hawaii coming in a close second.
Here are a couple sales that I found Outstanding over the past couple weeks -
The economic crisis is taking it’s toll on a lot of people and despite the fact that we’ve trimmed the fat off of frivolous spending and stretched the all mighty dollar as far as we can, we’re still feeling the strain. In the past few months I have dedicated some serious time on how to become frugal beyond frugal. Aside from cutting back on dinners out, seeing movies at the theater and unnecessary spending, I have come up with some useful tips on how cut back even more.
The year was 1977 (the same year the REAL King died) and I was a kid following my dad around all the time while he was working on home projects. There were all kinds of fun things to do growing up in Vancouver and Seattle, Washington. That year, my dad had gone to a trade show and saw this amazing new ladder called the Little Giant. It was amazing because it was sturdy, could be contorted to all kinds of shapes and sizes, and was sure to fulfill many needs on those project days. Fast forward 32 years and my dad still has that ladder. It is still just as sturdy and still fulfills those project needs. Four years ago, my dad got me my own Little Giant ladder as a thank you gift for helping him with some things. I have used that thing like it is going out of style. But the true testament came this last week when I loaned it to my neighbor that “just wanted to borrow a ladder”. When he brought it back, he could barely control his amazement in how functional and sturdy it really was. Now, working for DealTaker, I have the opportunity to share a way for other people to buy a Little Giant – we are proud to be a marketer working with the Little Giant Ladder Company. Right now they offer free shipping and a free work platform with each order. You will never have to get another ladder for around the house again.
Usually when I start talking about Christmas shopping in July people think I’m nuts. These same people, though, tend to change their opinion when September and October rolls around and I’ve got most of my Christmas shopping done except for a few odds and ends.
Years ago I did fall into the “last minute shopper” category. I convinced myself, as well as others, that I enjoyed shopping last minute during the rush. Truth was, I hated it. Nothing irritates me more than crowded stores filled with grumpy shoppers, out of stock shelves and paying full price for something I knew was on sale a few weeks earlier or would be 50% the day after Christmas.
I have been reading about how lots of women are able to save such incredible amounts of money by watching the grocery ads, cutting store coupons, cutting manufacturer coupons, as well as watching for rebates and using reward programs (which are beyond me at this point). I wanted to see for myself how it all worked and if I could do as well as they do just by cutting coupons. It’s amazing how involved this can all be, you definitely have to be organized.  Â
So Friday, after work, I went to Target with my coupons in hand and was able to buy all this stuff pictured below for only $5.44. With the Target sales that were going on along with manufacturer coupons and Target coupons, I was able to save $9.00. I could have spent a total of $14.44 if I hadn’t been seeking out the coupons. That’s a savings of 62% folks! The feeling you get at the register as you watch your total price go down after all your coupons is addicting. I am becoming a coupon crazed person, I love this stuff.Â
Try it for yourself! Get the Sunday paper, cut the coupons, read the ads, arrange your grocery list by what is on sale that week, and go to coupons.com to print out coupons. Seek out the best deals. Happy Shopping!    Â
Bad Economy? Natural Disasters? Cowboy’s practice facility gets flattened by wind? All bad news.Â
The good news – DealTaker getting more interview time showing people how to save money, time, and aggravation while part of a fun and interesting community of people.
KEYE42 in Austin, Texas invited us to be on their morning show a few weeks back. Bettie Cross, the reporter with whom I had the pleasure of working, was so excited about the savings we had on all the products we showed. We have all four of the segments available on our YouTube channel (along with all the other videos from DealTaker). Here’s one for your immediate viewing pleasure…it is fun to be the good news
One of the things I enjoy the most about car trips is experiencing all of the neighborhoods and town and watching things subtly change the further I get from my house. I always pick up an “off the beaten path” book and try to plan the drive around a hidden restaurant, specialty shop or unusual sight. The trip may take a little bit longer but the memories seem more complete and if you are in a hurry flying is probably the way to go anyway.Â
There is a great website for picking out things to do and see called Roadside America. Since our drives will take us in all directions I thought I would just point out a few things on the website that I think are cool. They do have an easy search by State or Town or Attraction and it is fun to see what is out there!
Close by my house, or on my way out of town, is Foamhenge - a scaled down replica of Stonehenge made from styrofoam.    It is, the creator points out, the only American Stonehenge that really is an exact replica of the time-worn original. “I went to great pains to shape each ’stone’ to its original shape” The day that we stopped by there was another family visiting and their kids were having a blast running in and out of the “stones”.  Nice way to stretch your legs on a long trip.
I can’t wait to try this one out! The Kansas Underground Salt Museum. A tour here is like a drive inside a parking garage — except that it’s 67 miles long and sealed inside of a 400-foot-thick block of salt. Â
The tour guide explaines that “The biggest fear that people have is coming down here in the first place.” We understand why. The elevator ride down is a pitch-black descent, clanging, banging, and rattling inside a bare metal box that sounds as if it’s being whacked with a sledgehammer. Get that adrenilan going!
Earth Day – celebrated April 22 every year. Did you know that many stores will take your old electronics and recylce them for you? Radio Shack will trade a gift card of the value of the working electronics you bring in. Best Buy will recycle up to 2 items per household per day.
Few Green Tips
1. Save energy to save money – Set thermostat a few degrees lower in the winter and a few degrees higher in the summer
2. Save water to save money – Take shorter showers to reduce water use
3. Less gas = more money – Walk or bike to work
4. Eat smart – Buy locally
5. Make your own cleaning supplies – saves money and is non-toxic
Do you do any of these 5 things mentioned? I have changed my light bulbs out to the energy efficient bulbs. I almost always wash in cold water. Always turning out lights behind the kids in rooms not being used. I recycle cans. I give the kids my paper copies I no longer need for them to draw on. And I pay my bills online.
I was rather tired of being one of the “tent people” at valentines. What I am talking about is the evening of Valentines Day Eve or the morning of Valentines Day standing in that tent that Kroger and other stores setup in the parking lot for Valentines flowers, candy and gifts. Usually this tent is filled with men trying to get their wives or significant other a Valentines gift and flowers. I know, I know, we should plan things better. We can’t help it, it is just kinda encoded in our male DNA to wait until the last possible moment for that sort of thing. I usually do my Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve as well.
Well this year I decided to move out of the tent! So about a week before Valentines Day I found a Hot Deal on our coupon site for 18 assorted roses with a box of chocolate delivered from 1-800 Flowers. Eureka!!! I can get my wife a beautiful assortment of roses AND chocolate and never have to worry about being a “tent person” again! So, I ordered the flowers and was even able to make it a delivery date of Valentines Day. I have never ordered flowers from a vendor like this before, I have once or twice in my life ordered FTD and that is what I was expecting this time. You know, the guy showing up about mid day in a little uniform with a vase of flowers, box of chocolate and a nice card written in a hand that is legible instead of my chicken scratch.
A lot of people are skeptical about purchasing furniture online. There is a level of experience and ambience of physically going to a store and sitting on a chair or sofa to see how it feels on your bottom or running your fingers across a dining room table before you buy it. Knocking on a cabinet or shelf to see if the wood is solid is obviously not something you can achieve by clicking on a picture.
Although you lose the option to sit, lay, bounce, knock and touch when shopping online, there are benefits to purchasing furniture online. The most obvious is saving time. I have known people who have purchased or built homes and have literally spent months shopping to furnish their home. They have driven hundreds of miles away and spent hours upon hours trying to find pieces to fit their taste and budgets. The stressful scavenger hunt that they created made for an extremely unpleasant experience.
Seems like we always abbreviate words and phrases we use a lot of – TV for television, Web for World Wide Web – and Online Shopping is no different.
For example – In Ex #1 do you know how much you will pay for the Crock Pot at the time you purchase it?
Ex #1 – Best Crock Pot Ever – Reg $34.99 Today $24.99 Shipped after $5 MIR
Will you pay
$19.99?
$24.99?
$29.99?
$ 5.00?
$34.99?
OK & What about this -
Ex #2 – iPod – Reg $159 Today $135 Shipped
Will you have to pay more than $135?
Let’s step through some of the commonly used online shopping terms. You’ll be online shopper savy before you can bring up a new Dealtaker Window
Shipped – This means the price you see is all inclusive. In Ex #2 the ‘Today $135 Shipped’ means you will pay $135 at the time of purchase. The Shipping charge is included in the price shown.
Ex #3 – Logitech Mouse – Reg $38.75 Now $18.75 A/R, Free Shipping!
A/R – After Rebate – The price you are given before the A/R (Ex #3 – $18.75) is NOT what you will be paying out-of-pocket at purchase. This is the net price that you will have paid after you have received your rebate check. So in Ex #3 you pay $38.75 now and then fill out a rebate request for $20 – Be careful – There can be a lot of catches when rebates are involved so be sure to read the requirements before you make this kind of purchase.
MIR – Mail in rebate – This is the most common type of Rebate (See A/R above)
Flat rate shipping – The shipping charge is normally based on the $ amount of your order or the area it is being delivered to. A Flat Rate Shipping Charge, as shown in Ex #4, means you will pay one rate, in this case $6.99, regardless of any other order information. *See ONE EXCEPTION below.
For example you will pay $6.99 in total for shipping whether you purchase the hutch for $69.99, the Cabinet for $99.99 or BOTH for $150.
There is ONE EXCEPTION to this -
Extra handling fee for heavy items, bulky or fragile items - This is an additional fee on top of the stores normal shipping charge. This is usually applied to Furniture items but can pop up anywhere.
Ex #4 – Corner Hutch – Reg $99.99 Now $69.99, Corner Cabinet – Reg $129.99 Now $99.99 – Save when you buy both – Now $150, Flat Rate Shipping of 6.99
So still using Ex #4 lets say that the Hutch has a $20 extra handling fee and the Cabinet has a $30 extra handling fee:
You will pay $96.98 in total for the Hutch ($69.99 sale price + $20 extra handling fee + $6.99 shipping = $96.98 Shipped)
You will pay $136.98 in total for the Cabinet ($99.99 sale price + $30 extra handling fee + $6.99 shipping = $136.98 Shipped)
Coupon or Promo Code - This is a code that can be applied to an order to discount the order or an item in some way (ie free ship, % off, $ off, gift with purchase).
Little tidbit of info – The term Promo comes from ‘promotion code’. Before online shopping, Mail order catalogs would use this code to provide sale pricing to a specific group of customers. A catalog could be sent with a dress priced at $60 instead of its normal price of $80. If someone else were to pick up a non-sale catalog they would see the $80 price. In a nut shell a promotion code allowed a store to target different groups of customers based on specific criteria.
Stack coupons – This is when a store will allow you to apply multiple coupon or promo codes on the same order. For example there may be two coupons/promos you are eligible for – one coupon for free shipping and one for a % or $ off the item.
Using Ex #5 – Lets say that the item is on sale for $37.99. To pay only $32.99 in total, or shipped, you will need to apply the ‘$5 off $30 promo code’ and the ‘Free Shipping on $20′ promo code.
It is very uncommon to see Stores allowing coupon/promo code stacking. It is not uncommon, however, for a store to have a free shipping offer that does not require a code AND a promo/coupon code that will allow you to take an extra discount.
Ex #5 – Bed-in-a-bag – Reg $79.99 Now $32.99 Shipped + $5 off $30 promo/Free shipping on $20 coupon Stacked.
A couple other abbreviations that are good to know are:
DOD – Deal of the Day DOW – Deal of the Week
These deals are only for a very limited time and as I always say “Don’t Wait! You may be too late”
Alright then – back to my first question – how much you will pay for the Crock Pot at the time you purchase it?
Ex #1 – Best Crock Pot Ever – Reg $34.99 Today $24.99 Shipped after $5 MIR
$19.99?
$24.99? $29.99?
$ 5.00?
$34.99?
Yep $29.99. Once you fill out your rebate info and receive a check for $5 you will have only paid the $24.99 Shipped.
**I have not discussed taxes on purpose – too many variables.
So take your online shopping savvy self over to Dealtaker’s Internet Deals and Coupon Codes and check out just how much Dealtaker.com can save you!
We’ve all heard the term Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink & Drive. So when we can find such great deals with online shopping…. Why would we let our friends pay retail prices? Everyone that knows me knows that I do not pay retail for anything. I love getting great deals and I want to share that love with others. I’m not talking about being cheap here. I’m talking about getting the same quality products for a portion of the cost.
Just recently I was caught out wearing a leather Def Leppard jacket (retail $395) and my friend asked how much I got it for. Being very proud of myself and shopping/saving money skills I simply said, “Only $35 shipped to my front door from Wilsons Leather.â€
You should have seen her chin hit the floor…. PRICELESS! As you can imagine this led into some of the other bargains I have purchased and my savings throughout the year. She was amazed, almost speechless. I shared a few simple steps for saving money with online shopping, and would like to share with you too. Happy Shopping & Saving!!
1. Know what it is you want/need to shop online for.
2. Then using Pricetaker search the item you want to purchase. This will allow you to find the vendor with the cheapest available price. But wait, it gets better!!
3. Going to our coupon section locate the store you will shopping at. There you find current coupon codes to enter at checkout. This will drop your price even further!! Some stores will even let you stack coupon codes! (For example, you might find a code to get $30 off a $100 purchase and then a second code for free shipping!) But wait, it still gets better!
4. Use a credit card to pay for the purchase that gives you points, cash-back, air-line miles, hotel savings, etc just for using it. It’s very common these days to have a card in your wallet that awards you just for using it. (Pay off monthly balance)
Tips:
Internet shopping is all about convenience, bookmark site before you start shopping for quick and easy access.
Plan ahead – make a list of the things you need. Ex: Birthdays, Anniversary’s, etc….
Don’t make purchases just because you’re getting a great deal. Make sure you’re shopping for things you need and/or will use in the near future.
I am happy to report that Travel Deals continue to roll in steadily here at Dealtaker. Not a lot of change in the biggest sale areas – Still seeing great deals and pricing in Las Vegas & Orlando, with Chicago & Hawaii coming in a close second.
The year was 1977 (the same year the 
Usually when I start talking about Christmas shopping in July people think I’m nuts. These same people, though, tend to change their opinion when September and October rolls around and I’ve got most of my Christmas shopping done except for a few odds and ends.
I was rather tired of being one of the “tent people” at valentines. What I am talking about is the evening of Valentines Day Eve or the morning of Valentines Day standing in that tent that Kroger and other stores setup in the parking lot for Valentines flowers, candy and gifts. Usually this tent is filled with men trying to get their wives or significant other a Valentines gift and flowers. I know, I know, we should plan things better. We can’t help it, it is just kinda encoded in our male DNA to wait until the last possible moment for that sort of thing. I usually do my Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve as well.
A lot of people are skeptical about purchasing furniture online. There is a level of experience and ambience of physically going to a store and sitting on a chair or sofa to see how it feels on your bottom or running your fingers across a dining room table before you buy it. Knocking on a cabinet or shelf to see if the wood is solid is obviously not something you can achieve by clicking on a picture.
over to Dealtaker’s 
