RecycleBank is a relatively easy ways to earn points, these points can then be turned into coupons, gift cards or even magazine subscription. To get started, create an account or login to your account. You then will see a menu at the top of the screen. Earn Points will list out the available options that you can do to earn the points. Get Rewards lists out the available rewards that you can cash your points in for.

How to Earn Points – Chose Earn Points from the top menu. You will then see a list of options to earn points. Choose one of the options and click on the words underneath the picture. You will either be given a pop-up screen to answer a question or will be taken to the next page where you will have to answer a question or pledge to be greener to earn those points. The questions and pledges are geared towards recycling and conservation. Once a task is complete, you then chose Get Points to add the points earned to your account. You must click on the Get Points link to add your points. These points never expire!

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Tags: Coupons, Cub Foods, gift cards, Points, printable coupons, Recyclebank, Referral, Survey
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Are you getting a tax refund this year?  If you’re entitled to a refund from Uncle Sam, it might be a good time to think about what you’re going to do with those extra dollars you’ve got coming back to you.  The stalwart personal finance types out there will advise that a good use of a tax refund would be to pay down debt or tuck some money aside for a rainy day.

Those are certainly practical ideas, but one idea I like just as much, if not better, is to use a portion of your tax return to take advantage of the retail tax specials and promotions offered by grocery stores, hardware stores, and other retail outlets that would like to see a bit of your tax return pumped into the economy.

Spending your tax refund might seem a bit counter-intuitive in a down economy, but if you can put those dollars to work for you in a real way, then I’m all for it.

Between now and April 15th, manr retailers offer tax savings in the form of coupon and gift card promotions.  For example, Albertsons has an offer like that right now – buy a $300 gift card, get $30 free.  I love these types of deals because if you have the cash to spare, it’s an instant 10% profit on your money.  You can’t make that kind of cash in an investment account that quickly.

I would also argue that while the 10% bonus you’re going to earn might be less than the interest saved if you have a credit card at a rate higher than 10% interest, using your tax return to purchase a grocery store gift card is like having a small emergency fund in place. You’re going to shop sometime in the next few months, and the average household in America spends a lot more than $300 a month at the grocery store.  A good coupon shopper who is watching for deals is going to be able to parlay that free $30 gift card into double or even triple the value of the incentive card, thereby increasing the savings associated with participating in the retailer’s tax incentive promotion.

It isn’t just grocery stores that offer this type of savings.  In past years, I’ve seen Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Sears, and others offer these types of promotions centered around changing in your tax refund for a gift card.  Think about it.  If you know you have a big home project coming up, and you’re going to pay cash for it anyway, paying for the project now in the form of a gift card purchase to secure a 10% or $30 off coupon will defray a portion of the overall outgo for the project.

My one caveat would be to make sure you’re participating in a tax refund promotion from a store that is solvent, meaning, if you suspect the local hardware store is in danger of folding, stick to the big-box retailer or grocery store for these tax refund promotional incentives.

So if you have the money and those deals are happening in your neighborhood stores, it’s well worth the free bonus dollars and coupons to convert your tax refund into store dollars.  Couple that with coupons and other instore savings, and you can really make those dollars work for you!

Tags: gift card promotions, gift cards, IRS, personal finance tactic, savings, shopping strategy, tax refund, tax refund promotions
Posted in Articles, Finance, Frugal Living | 1 Comment »

The stock market has rebounded nicely from the lows a year ago that had people talking the “D” word – Depression.  While I haven’t recouped everything we lost, I can’t complain.  However, experts are predicting that returns this year won’t be near where they’d hoped, and market watchers are wondering where the next best place to invest is.

My family is still putting money in the market, but this holiday season, I’m betting my money on gift cards!  That’s right.  Gift cards.  Not the most sexy financial instrument out there, but here’s why gift cards excite me.

I treat couponing, deal hunting, and shopping just like I do buying stocks.  I do research to find the good deal, I try to buy low on everything I purchase, I pay cash, and I expect maximum returns.  The holiday season is the best time to buy stock in gift cards.  Nearly every major retailer has bonus deals. If you look at buying into those deals as you would look at making an investment, the percentage value of the bonus deals is like earning money in the market.

Let me explain.

I recently went to Claim Jumper restaurant.  They have a holiday gift card deal where if you spend $100.00 in giftcards, you’re given $20.00 in bonus gift cards.  Plus, they threw in a free mug of candy, but we won’t count that.  We were going to eat at Claim Jumper anyway.  So, I bought the $100.00 in gift cards while we were waiting to be seated.  Then we spent $60 of the gift card on dinner.  But, I pocketed a 20% gain.  Not bad for a night out with the kids.  For no real effort, I made $20 doing something I was going to do anyway.

At Safeway, they are promoting $20.00 off on your next grocery trip when you buy $200.00 in gift cards.  Safeway is a veritable gift card mecca.  They have cards for nearly every major store and restaurant you can imagine.  The offer is good for two days starting Black Friday.  So, if I were to go to Safeway first before Black Friday shopping started, bought $200.00 in gift cards for stores I want to shop on Black Friday anyway, then I’d make 10% for the minuscule effort of running in to get gift cards, and running back out to freeze my butt off in line at Target.

It’s not just grocery and restaurants that offer deals like this at the holidays. Major retailers do too.  And, with tax season right around the corner, all those “cash your tax returns for bonus gift card deals” can help save you even more.  In fact, gift card deals that start in October and end in the early spring can really add up.  Last year, I pocketed close to $1000.00 in “free” money just by converting my cash to gift cards.

Now, a few things to think about.  Gift cards are great, but if the store you’re buying them has any chance of folding, then being stuck with gift card balances you can’t use will eat into your profits.  Be sure to stick to big name retailers and restaurant chains when you’re investing in gift cards.

Second, the bonus gift cards usually have restrictions like dates and redemption limits.  So, be sure to use the bonus cards up first if they have specific-use guidelines.  Then, use the actual gift cards if you haven’t already used them at the time you purchased them. Bonus gift cards can also sometime have restrictions about using them with other offers, so watch to be sure you can use them with coupons and other deals.

Lastly, giftcards as an investment isn’t just limited to buying a full-value gift card and getting a bonus card.  Buying giftcards at a discounted rate for the full value is also an investment.  Costco sells $100.00 worth of McCormick and Schmick’s (M&S) gift cards for $79.99.  So in effect, just walking into Costco and buying up $100.00 of gift cards for $79.99 gives me a 20% return on investment the moment I swipe my debit card.  And unlike bonus cards, the discounted gift cards like the ones at Costco come with no restrictions. I can use my M&S rewards card, coupons, and other offers to make this deal even sweeter.

Another investment strategy with gift cards is getting them to buy actual items you would have bought already.  At Blockbuster video, they were giving a $5.00 gift card to buy an Entertainment Book.  Buying the book, then using the Blockbuster coupons in the book in conjunction with the $5.00 gift card to pay for that visit’s movie rentals could effectively save you up to half the purchase price of the book.

When you think about utilizing gift cards in this manner, it’s easy to see how the returns you get from being a smart gift card buyer can add up faster than dividends from money invested in the stock market.

And, in most states, there are gift card laws that protect consumers.  Many states have done away with fees for non-use, expiration dates, and other legalities that made gift cards not near as user friendly.

So, this year, I am once again investing my cash in gift cards.  Year after year, I make more as a percentage on investing in gift cards than I do giving my money to the guys on Wall Street.  And that’s money you can bank on!

Tags: entertainment books, gift cards, Investing, stock market
Posted in Articles, Finance, Frugal Living, Holiday's & Gifts | 3 Comments »

My husband got deployed, and truthfully, with three kids, a house, a job, and more, cooking is the furthest thing from my mind.  So,  I have to fess up that we’ve been eating out way more than we should.  But being the coupon shopper that I am, I make sure that everywhere we eat, we get a deal.

With my newly-found knowledge of lots of dining out, here are the four best pieces of advice I have for getting the best restaurant deals.

1. Gift Card Deals

Scope out restaurants that are offering special incentives to buy gift cards.  I went to Claim Jumper restaurant with the kids, my mother inlaw, and her nephew for a special occasion.  Claim Jumper was offering a $5 bonus gift card for every $25 gift card you bought.  I went right to the hostess, bought $100 giftcard, and she gave me $20 free dollars good for a later visit.  We promptly used the $100 gift card on the dinner we were going to buy anyway.  Now however,  I have $20 free dollars to use again on another visit.

2. Inhouse promotions

A few years back, my husband and I each signed up for a rewards card for McCormick and Schmicks.  For $25, you got to sign up for the club.  However, they mailed you out a $25 gift certificate, so in reality, it didn’t cost anything to join.  Since we each got our own accounts, we listed each other as spouses.  M&S sends each of us a free dinner on our birthday valued at $40, just for being a member.  That’s two accounts, four meals, for $160 in free meals.  You then accumulate points on everything you spend.  They have a great happy hour with $1.95 appetizers, so many times we eat off the bar menu.  And for every 500 points you accumulate, you earn a $50 gift card.  The points are calculated before coupons and discounts.  So you can see where this is going.  Now, we go to Costco and buy $100 in giftcards to use for $79.99.  So we save an additional 20% off our meals.  It equals lots of cheap dinners at a really nice seafood restaurant.  They then had an inhouse promo to sign up for their newsletter and get a free $10 gift cert.  The savings just keep coming.

3. Costo gift cards

Costco in many areas offer discounted giftcards to local restaurants, typically at a savings of 20% off.  But, since gift cards are essentially cash, unlike combining two coupons, you can combine a gift card and a coupon.  So if you get $100 of giftcards for $79.99, and then the restaurant has a coupon available, you’re increasing your savings.  One of my local restaurants offers a giftcard at Costco, but they also have a Buy One Get One free coupon they offer.  By combining the gift card and the coupon, I’m getting one meal free and the other at 20% off – so the savings is about 70% off.

4. Entertainment Book Coupons

I always buy at least three Entertaiment Books each year, mainly for the grocery store coupons, but the restaurant coupons sweeten the pot.  Going back to my McCormick and Schmick example, they offer a $20 off coupon in the Entertainment Book. By combining that with the Costo giftcards and the M&S rewards card, we can have a really nice dinner for about $20 (gratuity not included). The restaurant coupons in there really do save you money.

5. Restaurant.com

Lastly, Restaurant.com can be a tremendous savings.  They discount gift certificates to local area restaurants across the country.  The certificates aren’t completely free – there is usually some sort of stipulation around them, like “Spend $35 and get $25 off” and you bought the certificate for $4, so you really wound up spending $14, but it’s still more than 50% off.  And during the course of the month, they discount them all the way down to 80% off.

Now if I had a secret for how to not put on the pounds while eating out, I’d be a genius!  But in all seriousness, even in a bad economy, you can still treat your spouse or family to a night out at an affordable price. Just remember, always tip your server at the full price of the meal.  Happy servers means restaurant owners will continue to offer great deals!

So enjoy your savings and a night off from washing the dishes!

Tags: Costco, Coupons, Dining, Dining Out, entertainment book, food coupons, gift cards, recession, restaurant, Restaurant.com
Posted in Articles, Frugal Living | 4 Comments »