May 25th, 2008 | Posted in Save Money |
Man do I hate shipping charges! When I shop online to find the best deal I always have to factor in shipping charges. Sometimes that means going all the way through to the final checkout stage just to find out how much I will have to pay to have my item delivered to my doorstep. Then I have to write down all the total prices including shipping and compare them to buying locally at the store. It sure would be easier if I just had free shipping all the time.
That is why I am so glad I found a website that gives me all the free shipping codes I can handle. Just visit freeshipping.org prior to buying and get the code to use at checkout to get free shipping. Many sites will have restrictions on free shipping and you will have to decide if they are worth it or not.
www.freeshipping.org.
Popularity: 94% [?]
May 22nd, 2008 | Posted in Daily Life |
I love to play basketball. I play a couple of times a week in the mornings and it keeps me in great shape. Of course, as with all sports, you do have some equipment that you must purchase. In my case, I need to have a quality pair of Basetball Sneakers.
I refuse to pay more then $35 for a quality (name brand) pair of kicks. I prefer Nike, Adidas, Reebok or Converse. I have used Starbury’s (Stephon Marbury’s Brand) sold only at Steve and Barry’s stores. The sell for $15 each which is a great deal. They are not bad but tend to wear out a little quicker then the other name brand shoes. I would buy them again if near a Steve and Barry’s but I will go through 3 pairs when I would normally only use 2 so you have to factor that into the equation.
Since I don’t have a Steve and Barry’s nearby I decided to purchase mine on the web. I received an email from finishline.com telling me about a sale with some items up to 70% off. After visiting the site I found that they had a great pair or Converse Basketball Sneakers for only $29.99 (70% off).
Now, before I buy anything online I do a quick internet search to see if there are any coupons available. A simple google search for “Discount Coupons Finishline.com” found me 6 coupons available to me at checkout. I chose one for 15% off my entire purchase as long as I spend $60. To spend the $60 I had to purchase 3 pairs of shoes (2 only got me to $59.98). I am fine with stocking up since these three pairs should last me 1.5 years (6 months a pair). By adding more to my order and using the coupon I was able to bring the average cost per pair down to $25 per pair! Not too shabby.
Popularity: 94% [?]
May 16th, 2008 | Posted in Jewelry |
Diamonds are a girls best friend…and a wallets worst enemy! I found that out when my wife told me she wanted a new pair of diamond earrings for her birthday. She very carefully took me to the local jeweler and showed me what she wanted. This was the easy part. Checking prices and comparing quality was the hard part.
Diamonds are actually a little easier to compare then other jewels. The reason is that there is so much information on the internet comparing the 4 C’s: (1) Cut, (2) Clarity, (3) Color and (4) Carat Weight (see http://www.diasource.com/fourcs.htm). Even with this there are still some difficult things to compare like how “natural” the diamond is and if there has been any work such as filler or laser drilling to cover up minor imperfections. Just so you know it is commond to use laser and filler and there is really nothing wrong with it as long as it is dislosed to you before you purchase.
I spent weeks looking at all the local diamond shops and writing down prices. Then, I hit the internet. Surprisingly most internet sites were about the same price as the stores. I had the feeling that the diamond market was fairly well controlled and pricing wasn’t going to vary too much. But, that did not stop me from looking. I tried some familiar sites such as Amazon.com, Shopping.com, SmartBargains.com and Costco.com. Of the four Costco has the best product for the best price but they tend to only carry really high end merchandise. So, if you are looking to spend 10K or more then I would recommend Costo. If you are spending less then 10K keep looking.
Finally, I tried my old friend eBay. eBay can be a great market for certain items and jewelry is definately one of them. You often find disgruntled boyfriends/girlfriends/ex-spouses just looking to get anything for their old items and you can get some really good deals. But, you have to very, very careful on eBay. Make sure the seller has a long history (No less then 500 total feedback) and that the feedback is over 98%. When dealing with Jewelry it is also imortant to make sure they have an iron clad guarantee, are paypal verified and belong to square trade for arbitrations. You want a return policy of at least 30 days. if they don’t meet these criteria run.
In my case I did not buy from eBay. However, I used eBay to find more stores that I did not know about. One seller had their own website and they offered a 30 day money back guarantee when buying on their website. They also had an 800 number I could call to talk about the purchase prior to making it. This, combined with their excellent eBay rating, made me very comfortable.
Once I received the diamond earrings in the mail (Overnight) I made an appointment with an independent appraiser here locally. This is a very important step and why you want the 30 day money back guarantee. The appraiser was not aware of what I paid for the dimaonds and it completely independent. In this case he told me that the diamonds I purchased were valued (insurance value) at more then doulbe what I paid for them! In fact, he found a local jeweler selling what he considered a very comprable pair at almost triple! That was a big relief. Now, had he found that I overpaid I would have promptly returned the item for a full refund. This way I was covered either way.
There is lots of information on how to buy diamonds on the internet but the keys are (1) Shop around, (2) Get a full 30 day money back guarantee (no questions asked and (3) have them independently appraised to make sure you received the best deal.
Happy Jewelry Shopping!
Popularity: 95% [?]
May 10th, 2008 | Posted in Save Money |
OK, I get that this not earth shattering…Gas is outrageous right now! Still, I am surprised at how many people still don’t take public transportation. I took a trip to Chicago this weekend and needed to get from Midway Aiport to downtown Chi-Town. Rather then either renting a car or taking a taxi cab I decided to fork over $2 and take the CTA (train system). What an awesome ride! I did have to change trains once which was a little confusing but, in the end, I was dropped off only 2 blocks from my hotel. A cab ride is about $50 one way and renting a car would be about the same for each day. The hotel charges another $26 per day to park. Me, I spent only $2 to get all the way downtown and pocketed the rest!
This site is about saving money but whenever I can combine saving money with saving the envirornment I consider myself double thrifty. I am a big believer in public transportation and I hope that you will give it a try as well.
Popularity: 100% [?]
May 7th, 2008 | Posted in Save Money |
Today I had my hair cut at my favorite place called Sport Clips. The premise is you get to watch sports (always on ESPN News) while you have your haircut. They have several options for haircuts including (1) The Varsity (basic cut), (2) The Triple Play (shampoo) and (3) The MVP (shampoo, facial massage and back rub…I love it!). The Varsity is the least expensive option at $16 per cut. The store sells pre-paid packs for the Varsity Cut where you purchase 6 cuts at a $9 discount. Not too bad. But, the last time I visited they gave me a receipt that included a survey to fill out on the internet. By filling out the short survey I received $3 off my next cut. The best part is that when I redeemed it today (making my cut only $13) they gave me the same offer! Now, I can get $3 off my next haircut! I love it!
Popularity: 98% [?]
May 5th, 2008 | Posted in Daily Life |
Did you know Starbucks is giving away a free cup of coffee every Wednesday? You have to have a special card they gave out in the USA Today.
I have gone the last two Wedensday’s. The free coffee offer is good until May 28th. If don’t have a card ask around and see if you can find one. It’s like putting $4 in your pocket…or maybel stomache!
Popularity: 99% [?]
