Digital Coupons

I really admire couponers (except when they're in the checkout line in front of me), but I don't have the patience for it, for myriad reasons: our printer is perpetually out of paper, we don't get the newspaper, whenever I cut out coupons I promtly leave them at home (along with my grocery list), and I don't buy that much name brand or junk food, which is what coupons tend to be for, in my opinion.

But, yesterday I was doing some research on new dinner ideas. The Mr. and I are getting a little tired of the same dishes we make over and over again. I found some great recipes on Cooking Light. While I was browsing, I swung by my local grocery store's website (Fred Meyer).

I discovered that, once logging in with your rewards card number, you can download digital manufacturer's coupons automatically to your rewards card! So, I spent 5 minutes or so comparing my list with what which coupons were on sale, loaded them to my card, and headed out to the store.

My biggest win: Crest toothpaste was on sale at 2 for $3.00. I bought one ($1.50), plus my digital coupon for $.75 off, and I got my big tube of toothpaste for just $.75!

Another big win? No coupons to cut, no slowing down the line, no leaving them on the table at home. I saved $8 with only 5 minutes of work. Not bad!

Oh, and I'm testing out these three recipes. I'll let you know how they turn out: Barley and Beef Soup, Asian Green Bean Salad, and  Southwestern Chicken Pasta Salad.

The Spender vs. The Saver

I believe that in every relationship, one person is the saver, one person is the spender. The degree can vary, but I think it's rare that two people have the exact same outlook on the big M (that's money, if you're new to my blog).

In my relationship with the Mr., I'm the saver. Some might even call me cheap, penny-pinching, overly thrifty, whatever. I take that as a compliment, thankyouverymuch! My dear husband is the spender in our relationship. He loves nothing better than to buy "something nice" after payday, bonus time, tax return time, or hell, just because it's a Tuesday night with nothing to do. In my opinion, there are pros and cons to each side:

Saver
Pro: it's good to save money for a rainy day. You never know when you'll have a financial emergency
Pro: Some people (read: me) get a thrill out of transferring money from checking into savings. Victory!
Pro: Most Americans are bad with money. I'm planning for the future.
Con: Money issues really stress me out. Bad.
Con: I have a hard time letting loose and treating myself to something nice once in a while.

Spender
Pro: You worked hard for that money! You deserve to have some fun. The Mr. reminds me of this frequently.
Pro: As long as your bills are paid, what's wrong with going on vacation, buying nice Christmas gifts, or sprucing up your wardrobe. The Mr. is also very generous with gifts for loved ones. This is something I really admire.
Pro: Sometimes higher price does equal higher quality.
Cons: Bankruptcy. (Okay, I'm probably being a little dramatic)
Cons: When the economy is unstable, you never know how long the big and/or steady paychecks will last.

The Mr. and I are trying to reconcile my obsessive love of frugality with his appreciation for the finer things in life.

I've come to the conclusion, though, that when we are going back and forth about buying something we "need", he's right more often than not. (Don't send him this link! I'll never live it down!)

Here's a quick example. I have long hair. We also own a golden retriever. Between the two of us, all the hair broke our vacuum cleaner. Sigh. Of course, the Mr. wants a top-of-the-line Dyson. I want whatever's on clearance at Target. I finally give in and tell him we can get the Dyson, but I WILL find it on sale.

Fast forward one week. Between Macy's summer sale and some extra coupons, I score a Dyson for $200 off. I am pretty proud of this. I get home, assemble it, and I swear to you, I vacuumed up enough hair to make a whole dog. Maybe sometimes paying a little extra for quality is worth it.

I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Does your family have a saver and a spender?

On plane tickets

Buying plane tickets is a special kind of hell. It's always a gamble. Should I buy tickets now at the current price? Or wait a few more weeks for a lower price, just to risk the flight I want being full? With gas prices as high as they are, and the summer travel season upon us, plane tickets are just not cheap. Period.
In the last month or so, I've bought three sets of tickets--Kauai, St. Louis, and San Diego. I feel like I got pretty good deals, but I'm never sure. 

Most handy travel websites track prices before you buy, and predict if the prices will go up or down. Only one website I've found tracks prices after you buy. Check out Yapta.com. Did you know that Alaska and Jet Blue offer refunds on ANY price drop after you buy your ticket? I had no idea, and I fly Alaska all the time (they must really not publicize this!). Also, AirTran and Virgin offer refunds for price drops over $75, and Hawaiian airlines offers refunds for drops over $100. A lot of other airlines will offer credits for future trips.

All you have to do is create a free Yapta account, and enter your flight dates, times, and numbers for upcoming trips. Enter how much you paid, and Yapta will automatically email you if the price drops enough for a refund! 

Yapta's website boasts that since May of 2007, they have saved their members over $250 million, and that the average annual savings per Yapta member is $334.16. 

I'm tracking all of my upcoming trips on Yapta, and I'll report back if I'm able to cash in. Currently, my flights now cost more than what I paid for them, which at the very least, makes me feel like I got a good deal!

Fun new coupon website

First, I'd like to say WOW where did the month of April go! Forgive the lack of posts. I'm laying the groundwork for a new life plan of sorts, that I will be able to fill you in on shortly! In the meantime, in my never-ending quest to save money, I have a new tool.

Check out CouponChief.com. There are a lot of coupon sharing websites out there, but I feel like a lot of the coupons don't end up working. Whenever I'm about to check out from an online store, I always do a quick google search for free shipping or discount coupons, but they are usually expired.

Coupon Chief has 50,000+ coupons to 15,000 stores, both brick-and-mortar and online. I've snooped around Coupon Chief's Coupon Codes and they have a ton of coupons for stores I visit, and reported success rates (the whole site is user-generated). They also have coupons tagged for special occasions and interests: check out their Mother's Day store, or Travel store (my fav).

Check out the site and let me know what you think, in the comments!

Deal alert: What did I say!

Mere hours after I posted about the great deals to be found on denim at my friend Staci's Portland Boutique Mapel, I received her weekly "happy hour" email. Guess what this week's deal is... 20% off all denim, all week! Check out the email here.

A few words on Mapel. Not only do they have great designer denim, they also offer great clothing and jewelry from lesser-known, local Northwest designers (and free shipping ALWAYS!)

Also, as I mentioned back in November, I think it is so important to support small businesses. Check out Mapel today. 

Never buy designer jeans full price...Seriously, don't do it!

Consider this your public service announcement for the day. Don't ever buy full price designer denim. Guys' or girls'. (One possible exception might be if you have to have a new pair to wear tonight--but then again, unless you are a 6-foot-3 Amazonian supermodel you'll probably need them hemmed anyway.)

I have a love of designer denim, and have also recently pulled the Mr. onto my bandwagon, as he is currently rocking his first pair. However, I haven't paid full price for a pair of Sevens, Paiges, Joes, etc. in at least three years.

It takes patience, grasshopper. But the feeling of sweet success when you get a pair of $200 jeans for $67 can't be beat. Check out my favorite places to score denim deals:

• Nordstrom Rack. It may take a few trips to find the perfect pair, but they get shipments in all the time. Sign up for their mailing list and they'll send you postcards letting you know when new shipments are arriving. 
• Amazon.com and EBay. Before ordering online, make sure you've tried on the specific style, color, and size that you're looking for. 
• Mapel. This is a local Portland, Oregon store (at Bridgeport), but they do tons of online selling as well. They have a huge stock of designer denim, and the have amazing deals every few months on their  daily "Happy Hour" (More about them in a separate post in the next few days too.) Oh, and they have free shipping ALL THE TIME! Not to mention that they have lots of other cute stuff at different price points. 
• Subscription sites like Rue La La, Gilt Groupe, and Ideeli. More on them later as well. 

Head to the comments section and let me know if you have any other great places to score great deals!