You can get $25 Gift Certicificates to local restaurants for only $4 through 10/26/08 when you visit Restaurant.com and use the code:  SAVOR at checkout!

Just make sure to check out any restrictions provided by the individual restaurants!  Some require a minimum purchase before you may use the coupon.  However, for many restaurants, this may not be an issue.  The restaurant that we chose required a minimum purchase of $35, but the average entree was $20 anyway!

Mindi refuses to pay full price for anything and can be found at Moms Need To Know, where she helps Philadelphia-area moms pay very little for their groceries

You don’t have to waste the gas driving around for great sales and deals. Let your fingers do the walking right from the comfort of your home computer.

You’ve probably heard of the big ones: E-bay, Freecycle, Craigslist, Overstock for getting online sales and deals but have you heard of these?

1. Go-Optic and Frames Direct for tons of discount designer eyewear frames. Most opticians let you bring in your own frames to fill with prescription lens and get adjusted. Don’t just order direct and never get them adjusted. Glasses can be at the wrong tilt, improper height on face and basically useless if a professional does not help with the final fitting.

2. CityPass for half-price admissions to museums and valuable insider tips on the best attractions the big cities have to offer.

3. FREE books at Project Gutenberg for the Internet’s best source for free e-books with more than 18,000 titles in its catalog. The site also offers free selections public domain sheet music.

4. FREE online celebrity gossip at People, TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly. They all give lots of entertainment news freebies. Did ya know. . .? Have you heard . . .? You don’t have to stand at the grocery aisle reading the mags for free when you can get lots of the same stuff online — probably more current.

5. FREE online games at the aptly named Free Online Games which offers humorous video clips, optical illusions and jokes and other funny stuff.

Happy Bargain Hunting! Go Get ‘Em! Do you have any more to share? Check out our Blissfully Domestic Living Forum.

Sarah blogs her crazy life at Genesis Moments, contributes beauty product reviews to Chic-Critique and is a featured storyteller at Story of My Life.
Picture by Manky maxblack

I love shopping online and I’m always determined to get the best price; however, that can be a daunting task. There are so many websites making the claim that they can save you money, but many are not up-to-date and you’ll waste time shopping with outdated coupons and offers. 

I’ve found a couple of sites that can be counted on to deliver - both savings and cash back!  One of my favorites is FatWallet.com.  The concept is simple - log onto Fat Wallet, click on a retailer’s link, complete your order, and in a few weeks the percentage of cash back promised is deposited into your account, ready to be withdrawn at your convenience by check or PayPal.  For even deeper savings, Fat Wallet tracks current sales and provides additional special offers and coupons for many of the retailers. Be careful though, if you use a coupon other than the one provided by Fat Wallet, the retailer may cancel out your Fat Wallet cast back savings.

FatWallet has been around for years and I’ve come to rely on them for up-to-date information and a great shopping experience.  So much so that when I recently designed some post cards to send out  I went straight to Fat Wallet to research printers.  I found a great offer from VistaPrint whom I’ve used before and been pleased with the quality.  Not only did I use a 50% off coupon, but by shopping through the Fat Wallet link I received an additional $9.60 in cash back (12%)! 

FatWallet has an active savings community and specials and deals from all over the Internet are posted by members in the forums for everyone to share.  The community is very helpful and friendly and I’ve found some fabulous deals by reading the forums. 

Do I always shop through Fat Wallet? No! I have other sites that I use that I’ll be sharing with you over the next few weeks and percentage off and special offers change constantly, so before shopping any retailer I check all of my favorite cash back and coupon websites to see if they offer a better deal.  Additionally, while Fat Wallet offers a great number of retailers, it’s not uncommon for me not to find the retailer I’m shopping with available. 

You can knock down prices to save money on your purchases with a little planning and a few minutes of research. I recommend you sign up for FatWallet.com and start saving!

Connie - Online Shopping Maven
Telling Tales at “Behind the Pink Tissue Paper“

FatWallet and the FatWallet Logo are trademarks of FatWallet, Inc.

BigCrumbs.com is another way to save money while shopping on line.

They currently have affiliate status with eBay and over 305 popular retailers, such as Target, Old Navy, Gap, Circuit City, Best Buy, and more. What that means is that if you shop through their links, they’ll make money for referring you to that retailer, and they’re sharing that reward with you to encourage you to shop through their link.

There are two types of accounts.  You must decide which best fits you when you sign up. Once you choose the CrumbEarner you can’t downgrade to the CrumbSaver, but you can upgrade at any time.

CrumbSavers

• As a CrumbSaver, you’ll earn cash back on your purchases as well as anyone you refer. You’ll also earn the higher cash back percentage shown on each retailer. You only earn commissions on directly referred people.

CrumbEarners

• As a CrumbEarner, you’ll receive cash back on up to FIVE generations away. So if your friend refer friends, you’ll recieve cash back on their purchases as well. The trade off is that you’ll earn the lower referal commission listed at each retailer.

Only you can determine which is the right kind of account for you. I do know of several people who have referred thousands of savers and they’re now making $600-$800 a month on those referrals without spending a dime themselves.

I believe I’m a more realistic saver - I earn about $40 a month for doing nothing but clicking on a link and referring one person. I’m just not good about telling others about the program.

THE PAYOUT

It can take between 2 weeks and 2 months for the rebate to be credited to your account. Always track your purchases, the amount, the date, and the expected cash back.

Once the cash back is credited to your account, you’ll be automatically paid out once a month for the previous month. You are required to have a PayPal account to participate. There is no minimum amount for payout, so you can expect the payment on or about the 15th of every month

PASSIVE SAVINGS

The benefit I’ve found to BigCrumbs.com is that it’s a passive savings plan. I shop through the links and the money appears in my account. I also like that they offer cash back for eBay purchases as I’m an avid shopper there. It’s the only discount I’ve found for eBay so far that’s available every day and not a special purchase option that’s only available for a short time. Simple bookmarks make it easy to shop or shop through their website.

Do you use Big Crumbs, if so what is your experience?  If not, do you have any questions?

Connie - The Blogging Queen at Princess Time Toys - “Behind the Pink Tissue“

BigCrumbs and the BigCrumbs Logo are trademarks of BigCrumbs.com

Anyone struggling with financial issues will usually say the same thing: I wish I had known more about money before.

While we know that our children need to learn to count, read and write, we mustn’t forget the important life skills, especially when it comes to finances. These days, children are being solicited for credit cards at younger ages. Heck, even Dora the Explorer has a credit card that children can go “shopping” with in a play grocery store (now there is something Dora should have been taught: don’t purchase groceries on a credit card).

So how do we teach our children finances, especially when we may be in the process of (re)learning about them ourselves?

Here are some links to help you sort through it:

Forbes.com - Teaching Kids about Money [be sure to click on the link at the bottom of the article Seven Tips to Teach your Child About Money]

Family Education has a thorough listing of activities for teaching your child (of any age) in a hands-on way. And when I say thorough… yeah… it covers it all. A very impressive list.

Young Investor teaches saving, investing, planning and earning money.

Moneyopolis is a site for middle school-aged children.

Practical Money Skills for Life is a site geared towards older children. But there are some activities for young children here.

This post from the University of Minnesota Extension office is very well-written and covers what to teach young children.

And Dave Ramsey has many resources for teaching kids about money, including Junior’s Clubhouse.

Do you have great ideas or suggestions for teaching our children about money? Do you have questions about it? Leave a comment and/or head over to the forum.

Karla is the managing editor of Blissfully Domestic and can be found blogging at Looking Towards Heaven.