Penny auctions are like penny slots. Don’t go in expecting to win thousands of dollars, or an iPad, and you’ll do fine. Penny slots are an appropriate analogy because the auctions really are like gambling for entertainment. (Yay!) What penny auctions are great for are winning smaller items like jewelry, toys and especially gift cards.

Two auction sites I’ve been playing with are QuiBids.com and BidRack.com. BidRack gives away FREE bids every day with a spin-the-wheel game, which I love. QuiBids doesn’t give away free bids but has tons and tons of gift cards for auction, which improves your chances of winning.

If you’re leery of penny auctions, I don’t blame you. I was too. But just a little math and common sense can help you feel more confident about the process.

Example at BidRack: Bid packages start at $27 for 40 bids, but best values are with larger bid packages. I purchased 100 bids for $60, which made each bid worth 6 cents. With 2 to 20 free bids you receive every day, you can bank a nice number of bids in your account. I’ve won one auction there, a $25 Target Gift Card for $3.28. But I spent alot of bids to win that, so I really paid $20 for the $25 gift card–still a 20% discount for a gift card that I’ll definitely use.

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Ever the procrastinator, I always put off creating my annual family year-in-review Christmas books until the very last moment. One year, I had to give them as New Year’s gifts, that’s how bad I am about it. And it looks like its shaping up that way again this year, with only 10 days until Christmas.

I’ll tell you honestly that I haven’t decided which brand of photo book I plan of creating this year. I’ve used Kodak and Snapfish before, primarily because of the lower cost, but I also spent hours (literally) creating these books. This year, if I order early enough to take advantage of the free shipping and 50% additional books coupon codes, I’m going with Shutterfly.

A few months ago, I got a code from Pampers to create a free 7×9 photo book and used the Simple Path technology on the Shutterfly site–letting them arrange and design the book for me. Huge time savings. And great result too!

I’m a magazine editor, so I’ll admit I’m way too opinionated about the placement, cropping, design and type styling for each page of my annual book. But the Simple Path nailed it. A new record time for me creating a book! (Anyone who’s stayed up late making their annual book knows the pain.)

Shutterfly even offered to let me try their Holiday and other Everyday Occasions greeting cards if I’d write a post about my past experiences with them. The deadline? Dec. 15 at 11:59 p.m. Check the post time… Dec. 15 at 10:57 p.m.

Related posts:

1. Shutterfly sale
2. Father’s Day Gifts at Shutterfly
3. Cheapskate Santa: Give (free) Photo Gifts as Presents

“Tiny, ugly germs and they’ll make you sick!” That’s according to Yo Gabba Gabba, my FatHeadPup’s favorite program.

That’s why I jumped at the chance to review Outlast Long-Lasting Hand Sanitizer. Unlike other hand sanitizers that work for only a few minutes, OutLast Hand Sanitizer says that it kills germs on contact and can control germs for up to 6 hours.

I handed out several samples at work and put it to the test. Everyone around our office is a little germophobic since a big outbreak of the swine flu a few years back wiped out nearly the entire 40-person creative and editorial team during the Christmas holidays.

Initially, I thought because Outlast was stronger (70% alcohol) and lasted six hours,  it’d feel sticky or leave a residue–but those doubts were assuaged quickly when I applied it. No strong alcohol smell for my snout, no residue on my paws. Its doggone perfect!

Outlast™ Hand Sanitizer works longer because of its unique patented formula that was originally developed for hospital use. Outlast is now available at select Albertsons grocery stores throughout Texas and Louisiana. You can learn more about it by visiting www.outlastgerms.com/moms.

Three lucky FatHeadDog readers will win a free bottle of Outlast Hand Sanitzer from FatHeadDog.com. Here’s how to enter:

1. Like this post on Facebook and then leave a comment here

2. Tweet this giveaway and then leave a comment here: RT for chance to win free bottle of Outlast Hand Sanitizer. Three winners. Ends 10/8 @FatHeadTweet

(Limit of one RT per day) Contest winner will be selected at random Friday, Oct. 8 at 10pm CST.

Disclosure: The product was provided for review by Outlast. I was not otherwise compensated and the opinions are my own. I just really like antibacterial stuff.

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I know it seems like there’s a dozen of these invitation-only shopping sites, but here are a few more that caught my eye.

Shop It to Me

With one of the most customizable email formats among the invitation-only sites, Shop It to Me lets you select all the designers you’re interested in following and sends you an email digest of the best sales. Invite 10 friends to sign up for email, and you’ll receive a $10 gift card to the retailer of your choice. Designers vary widely: Urban Outfitters, White House Black Market, Ralph Lauren, Puma, Adidas and more.

One Kings Lane

Another invitation-only shopping site, One Kings Lane is for home decor and accessories. When you sign up, you’ll receive $15 credit free. There’s tons of really cute items under $15 that offer free shipping, so free stuff! Yay! For every friend you refer, both you and they will receive $15 credit on the site. This referral offer by far is the most generous I’ve seen of any of them, so I’d hurry before it changes. I just purchased the Built NY padded electronic cases–the olive laptop porter and the set of 2 portable hard drive cases for $50 shipped. Home goods spotted: Sigg water bottles, Vera Wang tabletop, Tourance baby blankets, Inked candles and more.

Related posts:

1. Navigating the Invitation-Only Shopping Sites

FatHeadDog loves meals in a box. If its food contained within a box–Hamburger Helper, Bento Box, McDonald’s Happy Meal–I’m in… so I was excited when MyBlogSpark offered me a chance to try the new Good Earth Mediterranean Chicken dry dinner kit and offer a giveaway to FatHeadDog readers.

Good Earth kits offer four meals: Mediterranean Chicken with angel hair pasta, Spicy Citrus Glazed Shrimp with angel hair pasta, Herb Crusted Chicken with mushroom risotto and Tuscan Chicken with penne pasta.

The Dinner

Right off the bat, I’ll say the Good Earth Dinner Kit was yummy. Never to leave well enough alone, I added Italian seasoning, diced green and red peppers to the skillet. Ready for my last ingredient, I go for the chicken…. cue the chicken! Err, I was out of chicken. Eh, I made it a veggie meal. Two paws up.

The Giveaway (has ended)

FatHeadDog will give one lucky reader the chance to try a new Good Earth Dinner Kit! The Good Earth gift pack that includes a Good Earth Mediterranean Chicken dry dinner kit, two sets of bamboo flatware, two bamboo dishes, a bamboo utility board and a 100% recyclable grocery tote.

To Enter:

1. Like this post on Facebook and then leave a comment here

2. Tweet this giveaway and then leave a comment here: RT to win @FatHeadTweet Good Earth Dinner Giveaway: dinner kit, bamboo flatware, 2 bamboo dishes, utility board, grocery tote Ends 9/17

Contest winner will be selected at random Friday, Sept 17 at 10pm CST.

Disclosure: The product and gift pack giveaway were provided by Good Earth and MyBlogSpark. I was not otherwise compensated and the opinions are my own.

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2. Wanchai Ferry gods, are you listening?
3. Review: Cubed meat, it’s what’s for dinner

Have y’all heard of the Internets, and how you can buy clothes without even leaving your house? It’s really quite amazing. Here’s the rundown on a few of the most popular invitation-only designer shopping sites and codes to use for free credits:

Beyond the Rack

Beyond the Rack offers a dozen or so simultaneous designer sales, with a wide range of products such as clothing, accessories, watches, jewelry, electronics and home accessories. It’s really all over the board. You’ll earn $10 for every friend who signs up and makes a purchase. Recent spotted: Mont Blanc pens, Burberry handbags, Chanel sunglasses and FIFA World Cup authorized apparel.

Swirl

A sample sale site for clothing and accessories, up to 70% off. Every week, they offer five selections of designer sales, which last a few days each. Right now, you can get $20 off your first purchase when you use coupon code 20OFF829.  The coupon expires on 9/30/10. You’ll earn $25 for every friend who signs up and makes a purchase. Recently sighted: Lucky Brand lounge wear, Paige Denim, Carla Mancini handbags and Kas clothing.

Gilt Groupe

The Gilt Groupe site presents a dozen or so designer sales on clothing, accessories, jewelry, handbags and high-end skincare. When you sign up, Gilt will send you an account credit, ranging from $10 to $35–depends on the offer at the moment. I signed up with a recent Target event and received a $10 credit. You’ll earn $25 for every friend who signs up and makes a purchase. Recently sighted: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Ben Sherman, Furla handbags and John Varvatos.

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1. A couple of Memorial Day online shopping codes

Until now, FatHeadDog has been on the fence about the search and win site Swagbucks. I never seemed to “win” any points on searches, never entered the bonus “Swag Codes” in time and generally just failed at returning the investment of my time.

But now that I’ve gotten the hang of Swagbucks and figured out my best strategy for winning, I’m a big fan and tickled with the dozens of free Amazon.com gift cards I’ve scored from the site.

First off, here’s the premise of the site. You earn “Swagbucks” for searches performed on their site (as opposed to searching on Google). Points range from 7 to 50 “bucks” earned. You can redeem these points for thousands of prizes, but the best value, by far, is the $5 Amazon.com gift card for 450 bucks.

Here are a few pointers for winning:

Search Early, Search Often

1. Perform your searches approximately three to four times a day, several hours apart. I search first thing in the morning, after lunch, late afternoon and in the evening.

Once You Win, Walk Away

2. Once you win bucks from a search, its fairly unlikely you’ll hit it again, so you can save your next search for a few hours later.

Search Deep, Not Shallow

3. When searching, try related terms to the original you searched, and click through all the pages of results. Also, you can try searching photos or videos for the same term. To me at least, it seems searching “deep” wins better results than searching “shallow” with dozens of unrelated terms (which, by the way, can penalize you if Swagbucks thinks you’re not performing “natural searches”).

Related posts:

1. Review: Swagbucks.com