To the celebrate the World Bartender Championship, TGI Fridays is giving away $2,012 and gift cards for the best cocktail recipe. Here’s my submission for the perfect FatHeadDog cocktail:
1/2 shot of vodka
1/2 shot of Grand Marnier
Lots of ounces of Champagne (or until your arms get tired of holding the bottle)
1 pawful of fresh squeezed lime
A few splashes of Ginger Ale
Garnish with frozen raspberries
*Kibbles optional
FatHeadDog Frugal Tip of the Day: Don’t cave in. You can pay up to 34% more for those airport impulse buys.
Watch Your Wallet While Shopping for Airport ElectronicsBy Lindsay Sakraida, dealnews Features Director
 In the next few days, airports nationwide will be flooded with travelers en route to see family or friends for the Christmas weekend. And if we’re to believe the New York Times, they might be shopping for electronics while they wait.The Times recently published an article that documented the recent growth of consumer electronics stores and kiosks in the airport, like Brookstone, InMotion, and Best Buy vending machines. Some travelers will buy up headphones and chargers to replace broken or forgotten necessities, while others might be looking for a diversion or “treat” for their travels. It’s also reasonable to think that, right before the holidays, travelers may also be looking for some last-minute gifts for anyone they haven’t yet shopped for.
But how much will it cost you to do your shopping at the airport, instead of in advance? A consultant quoted in the Times article said that most of the items in these stores are available at prices equal to or within 10% of what you can find at other retailers. Considering a bottle of water could cost you around $5 at Newark Liberty, we weren’t so confident in those supposed price points… CLICK HERE to continue reading. |
There’s times where I don’t care how cheesy I sound because I’m really that enthusiastic about a product: Diet Coke (you’ve heard of my addiction). Gold Peak Tea (it’s the only bottled tea that actually tastes like real tea). Hot & Sour Soup (hot AND sour, how can you lose!?). I have a new one.
Endorse! is a cool brand-new Facebook app that basically pays you to be a brand ambassador for your favorite products. The idea for Endorse is to connect brands to their most loyal and most influential customers. Purchase products, mail in your receipts and receive 10% cashback. If you add “followers” who also buy the same products, they get 10% and you can increase your cashback percentage to 100%.
Here’s how it works:
1. Visit www.endorse.com and login with your Facebook account.
2. Type in your favorite products such as Diet Coke or stores such as CVS or Target as I did, and click Endorse. Just like other referral programs on Groupon and Gilt, it’s good karma to join using your friends’ links. That way they get some credit for simply telling you about the program.
3. Now just save your receipts from your favorite stores and mail them in the free postage-paid envelope. For example, I purchased Diet Cokes at CVS yesterday. Before I shopped, I endorsed both on Endorse, so when I mail in my receipt, I’ll receive 10% back for shopping at CVS and 10% back for purchasing Diet Coke.
Why does it work? With cashback shopping sites, big brands have ways to connect with their most loyal online shoppers, but bricks-and-mortar shoppers are more difficult. Endorse connects those big brands with their most loyal customers and rewards them.
Can I editorialize a little bit here? I really really hope people don’t find a way to take advantage of the system. Currently, there’s no limit to the number of brands you can endorse and no deadline to submit your receipts. I’m sure these and other policies will adjust accordingly. But I’m so impressed by how the CEO, Steven Carpenter, personally signed the welcome card as shown below. And how he went on Deal Seeking Mom’s blog to personally address every reader’s question. I’m impressed that the envelopes are sent to you free and postage-paid, whereas many other companies would find it cost prohibitive. Finally, I’m impressed to the attention to detail that Endorse! provides. I’m so excited to get started!
Here’s a list of the products I endorse. Click to receive 10% cashback for every purchase of these items and more:
Arby’s
Bath & Body Works
Best Buy
Birds Eye Steamfresh Vegetables
Bud Light Chelada (seriously, these things are awesome!)
Campbell’s Soup
Cheerios
CVS
Diet Coke
Target
TJMaxx
Yoplait
Wal-Mart
Continuing to explore the daily deal sites, get the scoop on MooLaLa, Groupon and Plum District in Pt 1. Now, we’ll explore one particular flash sale site, Modnique.
Modnique is a fashion and accessory flash sale site but here’s the unique thing I just discovered. When sales are winding down to their last day and hours, you can “Make an Offer” on remaining inventory. Yeah, like bartering… I’ll show you how.
When you sign up for the site, scroll down to the middle of the page, where the various sales have green MAKE AN OFFER banners. Pick a sale, then pick an item. When you open the item, click on the Make An Offer button next to the Add to Bag. A window will popup where you enter your selection and offer amount, and submit it to a live online agent who’ll assist you. Here’s how my offer went:
Modnique: Hi, thank you for contacting Modnique customer support. How can I assist your offer today?
FatHeadDog: I’d like to make an offer on this item, please.
Modnique: Sure, I’d be happy to assist. I seem to be getting an unknown error with your offer. Can you please resubmit? For some reason, my screen is showing “2 Bones.”
FatHeadDog: No, that’s correct.
Modnique: 2 Bones.
FatHeadDog: Yes.
Modnique: Please hold while I contact my supervisor.
Idle one minute.
Modnique: Thank you for your patience. I’m sorry but I cannot accept “2 Bones” at this time. I submit a counteroffer of $24.
FatHeadDog: Thank you. I counteroffer $12 and a slightly used leash.
Modnique: I’m sorry but we do not accept goods for trade. The best offer I can give at this time is $22.
FatHeadDog: Thank you for your consideration, but I’ll have to decline at this time. I hear my leash in the hall.
Modnique: The one you offered?
FatHeadDog: No, why?
Idle one minute.
Modnique: Have a good day and thank you for contacting Modnique.
Now that I’ve finished writing my feature on daily deals and flash sale sites, I know more about them than I could ever bore someone long enough to tell all. No one’s willing to indulge me, so I’ll share my wisdom here in this four-part series. (Why four parts? Why not?)
MooLaLa.com is the one and only daily deal site that pays cash, instead of credit, for friend referrals. They pay you 2% back for your purchases, 2% of every sale that you refer, and 2% of every sale that they refer. They’ll pay you in milk if you prefer.
Groupon announced this week a new customer loyalty program called Groupon Rewards, which will offer cashback for repeat purchases. They might as well start mockups for the Groupon credit card now.
Plum District is like Groupon and Living Social, but founded by a mom–hence its tagline “For Moms. By Moms.” Or dogs, whatever.
I’ve always taken offense to the name cheapskate. That implies I’d rather have things cheap than good, which simply isn’t true.
Cheap is one-ply toilet paper. We know that is not good.
Good is sushi-grade ahi tuna. But that is not cheap.
There is one exception I can think of– Jack in the Box tacos are both good and cheap.
Here are four ways to fight that cheapskate stereotype and shop smarter.
1. Shop insider sample sales for designer handbags up to 70% off. Coach and Kate Spade are just a few retailers that offer once or twice-yearly online sample sales exclusively for email subscribers. I picked up a gorgeous $300 Kate Spade purse for… CLICK HERE to read the entire post on BlogHer.com.
We want to hear your wedding gown story…and we’re willing to award you prizes for it. This writing competition is a non-fiction, memoir, blogging, essay-style contest for any person who is currently planning on buying a wedding gown OR has worn a wedding gown.
Alphabet Soup: EOM NNTR
If your email message can be expressed in half a dozen words, just put it in the subject line, followed by EOM ( = End of Message). This saves the recipient having to actually open the message. Ending a note with “No need to respond” or NNTR, is a wonderful act of generosity. Many acronyms confuse as much as help, but these two are golden and deserve wide adoption.
Source: Spouse’s boss’s email
With gas prices up again, its time to get out those cheap gas apps that may have gotten dusty on your smartphone. Here’s a few to get you started:
Don’t forget about grocery store loyalty programs that offer up to 10 cents off a gallon. Tom Thumb/Randall’s and Kroger offer generous discounts at the pump. And now you can use any Shell station with your Kroger card for gas rewards.
If you received a gift card to Knitters R’ Us this Christmas, you can trade it in for cash, PayPal or Amazon.com credit on PlasticJungle.com.
You can sell gift cards for about 80 to 92% of the value of the card, depending on the retailer. For example, I sold a $25 California Pizza Kitchen gift card for $20.
You can also:
I’m not embarrassed to admit my local CVS sent me a Christmas card. Ploy number one to gain my loyalty. It worked. Now, CVS has a new way to lure me into the store. You can earn free extra bucks when you join the new CVS Beauty Club:
I’ll be waiting for my Valentine’s Day card.
Join Amazon Mom
Do you have 15 friends? I don’t.. I mean, I’m a fathead dog. I don’t get out much. But if you’re of the two-leg variety, just round up 15 friends who’d like ItsThoughtful.com and you’ll get an easy $25 Amazon GC.
ItsThoughtful.com is a cool gift browsing site and social community. Users suggest their best gift ideas (for a current contest, if your gift idea is voted best, you’ll win a $500 Amazon GC) and vote–helping sort out the great gifts, like this sculpted jewelry tree
No purchase necessary on their part, just a confirmed email address. Referral contest runs until Dec. 15. I like that tree.
1. Sign up: If you’re not signed up for Pampers Gifts to Grow rewards, here’s a link. Collect points for free gift cards, books, toys and other items in their ever-changing rewards catalog. Earn more points by…
2. Making it a party: If you have other new mom friends, encourage them to sign up too. You’ll receive 10 points per new member. If you have a blog, you can request a referral link by visiting the Pampers Village section and entering your email address. They’ll generate a referral link for you on the spot. Watch your email for…
3. Free codes: Generic codes (ones that are not one-use only) are released occasionally for public consumption, often around holidays. Here’s one brand new code for you: 4HAPPYHALLOWEEN worth 5 points. More free codes can be found on…
4. Facebook: “Like” Pampers on Facebook for more free codes. In the past, they’ve released high value limited-time codes, so it pays to keep an eye on their updates in your Facebook newsfeed. More points means faster…
5. Rewards: I used to think the Shutterfly rewards were the best redemption on Pampers Gifts to Grow since I used Shutterfly so much anyway. But lately, Shutterfly, Snapfish and Kodak have been really generous in free print offers, so FatHeadDog recommends saving your points for larger Shutterfly items or other rewards, such as…
6. Gift cards: If you see one you have enough points for, snag it now! Previous gift cards have included CVS, Red Robin, Diapers.com and Sam’s Club. Gift cards fly off the Pampers virtual shelves quickly, so if you want it, get it. Of course, stay tuned to…
7. FatHeadDog.com for free codes, tips and hints for making the most of your Pampers Gifts to Grow account.
My family and I were at the State Fair of Texas this past weekend when I glanced over at the trashcan and saw an empty 20-ounce bottle of Diet Coke (heart!) with the cap still on. Internal debate–is digging in the trash worth those 3 points? It was a very George Costanza moment. I opted not to dig, sparing myself questions from the 2-year-old FatHeadPup, asking in a squeaky toddler voice, “What you doing?”
Trash digging aside, there’s some cool stuff going on over at MyCokeRewards, the customer loyalty program that rewards Coca-Cola drinkers with prizes such as t-shirts, magazines subscriptions and free Coke products.
Collect your POWERADE caps for a double points day Oct. 25, 2010. That means 3 points will become 6 on 10/25 only.
With only 134 points, you can get a free $5 Brinker gift card, good at Chili’s, Macaroni Grill, Maggiano’s and On the Border restaurants. The fine print says limit one redemption per customer, but I’d act fast since these things tend to sell out quickly. Gift cards are fairly rare on MyCokeRewards, so when you see them, redeem them.
If you’re playing Monopoly at McDonald’s (another nerdy obsession of mine that I’ll dive into in another post), MyCokeRewards is offering a free Monopoly code–MCRFREECODE–for a chance to win 30 MCR points.
