Radio Shack has a great deal going on throughout the month of April. You can get the Altec Lansing IM600 iPod Speaker System for $59.99, along with free shipping. It’s regularly $149.99.

If you’re worried about your computer crashing, and losing all of your important files, pictures, etc… worry no more. Mozy will give you 2GB of online backup for free!

This is also great because it’s online. So you don’t have to worry about losing it, or worry about having something happen to your backups as well.

You’ll know for sure that your important files are safe, and should you ever need them, they will be there for you.

The best is that it’s FREE!!  So if you only have a small number of files you need to keep safe and secure, the FREE option is definitely for you, since you’ll have 2GB to use.

Is 2GB not enough for you? But you still don’t want to pay a lot of money for backups? How about UNLIMITED backup for $4.95 a month? For just under $5.00 a month, you’ll have as much room as you need to store your important files, pictures, music, and more. If your computer were to fail, you’d be perfectly safe and secure, knowing that all of your data is just a few clicks away. You can’t beat the price either! You know that no matter how much data you have, it’ll be backed up, and if you ever need it, it will be there waiting for you.

Throughout the month of March, you can get 10% off of annual and biennial orders as well!  Use code MARCH when you sign up, and you’ll get an additional 10% off your order.

Now through the end of March, The Watchery has a lot going on.

First off, if you buy select watches (some as low as $78.00 each) you can get a free watch. There are some cute watches that you can choose from that are free on that list.

Also, you can use code TWFOSA to get free overnight shipping if you spend $500.00 or more.

If you don’t like any of the select watches where you can get one free, you can use one of these coupon codes instead: TW50A to get $50.00 off of $550.00 or more, or TW100A to get $100.00 off of any purchase $1,000.00 or more.

The Watchery has watches that are up to 80% off, and they have a HUGE selection to choose from.

GNC has quite a few different deals going on right now. Here are just a few of them:

• Get 20% off any single item through April 30th.
• Get 20% off your entire order with your gold card during the first week of each month at GNC.com.
• BOGO 50% off on all Vitapaks, FRS Chews, and select vitamins and herbs.
• Up to 40% off on Muscletech products.
• BOGO Free on Pro Oats Bars as well as CytoGenix.
• 20% off all boxed bars.
• Free Brookstone Spa Wrap with $50.00 order.
• Free Muscletech t-shirt with orders over $75.00.
• Free Ahava gift set with orders over $30.00.

If you’re looking to fly overseas, you should take a look at Vayama. They will check multiple airlines, and find you some great flights!

I was just playing around, and found flights to Europe from NYC for under $500 a person, for spring. So it looks like they can find some nice prices for you!

Looking for new ways to save money? With this economy (or any type of economy actually), you should always be looking for new ways to save money. You’d be surprised how easy it can be. You don’t have to spend all of your time doing it either. Sometimes something as simple as asking the right question can get you a discount.

If you’ve always wanted to know how to save money on things such as restaurants, movies, your bills, clothes, etc… you may have heard of The Ultimate Savings Guide before. We created it to give you 202 tips on how to save money in different areas of your life. It gives you simple things you can do to save money.  Most of these things take only seconds to do, and can really save you a lot.

What types of tips will you find?

• 30 tips to save on Groceries and Health and Beauty Aids.
• 11 tips for saving money on Entertainment.
• 27 tips to save on your Bills and Services like phone, cable and heat.
• 23 tips on Vacations and Traveling.
• …and more!

Originally we sold it for $29.97. At that price it’s a great bargain. You’ll easily save hundreds of dollars after reading it, and after following even a few of the 202 tips. But we just found a way that you can get it for free!

If you go to The Ultimate Savings Guide, at the bottom of the page by the order link, there is now a “Get it Free” button. What does this do? It’ll bring you to TrialPay. On TrialPay, all you have to do is complete one trial, and you’ll get the e-book for free.

Your next question will probably be “But how much will THAT cost me?” Most likely NOTHING, unless you want it to. What you will do, is be able to choose from many different options of what you want to try. Most likely, you’ll just get a free trial of something. You can choose to purchase something – if you were planning on buying it anyway, but that’s up to you.

Why would a company let you try their product for free? It’s a great win-win for everyone. They are so sure you’ll love their product, that they just want you to try it, hoping they will win you over. You get to try the product, and you’ll get The Ultimate Savings Guide for free. Everyone wins!

We hope that this more affordable option (I mean, what’s better than free?) will help get this e-book into your hands, so that you can start saving money, and growing your bank account.

Also, stay tuned to the website, where we will keep sharing with you great deals, as well as money saving tips to help keep more money in your pocket!

Szul has a coupon where you can get up to $100.00 off your order, depending on how much you spend.  If you’re still looking to get a Valentine’s Day gift for someone, this is the best time, since you’ll have the gift in time, and will be able to save money getting it.

Use the code below to get the discount now through February 15th. You’ll also get free shipping with your order.

• Get $20.00 off your order of $100.00 or more with coupon code LOVE20.
• Get $50.00 off your order of $275.00 or more with coupon code LOVE50.
• Get $75.00 off your order of $375.00 or more with coupon code LOVE75.
• Get $100.00 off your order of $575.00 or more with coupon code LOVE100.

It was only a matter of time, and now the next chain has announced they are closing. Illuminations, a small chain owned by Yankee Candle which also sells candles is also going out of business, along with its website. It looks like the stores will all be closed by the end of April. As of now there hasn’t been any mention of when the website will close.

Right now, the Illuminations website has a lot going on. Everything is on sale, with many items 25% or 50% off.

When going on vacation, there is a good chance you’re going to do a lot of the attractions in the area. For example, if you’re going to Los Angeles, you might be going to Disneyland as well as Universal Studios. If you’re going to Toronto, you might be going to see the CN Tower, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Ontario Science Center, etc. Since this is the case, a few companies have come out with packages where you pay once, and get tickets to many of the attractions in a city at a great savings.

For example, when we were in Toronto, for one price, we got an entrance into the CN Tower, Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Science Center, Casa Loma, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Toronto Zoo. It would have cost a lot more to buy tickets individually to each of these. This was known as the Toronto Citypass, and if you were going to at least 4 of the attractions, it made sense to buy the pass.  We had no intention of going to the Zoo as we didn’t have enough time, but since we were planning on going to 5 of them, it was still a savings for us to buy the pass.

Citypass is not the only one to offer such passes to different cities. There is also the Go Card which has similar passes for other cities. There are even some that are not part of a program, and just have a pass for one location, such as the Niagara Falls Adventure Pass, which included the Maid of the Mist, Journey Behind the Falls, White Water Walk, Butterfly Conservatory, and the People Mover Bus.

We did that one as well, although we skipped out on the White Water Walk due to lack of time.  We still saved money, and got to see everything we wanted to see.  It was also great since these count as tickets, so you don’t have to wait in line at each location…you can go right in!  So that was an extra little perk.

So if you’re going to a city that has a lot of well known attractions, first take a look to see if they have some sort of savings pass where you can pay once and get into many of the attractions.  You’ll be surprised at how much you can save.

When traveling to another country, you will have to convert your money one way or another. There are many options to doing so though, and the amount of money you save or lose can be huge.

You can convert it before you leave, or once you get there. You can also just use an ATM at your destination, and you’ll get money in the currency you’ll need while there. Another method is to use your credit card, and you won’t have to worry about physically changing your currency. Which is the best though?

While traveling to Canada last week, that was something that was on our mind. What I recommend is that before you leave, find out the different costs for each method. You might get a better exchange rate from one place than from another.  Plus, credit cards sometimes add fees.

Another thing to take into account is your own bank. It turns out that some banks have deals with bank chains in other countries, so that you can use them just like you would your own. So for example, when we used an ATM in Toronto, it was just like using our bank back home, and we didn’t get charged any fees.

What ended up being the best for us? Well, when we used the ATM, it automatically gave us Canadian money, and we didn’t get charged any fees at all, so that was the best. When we used our credit cards, we got charged about a 3% fee each time. So for us, it was best to pay cash for as much as we could

It’s definitely something to check out before you leave though, as you can end up spending a lot more money than you originally thought if you have to pay a fee or don’t get as great of an exchange rate.

When you think about AAA, you probably just think about your car, and how they can help if you get a flat tire, get stuck, or anything else like that.

While that is all very true, AAA can help you get a lot of discounts in other ways. Although I have to admit, sometimes it can be hit or miss.

We have AAA, and every time we are getting ready to book a hotel, we check both the regular rates, as well as AAA rates. Most of the time though, the regular internet rates are lower than AAA rates. I always check, because you never know.

Well, this past week, we were able to use AAA rates for 2 of the hotels we stayed at, one a Courtyard Marriott, and the other a Comfort Inn – both in Canada. Not only did the AAA card get us better rates, but it got us free buffet breakfast at the Marriott that is normally $18 per person per day. Not bad right?

AAA did even more for us this trip. They offer discounts to a lot of attractions as well. We knew that and have used them in the past, and even went to a AAA office in Asheville, NC last year to get a discount to an attraction. Well, we were able to get AAA discounts at both the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY and at Howe Caverns, which is about 45 min away from Cooperstown. So we ended up saving quite a bit on our trip due to having the AAA card.

They also offer discounts to theme parks, and even some stores (both in store and online), so it’s defintely something to check out, especially if you already have a AAA card, and hardly use it!

A little over 4 months ago, we were lucky enough to get a really cute (and active!) kitten named Halley. She was the first pet we’ve ever had, so we had to start from scratch and figure out what to buy, where to buy it, and more. Since then, we’ve learned a lot about how to save money on everything cat related – food, toys, litter, etc. Here are some of the things we’ve learned.


5 Ways to Save Money on Everything Cat Related:

1. Don’t waste money on expensive toys. When we first got Halley, we bought a few toys. While she likes some of them – especially the balls with bells in them – her favorite toys cost us absolutely nothing. She loves to play with the tab that comes from milk containers and candy wrappers. So you can be sure to find something in your home that your cat will enjoy playing with, without having to spend anything.
2. Figure out what your cat likes before spending a lot of money on cat furniture or beds as well. We had purchased a cute little scratching post that had a little cubby hole in which the cat could hide in. In the 4 months we’ve had her, she’s gone in it once. She just doesn’t like it! At least she uses the scratching post, so we’re happy with that. Also, some cats love a bed that’s theirs alone. Our cat prefers to sleep in our bed, or on chairs or the floor, and doesn’t even usually sleep on blankets we have out.
3. Consider all options when checking out the price of cat food and litter. Yes, there are big chain pet stores like Petco and Petsmart, but you can also get cat food and litter at your local grocery store, Target, Walmart, and many other places. Plus, you can use coupons on these as well. Once you have a brand of food or litter you like to buy, make sure you check out the prices (and sales) of all of the above mentioned places so that you will always find the cheapest prices.
4. Don’t always assume you have to pay a lot at the vet’s office to get things done. Just yesterday we saw that our town will have $10 rabies shots for cats in November. Getting your cat spayed/neutered can also be very inexpensive if you look around because shelters and local towns will offer that as well.
5. Similarly, you don’t always have to buy pet products from your vet either. There are many websites (and even local stores) that will sell the medications (such as flea collars, things to get your cat to stop scratching everywhere etc…) for a lot less than the vet will, so always do a price comparison.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways you can save money when buying things for your cat. A cat doesn’t have to be a huge expense to the household, and can bring a lot of fun and enjoyment!

Unfortunately, it’s the unofficial end of the summer, but at least most people get a long weekend out of it. With the extra day off of work though, how can you end up not spending more than usual? Here are 4 ways to save money this Labor Day:

1. Don’t fall for all the “Labor Day Events” or “Back to School Sales”. Yes, there are a LOT of sales going on today, and some of them have great deals. But, unfortunately not all of them are deals at all. Before you decide to buy something, spend a few minutes online doing a price comparison, and see if that item really is a good deal, or if you should wait to pick it up.
2. Do something for free. It’s still nice outside, so it’s the perfect time to go to the park, go hiking with some friends, or even picnic outside. You can really enjoy the day, and not have to spend a single penny. Just make sure you invite friends and/or family, and you’ll be sure to have a great time.
3. Don’t go down the shore. Most likely everyone you know is going to the shore to enjoy the summer one last time. If it took forever to get there earlier this summer, imagine how long it will take you to get there today! You’ll end up wasting not only half of your day getting there, but a lot of extra gas as well while you’re stuck sitting in traffic. Find something exciting to do that’s a lot closer to home. You’ll still have an enjoyable day, and won’t be frustrated or waste gas.
4. If you’re going to any store or mall, bring coupons. Even if you just plan on window shopping, you never know when you’ll come across a good deal. A holiday like this is a time where many stores will have coupons. Something like 15% or 20% off your order would be perfect if you end up finding a great deal. You’ll be able to save even more money.

SheSpeaks is a company where women can test new products and have an input into what these products become.

Basically, this is how it works. Every so often if you fit a certain profile (different products have different suggested audiences) you’ll get an email asking if you would like to test the product. If you do, they’ll send you the product (for free of course). You get to try the product and keep it. You then report back to them telling them what you liked, as well as what you didn’t like. If you have any suggestions on how it could be better, you let them know that as well.

They also have a forum with other people who like yourself are also testing the product. There you are able to talk about the product as well. They will even sometimes give you coupons that you can give to your friends.

Last week I got a product in the mail to test, so I was really excited. They sent me the EOS Shaving Cream in Island Blue. They have 3 different fragrances: Pomegranate Raspberry, Vanilla Bliss, and Island Blue. They asked which I would prefer to test, and I chose the Island Blue.

I have had the chance to try it a few times, and I really like it. The scent definitely has an “island” type smell, although I can’t really pinpoint what the scent is. I really like it though, and that’s what matters. I also really like the can it came in. It has a pump you press to get it out, which makes it very easy to use with just one hand.

It also came with a bunch of coupons, and while I’ll happily give some to friends, I have to admit I’ll keep a few for myself! I know that it’s sold at Target, as well as online at Drugstore.com.

If it wasn’t for SheSpeaks, I would never have tried it, so I’m glad I got to test the product, and give them my feedback.

Every time you look, prices keep going up. At the gas station, grocery store, even the airlines, every time you blink you see higher prices.

No matter what you want to do this summer, it looks like it might cost a little more money than last summer.   The good news is that there are many things you can do to bring the costs down, and still save money.

Here are 7 ways you can still have a fun summer, do a lot, and spend a lot less money.

1. Look for free (or very inexpensive) entertainment.

• You can take the whole family to the movies for free or $1.00.
• Bring lunch with you and have a picnic at a local park. You can spend the whole day there, and not have to spend a time, and everyone will have fun.
• You can go to a minor league baseball game. You can get great seats for under $10.00 a person, sometimes even for about $5.00 each. Many minor league games even have special nights with free stuff for the kids, or even fireworks for even more entertainment.
• Take advantage of your local library. You can rent book, magazines, and DVDs that can keep the whole family entertained for hours…especially on a rainy afternoon!

2. Plan your meals ahead of time.

It’s very easy to decide to go out to eat when it’s hot outside, it’s almost dinner time, and you have no idea what to make.

If you decide ahead of time what you’re going to make for the week, and even make some of it ahead of time (or use a crock pot in the morning), you won’t be so tempted to go out to dinner. This can really save you money (as well as calories!) since eating out usually costs a lot more than anything you can make at home.

3. Eat what is in season.

Now is the best time for local fruits and vegetables. They’ll be cheap, and taste fresh. If you buy fruit and vegetables that are in season where you live, you’ll spend a lot less on groceries than if you buy out of season items that had to be shipped to your local grocery store. Plus, you’ll have nice fresh fruit and veggies that have just been picked, and you’ll even have the benefit of supporting your local economy.

4. Spend less on your vacation.

You don’t have to fly somewhere to have a fun vacation.  Look to travel somewhere that’s nearby. No matter where you live, there are probably many places you can visit that are within a short driving distance that everyone will enjoy. Since you’ll be driving, you can make sure to bring with you breakfast foods as well as snacks and bottled water. This will save you a lot of money as well since you’ll only have to buy lunch and dinner out.

5. Make sure you compare prices.

While this goes for everything else as well, especially use it when you’re planning your vacation. You would be surprised at the difference in prices on the same hotel from one website to another.

Plus, if you’re going somewhere (like a theme park) that has an entrance fee, you can comparison shop to find the best prices on those as well. Consider going to your local AAA or even fast food restaurant to look for those kinds of discounts.

6. Lower your utility bills (as well as gas for your car).

• Dry your clothes outside. It’s beautiful and warm outside. Now is the time to give your dryer a break, and put the clothes outside to get dry.
• If you have air conditioning, still use your fan as well (especially a ceiling fan). You’ll be able to keep your house cooler, and it costs less to run a fan than your air conditioner. You’ll be able to use the A/C less, and still keep your home nice and cool.
• Run your dishwasher and do your laundry at night. In many places, you’ll save money for using electricity at night when it isn’t as hot and there isn’t as much of a demand for it.
• Plan your errands ahead of time. If you know where you need to drive for the week, you can group all of the places that are near each other so you can do them at once. This way you will drive less, and save money on gas.
• You can also use a website like GasBuddy to find the best prices on gas.  Make sure you stop to get gas when you’re in the area for other reasons, or you’ll just be wasting what you’re trying to save money on!

7. Mystery Shop so you can do more for less.

If you want to go out to eat or shop, but don’t want to spend your own money, consider mystery shopping. This way you’ll still be able to go out to eat (or buy things) without breaking the bank this summer. It does require a bit of work, but if you don’t mind describing your experience at a restaurant or retail shop, you can get these things for free. I’ve even seen theme parks as well as hotels being mystery shopped, so who knows how much this could help your budget!

If you’re looking to buy books but don’t want to spend a lot of money, consider buying used books from Amazon.Whenever you look up a book, underneath the price you’ll see how many are available new and used. If you click on that button, you’ll see a lot of used books for sale, as well as the condition of the books. Many of them are in new or almost new condition, but will only cost a few pennies.

Of course, you’ll have to pay shipping, at $3.99 a book, but that means that you can get many books for about $4.00 each! If you’re looking at a book that is normally a lot more expensive, you can save a lot by getting the used version. I did this recently for a CD set which was regularly $35.00. I got it for $20.00, and it was brand new. I am in the middle of getting together another order for Amazon, and have a few used books in that order. I know I will save quite a bit by getting the book used.

Last weekend I was at my local Border’s looking around, and remembered something. They have a LOT of “bargain” books, as does Barnes & Noble. Both stores usually have an entire section dedicated to bargain books, where they are marked down from their regular price. I’ve noticed it’s usually near the cashier section, but not always.

You might think that all of these books are old and no good, and that’s why they are in the bargain section, but that’s not always true. While searching through them, we found quite a few cookbooks that looked really interesting. At full price, we never would have taken a second glance, but at $3.99 each, we decided to try a few! There were even a few Rachael Ray cookbooks that were there for under $5.00 each.

We found a few books that we liked that were $9.99 each, but we decided to hold off on them. Turns out that we didn’t make the best decision. We got home and searched Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon’s web sites, and they were all selling it for $20+!

While you might not always find something good, it’s definitely worth taking a 1-2 minute walk through when you’re in the store. You never know what type of books you’ll find, and at low prices too!

Sometimes, buying the floor model can save you a LOT of money. I can understand why for certain things you would want to make sure the item you buy is in the box, has all of the manuals, is brand new, and has no scratches or dents, but sometimes that just isn’t important.

Take for example a small stereo. We were looking to buy one for our house. Our house was built with speakers in the ceiling of each room, and was set up so that all we needed was a portable stereo that we could hook up, and we would get great music in each room.

The problem is, with the one we had since we moved into the house, you could only play the radio or 1 cd at a time. Since the stereo is kept high up in our laundry room, it was very inconvenient to get to, so we decided to get a new one that would play mp3’s, and have a better remote than ours did.

Since this was definitely a want, and not a need, we weren’t willing to spend more than $100.00 on it. So, we went to Best Buy to take a look at what they had. They had a few different choices, but one in particular caught our eye. The Panasonic SC-EN37 Micro System had side speakers that we could easily take off and connect the wires to our system, so that was most important to us. It plays mp3’s, so that was great as well. It even would play an iPod, so although we don’t have one now, if we got one in the future, it would be perfect.

What was even better, was that it was normally $129.99, but was on clearance for $79.99. That was a great price, so we were excited. Of course, because we like to shop around, we then went home and did some research online, finding out that first – it is a good product, and second – that WAS indeed the best price around. So this past weekend, we went back to Best Buy to pick it up.

Guess what? They were all sold out, and only had the floor model left. Since it looked in good shape, and we could see that it worked, that didn’t bother us. We did ask if we took the floor model, what kind of discount we could get off of it…and this is where I was shocked. The sales woman told us we would get it for $39.99. Talk about excited! We were told that there was no box or instructions, but let’s face it…it’s a simple stereo, we didn’t need instructions, and if we really did, I’m sure we could find them online. We didn’t care about not having a box. It was worth the $40.00 savings not to get a box!

So we ended up getting a really nice new sound system for our house for $39.99, regularly $129.99.

So while getting the floor model might not sound ideal, if you really want a certain model, but don’t want to pay the full price, it’s a great way to save a little bit of money! Usually the store will be willing to negotiate as well, so you might get an even better deal. It’s definitely worth checking out!

The other day Scott mentioned that he’d like to start listening to audio books on the way to and from work. He figures he spends about an hour in the car each day, and never has any time to read…so this way he could listen to all the books he’s been meaning to read.

Without thinking, we headed over to Barnes & Noble to see if we could get a good audio book. Boy were we in for a surprise!! Each audio book was at least $30.00, and most were a lot more than that! There was no way we were going to get any audio books that way.

That’s when it finally hit both of us. We could get the audio books from the library. Not only that, but they’d bring them to our closest library, so we would only have to go a few blocks from our house to pick them up.

We were even able to do one better. By checking out the website for our library, we found out that NJ has a free online audio book rental system. Our county is affiliated with it, so we can just go find a book they have, download it, and listen to it right then. Many you can only listen to on your hard drive or mp3 player, but some you could even burn to cd to listen to it.

So now between the new website, and requesting audio books from our library, he can get all the audio books he wants, and we don’t have to spend a penny.

That made us very happy. It’s just funny that it took us so long to come up with it! I guess when we think of libraries, we just think about books, and forget that they have audio books, music cds, movie dvds, magazines, and more.

Another way to “earn” extra money and be able to get things for free is by getting and using points. There are lots of ways to get “points”. When you fly, you can sign up for and get frequent flyer miles. When you stay at a hotel, you can often get points. Even when you go shopping you can earn points. The question is, what on earth should you do with them?

Well, it depends on what the points are, and what they can do for you.

Let’s take a look at airline frequent flyer miles. Most airlines offer them, and if you fly on one airline a lot, you can earn free flights. I usually fly Continental Airlines, so I save those miles so that I can get free flights. But since I do pick flights based on price, and not because of the airline, once in a while I will end up flying another airline. I always make sure I sign up for their frequent flyer miles as well. But I know that I’ll never get enough miles for a free flight. I don’t want the miles to go to waste though, when there are other things I can do. This can happen with airline miles, hotel points, shopping points, or more. If you know you’ll never be able to use them at their respective airlines/hotels/stores, why should they just sit there and go to waste?

They shouldn’t have to just sit there, unused, when there are many other things you might want to buy, but not want to spend the money on. The good news is there are sites like Points.com where you can use these points for other things. While I am sure that there are other similar programs out there, I personally use them, so I’ll show you how they work. Other companies are most likely similar.

What happens is you log into their website, and enter in all your information for the programs that they have. They currently have 30+ different airline, hotel, and shopping programs that they are affiliated with.

Some include American Airlines, Delta SkyMiles, Priority Club Rewards, Trip Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Starbucks Rewards, and more. Once you have entered your information in, you will see what you can get for your points. They offer many gift certificates, such as Amazon, Macy’s, Gap, Sears, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Blockbuster, Target, and many more. You can also swap your miles or points for points/miles in other programs. So let’s say you are trying to get a free Delta flight, but recently got a bunch of American Airline Miles. You can use this program to change them into more Delta miles to help you get closer to your goal.

It’s a great way to use miles/points when otherwise they might have gone unused, and might have even eventually expired. This way, you can put it towards something you will actually like, and use instead of just sitting there.