What is MM up to tonight?

HoneyBee973 · November 2013

Nothing exciting here.

We had dinner at home. Watching TV, looking thru FB, and just searching the web.

vlagrl29 · November 2013

not much. I'm cooking dinner and who knows what we are doing after that. I kinda want to shop for xmas cards but I may be out of the mood after dinner.

lifeonthehill · November 2013

I worked my second job tonight and now I am home and exhausted in bed watching netflix. H is playing video games and relaxing after his first hockey game of the season as a coach.

Wulfgar · November 2013

Did grocery shopping for the week and stocking up on protein. Had good coupons for the grocery store and buy one get one pot roasts. I also picked up a ham for later. Before coupons and store specials the total was $165, afterwards it was $126, $15 of which I used my company's Thanksgiving gift card so it was $111 out of pocket.

Wulfgar · November 2013

Did grocery shopping for the week and stocking up on protein. Had good coupons for the grocery store and buy one get one pot roasts. I also picked up a ham for later. Before coupons and store specials the total was $165, afterwards it was $126, $15 of which I used my company's Thanksgiving gift card so it was $111 out of pocket.

hoffse · November 2013

Researched couponing - Target has a coupon for $10 off a $50 grocery purchase. Plus all their Thanksgiving-y food is on sale this week. I need groceries, and I need to make a dish for our firm's "Thanksgiving lunch" next week so I'll be making a trip over there this morning.

I don't know that I'l ever become a super couponer - but I have decided to start being more diligent about checking the weekly ads for stores I'm going to be shopping at anyway. I'm also trying the CVS thing for toiletries to see how it works for us. I shop sales very well, but I think coupons take it to the next level.

I also downloaded the ebates banner on my laptop so I wouldn't forget to check for cash back before making online purchases. I got a check in the mail from them yesterday, and it reminded me that I need to be better about checking their cash back offers every time I'm about to check out online. It hasn't fully become a habit yet.

vlagrl29 · November 2013

what is ebates?

hoffse · November 2013

Oh the joy of ebates!

It's this website that basically receives cash from merchants for referring people to those merchants's websites. They split their referral fees with people who go through them (you and me). They have so many subscribers that they have decent bargaining power with merchants to increase referral fees.

All you do is sign up and set up a payment method (I think the options are check or paypal? I have them send checks). Then when you are shopping online you click on the merchant's link through ebates first. That activates the referral and then you shop normally. You can get cash back regardless of payment method (credit card, gift card, etc.) and regardless of any other discounts or sales the merchant is running.

What I like so much about it is they have a LOT of major merchants, and they do daily double cash back for various ones. Yesterday, for instance, there was double cash back at sephora. I always buy H this kind of fancy shaving cream as a stocking stuffer for Christmas from sephora. So I decided to buy it yesterday and got 8% cash back on that purchase. Macy's, Target, Walmart, Sams Club, etc. are all merchants. Amazon.com is also a merchant for certain categories (that rotate). The only notable exceptions that I've been able to find are costco, pottery barn/williams sonoma and ebay.

Ebates automatically pays you quarterly if you have more than $5 accrued in your account.

Fatwallet.com is exactly the same thing - and so I try to check both fatwallet and ebates before shopping online and going through the one that has the higher cash back offer for that merchant. Only difference is fatwallet will pay you whenever you request payment - it's not automatic like ebates is.

My biggest problem with these sites is I forget to look before shopping online sometimes. So I installed the ebates banner to remind me - it also tells you what cash back offers are available for all the various merchants they have agreements with when you do a google search for a product. It just appears next to the merchant's name on google. Pretty cool. Anyway, this way I will remember to check both ebates and fatwallet before shopping online.

hoffse · November 2013

Oh the only thing about ebates & fatwallet is that the cash doesn't come through until the return period for the product has expired (usually 30-90 days, depending on the merchant). It usually takes a couple days for the merchant to report the transaction, and then the cash shows as pending in your account until the return period for the product expires.

But I mean, given they are giving your free cash for buying stuff you would be buying anyway, I don't think it's a big deal.

I always redeem my fatwallet cash in December and use it to help offset holiday expenses. Some years is more than others, but every little bit helps!

vlagrl29 · November 2013

I don't do a ton of online shopping so I'm not sure if it's worth it to me. I do shop on amazon. Is amazon included in their list of merchants?

hoffse · November 2013

Yep, Amazon is included for certain categories - these rotate.

I figure it takes an extra 30 seconds to go to the website and click through. I do a lot of online shopping, but even if I didn't it's not a huge inconvenience. It's free money!

vlagrl29 · November 2013

hoffse said:

Yep, Amazon is included for certain categories - these rotate.

I figure it takes an extra 30 seconds to go to the website and click through. I do a lot of online shopping, but even if I didn't it's not a huge inconvenience. It's free money!

I signed up last night and made an order on amazon. I thought I'd give it a chance.

What is MM up to tonight?

Re: What is MM up to tonight?

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