For millions of people, Amazon is a way to get whatever they need, whenever they need it – and wherever they are. (More on that in a minute.) That’s why the rebranding of the “Prime Student” program is worth noticing. Amazon is offering six months’ worth of Amazon Prime for free to people aged 18 to 24, plus half-price Prime after that.
That means not just free parcel delivery, but also:
Black Friday is upon us, and retailers are ready not just to sell, but to lend.
That is, they’re ready to talk you into getting their proprietary credit cards. When you shop in-store, you’ll almost certainly get asked when you pay for your purchases. If you’re shopping online, a pop-up ad will probably follow you all the way to the “pay now” button.
The introductory offers may sound tempting. (Zero interest! Deferred interest! 30% off your first purchase!) But is a store credit card the best choice for you right now, or ever?
That depends. Store credit cards may have their place, especially for those trying to build or re-build credit, but they aren’t always a good idea.
Sorry to have maintained radio silence since Oct. 23, but I’m on vacation in Phoenix. More about that below, however, because I want to focus on the topic at hand: Why five of you should win a $100 Walmart card.
My old pals at Savings.com are giving away five $100 e-gift cards in what they’re calling the #LiveWellWithWalmart giveaway. I see no reason that all five shouldn’t be won by readers of this site.
After all, the holidays are upon us and due to supply-chain and pandemic-related issues, there’s no time like the present to start looking for your presents.
(Disclosure: I get a small affiliate fee for each click on the links in this piece.)
And if you’re in a position where all your needs are currently covered? Consider entering anyway, and then using the $100 to do some good. Buy diapers and donate them to a diaper bank. Purchase gloves, hats and wool socks and drop them off at a shelter; if you live in a temperate climate, then substitute cotton socks and maybe some underwear.
Buy pet food for a no-kill rescue group. Choose some puzzles and stuffed animals to help out your local Toys for Tots drive. Get a hundred bucks’ worth of coffee and tea and deliver it to the senior center.
I give a lot of gift cards for birthdays and Christmas, because I like the flexibility* they provide to the recipients. Generally I get them from rewards programs, which means that most arrive as e-gift cards. I print out two copies: one to give and one as backup in case the cards get lost.
Which isn’t me being paranoid. Lost gift cards are a thing. According to a Bankrate.com poll of nearly 2,400 adults, U.S. residents have an estimated $15.3 billion in unspent spending power just lying around. The average amount is $116 per person.
On the bright side, it was $167 per person back in January 2020. That’s progress.
These numbers are sobering – and unnecessary. That’s why I’m proposing that we all go on an unused gift card hunt. Mine happened on Sunday, quite by accident.
I had the second COVID-19 shot on April Fool’s Day, two days after my most recent post. Felt okay for a while, meh by the end of the day, and uncomfortable enough to spend the next two days mostly lying down, either napping or reading.
Was better on Sunday, took care of business Monday through Wednesday (even started writing a post), and on Thursday felt myself sliding back into mehville: fatigue, slightly sore throat, mild headache. Got one of those nice arm rashes, too.
Now, one day later, I’m feeling a bit better. Well enough to put up a post, anyway. But when I sat down to finish the post I started writing on Wednesday, the crummy feeling returned. This could be my body telling me to stop staring at the screen for a while. Or it could be just plain old work avoidance.
Thus I decided on a giveaway, even though I’d done one fairly recently. Completely playing the COVID card: I just don’t feel like writing. Besides, most people are pretty cheerful about the chance to win some retail scrip.
What kind? That’s up to the winner. Any retailer that will let me send an e-gift card is fair game.
This is one in an occasional series of articles about saving money.
Back in the day, the coupon/rebate combo got me a lot of free stuff. A lot. For years I didn’t have to pay for toothpaste, shampoo, lotion, deodorant and other toiletries, or for certain food items. On the rare occasions when I did pay, the tab was a few cents to just under a dollar.
This was a godsend at the time, since I was living on less than $1,000 a month and working on a university degree. Bonus: I got so much free stuff that I supplied my daughter with many essentials, and donated a bunch to a social services agency.
Coupon/rebate buying helped me stretch my limited funds. It helped me help others. What’s not to like?
<<Surviving and Thriving has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Surviving and Thriving and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses and recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.>>
But all good things must end, and coupon/rebate deals were no exception. The stores running these loss-leader promotions gradually fell out of the habit. Ever since I moved back to Alaska I’ve had almost no chances at getting the freebies.
Until, that is, I discovered a new coupon/rebate combo.
Now I use some (or all) of the following: the Coupons.com, Shopkick*, Ibotta** and Fetch Rewards*** apps; the Swagbucks rewards program and the CouponMom.com website. While it’s not as crazy-lucrative as it once was, I can say that it’s been worth my while. Two recent examples:
Five years ago I wrote a post called “Why I sewed my underwear.” That piece still gets good traction; either people want to be justified in sewing their own smalls, or they want to read just why someone would bother repairing when replacement undies are so cheap.
(Well, cheap the way that I buy them: six- or eight-pack cotton drawers from Hanes. I’m well aware that solo scanties can cost $30 or more. I would never deny any woman – or any man, or any non-binary person – undies that make them feel pretty. Personally, though, I’m built for comfort, not for speed.)
Today I threw out five pairs of unmentionables. And I feel just fine with that, for a couple of reasons.
The fixes weren’t holding. Either I’m a lousy sew-and-sew or some garments simply can’t be repaired over and over. DF thinks it’s the latter: “After one fix, out it goes.” And this is from a man who has been known to repair just about everything. Once, when the elbows of a shirt were threadbare, he cut the fabric above the elbow and started hemming his new short-sleeved shirt.
It’s okay not to wear tattered tighty-whities. I can afford new, whole briefs rather than having to slide (carefully!) into a few loosely connected underwear molecules. After all, I do have a job and that job lets me replace things that need replacing.
So yes, I bought new bloomers. But I did it frugally, because of course I did.
(Surviving and Thriving has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Surviving and Thriving and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses and recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.)
Some 71 percent of U.S. residents plan to go online for most of their holiday shopping this year, according to a new survey from CreditCards.com. Will you be one of them?
I sort of hope not.
Local stores have already been hammered by the novel coronavirus. Some are barely hanging on. If there’s another stimulus check – and even if there isn’t – I plan to do much of my shopping here in town.
Note that I said “much.” A bunch of my gifts won’t actually be physical gifts, but rather gift cards that I get from rewards programs like Swagbucks and MyPoints or from my rewards credit cards.
But I’ll also be visiting some local shops with beautiful and/or practical gifts.
Sure, I could go online for pop-culture items for my nephew and niece, or cash in some of those rewards points for chain pet stores. But I’d much rather head over to Bosco’s or the Anchorage PetZoo and leave my dollars here in town.
I don’t like to waste food, especially since it’s been harder to find lately. It’s not that we’re food insecure, but that we could be.
Pandemic-related shortages have been reported in stores nationwide, and meat-processing facility closures have led some producers to slaughter animals rather than wait out the pandemic.
In addition, an expert I interviewed for a recent COVID-19 article noted that there will likely be some food shortages in the coming year. Mostly those would be specialty items, or high-maintenance crops that farmers aren’t sure they will have the manpower to nurture and harvest. (It can’t all be done by machine.)
Too, some farmers are plowing crops under right now because their biggest-ticket buyers – hotels and restaurants – aren’t buying. An analyst quoted by U.S. News & World Report notes this could lead to shortages (and higher prices) in the supermarket.
Not wasting food has always been a goal. But now it seems more important than ever.
(Note: As a Savings.com DealPro, I will earn a very small affiliate fee for each person who enters the Macy’s gift card drawing.)
Want to win $100 worth of buying power at Macy’s? Now’s your chance. Savings.com is giving away five $100 gift cards during its #MayAtMacys promotion.
Obviously I can’t win, but maybe you can get a $100 head start on things like:
This is a fairly quick-turnaround giveaway. You have until 11:59 p.m. PDT Thursday, May 7 to throw your name into the hat.