20% off ITunes, Cabela's, Michaels, Sports Authority, Jiffy Lube, Spa & Wellness, or Claire's Gift Cards!

GiftCardMall is currently offering several gift cards for 20% off face value on Ebay Daily Deals.  These are physical gift cards that will be mailed to you.  GiftCardMall is the same company behind many of the large gift card racks in the grocery stores and other retail stores across the country, so a very reliable company.

$50 ITunes Gift Card for $40 (limit 2)

$50 Cabela's Gift Card for $40 (limit 5)

$50 Michaels Gift Card for $40 (limit 4)

$50 Sports Authority Gift Card for $40 (limit 4)

$50 Jiffy Lube Gift Card for $40 (limit 4)

$50 Spa & Wellness Gift Card for $40 (limit 4)

$25 Claire's Gift Card for $20 (limit 5)

Don't forget to go through a cash back portal to save even more!  The best ones for Ebay currently are either TopCashBack or BeFrugal, both of which are offering 1.5% cash back at Ebay.

Enjoy!

(Thanks to Dan over at DansDeals.com for this one!)

Disclosure:  Some sites pay a commission for referral.  I will always post the best deal/offer that I know of, regardless of if it pays a referral or not.  If you choose to sign up through my links for those sites, it is greatly appreciated!  

Free bowling for the kids!

If your kids love to bowl, there are some great promotions being offered by the AMF Bowling Centers (Check here to search for locations).

The first one is on May 2 from 10:00am - 2:00pm and is called "Kids Fest".  During this time, children (age 19 and under!) receive one hour of free bowling and shoe rental.  Additionally, hot dogs and sodas are $1 each, and there will be a "special Kids Fest Discount" on one hour of bowling for adults.

AMF Bowling Centers also offer an amazing deal for the summer which provides 3 FREE games of bowling EVERY DAY from May 18 through September 7.  This offer is valid from opening until 8:00PM on weekdays, and opening until 4:00PM on weekends.  If the grownups want to bowl too, you can sign up for a family pass for $39.95 for the entire summer which then provides 3 games of bowling every day for the adults too!  Additional information and sign ups can be found at https://bowlsummergames.com/.

If you don't have an AMF Bowling Center near you, Brunswick Bowling Centers offer a different promotion which offers 2 free games of bowling each day for children.  Their program information can be found at http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/.

A Little Known Benefit of your American Express Card

Do you have an American Express card?  It doesn't matter which one... any American Express card will do for this one.  If so, here's a very useful and little known benefit that you absolutely should be taking advantage of!

Anyone with an American Express card can get FREE membership with ShopRunner.com.   ShopRunner.com offers free 2-day shipping, along with free return shipping, at a wide variety of retail sites.  Some of my favorites include:

• Drugstore.com
• ToysRUs.com
• NewEgg.com
• eBags.com
• Domino's Pizza (yup, avoid that pesky $2 delivery fee!  But sorry, no free returns!)

All you have to do to enjoy this benefit is sign up at https://www.shoprunner.com/americanexpress.  Once you have signed up, then simply sign into your ShopRunner.com account whenever you are checking out at one of the participating sites and enjoy free shipping and free returns!

FREE USB Modem with FREE Service... a total No-Brainer!

As the title says, this one is a total no-brainer!

Want a Free FreedomPOP 3G/4G Modem for your laptop with FREE 500MB of service per month? Yes, FREE!!! Get it here! Don't forget to downgrade your service before the end of the first month or else you'll be charged $19.99/month and turn off the auto top-up for the "premium" service and to prevent any extra charges.

This is a legit company... I've had one of their hot spots for a few years, and have one of their phones as a back-up phone as well...

Free FreedomPOP 3G/4G Modem

$20 For Free... Today Only!

Here's an easy way to make a quick and easy $20, but this offer is valid today (3/19/15) only!

I've previously written about the value of cash back sites.  Today, one of my favorites has a special offer for new accounts.

TopCashBack is offering $20 cash back on purchases of $1 or more at Raise.com today only.

TopCashBack allows one account PER household member... so if you already have an account, you can still open one for your parent, child, grandparent, goldfish, etc...

Here's how to take advantage of the deal and make an easy $20:

1. Open a new account at TopCashBack
2. Once you are logged into your account, go to http://www.topcashback.com/raise/ and click through to Raise.com
3. Make a purchase of $1 or more
4. Your $20 will post to your TopCashBack account in 4-6 weeks

Disclosure:  Some sites pay a commission for referral.  I will always post the best deal/offer that I know of, regardless of if it pays a referral or not.  If you choose to sign up through my links for those sites, it is greatly appreciated! 

Big Hero 6 DVD... for FREE!

If you haven't seen it already, Big Hero 6 was a great movie.  How would you like to own it on DVD... for FREE!

Here's how to do it:

1. Sign up for a NEW account at TopCashBack
2. Go to this link then click through to Walmart.com
3. Buy the Big Hero 6 DVD AND NOTHING ELSE (IN STORE PICK-UP ONLY)
4. In about 3 weeks, you'll get $16.50 back in your account

(Thanks to Dia "The Deal Mommy" Adams for initially posting this!)

Disclosure:  Some sites pay a commission for referral.  I will always post the best deal/offer that I know of, regardless of if it pays a referral or not.  If you choose to sign up through my links for those sites, it is greatly appreciated! 

Planning ahead to big savings...

In my last post, "There's a Hole in Your Pocket", I talked about how you can easily earn cash back on many of your online purchases.  In this post, I'll talk about how to save even more on many purchases, both on-line and in-store.  Advance warning, this one does require a little bit of pre-planning but can save you a ton of cash!

We've all gotten gift cards at some point (either wanted or unwanted).  Retailers love them because they are getting paid up front and many gift cards ultimately go unused.

Enter the gift card resale market.  Did you know that there are many outlets to sell your unwanted gift cards?  Which also means that outlets exist to buy someone else's unwanted gift cards, often at significant discount.  Depending on the retailer, it is often possible to get gift cards for up to 20% off their face value!

Are you a Starbucks fanatic?  How about saving an extra 10-15% off your daily caffeine fix?

Do you buy a lot of stuff at craft stores like Michaels?  Wouldn't it be nice to save an extra 25% off all your purchases there and still be able to use their coupons too?

Is it time to fix up some stuff around the house?  How about saving an extra 10% at Lowes or Home Depot?

There are multiple web sites that sell 3rd party gift cards at a discount.  Some of those sites are:

• Cardpool
• ABC Gift Cards
• Gift Card Bin
• Raise
• Gift Card Zen
• CardCash

As with the cash back portals, different sites will have varying discounts depending on the merchant card you are purchasing.  The easiest way to see who has what card and at what discount available when it comes time to purchase is Gift Card Granny.  Simply go to Gift Card Granny and search for the store you need a card for.  Using Michaels as an example, there are currently 457 cards listed with an average discount of 18.4%.

So, how can you best maximize your savings?  

1. Think about where you tend to shop the most.  If there is a store that you always shop at, I recommend keeping a few gift cards on hand at all times for that store.  As you deplete your supply, reorder some more to maintain a constant supply.  I always keep gift cards for Lowes, Home Depot, and Michaels on hand.
2. If you know you have a large purchase coming up, order discounted gift cards to pay for it.

One caveat to this is in regards to the extended warranty protection that is offered by most credit cards.  If you are buying electronics or appliances and your credit card offers extended warranty protection, make sure you weigh the value you place on the warranty protection against any savings you would get by paying with a gift card.  Many times the gift card savings has a higher ultimate value than the extended warranty protection, but this can definitely vary.