November 30, 2011

Amazon Toy Deals for Girls 11/30

Here are the best deals I see for girls today. Since there were so many, I split the posts up. Boys toys are below this one.

First off, you can save $10 off $30 on these Polly Pockets toys.  The individual items aren't marked down much, but it's a great way to make your own sale.

30% off Fashion Angels sets.  I always loved Fashion Plates when I was a kid.

Some more great deals:





Liv Dancing Dolls


Some of these prices were going back up as I was posting.  I hope that everyone gets the deals they want!


I've done lots of gift posts, so let me add them all here:

Amazon Toy Deals for Boys 11/30

Now is crunch time for the crazy toy deals! The longer you can wait on some things, the better. My strategy is to put everything on my list into my Amazon cart, then log into my cart a couple of times a day checking for price drops. I use Camel Camel Camel to check for what the lowest price has been, and I gut it out till it hits that price. It's like gambling, but it's sometimes a fun crazy game.

I try not to post deals here unless I think they're decent, and a pretty good savings over other sellers. I'll also include the photo link with price, so you can check out the price before you have to click.

Here are some of the best toy deals that I see today for boys:



These are 50% off!






Are the Thundercats back? These are 50% off:


Enjoy! Girls toys coming up soon.

Video Games 19 Days of Deals 11/30

Amazon will have 19 days of deals on video games, starting today.  The deals include all platforms--Wii, DS, Xbox, and PS3.  You should be able to check this link every day to see the newest deal.

Today's deals are action games!

While we're talking about action games, there are a bunch of pre-orders that will come with a $10 Amazon credit for future video game purchases.  Don't forget--that Amazon lowest price guarantee applies to video game purcases as well as movies.  You'll get the lowest price no matter when you order.  Since these new games rarely go on sale until they're several months old, that $10 credit will be like a $10 price cut.

Pre-Order Star Wars: The Old Republic and get early game access and a color stone to change your weapon effect. A one-time use code for early game access and color stone will be sent to you via email after you have completed your purchase.
Mass Effect 3
Borderlands 2
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Spec Ops: The Line
Final Fantasy XIV

November 29, 2011

Starbucks 12 Days of Gifting

Starting December 1, so check back to see what's new!

Video Games 19 Days of Deals 11/29

Amazon will have 19 days of deals on video games, starting today.  The deals include all platforms--Wii, DS, Xbox, and PS3.  You should be able to check this link every day to see the newest deal.  This is good for those of us with younger kids--50% off many Disney video games. I'm posting the ones that look best to me, but you can see all the ones included by clicking this link.



Check back everyday to see the latest deals!

November 28, 2011

Disney Store Cyber Monday Deals

If you've got a Disney lover in your house, there are some really nice prices in the Disney Store. I always hate paying shipping, even if the deals are great. The coupon code CYBER will get you free shipping today only. It's also a progressive % off coupon, getting you anywhere from 10-25% off depending on how much you spend.

Don't forget EBATES!  They'll give you 8% cash back.

These are the best deals I see:
Happy Shopping!

Amazon Cyber Monday Deals

As promised, all the best deals. I'm sorting through the pages of information.

  • First off, all the Amazon Cyber Monday deals on one page.
  • Deal of the Day only!  Kitchenaid professional stand mixer for under $200.  Check it out: originally $499.99, marked down to $259.99, there's a $50 rebate form HERE, and also a free subscription to Food & Wine or Travel & Leisure.  If you choose to refuse the free magazine subscription at the bottom of the rebate form, you will get refunded $24, the cost of the subscription. 


  • Toys Cyber Monday page
  • BOGO Disney Plush.  They seem to be selling out fast (see all HERE), because two for around $17-24 is pretty decent.

  • Some other great toy prices here:
  • In the Electronics Cyber Monday sale, I see some good prospects.  Since I'm posting so many items, I'm including the price with the photo so I don't have to type it twice.  I see two really good point and shoot cameras for under $70.

I've done lots of gift posts, so let me add them all here:
This will be added to throughout the day, so keep checking back...

November 27, 2011

Cyber Monday 2011

So, it's here! If you prefer to do your major deal hunting online this shopping season, you'll want to check out this list of the best Cyber Monday deals that I see. If you have a store I missed, just go to their site and see for yourself. Don't forget to check for a good coupon code to make it even better.

Also, don't forget Ebates!  The cash back amounts will be up to 10% back.
  • Amazon Cyber Monday is here.  I will be going through page by page for the best possible savings, but will have it in a separate post in the morning.
  • The Children's Place has free shipping on any order and tons of great $9.99 and under deals.  15% off with code U4F2011.
  • Old Navy use code hugecyber for 30% off everything.
  • Gap use code hugecyber for 30% off everything.
  • Lands End has free shipping and 30% off with coupon code DRUMSTICK and pin 1121.
  • New York and Co. use code 6499 for 50% off any size order and free shipping.
  • Ann Taylor LOFT has SHOP40 for 40% off you order, but it expires tonight!  I will check back later to see if they have something for Monday.
  • Toys R Us has everything live already, but it's a huge ad, too big for me to sort through it all.  Will add to it later.
  • Kohls will have free shipping with NO minimum and NO code needed.  This means that you can use this awesome 20% off code CYBER20.  You'll also get $15 Kohls cash for every $50 you spend.
I will add to this list throughout the day as I find more deals.

November 25, 2011

Online Shopping Deals Made Better

If you're planning to do your Black Friday shopping online (many stores are offering the same prices online as they had in store), you should really make sure to use Ebates! They are offering double cash back to many stores. Just checking the example of one of my favorites, Kohls is normally 4% cash back, but is 10% today only!

Here's how it gets even better than Black Friday: Go through Ebates, then choose your items. Kohls is offering free shipping when you spend $50, $15 in Kohls cash for every $50 you spend, and then you can use coupon code CON20HH4 for 20% off your total! Get 10% cash back from Ebates in the form of a big fat check. Let's break it down:
  • Total $250
  • Becomes $200 with coupon
  • Gets you $60 in Kohls cash
  • And $20 from Ebates
  • All of a sudden, those items you're buying at 50% off become 75% off.  That $250 ends up $120, just like that.
If you don't know about Ebates, it's totally free to sign up.  You need to make sure to click through them to get your cash back, but you'll also get $5 free just for registering with them.  Sign up HERE.

BOGO Webkinz at Amazon

OOH, these will go fast. Many of these little guys are already down to about $5, so getting two for that price is awesome. Here's the link to the good deals.



You can't beat two for $5!

Amazon Black Friday is HERE

I may be the only person who JUST woke up, but I don't go out for Black Friday. I have a couple of times, but it's just so many crowds for a not very good chance I'll get the things I want.

I am excited that Black Friday is here on Amazon. The pre-Black Friday deals were good, but I have expectations for even better. Here are a couple of hints for this year.
  • First, if you have prime, Amazon is offering an incentive to take the slow boat shipping option. You can opt to do the free super saver shipping and you'll get anywhere from $1-3 in free MP3 downloads.  Those download credits can really add up if you normally do a lot of small purchases (like the lightning deals.)
  • They are also giving free MP3 credits with a lot of purchases.  Be sure to check all your emails from Amazon so you don't miss out.
  • Oh, and I didn't post this last night!  Get $2 in free MP3 downloads with code STUDYBRK.  You can enter the code HERE
Here are the best deals I see today:
  • The main Black Friday page.  This has all the lightning deals.
  • Several TV series are under $20.  This includes True Blood, The Wire, and The Sopranos.  Check the link for all the included ones.


  • Black Friday video game deals.  Check HERE for everything.
I've done lots of other gift posts, so let me add them all here:

November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving Stew Re-do

Now that the Thanksgiving dinner is all done, it's time to start my favorite holiday meal. This post is from last year, but I think it's worth another go.

I call it either leftover soup or Thanksgiving stew.  I think I love it more than the actual turkey dinner.



To start, you have to cook down your carcass.  This is sort of a lost art and slightly gross to me, but it’s necessary for both good stock and the best little bits of leftover turkey.  I immediately package up all the extra meat and freeze it, because one extra turkey meal is all my family can stand.

Then I throw the turkey carcass into a big stock pot with enough water to cover it most of the way; bring it to a boil, then drop the temperature low enough for a nice steady simmer.  I usually let it simmer for about 2-3 hours, and then begin the job of picking bones out.  
 

Once I have my good turkey stock and all the meat cooked off, I start adding in all the leftovers—I do mean all the leftovers.  The amounts aren’t really all that important to me.  This year, we had a big bird and a lot of leftovers, so I actually divided my stock and meat for two meals.  I saved half of it for “chicken and noodles” and used the rest for the soup.  If I had to measure, I’d say it was about 3 cups of stock and meat.   

When I roast the turkey, I stuff an onion and a whole garlic bulb (not a clove, the whole thing) into the cavity.  After it's all cooked down, I dispose of the bones, leave the onion in the pot, and then use a garlic press to get all the roasted garlic out into the stock.

To that I add in everything:
  •   About 2 cups of dressing/stuffing.  I make my dressing (I don’t stuff the bird with it, so I don’t call it stuffing) specifically for the leftover potential.  I have a great recipe that uses dried cherries and pecans, and it adds so much to the flavor of the soup.  You can use whatever recipe is your favorite.

  • About 2 cups of mashed potatoes.
  • About 1 cup of turkey gravy.
  • About 1-2 cups of liquid reserved from cooking the turkey the first time.  I rub it with herb butter, so it’s really healthy.  Look at it in all its congealed goodness.

  • All the chopped up leftover vegetables from the relish tray.  This depends on what we have left.  I always have carrots and celery, but sometimes I also have cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers.  You add whatever you have and think would be good. 

  • Did you have cooked corn?  Throw it in.  Leftover green bean casserole?  Sure, why not?  I don’t have any sweet potato lovers in my house, so I think they’re the only thing that doesn’t go into the pot.
You don’t need ANY extra seasonings, because everything was seasoned properly when you made it the first time.  Simmer the whole pot full of leftovers for an hour or so, or until it cooks down a bit and the carrots are soft.  Eat and enjoy.

I make a huge pot of this soup.  We eat some, then the rest of it is packaged and thrown in the freezer for later meals.   
 

Amazon 40% off Boots and Slippers

Wow! If you're in the market for boots and slippers, this might be a great sale. It includes all age ranges, and everything from work boots to fashion to snow boots. I'll search through to find my favorites, but you can see all of the boots/slippers that are included HERE. Shoes are tricky, so be sure to sort out the ones sold by Amazon.

The 40% comes off at checkout, bringing these Bearpaw boots from $75 to their sale price of $49.50, down to $29! Phenomenal price!


If you have a particular brand you like, I find this page helpful with sorting out when there are a lot of items on sale.

Remember that sidebar sort. You can sort out for size, color, price range...Everything you do whittles down the amount you have to look through and makes your shopping easier.  Here are some other pages that might help:

Silly Stocking Stuffers

This was a popular post last year, so I thought I should go off in search of even sillier ones this year. My goal is for under $10 and free shipping with Amazon Prime.

Silly





Bathroom...




Drinkers



Toys



Take off of the Magic 8 Ball



Those should be a good start.  I've found that clicking one item can lead to so many more fun ones when you look at what other people who bought this item might like. 

I've done lots of other gift posts, so let me add them all here: