Moving back home!

Hi everyone! If you’re viewing this post, it means you’re in the wrong place…but not to worry, because I have no interest in losing you! Instead, I’d love for you to follow my blog to its new url: http://couponfans.com/. I had hoped to keep it even simpler (and may yet work out how to accomplish that), but for now I’m happy just to be hosting my blog on my own domain again. As before, if you want to remain subscribed to my RSS feed, you’ll need to update your feed URL again once you get there.

Thanks for sticking with me through this move. I know it probably hasn’t looked like it from out in cyberspace, but it has been truly harrowing on this end, and nothing at all like the smooth transition I had originally planned. But then, when is moving EVER easy or smooth, right? I’m sorry I haven’t been posting many deals as of late, but most of my time has been devoted to ironing out the kinks in this new site. I will try to get back to posting deals soon, though, as well as updating the new additions that the site has brought, like the local coupon listings and the internet printables lists, so please check those areas as well!

Just to make sure I don’t lose anyone…please make sure to follow me back over to the couponfans.com domain, as I won’t be updating this site that is hosted on WordPress’s servers any longer. Have a great weekend, and stay warm and dry!

50 Roses DELIVERED for $24.99 + 8% Cash Back!

1-800-Flowers is running an awesome deal right now. You can either go directly to this page, and get 50 roses for just $24.99 delivered. OR, you can go through Cashbaq.com, and get an additional 8% cash back (if going through Cashbaq, you’ll need to search on the term “spray roses” once you get to 1800Flowers to find this deal). If you’re not already a member, I highly recommend signing up, as they start you off with a $5 bonus just for joining. It’s like getting an extra $5 off your rose order! I just received my first check from them yesterday, so I can vouch for their legitimacy.

Note that this price does not include a vase, though that can be added for $10. you can also double the order to 100 roses for only $15 more ($39.99 total), and the vase would be the same price ($10) to add to that order. If you’re going to go that route, though, be sure to also use coupon code FB20 (but hurry..it’s only valid through 1/27/2010) to get an additional 20% off your order of $49.99 (or more)!

Also note that the free shipping offer is only valid for orders delivered between 2/8 and 2/12, so it won’t work if you absolutely MUST have your flowers delivered ON Valentine’s Day. But if your sweetie is like mine, and understands and encourages your love of saving money…he/she will understand why they’re getting their goodies a couple of days early.

Here goes nothing…

Well, after some unforeseen issues with my new web host, it looks like I’m going to have to do things in a bit sloppier manner than I had hoped. Since I don’t know whether or not this blog is going to port smoothly (my money is on no, but I’d love to be pleasantly surprised , I went ahead and set up a copy of it at http://couponfans.wordpress.com/. Thus, the interim RSS feed can be found at http://couponfans.wordpress.com/feed/. I will be doing my best to keep up with posting during this move, but my main focus will be on getting the new site presentable and everything you expect migrated over. I hope you’ll bear with me in the meantime, and forgive me if this doesn’t go smoothly…it’s my first blog migration.

Have a great week!

Warning about the Walgreens Bic BOGO/BOGO Coupon Deal

Bright and early this morning I set out for my local Wags to do some of the nice deals available this week. OK, it was dark and early, but that’s just because we’re having some grey weather…

Anyhoo, I had in my hot little hands two of the Buy One, Get One Coupons on Bic Disposables from the 1/10 SS. My first tip-off that things might not go right lay in the fact that when I located the razors in question, they were not marked with any sort of sale signage. Double-checking the weekly flyer posted in the store, however, I verified that they were indeed supposed to be buy one at $6.99, and get one free. Oddly, the razors themselves were originally priced at $5.99, but…I had the flyer to back me up, come what may!

When I got to the register, however, the peculiar pricing bit me in the rear. They rang up as follows: $5.99 for the first package, and $1.00 for the second package. This might not have been so bad, had I had only one coupon. But when the associate went to ring up the second coupon, she said she could only put it through for $3.50!

I went ahead with the transaction, since I had just terrorized the manager with my couponing the previous week (and he was very nice about it, I might add), and didn’t want to get too bad of a reputation at this Wags. Still, I wanted to warn y’all that, for some reason, be it regional price differences, or some other confounding register issue, the Bic Buy 2 Get 2 Free deal might not work for everyone in all areas!

On a brighter note, I did find the Neutrogena Men Skin Clearing Shave Cream in the clearance section for only $2.64. This combines beautifully with the $2.00 any Neutrogena Q from December’s All You magazine. Mr. Wonderful absolutely adores this stuff, so I am planning on checking other stores nearby to see if I can snag him more at a great price!

Getting Ready for a Big Blog Move

I am getting ready to move this site over to a new host, and at the same time do a total re-design. I’m going to add more pages than just this blog, so that I can begin to add some of the great features I’ve been planning for the past few months. I’m very excited, but I hope you’ll bear with me. For one thing, anyone who has subscribed to my RSS feed will need to update their pointers. Problem being, of course, that I don’t yet know exactly what that pointer will be. The good news, however, is that I will still be found at CouponFans.com, so I’ll still be easy to find!

If I can find out in advance what my RSS feed pointer will be, I’ll be sure to post it here before making the big switch. In the meantime, happy couponing and deal-finding!!!

Getting Your Game on for Free Pt. 2 – EIGHT Free Games from Big Fish Games!

As I promised yesterday, I’m going to lay out for you the steps you need to follow to get EIGHT FREE GAMES from Big Fish Games. These games sell for anywhere from 6.99 to 19.99 on Big Fish and elsewhere, and though you have to do a little work to get them, if you like puzzle-type games, it’s DEFINITELY worth the effort! Furthermore, I have just tested all of these codes myself in the past 72 hours, so they should all be in perfect working order! The only thing I don’t know for certain is how many coupon codes can be used on a single order, as I only used two at a time when I was doing this deal for myself. Feel free to post in the comments if you discover any such limitations, though!

Note that I own only PCs, so I’m not sure if a Mac user could get quite as good a deal, but see my note at the end on how to try.

Also note that you’ll need a credit card number to get the 8th game for free, and you’ll need to remember to cancel your membership before 30 days pass if you want to be sure that your card is not charged for anything. Of course, if you decide to remain a member, the deals they offer on an ongoing basis aren’t bad at all! But I’ll let you decide for yourselves after you see what they have to offer.

1. Go to Big Fish Games, and search for Spa Mania, or just click here. Spa Mania is what is known as a “time management” game, in the vein of Jane’s Hotel. If you’ve never played this type of game before…I’d say give it a try; it’s a fun way to pass the time, and hey, if you hate it, it was free, so just delete it!

2. Click the green “Buy it” button to the left to put the game in your cart. This will take you to a screen that allows you to view your cart

3. At the bottom of the screen, in the “Have a Coupon Code?” box, enter the code FREESPAEMAILPC then check to be sure your subtotal changes to $0.00. I don’t think capitalization matters, but I entered my codes in all caps and they worked, so that’s how I’m giving them to you.

4. Now, search for, or click on this link for, Azada (don’t worry if you click here and it opens in another tab or window; your shopping cart will be preserved from one window/tab to the next, and you can just close the old ones). Azada is a bit deeper type of puzzle game, and kind of reminded me of Myst, although I admit I only played a few minutes of it. It won #1 Puzzle Game of 2007, though, so I’m betting I’m going to have a lot more fun with this one in the weeks to come!

5. Add Azada to your cart, and when you’re taken to the cart screen again, enter the code FREEAZADAEMAILPC then check to be sure that you subtotal has again changed to $0.00.

6. Now go to the page for Hidden Wonders of the Depths, and add that to your cart. Hidden Wonders of the Depths is a well-balanced “match 3″ type game, which has several types of sub-game all rolled into one, so you’re not just playing a Bejeweled clone.

7. In your cart, add the code FREEDEPTHSEMAILPC and check to be sure that your subtotal has changed to $0.00.

8. Now, go ahead and go through the checkout process. This will involve entering your personal & credit card information, and be sure to use a real email address, because you’ll need to respond to an activation email in order to get your final free game. Also at checkout, BE SURE TO CHECK THE BOX TO ACCEPT THE FREE MEMBERSHIP IN THE GAMES CLUB. This will allow you to get your eighth free game in time. I say “in time,” because it is not immediate; the free game will be credited to you during the first week of February (or, for those of you finding this info long after it was posted, during the first week of the month FOLLOWING the calendar month in which you signed up). The great thing about this free game credit is that it is good for ANY standard version game of your choosing, so even if you wind up hating all the freebies you get by doing this deal, you can still pick one you know is going to be to your liking. I plan to get Puzzle Quest with mine!

Going through the checkout process will also walk you through installing the Big Fish Game Manager. Like many other sites, they use a “manager” to ease & speed the download and installation process. It’s also nice because you know the software is coming directly from Big Fish, ensuring that there is no adware or spyware tacked on.

OK, so now you’ve got three shiny new games and are ready to start playing. But wait! There are still more. If you need to take a breather now, I understand, but be sure to come back tomorrow or some other time soon to do the rest of these steps, and get four more FREE games (and credit toward a fifth)! If you’re ready now, take a deep breath and continue on to step 10…

10. Go to this page, and enter your name and email address and submit. It’s OK to use the same email address that you signed up for Big Fish with; it won’t prevent you from getting your credits. Just be sure it’s a valid address, because they’ll email you TWO free credit codes! These codes are valid for a limited selection of games (there were five from which to choose when I signed up), and that list will be included (along with links to the games) in the email that is sent to you, so go ahead and read or even try out the games to decide which ones you want.

I should mention here that from what I’ve seen, ALL games available on Big Fish are eligible for a 1-hour trial. That is, you can download the game & play it for an hour to try it before you buy it. So if you’re unsure as to which two of the five available titles you want, this would be a great time to download the ones you think you’d like (or, heck, download all five and give them a shot…you can always delete the ones you don’t like!), and give them a trial run before deciding. Once you’ve made your decisions, follow the same process (also outlined in the email) as above for adding your two selections to your cart, then adding the coupon codes to bring your total down to $0.00. After you’re done with ALL that, come back here for step 11…

11. Go to this page, and once again fill in your information. Like the Verbatim offer, you will receive an email, this time sponsored by Hallmark, and this time for your choice of one of three games. You will also receive a download link for a Sudoku game. Downloading the Sudoku game does not use your free credit, so go ahead and get it first, then take a look at the other games on the list to decide which one you want. Again, you can download and try them if you’re unsure, before you “buy” one with your code.

12. Play your seven new games, and wait patiently. Believe it or not, each of the six games you used codes to get, even though you didn’t pay a penny for any of them, counts as a “punch” on your virtual “punch card” toward a reward code for another game of your choosing! As I mentioned back at the beginning, this will only be true if you signed up for a free trial of the Big Fish Games Club (you DID do that, right?!) when you got your first three games free, but now all you have to do is sit back, relax, and wait for your code to credit to your account. Since this is all pretty new to me too, I’m not sure if we’ll be getting an email to let us know, if it will come in the form of a code, or just show up as a credit on the site with no notification, so I’d recommend marking your calendar on February 6th or 7th to check back with Big Fish and see. That would also be a good time to cancel your membership (after redeeming your credit, of course) if you don’t find any added value in the club. I, for one, plan on remaining a member as long as my budget allows, and here’s why:

1. Every day, members can buy a different title for $2.99 (that’s less than half price!); the title is chosen by Big Fish, but I’m betting there will be many during the course of a month that I’ll like enough to buy for that low price!

2. You’re guaranteed to get your money’s worth; the monthly fee is $6.99, and that’s the same amount it costs to buy a game credit, so even if you don’t take advantage of any of the other features of the club, you can’t go wrong.

3. They also have a feature called “Tomorrow’s Game Today.” From what I understand, Big Fish introduces a new game every day, but Game Club members have the option to buy that game a day before the general population. I’m not sure how much use I’ll personally get out of that feature, but I wanted to mention it just in case it tickles your fancy!

But seriously, I’m not here to sell you a membership, I’m just letting you know why, as an inveterate freebie/cheapie hunter, I think it’s a pretty good deal. Now, go out there and get your game on!

A note for Mac users: A similar deal is probably also available to you, though I’m not sure if the free game count will be quite as high (and I don’t have a Mac at my disposal to test these things out – sorry!). But I can tell you that there are comparable codes for Spa Mania and Hidden Wonders of the Depths out there for Macs, just change the “PC” at the end of the coupon code to “MAC” and you’re set! Also, with the Verbatim & Hallmark codes, there is a slightly reduced or altered set of games you can get with your credits, but they are usable for Mac games as well, so by all means, try out those links too.

As before, if you discover a limitation, or a way to make this deal work for Mac users, by all means post in the comments and help your fellow freebie hunters out!

Getting Your Guilty Pleasures for Free – How to Get Your Game On

OK, I have to admit, I love computer games. Especially puzzle-type games. I’ve been hooked ever since I got Tetris for my original Nintendo system. So now that computers are powerful, and have an ever-expanding library of visually gorgeous games with great soundtracks, I have to be careful and only allow myself playtime AFTER my work is done for the day. Since I like these types of games so much, I also tend to beat them rather quickly. Some have more “replayability” than others, but many of them, once you’ve worked your way through, seem stale. So I’m always on the hunt for cheap new ways to get my game on!

There are entire sites devoted to games and gaming, so I’m not going to duplicate their efforts here. What I do want to do is let you in on a few of my favorite lesser-known sources for free games. The one I’ve known about the longest is Coffee Break Arcade. The look of the web site hasn’t changed much since I first discovered it back in, oh, 1999 or so, but they do have a constantly (albeit slowly) expanding list of games to choose from. This site is great if you just have a few minutes to an hour or so to kill, because a. you must be connected to the internet to play them and b. none of them, in their free form, allow you to save your progress. Naturally this site is supported by selling “full versions” of the games, but with the hundreds of games available for play online, you’ll have many hours’ worth of free play just trying them all out.

Another site I’ve been following for a couple of years now is Game Giveaway of the Day. The title is a bit misleading, actually; they only offer two game titles per week: one on Saturday and one on Sunday. But in the beginning they gave away a different title every day, so the site name has stuck. The way this site works, is that you visit it on the day of the giveaway, read about the title they offer, and if you think you’ll like it, you must download, install AND ACTIVATE it that day before midnight PT (3am ET). I stress the activate part of this deal because if you only download, or download and install, the game will still be time-bombed and bug you to pay for it after a trial period. I also caution you on this because sometimes the activation is part of the install process, but other times there is a separate file in the downloaded .zip file that you must click on in order to activate. If you read the “readme” file included in the .zip file you download, it will tell you what you need to do, so my best recommendation is to always check the readme first. They also have a “sister” site (actually the original, from which the game version sprang), Giveaway of the Day, which gives away other types of software seven days a week. I keep an eye on their offerings, but only rarely actually download or use any of them.

The biggest catch to the things you get from both Giveaway of the Day and Game Giveaway of the Day, is that if anything happens that should cause you to lose them (for example, your hard drive self-destructs, or you just buy a new computer), you either have to pony up the cash to buy them, or wait (and pray) for them to be offered again. I say “pray” because while I have seen some titles repeat on these sites, there is never any guarantee that they will.

Stay tuned, because tomorrow (or maybe the next day; I have to wait to make sure what I want to tell you is true!) I’m going to drop the bombshell of all free game doozies on you…how to get EIGHT free games from a trustworthy site…games that don’t require an internet connection to play (once you’ve downloaded them, that is), and you’ll own them FOREVER, so if your hard drive tanks (as mine seem to have a habit of doing), you can re-install to your heart’s content!

Great deal on Hot Pockets/Lean Pockets at Kroger!

Hot Pockets and Lean Pockets are on sale this week (1/10-1/16) at Kroger for $1.78, and Cellfire just came out with a $0.55 off coupon, making them just 1.23 each. I think the Cellfire coupons are only good for one use, but if you’re going to be at the store for other groceries…why not?

Beauty Bridge – 5 Samples + 5% off + Free Shipping + 10% Cash Back!

Here’s a great deal that’s available right now on BeautyBridge.com: buy anything on the site and get FIVE free samples! Plus, if you use coupon code first5 at checkout, You’ll also get 5% off of your order, AND free shipping. Finally, if you happen to be a member of Cashbaq, you can go in through their site and get a further 10% back on your entire purchase. The sample descriptions aren’t specific the way Sephora’s are, (I imagine they do this so that there will be no need for substitutions) but they are listed as: a skincare product, a men’s skincare product, a makeup product, a bath & body product and a hair care product.

If you’re not already a member of Cashbaq, sign up now, and the deal gets sweeter! You’ll not only get 10% back on anything you purchase from Beauty Bridge, but also a sign-up bonus of $5. Which of course means that if you purchase something costing less than $5, it’s a lot like getting all this great stuff for free!

There are a great many items to be had in the $4-$6 range; I personally bought the AminoGenesis Therapeutic Hair Repair for $4 (less 5% was $3.80), and other items available include varous Kneipp bath salt products for $4.50, several lip balms for $5-$5.50, and even sharpeners as low as $3.50!.

Disney Movie Rewards Birthday Surprise!

OK, I may be the last one to know this…but I’m going to post about it anyway, just in case I’m not! I just signed up for Disney Movie Rewards in December, mostly because I saw that I could get FREE Snapfish prints just by collecting their points. It’s not that I don’t like Disney Movies, it’s just that I tend to rent them after they’ve been out a while, rather than actually buying them on DVD or Blu-Ray. But believe me, if I ever do buy one I’ll definitely be entering those codes!

Anyway, This morning I received an email from them saying that I could get a FREE Blu-Ray, plus 25 rewards points, just for entering a code from my email (sorry folks, not sharing this one! I did just that, and was presented with a screen where I could take my choice of National Treasure, The Game Plan, Enchanted, Meet the Robinsons or High School Musical 2. The only charge was $2.95 for shipping, which as you know is a steal for a Blu-Ray disc! FYI, I chose National Treasure.

So, if you’re like the vast majority of the population, and have a birthday coming up at some point in 2010 (sorry to all the new-year’s babies…maybe next year?), be sure you’re signed up for Disney’s Movie Rewards program before it rolls around!