Bargain Bastards

If you don’t already have at least 1 credit card that is gaining you cash back rewards then go to the bank right now and sign up for one. You are literally throwing away free money if you’re not using your credit cards for every purchase you make, no matter how small it is.

There is a catch to this though, you still need to only spend what you can afford. This is the biggest mistake people make when they get their first credit card, they run up huge bills thinking they can just pay close to the minimum amount and they end up paying way more for their purchases than they would have had they paid cash. Now considering most credit card interest rates are between 9-15% on average (yours may differ), you are going to do yourself no favors by carrying a balance over from month to month and it will totally negate the benefit of getting cash back on that card.

Most credit cards offer somewhere between 1-3% (some may go as high as 5%) cash back on purchases made using said card, so why not take advantage of that. Go about your normal monthly spending routine whether it’s bills, gas, food or even your mortgage if you can, but pay for all of it using your credit card. Every dollar you spend will gain you free money and in the long run it can really add up. Hell, even a hundred bucks a year is still $100 more than you had last year and you did absolutely no work to get it, you were just smart with your money which you should be anyways if you’re reading this site.

One of the best ways I’ve found to rack up the cash back bonuses is if you go out to dinner with a group of friends and you don’t split the bill and everyone else has cash, even if you have enough cash to cover it, don’t. Take all of your friends’ cash and put the entire bill on your credit card so you get the cash back on the entire bill. The only problem with this is that you have to remember that the money you’re getting from your friends needs to be applied to that credit card statement so don’t go and blow it all. Before I started doing this I had a friend that did it at another friend’s birthday dinner. We went to a Brazilian steak house with probably 15 people so after drinks and food the bill was around $1000, he put the entire thing on his card and we all gave him cash. Even with spending $1000 it’s not a huge cash back at 1% (or even 3%), but his bill cost him a little less than everyone else just for the fact that he signed that piece of paper in the end.

So if you think about it, over the course of an entire year if you put all of your purchases on your credit card you should be able to make at least a couple hundred dollars back in rewards which is better than nothing. And like I said, if you’re smart with your money and don’t think of the credit card as an extra source of funds to your bank account, but merely an extension of it, then you should be able to pay off your balance every month and not incur interest which would totally negate any rewards you may have earned. So give this a shot for a few months and see if you can discipline yourself enough to make it work for you and not against you. If you find that you just spend too much money when using your credit cards each month, then this method isn’t for you and I would suggest going back to paying for everything with your actual money. Live within your means and don’t fall into debt that you can’t handle.

I’m a big fan of not cooking for myself, I feel like I’m wasting food when I cook for one person so if my girlfriend isn’t over I would rather order something or go out and for those times when I go out, Restaurant.com can save me a lot of money.

If you’re not aware of what Restaurant.com is, it’s a site that allows you to buy gift certificates for select restaurants for cheaper than face value. They are almost like savings bonds that mature as soon as you print them out. For example, last night we went out for Sushi and used a $25 gift certificate that I paid $2 for, so essentially I saved us $23 on our meal last night. Now I’m sure you’re probably asking how I got a $25 gift certificate for $2 when the site lists most of the $25 ones at $10… well that’s where we come in. On the right side of this page you will see a Restaurant.com advertisement, it’s the small square under the Netflix ad. Below the Restaurant.com ad you will see some text, those are up to date promo codes that will net you a % off your total purchase. So with the current deal a $10 gift certificate is 80% off, which comes to $2.

So if you like to eat out I would definitely recommend checking out Restaurant.com and make sure to check back to this site for update promo codes when they become available (which is always).

Click here for Restaurant.com

Looking to satisfy your craving for tubed meats, but don’t want to spend any money? Well this deal is for you! Right now Jewel and Albertson’s stores have Ballpark Frank Hot Dogs on sale for $1.50 and $2 this week and when you combine then with the $2-off printable coupon found on Ballpark Frank’s Facebook site, they come out to be $0!

Ballpark Frank’s Printable Coupon

I know this is sort of a contradiction from what I posted a few days ago regarding buying new video games, but this is actually a pretty sweet deal. I was always planning on buying Call of Duty: Black Ops on launch day as I know I’ll get tons of playing time with the multiplayer, but Halo: Reach was going to be a used purchase for the single player only. However, I’ve changed my mind due to the current deal running at Best Buy.

If you’re not a Reward Zone Member take a minute to sign up and then make sure to Opt-in to the Gamers Club so that you receive better deals on video games. The Gamers Club also makes it easier to get gift certificates back when you purchase games. For example, normally for the reward zone you need to spend $250 in order to receive a $5 gift certificate, but with the Gamers Club you only need to spend $150 on video games to get a $10 gift certificate. So this deal would also net you $120 towards that $150 you need for another $10 credit, so you’re next gaming purchase will get you a $10 gift certificate. So if you already have at least $30 worth of video games purchased since your last $10 gift certificate you could get both games for $65. Now let’s look at how it will all go down.

Now that you’re a reward zone gamer club member you have access to special deals, but what we’re interested in right now is the 500 bonus points you get for preordering Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops (both offer 500 points each, so 1000 points). So each game will net you a $10 gift certificate for preordering them, so there’s $20 right there. Bestbuy.com is currently running a promotion where if you buy (or pre-order) any game or accessory over $39.99 they will mail you a $25 gift card (make sure to add the gift card to your cart, I don’t think it just automatically appears). So essentially you’ll have to buy the games up front for $120, but you’ll get back $45 in gift cards and if you’re anything like me and buy Movies/Video Games at Best Buy all the time, the gift cards will get used eventually so it’s just like having $45 bucks in your pocket.

Now as I mentioned before, if you already have at least $30 worth of games on your gamers club account, this purchase will net you another $10 gift certificate giving you a grand total of $55 in savings, basically buy 1 get 1 free for 2 of the hottest releases this fall! And that’s not all, if you find you don’t like one of the games and can’t see yourself playing it that often, sell it on eBay or Glyde the 1st or 2nd week it’s released and you’re sure to make at least $50 back, so you’ll almost get 1 game for free. This is what I will be doing with Halo: Reach. I’ll play through it and then sell it on eBay, thus allowing me to get Black Ops for next to nothing.

Also, if you don’t want to wait for bestbuy.com to ship the games (since they don’t guarantee release date delivery) make sure to do in-store pickup. I don’t see any stipulation regarding using that option instead of shipping as far as the $25 gift card goes.

Just an FYI, make sure you add the $25 gift card to your cart, see the image below. Click that link on either games product page and add the gift card to your cart. After you add 2 qualifying games the gift card will drop it’s price to $0.

If you’ve been holding out on purchasing the entire series of LOST then now is the time to buy. Everwhere else this set is going for $195, but using the promo code “N7Y9U9J” at Barnes & Noble you can pick this up right now, with free shipping, for $143. Just take note that this is the Blu-Ray version not the normal DVD (normal DVD is a little cheaper as well), but could you really watch LOST in anything other than HD? Also if you’re a new customer you can use promo code “X3K4T7B” for 20% off instead of the 15% that the first promo code gives you

Barnes & Noble | Promo Code: N7Y9U9J (for new customers use X3K4T7B)