Some of you know that I recently started bargain shopping hard core, focusing on getting the most out of my grocery budget and my Christmas gift budget. You cannot imagine how stoked I was when I ran across this deal. I just got $75 in Restaurants.com certificates as gifts and actually MADE 40 cents in the process!

Here's how to do it:

1) sign up for a new account at Cashbaq and get the $5 signup bonus (Cashbaq is an online rebate site, like Ebates.com and MrRebates.com; I've earned $60 in rebates from these sites just for doing my normal Christmas shopping!);
2) use their link to go to Restaurants.com to earn 30% cash back on your purchase;
3) select at least $25 worth of gift certificates (you can order certificates for a specific restaurant if you know where the giftee likes to eat, but be sure to read all of the restrictions);
4) during checkout, use the coupon code SANTA to get $25 worth of certificates for $2.

If you only purchase one $25 certificate, for $2 up front you get $25 in gift certificates, a $5 sign-up bonus, and 30% cash back on your $2 (60 cents), for a net of $3.40 EARNED. I bought $75 worth of gift certificates (one for $25 to a specific restaurant and one for $50 to the site so my friend can choose which restaurants she wants to use them at) and still made 40 cents. Even if you don't want to give them as gifts, you can still take advantage of the deal: my friend Liz bought the gift certificates for her family to their favorite pizza place, so they'll be enjoying some free pizza for a while!

Hope this helps your budgets as much as it just helped mine!

This year I'm trying to not only buy gifts that friends and family actually want, but stretch my gift dollars as far as possible. To that end, I wanted to alert y'all to the following sites:

Ebates.com
MrRebates.com
BigCrumbs.com

Here's the scoop: sign up at all of these sites and take advantage of whatever the current sign up bonus is (cash back, gift cards, whatever), then when you're ready to shop online, go to each one, find the store you want to shop at, and check to see what their rebate percentage is, then click the link with the highest percentage.

For example, today I bought some maternity jeans for SIL at JCPenney.com by first going to Ebates.com and signing in, then clicking on the JCPenney.com link, then finding the jeans I wanted to purchase. I used a $50 gift card I got for signing up for health insurance at work (thanks, work!), a coupon code for free shipping I saw on Ebates.com, and ended up with 2 pairs of nice jeans for my SIL for less than $4. Add in the 4% rebate and they were less than $2, including shipping. (Don't worry, SIL already knows I'm getting these for her; I had to call and get her size.) Score!

Earlier this week I bought some clothes for the nieces & nephews at OldNavy.com going through MrRebates.com, so I got 6% back while also taking advantage of their children's clothing sale AND the 20% off Stuff 'n' Save sale if you used your Old Navy card. I ended up getting gifts for 3 kiddos for about $80 including shipping.

Oh, and I purchased a renewal sub for Stepdad's National Geographic magazine (again, not a surprise since I get it for him every year) from Magazines.com via MrRebates.com for a whopping 30% cash back!

Just thought I'd pass that along to the flist in case you're looking for ways to stretch your shopping budget, too. :)

God bless Cleolinda for taking the fall for us. Except...now I kind of want to see it.

For the first time in my life, I voted blue. My state went red, but it didn't matter. I'm crying from the significance of this moment. Congratulations President-Elect Barack Obama.

The annual SidCity.net fundraiser, benefiting The Lost Boys College Fund, begins November 5, 2008, on eBay.com. Items up for bid include a 10-minute phone call with actor Alexander Siddig, signed items from Doomsday, Syriana, 24, Star Trek and more.

SidCity.net, the official fansite for Alexander Siddig, hosts an annual fundraiser to raise money for one of Siddig’s chosen charities. The 2008 recipient is The Lost Boys College Fund, an organization that sponsors Sudanese refugees who come to the United States to attend college. The money raised from this fundraiser will make a significant impact in the lives of these refugees by helping with tuition and living expenses as they pursue a college degree.

If you don't already have an account at eBay, now is the time to sign up! Keep watching our About Me page for the items, going live November 5th!

I just watched a movie that I had to get online and post about - Penelope. It's the story of a girl cursed with a pig snout for a nose and her quest for love. I know, it doesn't sound great but it's adorable and sweet and the costumes are fantastic and the sets are stunning (think Pushing Daisies) and it stars Cristina Ricci, James MacAvoy, Reese Witherspoon, Catherine O'Hara and Richard E. Grant. It's a new favorite. Must add it to my collection as I rebuild.

So if you don't want to spend the time wading through Breaking Dawn, may I humbly suggest cleolinda's recaps? Seriously, all of the awesome, none of the poke-my-eyes-out-with-a-spoon.

Book 1
Book 2
Book 3

Bill Self > Roy Williams

That is all. :D

Hello, flist. Long time, no see! February is always a challenging month for me, and somehow I've managed to ignore LJ for most of it. Oops. In short, during that short month, I was focused on school, work, webby-type projects, and fighting a losing battle to stay healthy (strep, tendinitis, fell and bruised my knees and hip, and now a cold). I did book airfare to Los Angeles for a quick trip towards the end of April, which I'm very much looking forward to. Also working out plans for Colorado in June for LilBro and Scarlett's wedding, San Diego/L.A. in July, and Boston in September. I think I need new luggage...

While I wait for my shows to return post-writers strike, I've been watching an Australian series, McLeod's Daughters. I'm about 1/3 of the way through season 2 now and anxiously awaiting my next two discs from Netflix. I know, in general, what happens this season, thanks to running across the general season descriptions at Amazon. Can't wait!