Fantastically Free!

This edition of "Fantastically Free!" is super belated, but equally as impressive (if I do say so myself!) as the first edition...

After we purchased our living and dining room furniture from Raymour & Flanigan, we received a $100 "thank you gift card" in the mail from the sales agent that helped us in the show room.  At first I assumed it was too good to be true -- one of those "coupons" you can't redeem without being lured back to the store and tricked into spending a bunch of mula you didn't originally intend to, in order to get a discount you on items you didn't need in the first place.  I knew we couldn't buy any furniture for $100, so a repeat visit to the show room would not be worthwhile.  Instead, I decided to take a peek at the website to see if they carried any small items we could order online and get delivered.  To my surprise, they did!

This silk flower arrangement sits in our office, and sure pretties it up!  It's a real nice size for an end table, and even though they're faux, these blooms bring a smile to my face whenever I walk in the room and see them.  Silk flowers are not for everyone, but I consider it a bonus that they "bloom" all year long and can't wilt!  ;)

Mixed Flowers in Silver Pot

And speaking of brightening things up...

Silver "S" Desk Lamp

This lamp fits perfectly with the decor of the room.  We initially had it atop our computer armoire, but we recently upgraded to a full-size computer desk with hutch, so this guy now sits on a little cabinet and looks just as nice there.  I thought the curvy shape was unique, and love that the "S" design signified my hubby's first name!

At just under $100 for both items, I was very pleasantly surprised to be able to use my coupon without breaking the bank.  I just love me a good deal!  :)  The cherry on the sundae is that I'm still loving both of these fantastically free items 15 months later!  Bonus points!

Have you scored any noteworthy free or discounted items lately?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Note:  I was not encouraged, paid or perked for writing this post.  These opinions are purely my own -- I can't help bragging about such a good fantastically free find!

Free Cupcake Alert!

Attention all cupcake lovers in the NY Metro area!

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Sign up for New York magazine's New York Deals and get a FREE cupcake (up to $3.95) from any of the 39 Crumbs Bake Shop locations in the NY Metro area!  New York Deals is New York magazine's short list collection of what its editors think are the best deals in NYC.  It's free to sign up and you can receive alerts delivered via email or view them by visiting their website.  As with most promotions, by signing up for this offer you are opting in to receive communications from New York Deals and Crumbs Bake Shop.  But, in my professional deal-seeker opinion, there is very little risk for this deliciously sugary reward.  ;)  So sign up today and enjoy your free cupcake by April 29th!


Disclaimer:  I have not been paid or otherwise encouraged to promote this free cupcake alert.  I simply believe in sharing great tips like this!  Enjoy!

Wayfair Rewards

I want to let you in on a little secret.... it's an online website that has zillions of really nice items for sale at surprisingly affordable prices!  Most of their items ship free (and fast!) and their selection is huge -- I can (and have) spent hours drooling over their merchandise.  Plus, their customer service is top notch.

Introducing...

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I discovered this internet gem about two years ago and have been smitten ever since.  The icing on the cake is a really neat rewards program that allows you to accrue credits for each purchase you make and apply those credits toward future purchases!  That's right... you get free stuff for shopping!  Signing up for Wayfair Rewards is free, and easy.  You fill in your email address and then get 3% back on a zillion things home!

And, if you use my referral link to sign up, we'll both get a discount on a future purchase!  Most items on the website ship for free, and the prices are really affordable.  So, click on my referral link and start browsing!  You have nothing to lose, but I have a feeling you're going to find something fantastic to buy.  ;)

http://www.wayfair.com/invite?rfr=27636292505

Member Benefits:

+ Earn 3% on every purchase you make.

+ Receive an extra $10 for every friend that you refer.

+ Get access to exclusive members-only email offers.

To give you a taste of their selection, here is some of my favorite Wayfair eye candy:

Crosley LaFayette Expandable Bar Cabinet in Vintage Mahogany

Kaleen Regale Blue Rug

Graham & Brown Watercolor Meadow Printed Canvas Art

Well, what are you waiting for?  Get shopping!  This site has everything you could possibly want, and more!!!  If you've already bought something from Wayfair, I'd love to see what it is!  :)

NOTE:  For reach friend who makes a purchase after signing up for Wayfair Rewards through my referral link, I'll get a $10 credit.  You'll get the same once you refer friends, too!!!  I was not compensated in any way by Wayfair for writing this post and the views expressed are solely my own.  I simply love saving mula, and also love passing savings on to friends, so it's a win-win!  Enjoy!!!

Free Shutterfly Wall Calendar!

Hi readers, I have a pre-Turkey Day treat for you!  Use code CALENDAR2013 at shutterfly.com to get a free* 12-month wall calendar!!!

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* Offer valid for one-time redemption per billing address and valid for one 12-month wall calendar only. Taxes, shipping and handling will apply. Offer ends November 23, 2012 (11:59 P.M. PST). For more details, please click here.

I am not receiving any perks for passing along this discount code; I merely saw the code in my inbox and wanted to share the savings!  I haven't personally used Shutterfly for calendars before, but I have created and gifted several photo calendars from another site for my grandma for Christmas the past couple years and she's loved them!

Enjoy!!!

Cool Customers

{Disclaimer: This post is very delayed, but better late than never!}

This summer, Shep and I officially became "Cool Customers".  How, you ask?  Let me tell you!...

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Our electricity provider, PSE&G, has a program called the Cool Customer Program.  The gist of it is that customers who enroll get a new fancy shmancy programmable thermostat installed free of charge AND a $50 statement credit.  Once you're enrolled, PSE&G has the ability to cycle your air conditioning compressor in order to minimize the impact of high energy demand on the electric system.  This is especially important to them in summer when temperatures soar and ACs roar, because the cycling ability allows them the opportunity to avoid blackouts.

Shep wanted to join the program for the free thermostat (he's been wanting to buy a new one since we moved in!); I liked the idea of $50 worth of free electricity (to help counteract my darling hubby's hobby of turning on, and leaving on, every light in the apartment).  But, the program seemed a little "big brother"ish to me.  I like being in control of my own home's temperature, thank you very much!  Plus, we didn't really need new thermostats; we already had programmable ones!  Shep's curiosity took charge so he called PSE&G and spoke with a service rep, who explained that it would be a rare occurrence (and pretty dire circumstance) for them to actually exercise their ability to cycle the system.  That put Shep at ease, but I still wasn't buying it.  So, I asked around at work and did a few minutes of online research to perform a quick cost/benefit analysis.  Before signing up, I wanted to ensure the pros of the program outweighed any potential cons.  Lucky for me, a couple of colleagues of mine had joined the program the previous year and confirmed that PSE&G had never to date adjusted their AC cycles.  This made me a lot more comfortable, so we took the plunge.  Well, to our delight we received TWO free programmable thermostats (which were installed very quickly and painlessly by a PSE&G representative) and a $100 statement credit, because we have 2 HVAC units in our condo.  Woohoo!  Double the benefits and no additional risk... that's my kind of offer!  ;)  Oh, and as expected, we didn't experience any compressor cycling at all throughout the summer.

In summary, I'd definitely recommend the program to anyone out there considering it!  As far as we can see, there's nothing to lose by trying it out!

Do any readers out there have any experience with a "Cool Customer" program?  I'm curious to hear about other power companies out there that have similar programs, so do share!

{I was not asked or encouraged by PSE&G to write this post; the views are my own and I'm voluntarily sharing them.}

Free Shutterfly Photo Book

Free alert!!!  Through Wednesday, September 12, Shutterfly is offering YOU (and me!) a free* 8 x 8 photo book!

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Click here for more info and to order!  I've ordered a couple photo books from Shutterfly in the past: the interface is easy to use, the quality is pretty great given the price, and they're delivered quickly!  I definitely plan to utilize this end-of-summer offer.... hmm, maybe on a France vacation memory book!

*You'll be charged for shipping, but it's still a great deal considering these books are typically $29.99!

I'm not receiving any payment or other perk for referring this offer - I just wanted to share this great deal as a PSA to my trusty readers!  Enjoy!!

AmEx gift card alert!

Disclaimer:  I have not tested or verified this offer myself, nor am I receiving any financial or other award for sharing this offer.  I'm merely passing on a tip I just saw at one of my favorite blogs, 20somethingfinance.

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American Express is currently running a promotion whereby if you order and load at least $200 onto a new American Express pre-paid card before this Friday 8/31, you will receive a bonus $25 gift card.  For more details, click here.

I have received AmEx prepaid cards in the past as gifts or as the form of payment for various product rebate offers, and I can tell you they are as easy to use as a regular credit/debit card.  If you don't mind going through the steps of loading up an AmEx prepaid card with $200 from your bank account, then this sounds like a pretty simple way to score a free $25 AmEx gift card.  But remember, as always, to read the fine print when signing up to ensure there are no sneaky fees involved!  It doesn't appear as if there are any tricks behind this offer, but you can never be too careful!

West Elm Ice Cream Social

Consider this a public service announcement brought to you by an ice cream lover.  I take no credit for this offer and am receiving no perks from passing it on, except for the satisfaction of knowing I am spreading the joy that is ice cream.  ;)  Enjoy...

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Here are the details (via West Elm's blog):

Visit 1 of these 10 west elm stores on Saturday, August 4th from 1pm – 3pm and a store associate will gladly hand you a coupon for a free treat.

• Pleasant Pops will be at west elm Georgetown
• Westside Creamery will be at west elm Atlanta
• Feverish Gourmet Popsicles and Ice Cream will be at west elm Miami-Midtown
• Cool Haus will be at west elm Austin
• Sugar Wagon will be at west elm Nashville
• King Kone will be at west elm LA
• Scoop will be at west elm Portland
• Six Strawberries will be at west elm Seattle
• Van Leeuwen Ice Cream will be at west elm Chelsea + west elm Broadway in New York City

I won!!!!

I read a lot of blogs.  I love looking at the pretty photos and reading about other creative projects and exciting things happening in lives of perfect strangers out there on the world wide web.  A bunch of the home blogs I read frequently host contests, which I always enter and usually never win.  Until now that is...

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I was shocked and simply giddy to see my name announced as the winner of the One Kings Lane gift certificate on House of Turquoise the other day!  I drool over One Kings Lane on a regular basis, so to think I now have $100 to spend on anything I want is beyond exciting!!!  If you aren't already a member of One Kings Lane (it's free to join but you have to join to see the sales!), click here to sign up and get $15 off your first purchase!

I wonder what I'll buy with my winnings?!  The possibilities are endless...

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Fantastically Free!

Like any good bargain shopper, I enjoy a good sale.  But scoring an item on sale is nothing compared to obtaining that item for FREE!  That's right folks, I have some serious bargain shopper bragging to do.  Welcome to the first edition of "Fantastically Free!"...

Remember the new sucker friend and the 3rd-one-was-a-charm bench we purchased?  We bought them during a Kohl's Cash week -- which means that you get Kohl's Cash back equivalent to a percentage of the price paid for your purchases that you have to use during a designated time period.

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Well, we sure put the cold hard green printed Kohl's Cash we received to use...

I'd been eyeing this piece of wall art for months, so naturally this was the first item I thought of to use the Kohl's Cash on.  Lucky for me, Shep liked it too so we got it!

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The tricky thing about this frame is that it didn't come with any hanging hardware, so we need to figure out how exactly to get it up on the wall.  It's a wood composite-like material so we should be able to attach hanging hardware to it; we just need to be careful not to split the wood.  Once we figure out how to hang it, we plan to put it above our fireplace.

The second item is one that Shep picked out.  He said that our apartment is too neutral and needs more color, so we got this:

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It's colorful alright!  Right now we're using it as a decorative dust collector accent piece on our fireplace, but one day we might actually put flowers in it!

And that, my blogland friends, is our first edition of "Fantastically Free"!  Fantastic + free = happy me.  :)

Splurge AND Save?!

Things in life don't always fit solely into one category -- black or white, on or off, positive or negative, pro or con, or even splurge or save!  Many things can fall into multiple categories: splurge AND save.  Like the newest addition to our household...

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our Dyson!  We've been debating whether or not to bite the bullet and get one of these bad boys for years.  Literally.  In early January, I sent Shep an email about Dysons being on sale at Macy's, and he responded with the following:

We've been debating to get a Dyson since 2009.   I have the emails to prove it!  Can't we please just get one?  Please?

After a quick search of my emails, I realized he was right.  After literally 3 years of researching, flip-flopping, and buying 2 smaller vacuums that we were less than thrilled with, we decided to bite the bullet and buy a Dyson.  But which one???  There are so many models, all with stellar reviews -- but which one was THE  BEST?  This simple question is what derailed our plans so many times before.  But this time I was serious, and I wasn't going to let my indecision win out yet again.  I spent a couple (more) hours reading reviews on Dyson's website, Amazon, and individual retailer's websites, and decided that an "animal" model would be a great match for the ridiculous amount of hair I shed on a daily basis.  ;)

Now on to the save...

Once I decided which model to purchase, I quickly did a search to see which retailer/website was offering the most competitive deal.  In typical anti-competitive style, the listed sale price was the same everywhere I looked.  (Probably mandated by Dyson, no doubt.)  But I didn't give up there.  Earlier in the week, I'd gone to Kohl's, where I saw a sign advertising 20% off everything in the store in exchange for applying for a Kohl's card.  Sure that "everything" would exclude super-fancy-pants Dysons, I checked with a cashier and was shocked (in a good way!) to learn that the additional 20% did in fact apply to everything in the store - including the vacuums!  In addition, they were offering $10 Kohl's cash for every $50 spent!   Never underestimate the power of coupons and other special offers!  In this case, they helped us save over $100 and scored us over $100 in free Kohl's merchandise!

That combination did the trick - we figured there wouldn't be a better opportunity to save on this purchase, so the time seemed right to take the plunge.  And boy are we glad we did!  Vacuuming (once a former favorite hobby) is now fun again!  But more than fun, it actually accomplishes something!  It gets rid of dirt and dust instead of just blowing it around the apartment.  Go figure!  ;)  Seriously though, to see the amount of dirt this thing gets up is incredible.  Our living room area rug looks good as new again after one no-nonsense vacuum from our new favorite purple friend.  And my long web-like (as Shep lovingly refers to it) hair is no challenge at all for this thing.  We are both 100% satisfied with our long-awaited purchase (and we crossed something off our to-do list that's been 3+ years in the making!) which is the best news of all.  ;)

Some Good Deals!

Hi readers, I have 2 great money-saving deals to share with you!

The first item is a coupon code worth 40% off any 1 regular-priced item from Land's End + free shipping on your order, but you have to act fast because the code expires tonight 10/21/2011 at midnight CST!  The great thing about ordering from the Land's End online catalog is that you can return the items to any Sears store without having to pay return shipping.  Those of you who know me know how much I love me some free-shipping-free-returns-online-shopping-deals!  In fact, I may or may not have already purchased a new pair of winter boots for myself using this code.  ;)

The second is a 15 piece cookware set + triple bonus PLUS $30 rebate from JC Penney for less than $34!

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The set is originally $149.99, but is currently on sale for $74.99 (50% off).  Code BESTOCT drops the price an extra 15% to $63.74 and the website is offering a $30 AmEx gift card for purchasing this item, making the final cost only $33.74!  77% off?!?!?!  Now that's what I call a deal!  The jcpenney website reviews give this set an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars.  Not bad!

Happy shopping!