Instead of random Facebook posts, I thought I'd put all my deals in one place today. Hope some of these save you some bucks!

Lane Bryant is offering online shoppers 40% off orders of $100 - $199 and 50% off orders of $200 or more through Monday. Enter 069502552 or 006957476 at checkout.

Just My Size has their bra sale and it’s a great one. Select from over 140 bras--buy any 2 bras and get the 3rd one free.

Buy.com is giving away 400 free Golf Score Counters. The device helps keep track of your strokes and putts and scores 1 to 4 players at a time. It stores your par information of up to 10 18-hole courses and stores 30 completed games. The gadget has a clock with an alarm and an ultra-bright red LED flashlight. Battery included. There is a little catch to this—you will be sent a mailing that gives you a listing of magazines that you can order, but there is no obligation to buy.

As part of their efforts to raise funds for the National Park Foundation,Macy's is offering 15% off storewide and on line. There’s an additional 10% off in select departments. Of course, some exclusions apply.

Barnes & Noble will give online shoppers 50% off one item. Enter code M4U8F7F at checkout.

When you spend $45 or more on Proctor & Gamble products (Pampers, Dreft, etc.), at Toys "R" Us, get 2 free Black & Decker Lights Out Auto Switches. Offer valid through 5/1/10.

Philosophy products are 15% off when you order of $65 or more through 4/25. Enter code "motherslove" at checkout!

With Kohl's shopping pass, get 15% off any purchase in stores. Good through April 29th.

Join TGIFriday's “Give Me More Stripes” program for rewards on your dining. Once you’ve spent $100 at the restaurant, you get $8 toward more meals. When you enroll, you get a coupon for a free dessert or a free appetizer.

Shop Gap online and get 20% off your entire order (sale items are not included) and 10% off things for the little ones. Enter GAP2010 at checkout. Today only!Now that we're on the subject of Gap and little ones . . . here's my favorite site for finding deals on clothing for my grandchildren. Shop It To Me! allows users to select their favorite stores and input the things you shop for most. For example, when I signed up (it's free), I selected options to help me find great deals on things for my grandchildren, Brennyn and Johnson, and picked brands that I have a particular fondness for. I get a daily email with just those items. I can change my settings as my needs change. When you can get items from The Children's Place for $5.00 (sometimes less), there's no beating that kind of deal!

And speaking of grandchildren . . . they're the best deal I ever got! Aren't they precious?

Can you guess the maker of these shoes? I'll bet most of my readers have never seen Crocs™ that looked like these.

Last year, my step-daughter, Emily, and I were shoe shopping in Florence and she was looking for a pair of Rainbows. While waiting for her to make her selection, I browsed around the store and stumbled on a shelf of pretty nice looking sandals. When I picked up the shoe, I was surprised to feel resin instead of leather. They were extremely lightweight, so I tried them on and couldn't believe how they felt. When I looked at the label and realized they were Crocs™, I did a doubletake. I took the shoes home that day and they are THE most comfortable shoe I've ever worn!

Earlier this year, my husband, Rusty, and I were at the hospital after I'd had some tests. When we talked with the anesthesiologist before the procedure, Rusty looked down at his feet and said, "Those look like comfortable shoes!" (Reminds me of a line from "Forrest Gump!") Anyway, the good doctor was eager to share with us where he bought the shoes and told us they were made by Crocs™. He said it was the only shoe that he was comfortable in all day. That says it all for someone who spends a lot of time on his feet. Rusty went out and bought a pair the next day.

Now, you know I'm not blogging just to tell you about these shoes, right? I've got a deal for you or I wouldn't waste my time. You can find this deal on Facebook, but I'm going to encourage you to try a little backdoor approach first. And here's the reason . . . Crocs™ is a Mr. Rebates vendor (see blog post from April 20, 2010) and when you make a purchase, you get a 7% rebate. If you read my blog post about Mr. Rebates, you know you have to go through their link to get the rebate. And to get the 20% off, you have to use the Facebook link, and you can't do both. Or can you?

We're going to give it a try! It may not work, but you won't lose anything just for trying. I had to finagle a little get the Facebook link without actually clicking on it. Let's see if we can get the 20% off AND the rebate, shall we?

1) If you haven't already signed up for Mr. Rebates, click on the little yellow and green cash back button to the right of this page and sign up. It's free!
2) Once you've registered with Mr. Rebates, you're good to go.
3) Next, click on this Facebook Backdoor Crocs link to get you the 20% off. You'll land on the site's home page. Shop around a little and put something in your cart, even if you remove it later.
4) Now, click on this Mr. Rebates link and type "Crocs" in the search box. Click on the link that takes you back to the Crocs™ homepage.
5) Add something else to your cart because you have to order two pairs to get the 20%. I don't know if you'll get your rebate, too, but it's sure worth a try.
6) And because we want to show our appreciation for the great deal from Crocs™, join Crocs on Facebook.

I've ordered my shoes, and it's too soon to know if I got the rebate, but as soon as I know, I'll let you know. If you only want to buy one pair of the shoes, just join Mr. Rebates and use that link to buy a great pair of shoes and get 7% back on your purchase. And by the way, shipping is free!

If you haven't discovered online sample sales, I'm about to give you your first taste. There are so many available on line and I have a few favorites. But I'm bold enough to say that HauteLook is my top pick! HauteLook offers exclusive, limited-time, online sale events that usually last 48 hours. If you join and subscribe to their email updates, you'll receive a notification around 10:30 AM EDT each day giving you an idea of their merchandise for the day. The sale is live at 11:00 AM EDT, so if you think there's something you might want, be ready to browse around that time because the good deals go fast!

Chosen by People Magazine as one of the top 15 ways to save money, HauteLook brings shoppers daily premium fashion and lifestyle brands at savings of up to 75% off retail prices. Now, I'm all about bargains, so before you start shopping the sample sales, a word to the wise: Remember that sample sales offer premium lines and designer products. So, 75% off a Kate Spade purse is still expensive. BUT, I have bought things from this site for less than $20 that I love and am proud to wear. There's nothing like buying a $69 piece of jewelry for $29!

HauteLook is free to join and I'd love to have you share some of the deals I've raved about! Join me, won't you? Click this link to  register and before you decide, just look at what some of today's offerings were at HauteLook.

Here in the South, we are blessed with lots of sunshine for a good part of the year. It’s not uncommon for our children to start swimming in early May and take to the pool well into September. But all that sun exposure is harmful and can be dangerous.

There are some great sunscreens out on the market today, but most need reapplying fairly often, and I always worry about missing a spot. Well, what if you could reduce the amount of UV light your child is exposed to by simply changing their swimsuit?

SunSmart has invented the single most advanced and effective UV protection for infants and young children in the form of a line of adorable swimsuits. The brand incorporates style and UV fabric for protective suits that come in an array of styles and images that appear in the sunlight. These suits bring a whole new meaning to fun in the sun!

Menbur features a collection of footwear and matching handbags for special occasions. Suitable for women of all ages and tastes, these designs are sensual and make any woman feel special. With the finest materials, Menbur offers a wide selection of colors and styles.

Tat2 Designs Jewelry is individually hand cast, soldered, and finished in a myriad of looks; from red carpet worthy gold to antique inspired vintage silver. Today’s collection on Haute Look is some of the most beautiful coin jewelry I’ve ever seen. I speak from experience because I own several pieces of coin jewelry. It’s one of my favorite jewelry designs.

I didn’t buy anything today, but it certainly was tempting . . . You have to see these pieces to believe them!

Last month, I heard about a site called Mr. Rebates that is affiliated with over two thousand online merchants. Everybody knows how rebates usually work: you buy a product; then, you mail in the receipt after you’ve cut something off the package that whatever you bought came in. Then, you fill out a long form and you mail in all the stuff to get a rebate. And you wait about a month to get a check!

Well, Mr. Rebates doesn’t work that way. The site’s hook is that there is no paperwork to fill out or send in. To use the site, you must register and you can do that by clicking on the Mr. Rebates button to the right of this post. They don’t sell your information, so there’s no need to worry about spam.

Once you’ve registered, you can log in to the site to start your shopping. To the left of the page, there’s a column of categories of virtually anything you might be in the mood to buy. Or if you’d rather, you can search by store. At the top of the page, there’s a link that says “All Stores.” Click on that link to see an alphabetized list of all the stores affiliated with Mr. Rebates and what the typical rebate percentage is for each respective merchant.

Some Mr. Rebates affiliates are Best Buy, Dell, JC Penney, Overstock.com, Target and lots more. These merchants pay Mr. Rebates a commission on each sale that is generated through their site. In addition to finding out about the rebates, staff from Mr. Rebates adds daily, money-saving coupons and special sales/price drops on hot products. The combination of the Mr. Rebates’ cash-back rebate plus coupons and sales ensures that you save when you shop on line.

Rebate percentages range from 1% to as much as 8% or more. While it doesn’t sound like much on a smaller purchase, it adds up each time you shop with Mr. Rebates! Let me give you an example from my own personal shopping experience . . .

I joined Mr. Rebates on March 24, 2010. Since then, I’ve purchased some sheets, a bracelet and a Dirt Devil Steam Mop from Overstock.com. I’ve also bought a wireless keyboard and mouse for Rusty and myself from Buy.com. When you register, you get $5 just for signing up. So as of today, I’ve earned $16.94.

Today, I was looking for a bracelet from my favorite online jeweler, Ross-Simons. But before I started browsing their site, I went to Mr. Rebates and discovered that my purchase was eligible for an 8% rebate! They were having a 25% off sale and free shipping, so I really saved on the bracelet I bought to wear to my daughter Emily’s wedding.

Within seven days of the shipping of your purchase, the amount of your rebate shows under Pending Rebates. Then, from the posting date of the transaction (when your credit card posts the payment from the merchant), it takes about 90 days for the rebates to move from the Pending Rebates category to the Available Rebates category. Once you’ve accumulated $10 in available rebates, you can request a check that is mailed directly to you. Requesting your payment is as simple as a mouse click!

I’m going to save my rebates for a spa day somewhere.  

I can’t believe I’m writing a blog post about mopping under my “Just For Fun” tab, but there really wasn’t another logical place to put it. I hate mopping, and I never seem to do it very well. My husband does a much better job, but it’s hard to get him to mop the floor after he’s worked all day.

So a week or so ago, I saw an ad for the Dirt Devil Steam Mop and I decided I’d order one. I liked that it was light weight and cleaned with steam and not detergents. Well, today I used mine for the first time, and my feelings about the results are mixed: The mop is great! My floors have never been so clean! But I am highly embarrassed at the accumulation of dirt that was on my floor!

I have laminate floors in my kitchen and baths, and since I’m a barefoot girl, I had noticed lately that even after I mopped, the floor didn’t feel clean under my feet. It looked okay, but it just felt like it had gunk on it. After using the Dirt Devil Steam Mop, I know why it didn’t feel clean—it wasn’t!

The mop comes with two microfiber cleaning pads and another pad to use on rugs and carpeting. It’s easy to assemble (didn’t really even need the instructions) and use. The kit comes with the pads, which are machine washable, a cup and a funnel.

The pads fit over the end of the triangular-shaped head and tighten with a drawstring that stays secure. The tank of the mop has an easy-to-read water gauge, and the tank holds enough water to do my kitchen floor. The mop also has a super-long cord, so you’re not plugging and unplugging just to finish one room.

Okay, here comes the embarrassing part . . . my floor was so dirty that after I’d mopped it with one pad, the floor was pretty streaked. So I changed out the pad and gave the floor another once over. My floor is free of gunk and sparkly clean! I put the pads in a lingerie bag and threw the in the wash with some other stuff, and now they’re clean and ready to be used again.

The mop sells for $49.90 at Buy.com and shipping is free. If that sounds like a lot of money for a mop, think about all the mops and replacement heads you’ve bought over the years. Also, consider the cost of the non-traditional mops on the market now that spray cleaner in front of the mop for you to sponge up with the mop. With pads that you can just throw in the washing machine and re-use and no detergent to buy, the price of this mop is a great buy!

But here’s a way to get it even cheaper. . . To the right of my blog, there’s a button for a site called Mr. Rebates. Click the box and join up! It’s free!

Once you become a member, search for Buy.com using the Mr. Rebates search. You’ll get a little pop-up box that tells you Buy.com is a Mr. Rebates affiliate and that your purchase is eligible for a 3% rebate. You will be linked to the Buy.com site and you can go to the Mr. Rebates site later and see your rebate.

I’ll blog about the ins and outs of Mr. Rebates in another post but trust me, you’ve got to have one of these mops! I can’t wait to try it out on my hardwood floors.

If you don’t want to join Mr. Rebates (I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t), just go to Buy.com and make your purchase. I checked other retailers, and Buy.com has the lowest price.

On to the bathrooms!


I received no compensation or merchandise for this review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

 

In my next life, I want to be an interior designer. I’ve been told I have a flair for decorating, and it’s something I really enjoy doing. When my brother visits, he always tells me I have a fortune in frames—meaning the framed artwork and the personal pictures that are framed and placed about my home. And he’s right (unfortunately). When I redecorated about five years ago, I was painstaking in choosing pictures, and it took me a while to fill all the spaces because I had to buy as I could afford it.

But now, there’s this great, new trend in wall décor—it’s vinyl wall art that looks as if the design has been painted on your walls.

Take It From Me is one of my favorite blogs because the sole intent and purpose of what Kristy does there is to review great products and give things away to her loyal readers. And one of the giveaways this week comes from Chickadee Vinyl (an Etsy shop).

I visited the Chickadee Vinyl site and to be honest, there was not one design that I didn’t like. Every piece of art is tasteful and I could envision in my home—all except the baby stuff since I’m too old for that. But I could envision buying some of the more juvenile pieces for my grandchildren. What a great way to liven up your home! And lots less expensive than framed pictures and art.

If you want a chance at this great giveaway, visit Kristy’s blog at Take It From Me and enter. The deadline is April 20th!

Through a fellow blogger, Born 2 Impress, I have discovered an amazing concept! It’s a jewelry club! Never mind that I have more jewelry than I can possibly wear . . . I love me some bling! And I like to keep in step with the latest trends so an affordable monthly fee from JustGano will help me do just that.

You can’t buy things from the store—you have to become a member. But the membership levels are more than reasonable. Here’s how it works:

·         You choose among three levels of memberships—The Deb, The Demi, or the Diva

·         The Deb Membership is $7.95 per month and gives you one free piece of jewelry every month for as long as you subscribe.

·         The Demi gives you three free pieces each month.

·         The Diva gives you six free pieces.

·         You create a wish list when you join, and the jewelry starts arriving at your doorstep!

My readers have a chance to enter, just as I did. And you can also sign up to follow Jen’s blog at Born 2 Impress to learn about all sorts of neat products and find out about her amazing—and frequent—giveaways.

I’m crossing my fingers that I win this one. And if I don’t, I hope that one of my readers will!

I love gadgets and technology! The latest and greatest pieces of technology intrigue me and I will not rest until I know every feature! So, I was thrilled to learn about this great giveaway at Feisty Frugal & Fabulous! One lucky follower of this blog (which is amazing, by the way), will win DS6321-3 VTech cordless phones. These phones are Bluetooth enabled so you can connect to your cell phone and/or headsets. And get this—you can actually download your contacts from your cell phone to these cordless handsets!

The phones have a digital answering system with 14 minutes of recording time, eliminating the need to have voice mail through your phone service provider. And phone calls are digitally encrypted with DECT 6.0 Digital Technology so no one can listen in on your calls.

Other features include:

·         Ability to transfer calls between handsets

·         Extra large LCD screen for viewing Caller ID and Call Waiting

Before I end this blog post, I have to share my funny phone story . . . Several years ago, I was developing a grant application for a client in the upstate of South Carolina. Unlike many of my employer’s clients, this client was super sophisticated and knew what she wanted. Most of our clients just wanted us to develop the proposal and get the grant money for them.

From my first day on the job with this particular company, I was assigned The Customer From Hell! She expected me to be on call 24/7 and didn’t hesitate to call my work number at any hour of the day or night. Usually, I was afforded the luxury of screening calls with this amazing invention (maybe you’ve heard of it) known as caller ID!

Back to the grant application . . . In my frenetic race to finalize the application with the clock ticking furiously toward the deadline that was now less than three hours away, I was juggling phone calls from my boss and the grant client. With the calls coming fast and furious, I neglected to look at the caller ID when the phone rang again.

I grabbed the receiver. “Martha, are you there?”

It was THE CUSTOMER FROM HELL!!!!!

I will not type the words that went through my head at that moment, but suffice it to say they were of a colorful nature! I felt my heart beat faster, and I felt a sense of desperation like none I’ve ever felt before. But then, I realized she was on speaker phone and that those connections are not always the most reliable. My panic turned on the adrenaline and suddenly, I had a brilliant idea that I never even bothered to think about for more than a split second!

“Hello? Hello?!?” I said.

“Scritch, scratch, crackle” (I was making these noises with my throat).

“Hello?! Is anyone there?”

Then, I slammed down the phone and miracle of miracles, The Customer From Hell did not call back!

But if she had, this amazing phone that Feisty Frugal & Fabulous is giving away would have been great because my over 40 eyes could have read the *&#@ number without straining to see!

Hi! My name is Martha and I'm a sweet-a-holic! Oh, how I wish it wasn't so, but there's not a 12-step program in the world that could rehabilitate me! I love everything sweet, and my hips are visible proof (so glad you blog followers can't see me)! I was thrilled to discover that my fellow blogger over at Leslie Loves Veggies is giving away some out-of-this-world sweets!

It's so true that "necessity is the mother of invention," and Heidi's Heavenly Cookies was born from a necessity that so many of us recognize these days. In 2001, a member of Heidi's family lost a job, so Heidi was inspired to make the homemade cookies and candies she had been baking for years and start marketing them at the insistence of her friends. In late 2002, Heidi launched Heidi's Heavenly Cookies. The company's gourmet baskets are tantalizing to the taste and the eye. Who wouldn't want to receive one of these beautiful baskets of pure pleasure for an occasion--or just because?

It is incredibly difficult for a self-proclaimed sweet-a-holic to choose just one favorite from so many delectable delights, but I have to say that I'm partial to the "Heavenly Riches" package--I am addicted to anything with English Toffee as an ingredient!

For your chance to win some of these little pieces of Heaven, head over Leslie Loves Veggies and enter for a chance to win a Heavenly Dream Cookie Tower. And while you're there, make it a point to follow Leslie's blog via Twitter, Facebook, and RSS Feed for a chance at other great give-away's.