South Florida Dines

SouthFloridaDines.com is a site similar to Restaurant.com. You buy restaurant gift certificates at a reduced price. Unfortunately for many of you, this site only offers coupons for restaurants in south Florida.

Yard sale treasure map

This is information I posted some time ago but I have had several people ask me about it so I feel it is worth repeating.

The Yardsaletreasuremap site is pretty amazing. You type in your address and you get a map showing you where the yard sales are in your area. Not only does it tell you where they are, it has the date and description of the yard sale!! To get the information on the sale, you need to click on the balloon with the number on it.

Thoughts on buying generic

I read this article from MoneyTalksNews with interest because they talked about buying certain generic products. I always wonder about the various brands so I found this article interesting. It could save us all quite a bit over the course of a year.

Finding the cheapest gas prices

I mentioned BillShrink in an earlier post for finding cheaper cell phone service but I have now realized you can check there for the cheapest gas prices in your area or on your next trip.

Living Social

Living Social website is geared towards certain cities in the US as well as several cities overseas. If you live near one of the cities mentioned or plan to visit one, you may find some great deals here. It is worth a check.

Thrift Stores

Thrift stores are a good place for deals and "interesting" items. You never know what you might find. Many of us don't live anywhere near a thrift store but now we can shop at the Goodwill store online. This is an auction site set up by Goodwill so all proceeds will go to Goodwill. Please be sure to note they do add a $3. handling fee to each item. The items come from various stores throughout the US.

Sell on Ebay for Just Ten Cents

Once again Ebay is offering to let you list an item for just 10¢--any start price. This only applies to Auction-style listings. This offer is good for three days only -- September 14-16, 2010. You would still be obligated to pay the final value fee.

Follow-up on making your own pizza

Another topping suggestion I received was for shrimp! This will keep your pizza a bit "lighter" if you are watching your calories or just simply not quite as hungry. Great idea and I plan to give it a try.

Homemade pizza

A great meal to fix yourself is homemade pizza. It gets expensive, especially for a larger family, to buy pizza out. You don't need to get overwhelmed at the thought of making the dough and kneading, etc. Just buy pizza dough already made in the bakery section of your grocery store or in the frozen foods section. If you don't find pizza dough, you can use the frozen bread dough and that works just as well.

Once you grease the pan (I use a cookie sheet or 9x12 cake pans), spread the dough around at the thickness you like. Of course, the thickness may depend on how much dough you have.

Add some sauce - I prefer the Ragu Pizza Sauce (not the Pizza Quick Sauce). Then add your favorite toppings - browned Italian sausage, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives, anchovies, browned hamburger, etc. You can add whatever you like. Once all your ingredients have been added, sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese over the top and bake at about 450 degrees until the crust is well browned on the bottom. Then ENJOY!!

Free shipping at Snapfish

You have 3 more days to enjoy FREE SHIPPING on your order from Snapfish. Use coupon FREELDSHIP for free shipping on your order, now through September 13th.

If you are not already signed up for Snapfish, you should be eligible for some free prints just for opening an account (which is free). Sounds like a deal to me!

Have you found Etsy?

One of my very favorite places to browse is Etsy. I love to shop there or even to just look around. It is like going through a wonderful craft mall but you are sitting down to look at everything.

I have to admit that I do have a shop on Etsy (which is now in vacation mode as I begin transforming into a snowbird) but I also love to shop there. The items you find are usually top quality and you can find things you'll never see elsewhere. From time to time I will mention more specific shops.

Coupon map

Couponmap.com is exactly what it sounds like. You type in your zip code and a map comes up showing you where the deals are in your area.

For example, I typed in a zip code, and it came up with AMC movie theater offering free popcorn, $100 cpn good on a TV at Best Buy, $10 off $50 purchase at JC Penny, $10 off $50 purchase at Office Depot, etc. I'm sure the offers change periodically.

Expiration dates, Sell by Dates, Use by Dates

I'm sure others besides myself often struggle with sell by dates, use by dates and just plain expiration dates. I recently read an article on the Yahoo Care2 Green Living Blog that explained these things very well. Hopefully if more people read it, less good edible food will be thrown out. I found it very helpful.