US-centric: Coupons—they’re never around when you get that sudden urge to splurge on electronics. Not so with a 10-percent-off printable discount at Best Buy, which is posted as an image at a U.S. Postal Service “Mover’s Guide” site with an easily-anticipated URL. Tech blog CyberNet points out that the coupon can be found by slotting the appropriate month and year in, so this month’s coupon, for example, is: https://moversguide.usps.com/img/coupon/bestbuy/200804_clientarea.gif
The TipNut blog happens across a pretty neat solution to keeping your coupons organised, writing your shopping list, and more, using a zippered, binder-style personal organizer/planner. There are, of course, more elegant coupon-only solutions—like the mini-Pendaflex Gina picked up last year—but unwanted planners tend to pop up on holidays and around offices at the calendar year start. If you’ve got a spare one or just one that isn’t getting enough use, you can also store gift cards, write down your personal splurging weaknesses, and note prices for comparison. Hit the link for more ideas and advice on storing and organising coupons. Making A Coupon Organizer System – How To Guide [TipNut]
US-centric: Newly launched web site RedPlum is hoping to take coupon clipping into the twenty-first century by moving traditional clip-and-save coupons you’re used to finding in the newspaper or your mailbox to the point-and-click generation. RedPlum is run by a major paper coupon distributor, and though it’s not the first to take coupons to the internet by any means, it does offer features that could make coupon clipping much easier (for example, you’ll soon be able to give RedPlum your grocery list and they’ll return coupons matching your items). If you’re traditionally a clip-and-save coupon lover, RedPlum might revolutionize your money-saving. If you do all of your shopping online, here’s how to become an online power-shopper.
RedPlum [via NYT]US-centric:Firefox only (Windows/Mac/Linux): Search one site for a product and get comparison prices inline from several other merchants with the PriceAdvance Firefox extension. PriceAdvance works very similarly to previously mentioned extension Book Burro, but it works with products beyond books. Currently PriceAdvance supports sites like Amazon, Best Buy, Circtuit City, and Wal-Mart, and it’s likely to add more as it progresses. You can disable PriceAdvance when you’re not shopping through the status bar so that it’s only comparing prices when you want it to. Looks like it could be a good addition to your online power-shopper toolbox. PriceAdvance is free, works wherever Firefox does.
PriceAdvanceWindows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): The RetailMeNot Firefox extension integrates your online shopping with coupon aggregation web site RetailMeNot to keep you abreast of deals and freebies available at the site you’re currently visiting. Just surf to a shopping site and the RetailMeNot extension will automatically check for coupons and alert you of available deals for that site. We’ve highlighted the RetailMeNot web site before, including how we use it to save tonnes online, but we’ve never given the extension a go. It’s been a little hit or miss in my tests (sometimes the offers aren’t showing up when they should), but in all it could be a nice add-on for the online power shopper. The RetailMeNot extension is free, works wherever Firefox does.
RetailMeNot [Firefox Add-ons]US-centric: Freeware mobile phone application and web site Cellfire delivers paperless coupons to your mobile phone so you’ll never have to clip coupons again. With Cellfire, you can find a coupon for the business you’re patronising right before you check out. Just download Cellfire to your mobile device or point your cell browser to Cellfire’s homepage after signing up (tons of devices are supported, either through the download or the web site) and you’ve got access to coupons to anywhere from Ben and Jerry’s and Subway to Hollywood Video and Virgin Megastore. To use a coupon, just flash your on-phone digital coupon at checkout. I haven’t tried Cellfire yet, but if the inevitable blank stares and laughter one might expect to receive on holding up a cell phone and asking for a discount doesn’t bother you, Cellfire looks like an interesting way to save a buck.
Cellfire [via Webware]
