personal finance in a coupon blog

Pound for pound, if you play 'em right, buffets give you the most dining bang for your buck. But what if you could keep bangin' on that particular drum all day? I went to Souplantation, an all-you-can-eat soup and salad chain, and decided to see how long I could continuously nosh before being forcibly removed. My gripping, inspiring, chronological tale of triumph is documented below.

NOTE: This piece is dedicated to recently deceased comedian John "I'm Starvin'" Pinette, may he rest in peace. You're overindulging with the angels now, John!

9:30AM
Under normal circumstances, I am not awake at this hour. Frankly, I don't even know if I'm hungry. It doesn't matter, though. This isn't about what my body wants or needs. This is about value. The $7.99 lunch coupon I fished out of my apartment building's recycling bin ensures it. Using said coupon to obtain breakfast, lunch and dinner amplifies it. Read More »

Never say never.

I used to hate walnuts, for example. Now I'm putting 'em in oatmeal, salads, you name it. Turns out they're good, and good for you!

Likewise, back in 2011, when Netflix split its DVD-rental and movie-streaming businesses in two, lots of people swore off the service. "Pay $7.99 just for streaming?!

Never!"

Yeah, and not long after, you came crawling back, didn't you? Because, let's face it, Netflix is the best deal on anything ever. Seriously. You're practically ripping them off. A mere eight bucks per month buys you unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows. Read More »

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this video do not represent those of Savings.com, its staff, or its partners.

Marijuana is being decriminalized across the country. Whether for medicinal or recreational purposes, weed is going to be available to a majority of Americans within our lifetimes. That means one thing: commerce. What is it like to purchase what was previously only a street drug, from a classy retail outfit? I went to Exhale Medical Center in Los Angeles to find out.


(Director: Cassandra Lee Hamilton) Read More »

Photo: memegenerator.net

A freezer is a budget-savvy foodie's best friend. Think of it as a magic box that has the magic ability to freeze time (ha!) on your food's aging process, keeping it fresh for longer. This means that when certain foods go on sale, you can stock up and freeze what you can't immediately use, as well as preserve foods that you don't have time to finish before they go bad.

I know, I know. You already know this—you've been using your freezer for years. But hear me out. I mean, sure, you know all about freezing meat, popsicles, and those supermarket packs of frozen green peas, but did you know that your freezer is great for storing a laundry list of less obvious items? Read on for our list of less common freezer-friendly items. Read More »

Marijuana is starting to win some battles in the war on drugs. There are now 20 states with some form of legal weed. This means a huge underground industry is now going public. Modern consumers have grown accustomed to doing everything through the internet. It makes sense that these consumers would want a place to find marijuana deals on-line. That's where Canna-Saver.com comes in. Canna-Saver.com is kind of like Savings.com except you won't find any deals on shoes or coupons for hotel rooms. Canna-Saver has coupons for marijuana and marijuana related products. It currently only has deals in the state of Colorado, but I wouldn't be surprised if it started to add more states in the very near future.

You may be wondering how legal all of this actually is. I know that's what my first question would be. I'm too pretty for jail! Pot is still technically illegal federally, but the state of Colorado has made it legal for anyone over 21 to buy up to a quarter of an ounce of marijuana without a prescription. Colorado residents can buy up to an ounce. That's a lot of pot. The only reason you'd ever need an ounce of pot was if you got invited to Willie Nelson's birthday. Read More »

In 2013 there were 80,000 people in attendance just for Coachella: Weekend One. That's right, tickets for Coachella (Indio, CA) were in such high demand that beginning in 2012 Goldenvoice made it a 2-weekend event. But who can afford it? Aren't these things just filled with dumb girls wearing flower crowns and butt-to-nuts-crowds of drunk, sweaty hippies? Whooooa! Calm down, NARC, don't harsh my mellow with your negativity! Just surrender to the flow!

Whether you're heading to Coachella Weekend 2, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Sasquatch, Telluride or just want to plan ahead for next year, I'm fresh off the Magic Bus (my silver Saturn) from Weekend 1 of Coachella and ready to share some sweet inside-tips to help you do two of my favorite things- save money, and GET TO THAT FEST! Read More »

Spring is here, and Savings.com and Home Depot want to help you start your spring projects with inspiration, tips, and extra cash!
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Remember all those DVDs you bought back in the days when watching a movie meant watching a DVD? Now they're probably collecting dust on a shelf, having been replaced by the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, and maybe even Vudu. (Ha, ha, I know: good one.)

Yep, those discs are veritable dinosaurs these days, about as practical as vinyl records and VHS cassettes. And yet it's possible to resurrect your DVDs for a very practical purpose: Watching those movies on your PC, tablet, or smartphone. All you need is the right software.

Specifically, a DVD ripper. Don't let the name scare you: the process of "ripping" merely means copying the movie files from a disc and converting them to a format that's compatible with the aforementioned devices. Read More »

Okay so I just filed my tax return and I have my heart set on what I'm going to spend it on: baby, I'm getting a drone.

Here are a few things I know about drones:

1. Drones are the colloquial term for any unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV.  
2. Besides killing suspected terrorists and unarmed innocent people who happen to live in bad neighborhoods, drones are also a popular device for spying on people  
3. Amazon said they could deliver packages with drones, and I'm very onboard with that  
4. One time, in 2002, an Iraqi drone fought an American drone in the skies above Iraq. It was the first ever drone-on-drone combat. The Iraqi drone won. 
5. "Drone" is a fun word to say. Drone, drone, drone, drone. If you wanted to drone on about drones to me, I'd say drone on, brother, drone on.
6. Although you can't buy a military-grade predator drone that could murder people or your neighbor's dog, you can buy a very affordable drone and there are some solid options.
   

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It's rare to witness a genuine apotheosis in real time, but yesterday, if you were on Twitter around noon Pacific time, you may have witnessed the Greatest Twitter Fail of All Time.

A few days ago, US Airways received this complaint from Twitter user @ElleRafter: "@USAirways Unhappy that 1787 sat for an hour on tarmac in CLT because overweight, resulting in over hour late arrival in PDX…" There was a brief, benign exchange. Then days later, in a routine follow-up US Airways tweeted the following (originally with an uncensored image):

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When you fire up your Web browser, what's the first thing you see? Unless you've modified the default home page, chances are good it's MSN, Yahoo, or some other news-oriented site. I don't know about you, but the headlines I typically see make me want to dive under the covers and stay there.

Seriously, do you really want to be slapped in the face with all that negativity, all that bad news, every time you open your browser? I certainly don't, which is why I've changed my home page to something far more positive.

Yes, you can do that. I'm always surprised at how many people never bother to choose a new home page, perhaps because they think that's the way the computer was set up, and that's how it has to stay. Nuh-uh. You can set your home page to Facebook, Twitter, Fluffy Kittens on Tumblr, or whatever you like. Read More »

Kickstarter is an amazing website. It lets people who have an idea take it directly to the people who want to see that idea happen. For established creators like the development team behind Megaman, it's a great way to new video game outside of the traditional development process. For amateur creators like myself, it's a great way to beg for money from your friends and family without the shame of asking them directly. 

The main problem with Kickstarter is that too many people treat Kickstarter like it's an on-line store. It's not. There's no guarantee that any money that you donate will result in any project being made or rewards being sent out. What you buy when you donate money to a Kickstarter is an idea that may or may not actually happen. It's also nearly impossible to get your money back once someone has run off with it. Read More »