coupon blog

Last week, a group of us headed to Nashville to attend Blissdom, a blogging conference for "women who find and express their bliss by publishing online." Although the weather was cold (REALLY cold for us weather wimpy Angelenos!) and damp, we remained safe and dry in the cavernous "biodome" setting of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.

Check out some of the highlights of the conference:

Here's a simple and affordable recipe to sweeten up your Valentine's Day meal. Chocolate dipped strawberries are the perfect ending to a romantic night. All you need are a package of strawberries, chocolate chips, and a pot with water.

You know the slogan, "Every kiss begins with Kay"?  We're all for jewelry here at Savings, but if getting or giving a kiss in your relationship depends on expensive jewelry, well, there's something wrong.  When you boil it down, nothing should be more romantic than just hanging out together, so while showering someone in gifts can be great, it shouldn't really have to be necessary.

If you’re like most of us, the week before Valentine’s Day is a scramble to find sweet things to give. But here’s the dirty little secret behind mass-produced candy: According to the Fair Trade Federation, the U.S. State Department estimates that 15,000 children have been sold as slaves to the African farms where most cacao is cultivated. On the sugar side, massive amounts of herbicides and pesticides are routinely sprayed on sugar cane crops, which are burned after harvest, leading to ground, water and air pollution.

Not so sweet.

If you don't remember the 80's then either your brain ids fried or you're that young and I am really THAT old. I'm talking shell-top Adidas, Members Only jackets, Rubik's Cube, and the debate over whether to buy a Commodore or Atari game console. The biggest games of the decade were--hands down--Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Galaga and Asteroids.

It was only a matter of time before some retro enthusiast (read: old geek like me) decided to marry the love of past games with functioning practicality. I give you, the Heat Changing Arcade Mugs.

Let's face it:  Valentine's Day has become expensive. It's also become a cesspool of clichés. The good thing is that the more you avoid clichés, the less money you'll have to spend.

Here are a few ways to make your lady think you're both chivalrous and creative.

It's time to announce the winner of the delicious blog giveaway we announced last week. Since our post on Friday, 108 people have commented for a chance to win a $50 gift card provided by our friends over at MyJellyBelly.com.

Wanna know who's going to be enjoying this tasty treat? Well let me tell you...

Many New Year's resolutions revolve around the never-ending battle of the bulge. Others include buying as much cool stuff as possible. Okay, that last one isn't really a resolution. Or is it?  Samsung has just rolled out a portable music player that also takes into consideration your basic nutrition and overall wellness.

That's right, the Samsung MyFit is "the world's first portable media player to integrate wellness management tools, such as stress and body fat levels and customized workout guides."

This week sees the return of the Yasar and Guy show. Your dynamic duo of gaming greatness is back again. This time we took a trip down to our local Gamestop to find out the best ways for you, our fellow gamers, to save on your next video game purchase. We were also looking to wow them with promises of fame and stardom via our Flip Camera video upload. Basically we wanted free swag for adding some customer and employee mugs and soundbytes to the blog.

Guess what? They said no.

Can you believe it geeknation? Actually, there is some policy in effect, to deter theft we were told, that prohibits in-store filming. All very hush-hush, mandated from corporate type stuff.

Fear not, your agents of cool were not deterred. We interviewed __ (name withheld to protect the guilty) at Gamestop anyway, sans camera.

He spilled the beans on the ways they look to help gamers save.

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and for some of us ladies that means getting the lingerie out, or getting ready to receive. For you guys, that means the intimidating and thrilling process of crossing through the doors of a lingerie store. Unless you're a burlesque performer, you might not be regularly sporting fancy panties and lace. And if you're a guy, you may have only recently entered lingerie relationship territory.

Have no fear, we're breaking down the joys of voluptuous velvet and soft silk at prices that won't break the bank. So treat yourself, or get treated this Valentine's Day!

In Europe, the glory of good chocolates is a treat to be treasured and savored on a daily basis. Perhaps that's because the quality of chocolate over there is so exquisite those folks have the luxury of indulging in moderation. Here in the States, we're used to bulk brands but still dream of fine chocolates, letting them dance through our heads like so many Sugar Plum fairies as we watch the latest season of Biggest Loser or sip on our Slim-Fast shake/dinner. If only we, too, could learn to satisfy our cravings with a daily dose of confectionery delight.

Thanks to this week's Featured Store we can. All hail Nirvana Chocolates!

This year the Grammys brought a slew of fresh ideas to the forefront.  Of course I'm not talking about the music (I think we're all pretty familiar with Taylor Swift and Beyonce by now), I'm talking about the hot beauty looks on the red carpet.  I staked out the celebs and profiled the best beauty combos. 

You can steal these looks on a shoestring with hot coupons, too. 

You should have gotten your W-2 by now and so we're featuring a great deal from H&R Block.  And for those of you with a refund due, we've got deals to help you save as you spend it!

Without further ado, this week in deals...

For those of you anxiously awaiting to find out whether or not the famed Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, Donna Henes of the Huffington Post quite accurately points out that it doesn't matter either way.

I hope you all enjoyed last week's guest blog and video by DealPro Todd Singleton, aka FoodieDaddy. I know I loved watching it. Everyone I know who cooks even a little bit assured me that the recipe he shared for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner for two is very do-able. They all can't wait to try it.

But what about the rest of us? What about the complete non-cooks? The people whose idea of a nice home cooked meal involves boiling water and a nice jar of Prego? The people who don't know what blanching or braising means, but know that it sounds very unpleasant?

What do we do?

Fear not, my fellow cooking simpletons. Have I got a video for you!

1. You can make some sort of arts and crafts project (preferably paper maché) with or for your girl. 
2. You can buy her something.

Last week, I wrote a post about how couples can best deal with money in the relationship. It began by citing the fact that money difficulties are a more-common source of friction in couples than something like adultery--because every last person has to deal with money, but not everyone will have an affair.  Well, how about if you combine the two?  Frugal Dad recently had a great post about how "financial infidelity" can be as damaging to a relationship as a full-blown affair.

After playing Charlie Sheen’s love interest on “Two and A Half Men,” you’d think Jennifer Taylor would be hooked on gossip, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. “I don’t really read magazines or follow up on people,” the beautiful 37-year-old said in a recent interview for EcoStiletto. “I’m too busy for that.”

For the past few weeks, I have entertained (or annoyed) you all with my snarky commentary on the weird and bizarre world of ridiculous gadgetry. But not all is snide remarks and "what-the?" moments. Since I was a kid I have had a real love for kooky sci-fi and speculative designs. Finding these crazy tech items to show you every week is no happy accident. I look for this stuff every day. This week I want to step back a bit and show what spawned a lot of the crazy electronics you see before you now.

Here now we look into the origin of the kooky and strange.

I'm going on vacation tomorrow, so it was tempting to do some kind of "Savings Stories Clip-Show" to open up time for me to pack. But that would have been super boring--and besides, I already did it for my New Year's post.

So here's a brand new roundup for you!

In our never-ending attempt to get to know our Savings.com Community better, we've offered up a variety of interesting polls and quizzes.  A couple of weeks ago readers had the chance to test their money etiquette skills.  We've explored saving strategies, saving styles and saving sins.

If you haven't had the chance to take these quizzes, take 'em now!  It's not just a way for us to get to know you better--but an opportunity for YOU to get to know you better as well.  And it's fun!

This week's quiz was inspired by the imminent return of one of my favorite shows, LOST.  A show where the fan base is so rabidly dedicated to watching, re-watching, dissecting and discussing its every moment that the President of the United States preempted his State of the Union address just so it wouldn't interfere with the LOST season premiere.

Another week has passed and that means we have another Savings.com blog giveaway winner to announce. Last week, Chris (a.k.a. arreguin) announced that we were giving away a $50 Shoes.com gift card to one lucky Savings.com blog commenter. One week and 153 comments later, we have our winner.

Drum roll, por favor!

And the winner is...

With Valentine's Day approaching, I know a lot of you video game nerds are worried about having a night where you aren't allowed to play Modern Warfare 2.  Even if your significant other is into video games, bragging over your headset about how you just sniped joeSchmoe2453 isn't exactly romantic. 

Don't worry, all hope is not lost.  There are a few games you can enjoy together:

A great pair of jeans can make your day.  Once you slip into that perfect pair, the rest of your outfit is a piece of cake to put on.  Gone are the days when one pair acted as your catch-all.  I recommend at least two styles so you can vary your look to suit your mood. 

Here are my favorite pairs of the moment, all for under $100, most much less. You'll find one to fit whatever your fancy is at the moment. I've also hunted a few deals down for you; I am a DealPro, after all.