This journal will be kept here for the time being for archival purposes. You know... That is until LiveJournal removes this journal.
I am done with cross-posting with LiveJournal. No... really. I mean it this time. For real. Come on. Don't you believe me?( Read more... )
A while back, I wrote a little something about savings a little cash here and there. Since I just sent everyone my Christmas List, I think it only seems right I repost this. Enjoy!Most people know I'm cheap. When shopping, I'm always trying to find the cheapest this or a way to save money on that. Today, I'd like to share with you some of the sites I use to make sure I can save as much money as possible. I even have a couple of sites for my Canadian compadres as well.
Woot - http://www.woot.com/
One of the first sites I hit up every morning, Woot has a very simple premise: a deal a day. Every day at Midnight (Central Time), a new deal is posted. Woot's biggest attraction is the "Woot-Off": an event lasting 24 to 72 hours in which another product will be available as soon as the previous product sells out. Products in a Woot-Off go fast, especially the elusive Bag of Crap. For just $1 (plus $5 for Shipping), you get what you paid for: a bag of useless crap. Every once and a while, a lucky buyer will receive big ticket items with their crap bag, such as Big Screen TVs, Video Game Consoles, and other high-value products.
Dealighted - http://www.dealighted.com/
Deallighted is a site that aggregates deals from various message boards, including FatWallet, GottaDeal.com, and Slickdeals.net. This site makes it very easy to view hot deals as soon as they become available. Not all of them are must-have's, but it is quite helpful when one that is useful to you comes along.
RealFreebies.com - http://www.realfreebies.com/
Wal-Mart Free Samples - http://walmart.triaddigital.com/Free-Sam
As I stated, I'm cheap, and nothing says "cheap" like free. RealFreebies.com may not look like a well-polished site in this "Web 2.0" world, but it does its job: providing links to Free Samples. When you've found all that you can there, head on over to Wal-Mart's Free Sample web site. Most of the products offered here are aimed at women and babies, but every so often, you'll be able to find free toothpaste, shampoo, or even food-products! When filling out Free Sample forms, you're usually asked for an email address, so be sure you use an email address that you set up specifically for spam. Free things do come at at price (just not monetarily).
Free After Rebate - http://www.freeafterrebate.info/
As long as we're on the subject of Free, FreeAfterRebate.info provides links to items that are... well, Free after Mail-In Rebate. Needless to say, this site is not for everyone, especially to those that dispise Mail-In Rebates. I'll admit that I have in the past lost the bet a couple of times when attempting to redeem a rebate, but that's what businesses are hoping for (and is also why I digitize everything before I send it off). If you're one of those people that enjoy taking the chance to get money back, this site will be help.
Ben's Bargains - http://bensbargains.net/
dealnews.com - http://dealnews.com/
Techbargains - http://techbargains.com/
Once I'm done visiting the above sites, I head on over to one of these three. Usually the deals on here are more aimed at Tech Heads like myself, but you will occasionally find deals from other areas as well, including Home Depot, Linen 'n Things, Old Navy, Sharper Image, and more. The deals listed here are hit-or-miss. It all really depends on what you're looking for and if the timing is right.
RedFlagDeals.com - http://www.redflagdeals.com/
And to ensure that I don't leave my pals north of the border out of the mix, RedFlagDeals.com covers deals for retailers in the land of the maple leaf. Following a voting system similar to Digg (which I plan to review in the future), RedFlagDeals.com let's visitors post deals as well as vote on them. The most popular deals are listed on the site as well as the most recent. There's not much more than as it's similar to the sites I just listed, except it's for Canada!
RetailMeNot - http://www.retailmenot.com/
Now that I've found what I'm interested in buying, I want to see if there is anything more I can do to save some more dough. RetailMeNot makes it easy to find Coupon Codes that can be used at Checkout. Just type in the domain name of the site you're at (without the "www"), copy and paste the Coupon Code into the "Coupon Code" or "Promotional Code" field at Checkout, and then Save! RetailMeNot also lets you know the chance that the Coupon Code works. Every little bit counts. And yes, Canadian shops are listed too!
(UPDATE: For those using the Mozilla Firefox web browser, you can install an extension that will automatically display deals from RetailMeNot when you visit certain shopping sites. It can be found on Mozilla's web site.)
FruCall - http://frucall.com/
What if you're not shopping online and standing in a Retail store? This is where FruCall comes in. Using a mobile phone and either placing a phone call, using Text Messaging, or the mobile version of their web site (or maybe sneaking onto a internet-enabled computer at the store itself), FruCall can look up the price of the product you're looking at and let you know if it's cheaper anywhere else. All you need is the Product Name, the Model Number, or its Barcode/UPC Number. Sure, you may look silly as hell looking at the bottom of a box and typing into your Cell Phone at the same time, but I'd rather look silly than be wasting money.
Price Protectr - http://www.priceprotectr.com/
Last, but quite possibly the most helpful of all is Price Protectr. Most stores have a policy in which if they drop the price on a product within so many days of your purchase, they will refund you that amount (and sometimes a percentage on top of that). Price Protectr helps you by keeping track of a product you purchased and the price of that product. If the product drops in price within the store's policy's timeline, Price Protectr will email you informing you of the change. This will now allow you to go back to the place you purchased your product and request a refund. You will still need your receipt or proof of purchase, but this makes the job so much easier.
Right now, the site only protects a few retailers (including a few Canadian shops). A full list is available at their Supported Retailers page.
With the price of daily necessities going up, taking the time to look and compare prices is worth the time.
Gimme (Christmas 2007)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishli
As it's called a "Wish List", some of the things listed on here are a little... well, wishy. Do I actually expect to get any of these things? Of course not! But it's always nice to dream.
If you DO actually plan on getting any of these things, hit me up for my address (which actually should already be listed on the Amazon Wish List). You can find my contact details here. Remember, you don't have to buy from Amazon. If you can find it REALLY cheap elsewhere, for the love of all that is good, buy it cheap! And I'm willing to accept used or refurbished items cus I know those are definitely cheap. Now, get to buying me stuff I don't deserve! :D
(Oh yeah... although I can't really buy things for others this year - you know... the whole jobless thing - I do wanna try and give people things, even if it's homemade. Contact me with mailing addresses so I can send stuffs out.)
Of course, I will still want to do group shots and meet with the staff, but hopefully this will not require as much time now. BRILLIANT!!!
With just over a month left in the year, I am having to do some reevaluating on my business. I have three rough drafts complete, one still in the oven, and another that hasn't even been touched yet. At this point, I am not going to worry about the 4th and 5th drafts I was working on and come back and get the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd drafts polished up.
Also, it's time to focus on filming. Although there is still over a month left in the year, the holidays will eat up a good bit of that time. I think it's safe to say there's less than a month left to get things done. So, what specifically needs to be accomplished? First, I need to scout a filming location. By scouting, I mean finding a friend that has a big enough room to film in with little distractions (such as pets). This will be a bit tough considering my friends all have pets.
Second, I need to find on-screen personalities. How? I really don't know yet. Placing an ad in CraigsList? Scouring Facebook and MySpace? The tough part is that I need to find someone who is willing to do this for free and understand that at first, it's all about just doing something you enjoy and have fun doing. If money comes into the picture later, well, I consider that a bonus.
Next, it's time to meet up with everyone (which is bound to be a scheduling nightmare), introduce each other, discuss the show and current scripts, and just all get on the same level.
Finally, it's time to film. Obviously, we'll need to do some test runs in front of the camera to get an idea of how everyone feels, lighting and other technical issues, and other things. Once that's done, it's time to go!
Oh yeah... I guess there's a web site that needs to be finished up too. Man... more to do than I thought.
So, here's to the last month! Wish me luck! (Welcome to suggestions, as always.)
I've been trying to work my butt off on getting my company going. I mean it this time. No. Seriously. I'm not kidding. I've given myself an ultimatum: Have something by year's end or don't do it at all.
I've been trying to get my company going for about 2 years now with no results. Just idea after idea. Ideas are nice but that's all they are. An end product that comes together is what's needed. Plus, the satisfaction of seeing your ideas come to life will be like no other feeling. Well, no other feeling I've had in life so far. Well, going to Canada was an incredible feeling. Okay... now I'm just rambling. Back to the subject.
If I haven't mentioned it before, I have scrapped all previous plans I had and will go back to focusing on one program. I have written 2 rough drafts and have half of two other rough drafts completed as well. The web site is functioning okay so far, but I still have to test one other (and very important) feature. Filming must take place in December before the Holidays, therefore I must get everything else done before then. It's crunch time and with the holidays around the corner, time is a factor.
One thing that has been making it hard to work is this weather we've been having in Southeast Texas. In October, we were treated to some incredible (and seasonable) weather. Highs in the 70s (lower-20s C), lows in the 50s (~lower-10s in C). It stays around for a good week, but out of nowhere, summer came back.
Since the beginning of this month, we've been thrown back into highs in the mid-80s (upper-30s C) and lows in the upper 60s (around 20 C) and humid, humid, humid. Flowers are still blooming, leaves aren't changing colors, and bugs are still flying about. Thanks to this uncomfortable weather, I'm uncomfortable. That warm weather makes you lazy (is that why they're called the lazy days of summer?) and unproductive. We could turn the air conditioner back on, but I don't pay the power bill, so I have no say in that (running the A/C in Houston isn't exactly cheap).
I'm tempted to go to the mall or a Starbucks (I have free access to T-Mobile HotSpots thanks to my cell phone plan) and just work out of there in their air conditioned environment. Of course, if I have to head to the can or something, I gotta take my lappy with me and that just looks weird. And perverted. I guess I'll just have to deal with this.
The other thing that has kept me pre-occupied in the last couple of days is the amount of truck traffic on our streets. I had mentioned this previously but all talk and no action. I have decided to start a month long look at the issue to figure out what's going on. Yesterday alone, we had ten (possibly 11) 18-wheelers (not including box trucks and moving vans) come through our streets. You may say 10 is not a lot, but when you're a residential street, anything more than one is too many. There was also an issue with children waiting for the bus and the cab of one of the 18-wheelers.
That's pretty much all that's been going on in my life. I should get to work. It's 9 in the morning.
Let's say you receive a gift. You open the gift and ... well, it's not exactly something you wanted, need, or could use. But you know the person that gave you the gift meant well, so you don't want to be rude mention how you feel about the gift.
On the other side, what if you're the person that is giving the gift? You're trying to figure out what to get someone when you finally come across what you think would be great. That person opens the gift, but you can see the look of dissatisfaction in their face. You thought it would be great, but you feel bad because it's not something they like.
Man... the holidays are sure depressing...
Yeah... I know... I'm a dork, nerd, geek. Whatever you wanna call it. I don't care.I'm at the mall waiting for the Leopard release to happen. We'll see what happens. The WiFi over by the Apple Store my not be of the greatest quality (as in no access period). I'm currently over in the pavillion area at the mall waiting for the store to close so I can get in life. Ahh... sweet, sweet, geekdom.
[4:12 pm Central Time] In front of the Apple Store. Just under two hours left.
[4:32 pm Central Time] Boredom sets in! DS time!
[4:49 pm Central Time] FLIP! Switched sides in which the line is positioned. Store installing Leopard all all Macs. People keep asking what we're in line for. Should tell people we're waiting in line for RAT or Winger.
[4:55 pm Central Time] 5 more minutes! If we were on the east coast. But we're not. Oh well. At least the employees offered water. Too bad we already drank Steve Job's Kool-Aid.
[5:17 pm Central Time] Launched Windows Vista on my MacBook cus I'm a rebel like that! Gonna close up the Mac here in about 20 minutes to get read. Hate being unprepared for things. People still asking questions as they walk by. Some prissy people are being a little bitchy about the store being closed.
[5:20pm Central Time] Shirts are in the store right behind me. Rock.
[5:23pm Central Time] Did I mention I was first in line? Ha!
[5:28pm Central Time] ACK! Picture taken! The glare! The evil! ZARGHG!
[5:30pm Central Time] Time to close up the lappy. It's gonna be a great day. Gonna walk outta the mall with Leopard, iLife '08, and Taco Bell. Could this day rock any more? Ooooo... could be home in time for Perfect Strangers! Yes!
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