How to Make the Most of Amazon Shopping

Some helpful information to aid in your Amazon shopping:

Amazon's phone number: 1-866-216-1072  (they hide this number and make it almost impossible to find)

Amazon help section: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=508510  You can find a yellow "Contact Us" button about halfway down the right sidebar.

Filler items to get you up to $25 for the free super saver shipping: http://www.filleritem.com/ (there are others, this is the one I have bookmarked)

Want to find out the price trend on an item before you buy? This link shows you the most recent price changes, but you can also click on the long term tracking to get an idea of how it's performed over a year's time. http://camelcamelcamel.com/ If you use Firefox, you can also add the "camelizer" HERE

Looking for items with really great prices? It's usually a safe bet that the items hit the Movers and Shakers list when the price has dropped very low. This is the link to the general Movers and Shakers list, and you can navigate to the different areas using the sidebar on the left.  Movers and Shakers 

Just because everyone seems to like the toy deals, Toys Movers and Shakers. Movers and Shakers 

Friday Sales! Check back every Friday morning. Friday Sale

4 for 3 books 4-for-3

Bestsellers in Kindle store, usually has bunches of FREE downloads: Kindle(why pay for a book for your kindle)

For right now, the Lightning Deals for Toys and Games http://www.amazon.com/Toys-Holiday-Event/b?ie=UTF8&node=360960011

How to sort items. I've read a lot of people ask "how did you find that?" Amazon has really cool sorting sections on the left sidebars, so for example, you type in the item you're looking for in the search bar. Maybe you need something for a little Dora fanatic. Start in the search bar, typing "Dora."

* Choose the category you want (home and garden for bedding items, toys and games, books, etc) on the left.

* The next area has an age range, so narrow it down that way.

* After that, you can narrow down items further by the type of toy or game.

* Further down, you can choose Prime Eligible, or Eligible for Free Super Saver Shipping. This saves you the disappointment of finding the perfect item with $10 shipping.

* Next, sort by ratings. I like to look for items with 4 stars or higher when it has to do with electronics, but I'm less picky for some items. This is up to you.

* The next area you can narrow is by price range. I've found this one doesn't work very well, and some things that are higher priced will slip in occasionally.

* You can further narrow it down by looking for items that are a certain % off

* Then I will often also choose to only look at items sold by Amazon (because I know how their customer service is, I don't like unpleasant surprises.)

Did you know that you can trade in your used DVDs at Amazon to get Amazon gift cards? They even pay for the shipping. It's a great way to get some of the extra clutter out of your house. Movie Trade-In

Trade in your video games here: Video Game Trade-In

I hope you find this information useful.  I went through every bookmark I had, and I would also be glad to help more.  If you have any comments, feel free to leave them in the comments section.

Photo Freebies and Deals

Use code CALENDAR2010 to get a free photo calendar from Shutterfly through January 6th.

Get 50 4x6 inch prints for 50 cents from Snapfish using code NEWYEAR50 through January 7th from Snapfish

Household Money Saving Tip #1 for 2010

I'm hoping to provide some more good tips for saving money.  There are so many easy things that we can do to cut our bills every month, and most you barely notice.  All the little things can add up to big savings.

Yesterday it got very cold outside, and it was a little chilly in our house as well.  We keep the thermostat turned down to 67 or 68 to keep the heat bill down, but it felt much colder.  I went around looking for a leaky window, door, whatever was making it chilly, and found the bottom of the door had a slight breeze.

I have all that extra fleece from my I Spy bags so I went to work.  I measured the doors, cut a larger remnant into 12x36 inch rectangles, and sewed it into tubes.  I also had some extra beans from that previous project, but didn't want to use as many as it would take to fill the whole thing.  I searched around and discovered that you can pretty well stuff them with anything.  I used beans at the ends for weight, then stuffed them with empty plastic grocery sacks (someday I'll do a whole post on uses of them).  Finally, I stitched the end closed and threw it in front of the doors.

 

You can also make draft stoppers for windows with a much smaller piece of fabric.  If you're a creative person, you can turn this into a fun craft for the kids to help with and decorate it to look like a snake or caterpillar.  I was interested in function at the time of this quick creation.

Per Request, Some Freebies

One commenter asked for more freebies, and I'm always willing to oblige.  If anyone else has any requests for any sort of money-saving tips, recipes, etc., I will be glad to do my best.  This post will be a nice melange of freebies/money-savers/earners.

• Free laughs with animal videos.
  
• Make the most of your grocery purchases.  Be sure to check out old posts for other rebate deals.  I've recently received about $30 in checks from various companies.  Con-Agra is offering coupon booklets, and another coupon book when you spend $10.  You might not think you use many of their products, but you'll recognize a lot of labels.  Can't link, so copy and paste this into your browser to get it.    http://startsampling.com/sm/101044/  You can get the rebate form HERE.
• Free sample of Emergen-C.
  
• Another good Home Made Simple coupon booklet HERE.
• Free sample of True Lemon
  
• Get a free photo book every month!  Sign up at HotPrints 
• 70% off Clearance Merchandise at Expressionary.  Use code MADNESS, only good on clearance merchandise.
• Resolved to quit smoking?  Get a free Nicoderm CQ sample and $7 off coupon.
• Free bumper sticker for Military Veterans.
• Free coffee from Hardee's.
• Free dog treats.
• Free books from Crown Publishing.  Bookmark this one, looks like they change often.  I signed up for all three, what's to lose?  I love reading free books.
  
• Free pregnancy journal

Our Favorite Roast Recipe

I've been making this roast for so long that I can no longer remember where I first found the recipe.  I may have gotten it from a friend or family member, or may have found it through online search, so I apologize for the lack of attribution for the recipe.  I know it's been a staple in my core recipes for at least 6 years.  It is always a hit, and it's my go-to recipe if I am entertaining or we just have a roast we need to cook.

We just refer to it as "Our Favorite Roast"

1 3 pound beef roast (though I have used this recipe with a pork loin roast with good results).  We really like chuck roasts, but I've used whatever happens to be on sale.
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon garlic powder (do not use garlic salt, the soy sauce is salty enough)
1 whole bay leaf
4-5 whole peppercorns

Put all dry spices over the roast, then mix the liquids and pour over.  I do this in the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.  It's a great recipe to make in the morning and leave on all day long.  The smell from the cooking roast greets you as you walk in, and it is just delicious.

Serving suggestions

I sometimes cook this with cut up potatoes, carrots, and onions in the crock pot with it, sometimes just serve it with baked potatoes.  It makes a delicious broth that we spoon over our veggies or potatoes, and it also makes a really good open face sandwich.  Just serve it the way you like best.

Leftovers

I put the leftover meat and broth in the fridge and set some beans to soak overnight.  The next morning, I rinse the soaked beans, add another 2-3 cups of water to the broth, and put it on to cook all day again.  This process can be sped up with a large cooking pot on the stove if you'd like.  My favorite style of beans for this recipe is one of the mixes, like 10 or 15 bean soup mix.  I will also throw in whatever leftover vegetables we have, or finish off open bags of frozen vegetables.  Tomatoes are a good addition, and I will use whatever style of tomato we have or a can of diced tomatoes.  I don't drain the can, because the juice from the tomatoes just adds depth to the flavor.

The leftover soup can be bagged in quart- or gallon-sized freezer bags or put into freezer storage containers.  It's a great thing to pull out and serve as a side or hearty enough for a full meal.  By doing this, one 3 pound roast is good for four or more meals.