Pounce on 'slick' deals

By Mark Sweetwood

I'm usually shopping online by 7:25 most mornings.

Not buying anything, per se, but doing the Internet equivalent of "window
shopping." Monitor shopping? Laptop shopping? Whatever...

After my morning shower/shaving rituals, I pop open my laptop and hit my
favorite news sites and other destinations. One of my favorite finds is:

www.slickdeals.net

Previously, I detailed the advantages of being an informed hunter/gatherer:
Be patient and know what you want. Some bargains, however, can find YOU.
That's the idea behind Slickdeals.net. The site is really just a collection
of other bargain-obsessed surfers who share the best online deals out there
24/7.

You have to move quickly sometimes. One way to save on the cost of anything
is to be prepared to pounce. I have a "prize closet" of gifts because I shop
for Christmas year-round. I have bought cases of coffee and cereal because
of a "Slickdeal" involving grocery stores or Amazon.com. I turned my Dad
onto "Slickdeals" and he called one day to brag about a great underwear
find.

That imagery was hard to erase for a few days, but I was glad that Dad had
embraced cheaper living.

So pounce and save. The thrifty among us know this rule well: If you wait
until the four weeks after Thanksgiving to shop for Christmas, your dollar
will be not be stretched as far as if you are done shopping by Halloween (my
annual goal).

An example of my mentality: Tuesday morning, I awoke to this "Slickdeal:"

Barnes & Noble has Board Games on clearance at 75% off. Save another 25%
with code A8P8N9P. Note: Code may only be used on one item. Shipping is
$3.99.

The following prices are before the discount:
    •    Spider-Man DVD Blast! $4.99
    •    Sorry Simpsons $6.23
    •    High School Musical DVD Game - 2 $6.23
    •    Game of Life - Pirates of the Carribean Edition $6.73
    •    Risk Transformers $8.73
    •    Transformer Chess $8.73
    •    Heroscape Marvel Edition Set $8.73
    •    Monopoly Spider-Man & Friends $8.73

Now, if you have a Barnes & Noble rewards card, you can even save more. If
you know the kids are going to want the "High School Musical DVD Game" for
Christmas, you could wait until then to pay the $25 (plus gas!) retail
price, or you could have it delivered to your home next week along with two
other games for roughly the same cost. Then, you can put them all into the
closet until Christmas and cross three gifts off of your holiday list. Or use the
other two as "free" birthday presents next month. Or pull one out of the
closet and surprise everyone with something exciting to do during the next
rainy day that doesn't include wasting more money on gas or arguing for two
hours about which video to rent.

Other "Slickdeals" live when I wrote this:

• "Macy's offers 75% off many of their Baby Clothes. Shipping is $0.99 with
code 99CENTS."
• "Kohl's has "The Big One" 275 Thread-Count Sheet Sets starting at $10 - $1
(with code NEW1891) = $9."

A "dead" deal that I missed:

• "Walgreens offers $5 off $20 or more in-store using this Printable
Coupon."

Darn! We're in Walgreens about three times a week... I could have used that
five bucks...

The bottom line: Live cheap; act generous.

Tomorrow: More about online coupons and the thrill of "stacking."

Meanwhile, feel free to share your own experiences at stretching those
hard-earned dollars.

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Mark Sweetwood is managing editor of The Vindicator.