The Chronic Consumer

If you’re anything like me, then you love shopping online, but hate paying shipping fees. I have been known to scrap potential purchases if the shipping fees are too high. For instance, I cannot understand the logic of paying $8 for shipping on a $20 t-shirt. That’s 40% of the cost of the product! This mostly happens when places only offer UPS as an option, and I HATE it!

Anyway, I know I’m late to the party, but I’ll be using FreeShipping.org from now on. They specialize in offering free shipping codes for a variety of websites, which gives me a better chance of not having to pay ridiculous fees. I just found them and haven’t had the opportunity to try out any of the codes yet, but I definitely will!!

Today is 7/11, which means that it’s the day the 7-Eleven chain observes its “birthday”. There won’t be any cake and ice cream, but participating locations will be giving away free Slurpees while supplies last. This has been going on since 2002, but I’ve never participated because I do not like Slurpees at all. I’ll be skipping this year’s “celebration” as well, but I do know a lot of folks — particularly the kids — love Slurpees, so I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you to go and get your free one today!

I couldn’t sleep much last night, so I checked out a couple of websites devoted to alerting readers of free promotional items and other goodies and spent a good hour or two filling out forms for swag. I occasionally do this, especially when I see something useful — such as water bottles, key chains, pens, and calendars. I also love getting free samples of food products and coupons for $1 or $2 off. At first it kinda feels like a waste of time, but once the items start coming in the mail, the effort is definitely worth it!

Costco is currently giving away free samples of Nicorette Fruit Chill Gum. This is a new flavor from Nicorette, and probably tastes better than the regular version. I remember using Nicorette back when I tried to quit and thinking that it tasted like chewing on rubbery salt and pepper. It was pretty gross. But what’s the alternative to not quitting? Sitting down for an afternoon of early funeral planning? Um, no thanks.

Anyway, if you want this free sample, follow this URL to Costco and then click on the Get a Sample box. You’ll be taken to a page where you can fill out your name and address.

Good luck!

I just read that the second generation Amazon Kindle now costs only $189. That’s down $70 from its original price of $259, making it an amazing deal in the e-book reader market. Heck, I get a little queasy thinking of how I spent a whopping $359 for the first generation Kindle just two short years ago! Think of all the money I could have saved if I’d been more patient! Oh, well… The Kindle is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made, regardless of the price, so go out and get one now!

To celebrate the end of the tax season, Boston Market is offering patrons a Buy One, Get One special on select dinners. You need to use a coupon, which can be found here, and the offer is not valid with any other coupons, discounts, or specials. Today (April 18) is the last day to take advantage of the savings, so why not give yourself the night off from cooking and treat your family to some Boston Market chicken tonight? I actually love this place and plan on taking full advantage of this deal!

I haven’t been buying anything recently because I haven’t come across any really good sales. Is there a Cyber Monday equivalent for April or May??? Seriously, I’m suffering from withdrawal here! I really need to update my wardrobe, as I haven’t bought any decent clothes in ages. I am also dying to treat myself to a diamond pendant necklace. Nothing too flashy, but nice all the same. I usually don’t wear jewelry, but a diamond pendant is something I’ve wanted for a long time. As soon as I see a good one for less than $500, I’m going to pounce on it… but that’s why I need a massive sale to come up soon!

I hate to admit it, but my family wastes a lot of food. We always seem to have leftovers, and because no one really likes to eat the same thing two or three days in a row, the leftovers get shoved to the back of the refrigerator, where they’re promptly forgotten until the rot. Yeah, not a great situation.

So I’m thinking of buying this FoodSaver vacuum system that seals food in vacuum-locked bags to help preserve freshness. The food can then be stored in the freezer, where it’ll keep a lot longer than in the fridge. I don’t know if this will actually help us reduce the amount of food we waste (it could just end up cluttering our freezer), it can’t hurt to give it a try. The machine costs about $100, and bags are extra. Maybe I’ll buy this the next time I go shopping!