It’s important to me that I spend my money wisely.   One of the ways I make sure I am getting the most for my money is to buy quality products and to make sure the companies I buy from stand behind their products.

Rayovac is one of those companies that stands behind their products with their Rayovac Guarantee.   Check out what their warranty covers:

We will replace, repair or refund, at our option any device (that uses Rayovac’s AA, AAA, C, D & 9V, cylindrical, button cell or coin cell batteries collectively the “Batteries.” “Batteries” do not cover lithium ion batteries.) damaged by our Batteries if the device and Batteries are returned to us, prepaid, to the address below. Be sure to remove the Batteries from the device, but include the Batteries in the same shipment as the device. Our guarantee does not cover devices that are damaged by Batteries that are beyond their expiration dates.

I particularly love the Lifetime Warranty they offer on their flashlights (excludes accidents and misuse).  You really can’t get any better than a lifetime warranty, so I know anytime I buy a Rayovac flashlight I am getting my money’s worth!

You can get all the information about Rayovac’s Guarantee at Rayovac.com.  They also have a press release about the True Meaning of Guarantee.

I am a Rayovac Power Blogger. I have been compensated for sharing this information with you. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The post Rayovac Stands Behind their Products with the Rayovac Guarantee appeared first on Gather Lemons.

I don’t know about you, but I always think more about my energy bill in the winter months when we spend so much more to heat our house.

If you live in one of the following states: Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Texas you can save money on your energy bill by visiting ChooseEnergy.com.

Choose Energy is an easy-to-use online marketplace that helps residents and businesses comparison-shop for their ideal energy supplier. Powered by a friendly customer service team and an accessible, user-friendly site, Choose Energy is a free online platform that provides a convenient and secure way for consumers to compare rates and plans for energy suppliers in their area – and make the switch all in one place.

Here’s how it works, head over to ChooseEnergy.com, type in your zip code and find an energy solution that fits your budget from the best suppliers in your area. You will be able to save up to 25 percent just by switching your energy provider. The best part, ChooseEnergy.com will make the switch for you!

The shop and switch process takes less than ten minutes and is done entirely through the Choose Energy website – making it a seamless and secure one-stop destination to read reviews, compare plans and switch suppliers. I personally love being able to do everything online, no waiting on hold. You can make the decisions in your own time.

Need more of an incentive to make the switch?   How about up to a $350 incentive!   A lucky Thrifty and Thriving reader will win 3 months of electricity for FREE.

How to enter the giveaway: Head on over to ChooseEnergy.com and find a provider that fits your needs and you could win three months of free electricity from Choose Energy (up to $350).

Winners will receive a Visa gift card in the amount of $350. Winners will be selected by Jan. 30, 2014. Gift cards will be awarded by Feb.17, 2014. 

 This was a sponsored post, I was compensated for my time in sharing this information with you.    All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The post Choose Energy: Save Money on your Energy Bill & Win $350 toward your Energy Bill appeared first on Gather Lemons.

I use offers like these to help grow our Disney vacation fund.   Here are the details:

Earn a $76 bonus when you open a 360 Savings account:  Open a no-fee 360 Savings account between July 1st and 3rd and snag $76.

• This has to be your first 360 Savings account and it needs a $500 minimum deposit.
• The bonus starts earning interest on day 1, but you can’t take it out for at least 30 days.
• 0.75% variable Annual Percentage Yield (APY) effective 6/30/2013.

Get a $100 bonus when you open a 360 Checking account:

• Open a fee-free 360 Checking account between July 1st and 3rd (with a deposit of $500 or more) and grab $100.
  • This has to be your first 360 Checking account.
  • Make a total of 5 purchases (either signature or PIN-based) using your 360 Checking Debit Card, make 5 CheckMate deposits or any combination of the two within 45 days.
• Your $100 bonus will be automatically deposited into your account on day 50.

The post Open Capital One 360 Account Online & Get $76 & $100 for FREE appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Me and a few other bloggers just completed 10 weeks of savings with the Entertainment Book.   You can head on over to the 10 Weeks of Savings Blog to see how we all used the Entertainment Book to save us money each and every week.  I ended up saving over $180 during the 10 week period!

Entertainment is now giving away $125 every day through the month on January with their Easy Money Giveaway. Head on over to the Entertainment Coupon Book Facebook page to be entered to win.

The post Entertainment: 10 Weeks of Savings & Easy Money Giveaway appeared first on Gather Lemons.

This is one of my favorite ways to make a little extra cash!   I usually do this each and every year around this time, so I can have some extra spending money for Christmas!  In fact, today I just made $108 in about 10 minutes worth of work.

If you have any books, video games, movies or even electronics you no longer want you can trade them in at Amazon in exchange for an Amazon gift card.   There is NO COST to you, they even pay for you to ship the item to them.

It’s super easy! I am going to walk you through the whole process:

First, you want to go through your items and find the items you want to trade-in.   I started with 2 textbooks my boys no longer needed.   Once you have your stack of items, you can search for them on Amazon to see if they are eligible.   I will show you an example with my Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Third Edition) (Vol. 2) textbook

You can search by the title, but I like to use the ISBN number, because sometimes there are so many different versions of textbooks.

Once you get to the Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Third Edition) (Vol. 2) page, you will want to check on the right hand side for the box that says “Sell Us Your Item”.

You can see that Amazon will pay me $47.81 in Amazon gift cards if I trade-in this book. Yes, please!!!

You click the “trade in” button and then you are taken to this screen where you will need to verify the ISBN. Super easy! Then click the “continue” button to finish the process. There will be a couple of forms you will need to print out (one of which is your FREE shipping label).

Next, box up your books, making sure that the size of the box closely relates to the size of items you are shipping.

Make sure you add the packing slip, so they know which account to credit the Amazon gift cards too.

Lastly, you attach the FREE shipping label to the box and drop it off at a UPS or USPS location, this will depend on which shipping method you chose.

If your submission is accepted, an Amazon.com Gift Card for the value of your trade-in will appear in your Amazon.com account, generally within 2 business days. Your gift card payment is automatically added to the available balance on your account so you don’t need to redeem any claim codes or wait for gift cards in the mail.

Here are all the links for each specific Amazon trade-in program:

Books

Electronics

Video Games

Here are a couple of things to remember when trading items in:

• To participate in the Program, you must (a) be at least 18 years old, (b) ship your products only from the United States and (c) have a physical address or P.O. Box located in the United States.
• The item you wish to trade in must match the exact version displayed in the Trade-In search results or on the product page on Amazon.com.
• Rejected Items that are eligible for return will be shipped to you within 14 days after receipt, at no cost to you.
• The item must meet the trade-in condition guidelines as described in Determining Product Eligibility.
• Your package must be postmarked within 7 calendar days of submitting your trade-in shipment.

I’m going to go through my house to see what other items we can sell, and I will update you with my total. If you end up selling some of your items, I would love to hear how much you make!

The post Make Some Extra Cash: Trade-In your Books, Movies, Video Games and more at Amazon appeared first on Gather Lemons.

If you kids wear short sleeve shirts year round then you should be able to find some great deals, especially towards the end of July when they are trying to really clear out the remainder of the summer stuff.   My kids prefer to just wear short sleeve shirts all year long, they will throw on a zip hoodie on over their tee if it gets too cold.

Here are some tees I picked up yesterday at Aeropostale that my daughter will use for school next year. All of these shirts were marked down to $3.99.   I also used a 20% off coupon, so I was able to get each shirt for only $3.19.

I paid $12.77 (before tax) for all 4 shirts and the original retail was $81.00. I love a great deal!

So, keep an eye on the clearance racks at your favorite stores over the next couple of months.   You should be able to find some amazing deals that will save you tons of money on your back to school clothes shopping.   I highly recommend shopping year round, but I find the biggest clearance markdowns happen in January and July when the most drastic changes in the seasons happen.

I would love to hear how you handle back to school shopping at your house.   Do you do it year round?   Do you have a set amount?   Do the kids pay?   Please share!

The post June & July are a great time for Back to School Shopping! appeared first on Gather Lemons.

• We don’t normally order 10 toppings, we rarely order 3, we’re boring like that!   I can get pizza’s for around the $8 price with coupons.
• We have 7 people in our family (3 of which are teenagers) and 1 pizza isn’t going to cut it. We would have to order 2 more additional pizzas and pay regular price, because you can’t use additional offers or deals with the Groupon.

Here is the cost breakdown for dinner at Domino’s:
1 Large 3 topping pizza @ 8.00 (Groupon)
2 Large 2 topping pizza’s @ $15.39 (regular price, can’t use additional offers or coupons with the Groupon)
Total for 3 pizza’s = $38.78

Here is the cost breakdown for dinner at Papa Johns:
1 Large 3 topping pizza $10.00 (special)
2 Large 3 topping pizza + 2 liter pop @ $18.99 for both (Sounder’s special)
Total for 3 pizza’s + 2 liter of pop = $28.99

Am I telling you not to buy the Domino’s pizza Groupon?  Absolutely not!  If you only order one pizza and love lots of toppings, then the Groupon deal is great for you.  If you need more pizza’s and don’t really like a lot of toppings, you will probably find a better deal somewhere else.

Doing a little research will go a long way when it comes to saving your family money!

The post Weighing the Value of a Deal: Is it really a great deal for YOU? appeared first on Gather Lemons.

She also has a great post that explains what kind of deals you can get by shopping at Costco, or shopping with coupons. It’s very informative and worth checking out!

The post Costco Price List Database appeared first on Gather Lemons.

This is an awesome deal! If you are a new Key Bank customer, you can get an Sony bloggie camera for FREE when you open a checking account. There are some requirements in order for you to get the FREE camera, you can see the complete list of details HERE, but I will list the basics for you.

• Open either a Key Express Free Checking or Key Advantage Money Market Checking account by October 8, 2010.
• Make one Key Bank Rewards debit Card transaction.
• Have a  combination of two direct deposits and/or automated payments each of $100 or more by December 10, 2010

You must enroll in the KeyBank Rewards points program. You can enroll by requesting a KeyBank Rewards debit card from the branch, by calling 877-KEY-ONLY, or through the online application on key.com. There is a $20 annual fee for the KeyBank Rewards Program that will be waived for the first year.

You can get all the answers to FAQ HERE.   This offer is available in the following districts: Cleveland, Eastern OH, Idaho, Western NY, Oregon, Seattle Cascades, South Puget Sound, Central NY, Rochester, Maine, Northwest OH, Michigan, Capital Region NY, and Hudson Valley NY.

You can either apply online or apply at one of their branches if you are interested in taking advantage of this deal.

They has a similiar offer awhile back where they were offering a FREE Ipod Touch, I have had several people inform my that they have in fact received their Ipod, so these types of deals do work, you just need to make sure you pay close attention to all the requirements. I did the Ipod offer, and I am still the in the process of qualifying for it, but I will be sure to let you know when I receive it.

The post Open a Key Bank Checking account get a FREE Sony bloggie Camera appeared first on Gather Lemons.

I enjoy eating out, mostly because I don’t have to do the cooking or the cleaning. However, I don’t like paying the high price tag that comes with eating out. With a family of 7 (and 3 kids that can no longer eat of the kids menu) we don’t eat out all that often as a family. When we do eat out, I always try to find a way to save some money.

Here are some of the things that we do that save us money when we eat out:

Restaurant.com – I have used Restaurant.com tons! They often have sales, so you can end up getting a $25 restaurant.com gift card for only $2-3. By using these gift certificates we can drastically reduce our bill for nicer restaurants. Our final bill is usually fairly close to what it would have cost us to eat out at a fast food restaurant.

Free Gift Cards – I have earned gift cards for FREE by using MyPoints. I have been able to redeem my points for gift cards to Panera Bread, The Cheescake Factory and more.

Restaurant Websites – If you have a restaurant that you really enjoy, you should check out their website. Lots of times they will have printable coupons or email clubs that you can sign up for. Here are a just a few of the websites offering deals:

• Sweet Tomatoes – They will email you coupons for Buy One Get One FREE meals and more.
• Famous Dave’s – They will send you a FREE offer on your birthday ranging from a FREE dessert to a FREE All-American feast.
• Qdoba – Exclusive offers and FREE gift on your birthday.

Entertainment Book – I usually always buy the Entertainment book each year, there are lots of coupons in the book that can get you FREE food.

Groupon – I am finding that Groupon is a great way to get some great discounts for local restaurants. I picked up the discounts they had for Fatburger and Garlic Jim’s. Keep an eye on Groupon for your area and something may pop up that interests you.

IKEA – Ocassionaly we take advantage of the great food deals you can get at IKEA. IKEA regularly has FREE food for kids or $1 Meatball meals.

Skip the drinks – Sometimes we will skip the drinks all together and just go for water.  It’s healthier and cheaper!

Share a Meal – Sometimes restaurants serve an enormous amount of food and there is no way I could eat everything that is on the plate.   Instead or ordering a kids meal for my daughter, we will occasionally share my meal.   It’s a great way to save money and not feel stuffed too.

What are some things that you do to save money when eating out?

The post Saving Money While Eating Out appeared first on Gather Lemons.

$415 – Disney gift cards (Applying for (2) Disney Visa’s and accumulated rewards)
$125 – Target gift cards (MyPoints Rewards, Prescription & Target gift card offers)
$100 – The Cheesecake Factory (Rewards from husbands work)
$50 – Panera Bread (Mypoints Rewards)
$50 – Chevron (Auction)
$40 – Visa gift cards (Rewards from husbands work)
$40 – Tully’s gift card (gift)
$25 – American Express gift card (blog giveaway)
$25 – Costco gift card (blog giveaway)
$25 – Aldi (blog giveaway)
$25 – Jamba Juice (gift)
$10 – Walmart (blog giveaway)

Total = $930

That is $930 in gift cards we can add to our vacation fund to help pay for food, gas, groceries, souvenirs and more!  I usually like to save all of my gift cards and use them for Christmas shopping, it’s amazing how fast they can add up when you save them for something special.   Anybody else like to save their gift card for one big event?

The post Our Final Vacation Gift Card Total appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Swagbucks has some fun things planned for this week to celebrate the kids heading back-to-school. Plus, if you are a new member you can sign up this week and get 70 Swagbucks for FREE!

Here is some of the fun that Swag Bucks has planned for this week:

• Swag Store sales
• Limited edition collectible Swag Bucks Bills
• Huge Swag Code Extravaganza on Thursday

If you haven’t yet signed up for Swagbucks, you can sign up now and get 30 Swagbucks just for signing up, you will get an additional 40 Swagbucks for entering the code BackToSchool.  That will give you a total of 70 Swagbucks for FREE, and you will be well on your way to earning enough to get your first $5 Amazon gift card.  The special Swagcode is only good for new members and until 11:59 PM PDT on August 15, 2010.

You can earn Swagbucks by searching the Internet like you usually do, but instead of going to google, you would go to SwagBucks.com and search from there. Make sure you download the Swagbucks toolbar, because it makes it so much easier to search and earn Swagbucks. Plus, you will find special announcements with free Swag Codes every now and then. To really maximize your earning potential, you will want to share Swag Bucks with your friends, family or blog readers.

I use the Swagbucks I earn to buy Amazon gift cards and it helps me to pay for birthday and Christmas gifts.  I also like to save all my gift cards to make bigger purchases that aren’t necessarily in the budget.   Swagbucks has become my favorite way to earn FREE gift cards online.   Give it a try today and get your FREE 70 Swagbucks!

The post Swagbucks Back-to-School Promo: 70 FREE Swagbucks for new members!! appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Mint.com is a FREE online money management  and budgeting tool that will help you keep track of your finances. I have to admit I am a pen and paper kind of girl when it comes to keeping track of our finances, but I guess that’s primarily because I don’t currently own any software that can track everything for me.   With Mint.com I don’t need to buy any software, it is totally FREE! We all love FREE!

If you don’t currently have a budget, this tool can help you determine what you spend in each category and then you can determine what your budget will need to be. It can help you decide which areas you need to cut back in if necessary. If you already have a budget, this will help you to keep track of all your spending. It sounds like a great resource.

Mint.com already has over 1 million users, so it must be pretty good.   I am going to give it a try for a month and I will let you know how it goes.   Is there anybody that is currently using this FREE service?   Let me know what you think. If you are interested in signing up for your free account, you can do so HERE.

The post Mint.com: FREE Online Money Management & Budgeting Software appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Here is another great bank offer for you! This one is even easier than the Key Bank FREE iPod Touch deal. When you open a Chase checking account by May 28th, and use the printable coupon found HERE, you can get a $100 cash bonus. Just print the coupon and take it with you into the bank. If you would prefer to apply online, you can do so HERE.

Here are the requirements:

• You will need to make a $100 deposit
• Keep the checking account open for 6 months

Then do either of the following (within 60 days):

• Set up direct Deposit OR
• Make 5 debit card purchases

Sounds like an easy $100 to me!   This offer is only available to new Chase checking customers.   The $100 should be credited to your account 10 days after you meet the requirements.   Remember, this deal expires May 28th, so you will need to act quickly.

Thanks Money Saving Mom!

The post Chase Bank: Get $100 Bonus of Opening a Checking Account appeared first on Gather Lemons.

$30 worth of  Target gift cards
$25 American Express gift card
$50 Chevron gift card (won this in an auction)
(I already added the AT&T MC in the photo)
Gift Card Totals for our trip = $250!!

This is a great way to save money for almost anything! Save all those Target gift cards you earn from promotional offers all year long, and by the time Christmas rolls around, you should have a nice pile of gift cards that you can use for Christmas shopping. Is there a camera or a larger ticket item you want to purchase? Saving the gift cards you earn can help you purchase those items too.

The post Disney on a Budget – Additions to my Gift Card Envelope appeared first on Gather Lemons.