Hurricane Irene's track: Pinching Abe says keep on going!

It's been an exciting week here in Virginia!  First, we felt the wonderful jolt of that 5.8-5.9 quake on Tuesday.  I have to admit, it was a bit scary!  Mainly because it started off slow and then grew in intensity.  It lasted for about 30 seconds here, and after the first 20 seconds, I was wondering if it would ever stop.  No real damage, save some cracked concrete (and some cracks that widened and buckled a smidge).  I've been lucky enough to live far enough away that I haven't felt the aftershocks.  Next up:  Hurricane Irene!

Living along the Potomac in the Northern Neck of Virginia, we tend to watch these hurricanes with interest.  Isabel came through our little town in 2003 and wreaked all kinds of havoc.  Businesses rebuilt or moved in the meantime, and when we first arrived, there was still damage to clean up --- even a year and a half later.  The house next to where we rented had the largest tree I'd ever seen still felled to the ground.  I later learned that it had been the oldest tree in town, if not our region.  In the next few years, we began to see less appropriate homes (read: shacks) torn down and in their steads, nice homes appeared.  It was as if Isabel had destroyed what needed to go and encouraged a rebirth.  The town, as a whole, is looking a lot nicer these days and it is for that reason that I hope that Hurricane Irene changes her mind and tracks east and out to sea!

Meanwhile, we'll be keeping an eye on Hurricane Irene's track, securing our outdoor items, and hoping for the best. 

Summer Solstice: $2 drinks at Caribou (today only)

Stop into Caribou Coffee for a $2 blended drink today after 11 AM.  This special price is in celebration of the official start of summer.  The $2 price is for a medium; a large is priced at $2.50.

Kindle with Special Offers: Save $25 by agreeing to be advertised to....

If you've been wanting a Kindle, but are reluctant to part with even $139 for the basic, wi-fi model, you may be happy to know that Amazon launched a new Kindle product called Kindle with Special Offers. This new Kindle is priced at $114, edging closer to that magic $100 mark that is quite enticing to buyers.  What makes this wi-fi model discounted?  The special price is because for the pleasure of saving $25, you'll be agreeing to being marketed to with "special offers" and "sponsored screensavers".  The offers, from what the company posted on its landing page, could include great savings (offers like $10 for $20 Amazon GC --- sounds like Groupon to me), so it may be worth it in the long run.

What is interesting to me, since I've been following the price wars between nook and Kindle (disclosure: I own a nook), I wonder if nook and other e-readers will follow suit with this type of promo?

What do you think?  Does the $25 savings tied to your e-reader advertising to you turn you off?  Or is your reading time sacred and you'd prefer no marketing when you turn on your Kindle?  Please leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts on this matter.


* Please note that this post does contain a referral link, as I am an Amazon Associate. Shopping through the link may result in a direct benefit to me. 

Find me on Facebook!

I am finally taking the plunge and have started a fan page on Facebook.  If you are a Facebooker, please 'Like' me there.

Question: Do you think 'thrifty' has a negative connotation?

Yesterday, I began to read Be thrifty.  How to Live Better with Less, which I'll be reviewing here on the blog when I'm finished.  Now, I've been called thrifty before... but there was always a bit of a negative connotation.  Like you are thrifty because you are too cheap to spend money... or that you're too poor to spend money (something the other person looks down upon you for.)  As I was reading, I learned that thrifty is derived from the verb thrive - which we can all agree is a good, positive word!

Please comment and let me know whether you think being called 'thrifty' is meant as a compliment or not.  I'm curious what you think!


Disclosure:  I received a copy of Be Thrifty at no cost to me for review purposes.  The link provided above is not an affiliate link that directly benefits me.  It is merely a link to the book on the publisher's website, which I added for context.  

Tired from shopping! Tax free weekend was like Christmas shopping!

I hate shopping in stores the day after Thanksgiving, not to mention really close to Christmas.  People are just all over and you can't get a cart in edgewise.  It was the same thing for me today when we went to Richmond to shop the back-to-school sales at Target during our the tax free weekend. 

In the end, I think we did OK.  The kids got mostly shirts and shorts since we won't need pants until later in the fall and they're growing like weeds, so I don't want to buy jeans for them just yet.  Their lists weren't bad... definitely lighter than they have been in past years.  Though my husband is confounded as to why 5 boxes of freezer bags was on my kindergartener's list.  Doing the math at 25 kids per class, basing that on at least 30 bags per box and he's wondering just what they are going to do with nearly 4,000 baggies?  That's nearly a bag a day per kid for 180 days.  But I digress!  At least there wasn't a massive amount of dry erase markers on the list this year (none at all), so maybe that isn't so bad. 

The back-to-school things at the Target we went to were looking pretty picked over in some things.  I saw lots of empty containers and they were putting out merchandise while we were shopping too. Most things were very cheap, though if you are looking for primer pencils, you might want to try an office supply store.  I found a 4 pack of Ticonderoga primer pencils for just under 3 bucks per pack at Office Max.  These were much more at Target.  I found them at Staples the list time I had a kindergartener and in case you don't know what a primer pencil is, it is nothing more than a big, fat pencil!  The packs we got came with a pencil sharpener that could accommodate the bulkier pencil, so no worries there.  We needed 12 of those things, so 9 bucks for pencils.  I've been told that kids can hold them better, but honestly, my son has been doodling just fine with the regular No. 2's for years!

PR Friendliness & Blog Disclosures

PR Friendly! Contact me if you would like me to review your product or service.

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If you have a product that you want me to review or if you would like to sponsor a giveaway, please contact me at iclipcoupons@gmail.com or use the "Contact Me" Button in my blog header. Blog statistics can be provided upon request.



I do accept sponsored posts and there may be times when I receive compensation for featuring a product or a service in a blog post. In some cases, the blog post will carry a sponsorship message.  In other cases, a sponsored post will not carry a sponsorship message at advertiser's request. Just as you would notice commercials (a/k/a sponsors product advertisements) sandwiched in between snippets of your favorite TV commercials, you will find sponsored posts sandwiched in between my regular blog posts.  However, if you are ever in doubt about an advertiser relationship, I encourage you to contact me to present your question.

Pinching Abe currently has a relationship with several Izea companies, Blogsvertise, and other private clients.  Sponsored posts are accepted at my discretion and I do try to vet companies before agreeing to a sponsored post. 

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Pinching Abe does have affiliate type relationships with some of the businesses highlighted on this site. Amazon, iRazoo, Swagbucks, Cash 4 Books and others, including many survey companies.  Shopping through and/or signing up using referral links may benefit Pinching Abe financially.  If you are ever in doubt of a business relationship that I might have with an advertiser or business, please ask me.  The above list is not exhaustive, merely representative of the types of affiliates that I currently participate in at this time.




Last edited:  7/26/2011

Kraft Summer Free Sample Box (From Facebook) came!

I wasn't expecting the Kraft free sample box to come so soon - they just ended the promo on the 10th and here it is the 13th and it was in my mail box. Mine came in a rather small white box - small enough to fit into my mailbox anyway. Inside were:

1 - Coupon for Oscar Mayer hotdogs
1 - Coupon for Bulls-Eye BBQ sauce
3 sample packets - GFIC Vanilla Latte
3 sample packs of Wheat Thins (Tomato & Basil)

The rebate form was $10 off $30 and there were lots of Kraft products on there that I could buy. Capri Sun is a major one since I can always use that around here or for my church's VBS program.

Did you get yours? Which box did you pick?

Won't you follow me on Twitter?

Don't miss out on Retweets of great deals that never make it here due to time constraints, whiny kids or other things that get in the way! Follow me on Twitter -- @PinchingAbe -- and find some cool people to follow because there are some awesome bargain hunters out there and I Retweet hot finds to my followers on Twitter.

Not on Twitter? Consider signing up - and not just to follow me! You will want to follow some of the awesome ladies that I follow for Twitter parties with to die for prizes. It is also well worth following the brands you use in your home since they do have Twitter promotions that the general public doesn't always know about.

Bidazzled promo codes: Good until January 15

There's still time to use one of these Bidazzled.com promo codes! These codes don't expire until January 15.

If you want to give Bidazzled a try, please let me refer you by clicking the icon above. You can get 15 bonus bids by using either of these codes in the promo code slot when you register:

* Blog: BBP1202A
* Twitter: BTP1202A

Read previous posts about Bidazzled.com here and here.

Please note that the link provided above via the icon is a referral link. PinchingAbe does receive extra bids for those who do sign up via her link. Thank you to those who do choose to use the link and be sure to use one of the codes above to get your 15 bonus bids.

Should you be Redbox'ing it?

I can't tell you how happy that I was to have a Redbox appear magically overnight at our local 7-11. As you can imagine, rural folks don't often get the nice amenities that city dwellers do. I'd been hearing a lot of good things about Redbox from some friends, so I couldn't wait to give it a try. Rent a movie for a buck? Hard to turn down in this economy. Even better, I'd gotten a catalina from my grocery shopping for 3 free movies.

What'd we rent? Well, hubby used a code while he was on travel for work. He rented Transformers. It was easy as pie! Why pay the hotel's rates for PPV when the Redbox is infinitely cheaper. Definitely keep Redbox in mind for vacations!

That left us two more free codes, so we rented a Dora Christmas movie for the kids and GI Joe for us. We were very pleased with the service and trust me when I say that returning those videos was so easy a cavewoman could do it! (The big arrow helps.)

Be sure to sign up for promos on their site as I received a free promo code. Also, they do release a free code good on the first Monday of each month only, so be sure to get on that list. Even better, you can reserve at home and pick up later (great for new releases) and look to see what your local Redbox has to offer. If there happens to be multiple units around your neighborhood or in your city, you can browse them all if the movie you want is not at your nearest location.

One really nice thing I noticed was the pithy sign that indicated that if you don't return it by 9 PM the next day, you will be charged $1 per day (you must swipe your credit card to rent). After 25 days, the DVD is yours! Too funny! A funny way of saying that the max you will be charged is 25 bucks if you lose it or forget it for weeks on end.

Bottom line: Redbox is an affordable option. I won't say it has the variety of Netflix or Blockbuster, but I think most families can afford a dollar and tax for a rental. Plus, keeping an eye out for codes and promos such as the one from the grocery store makes Redbox a really good value.

Kids.woot.com debuts with Thomas the Train talking railway set

Are you a Wooter? My hubby watches Woot.com for great deals on electronic items and in the past we've gotten some pretty cool toys and gifts for other people from Woot. The BOC (bag of crap) eludes him, but he keeps hoping that he'll eventually get one. Woot has expanded over the years to include wine and t-shirts and so, I guess, it is natural that they would launch a kids' toy deal of the day as well. Enter Kids.woot.com. Today is the big debut and the item up for sale is a Thomas the Train talking railway set for $49.99, plus shipping of $5. Bear in mind that shipping is $5 per order and you can order up to 3 of an item. (Hence if you see a BOC, you better order 3 of them, this directly from the hubby to me). Kids.woot.com may be a good site to keep an eye out for Christmas toys for the kids. Check it out.

Kids.woot.com

Cash for clunkers gripe...

I have a clunker. A Chevy car older more than a decade old that survived several winters of Pennsylvania potholes and corrosive road salt. At 93,000 miles, she still runs... but has, of late, begun to show the distinct signs of leprosy. Things are breaking left and right (in fact, hubby has to run to the auto parts store to grab a belt to bypass the air conditioner now... and we live in the south. Imagine no AC in a car living down south!) But I digress...

My car is a clunker. Wait, no, not by the government standards. It is simply an old car that will be lucky to pass inspection next February (straight from the mechanic). I inputted all the vital info into the EPA site and voila, my car is not a clunker by their standards, averaging a hefty 23 MPG. So my clunker isn't a clunker, though it is a better candidate for the scrap yard than someone's new model Hummer? Um, yeah.

Does your car qualify?

CARS.gov site to look up your car

or, if it is running too slow, try:

Edmund's list (quickly searchable)