Tax Free Days at Superstore! (June 29-30)

Superstore is offering tax free on all items in store again for two days, right before HST hits! They just had one a week or two ago, so they're putting on this impromtu one to allow shoppers to stock up before they have to pay tax on everything. I'd suggest you go early, and I suspect there will be a LOT of people there.

FREE Tall Starbucks Pike Place Roast!

Another Facebook freebie! Starbucks is offering a tall cup of Pike Place Roast if you pledge to do something green for the community/earth! Go here and click on "download pledge form", where you can fill out your email and info. A coupon for the free coffee will come in the mail.

Stock up now, before HST hits!

Come July 1st, HST will come into effect in BC. That means 12% tax on pretty much everything! NUU! I recommend you buy any books you want, or subscribe to magazines you've been meaning to now, before you have to pay extra tax. Another good idea is to stock up a bit on non-perishable foods, like canned goods, pasta, etc. Things are going to be a lot more expensive, especially buying houses, eating out, buying groceries. Some might think 7% more is no big deal, but it actually adds up to a lot in a year. Go to your favorite restaurant now before you have to pay even more!

Shoppers Bonus Redemption on NOW!

The last bonus redemption at Shoppers Drug Mart before the program changes is on now, today and tomorrow only!

I went early this morning to cash out my points. I had enough for the full 75,000 points redemption (worth $170 today). Here's what I picked up:

1x Wiimote @ $44.99
3x Frozen peas @ $3.49 ea $10.47
10x Frozen corn @ $3.49 ea = $34.90
4x Peak Freans Lifestyle cookies @ $1.88 ea = $7.52
2x Pocky @ $4.69 ea = $9.20
3x Quaker Crispy Mini @ 3/$5
3x Tissue @ $0.69 ea = $2.07
2x All Bran Bar @ $2.99 ea - 2x $0.50 coupons = $4.98
2x Eggs @ $1.99 ea = $3.98
1x Teddy Graham cookies @ $2.99
1x Arrowroot cookies @ $2
2x Swiffer Refills @ $4.99 ea - 2x $1.50 coupons = $6.98
2x Blistex lip balm @ 2/$5
1x Caltrate @ $10.99 - $2 coupon = $8.99
2x Palmolive Detergent @ $1.49 ea - 2x $0.50 coupons = $1.98
2x Dawn Detergent @ $1.40 ea - $1 coupon = $1.98
1x Activia Yogurt @ $3.99
6x Balea Facial Mask @ 3/$5 = $10
1x Magazine @ $5.99

Total: $173.19 (Over by a bit, I swear I calculated it correctly lol)
Tax: $10.58
Total: $183.77
- $170 redemption
= $13.77!!

Pretty sweet, eh? I also got I got 110 regular points, 40 bonus points and 10,000 back for being a plus member (though they are getting rid of the kickback for plus members come July :S).

Not only that, my sister and I also passed by Sears and heard over the PA that there was going to be a knife demonstration, and we each left with a free tiny juicer and 2 paring knives! Then we swung by Visions to check out the sales they were having for a grand opening, and had a free hot dog and pop for lunch :) After that, we hit up Chapters to get some magazines (buy 3 get 1 free right now for all books and magazines). Lastly, we went to Superstore where we found chocolate milk 50% off and yogurt 50% off plus a 50cent coupon I had. I'd say it was a pretty freebie filled day, with lots of savings!

Chapters - Buy 3 Get 1 Free Books & Magazines

Chapters is having another Buy 3 Get 1 Free promo now until July 4th. The deal is good for all books and magazines. It's great if you are an avid reader who buys lot of books! I stopped buying (new) books quite a while ago so haven't really been going to the store, but sister and I decided we wanted some magazines to read, so we are gonna check it out.

Student Price Card coming soon!

The Student Price Card (SPC) is a discount card for students at tons of major retailers and restuarants. You need to have a student ID (some retailers will ask to see it, some won't). I've never bought an SPC when I was in highschool because I didn't really shop at a lot of the stores that offered discounts. I finally caved in and got one last year, and it was well worth it. You can get 10% off at The Bay, Zellers, The Source, etc. The prices raised a little this year, from $8.50 to $9 a card. If you order online, you pay an extra $2 shipping, but you also get a $10 when you spend $xx coupon. Last year, I waited until they had a double coupon day promotion, so I got 2 $10 off when you spend $50 Best Buy coupon.

You can preorder your 2010-2011 SPC now to get a $10 off coupon. I don't really shop at the stores they are offering coupons for so I think I will wait until July and buy my card in store. I have heard that they change the coupons once the card becomes available, so it is up to you.

Not a student? Don't fret! LouLou magazine offers a VIP SPC that anyone can use. You just need to subscribe to the magazine (last year it was about $14), but if you shop a lot at the places, then you'll make back your $14 in no time.

Check out the website http://www.spclive.com/ to order yours today!

The Nanny

I've been trying to get through all my TV shows that I have in boxed sets and now that I'm done with Friends and Mad About You, I've moved onto The Nanny. So far there are only 3 seasons out on DVD, and I used my free Amazon.com gift cards that I got from Irazoo to buy the 3rd season, woot woot. I've powered through the first 2 seasons, and now I'm in the middle of the 3rd.

The Nanny is a hilarious sitcom from the 90's. I used to watch it when I was in elementary school, and my friends and I were totally obsessed because it was so funny! Fran Drescher stars as Fran Fine, a cosmetics sales girl who was hired as a nanny off the street by Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield when there was a confusion. Her unorthodox way of raising the children stir up some pretty hilarious antics and the banter between the butler Niles, and Mr. Sheffield's business partner CC is pretty great too.

I'd definitely recommend this show because it's one of my all time favorites! I can't wait for the rest of the seasons to come out on DVD (apparently it's taking so long because there are a lot of cameos from a ton of famous stars and they need to sign release forms or something like that!).

Valentine's Day

I finally got around to watching Valentine's Day. I always like romantic comedies directed by Garry Marshall and with this star-studded cast, I really wanted to watch it. Well it wasn't that great. It's reminiscent of Love Actually, where there are a lot of different stories between people that are all somehow loosely connected together or know/see each other some way. The whole movie revolves around several different stories happening on Valentine's Day. I guess some of the stories are kind of cute, and it makes a nice fluff movie, but don't go rushing out to buy it if it's not on sale! 

Birthday Freebies

Since it was my birthday earlier this month, I thought I'd make a list of freebies you can get on your birthday! It's as easy as signing up for a newsletter and it's pretty awesome. Also thoughout the year, there will be special offers and great deals and coupons that only people signed up for the newsletter receive.

Starbucks - Free drink. You need to have a registered Starbucks card and make sure you go online to set your birthday. You'll receive a coupon postcard in the mail near your birthday (I missed it this year).

Orange Julius - Free drink. Just sign up for the Orange Julius newsletter!

Red Robin - Free gourmet burger. Sign up for the Red Robin newsletter.

Boston Pizza - Free pasta or dessert. Sign up for Boston Pizza newsletter.

Denny's - Free Grand Slam breakfast. Sign up for Denny's newsletter.

Sephora - Free makeup kit (there is also a men's gift). Sign up for the Beauty Insider newsletter.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate - Free chocolate bar. Register your Rocky Mountain Chocolate points card.

Marble Slab Creamery - Free ice cream. Sign up for the MSC newsletter.

There are just a few of the freebies I can think of off the top of my head that are completely free. Of courses there are also a lot of Buy One get One Free type of coupons for your birthday, or spend $xx and get $xx off. If you can think of any other completely free birthday goodies or anything else worth mentioning, let me know and I can add it to this list!

Anyone want FREE Dr. Oetker Coupons?

Since we're on the topic of trading Shoppers Optimum Points for coupons, I have 3 Free Dr. Oetker Product coupons up for trade, only 1600 points each! I got these in a contest win a while back, and they just arrived today! Anyone interested?

Nestea Contest...Again

I blogged about the Nestea contest earlier, but thought I'd write about it again. The prizes are a little different now. Last month, the big prizes to win were $1000 or a year's worth of Nestea (both of which I won, btw. No word on the $1000 yet though). Now it's been changed to $1000 travel voucher from Air Canada or a piece of Hey's Luggage (which I won). You can enter 10 times a week, using icoke pins or using the no pin necessary method (which of course, is better) by just completing a short quiz. Just go here to enter without using pins.

My Nestea for a year prize came a few weeks ago, in the form of 52 coupons for a free 12 can case of Nestea. Read em and weep!

I'm all set for BBQ and Picnic season for this year and the next! Woot! By the time I'm done drinking these, my teeth will rot and fall out, and I'll be a 300 pound woman. HAH! No, of course I'm not going to use them all myself. I'm trying to trade a few to scrape together enough Shoppers points to do the full redemption this weekend.

So if you're interested in trading a Free Nestea 12-pack coupon for 2000 Shoppers Optimum Points, let me know!

Good luck to all who enter the contest!

Want FREE Amazon Gift Cards?

Swagbucks is an awesome search and win site where you can earn rewards FAST. It's easy to do and you get 30 swagbucks right away if you use the link below. So far I have cashed out for $180 amazon.ca gift cards. There are other prizes as well, other gift cards, comics, wii consoles, PS3, nintendo DS, you name it! They offer a ton of prizes. All you have to do is search and you might be rewarded with points. The fastest way to earn though, is to enter a swagcode. Usually there is one a day! They also just revamped the site so there is a new layout, and the best part is, there are new ways to earn swagbucks! There is the daily poll, the daily special offers, multiple codes throughout the day and of course, swagbucks from searching.



Irazoo is another search and win site. They recently changed it so that you can only win points several times a day, as well as treasure codes (they copied swagbucks!).. If you live in the states, then you have access to the other prizes as well. Canadians can only get the Amazon gift card. I just redeemed for another $5 today (I have cashed out for $100 amazon.com gift cards!



And if you don't believe me, I took a screen shot of the Amazon.ca gift cards I have in my account (I made a big order already).

Grown Ups

I got advanced screening passes (of course) to Grown Ups, the latest Adam Sandler flick, bringing together all the annoying comedians you love to hate. The movie is about five guys (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider) who were in the same basketball team in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, and I guess the win the championship game. In elementary school. Who CARES about elementary school! At least make it more exciting and have it the highschool or college game! But I digress.

Anyway, fast forward thirty years, and now they are all grown up, most with a family. They find out their coach passed away, so they all go to a lake house together to scatter the coaches ashes there. Sandler's wife is played by Salma Hayek who is a really uptight rich wife with a clothing line coming out in Milan, and she doesn't want to stay at the lake house, but gives in to one night. Of course, she sees her spoiled kids having such a fun time like regular kids that she suddenly changes her mind and lets the family stay longer.

The movie is quite a predictable with some crude jokes, with some laugh out loud scenes. It's a typical Adam Sandler movie that tries to inject some morale/heartwarming scene to the movie to make it less like a string of sight gags. It's a good movie for Sandler fans or whoever wants some mindless fun, but not for those who wants more intellectual fare. 2/5 stars.

FREE Biore Cleansing Cloth Sample

Biore is offering another sample freebies, this time for it's cleansing clothes. I've purchased their cleansing clothes before but have never actually tried it, but I heard they are really good.

The first 40,000 people who sign up will get the sample.

http://bioreporeperfect.ca/sample.html

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

I went to watch Prince of Persia on my birthday with my sister and some of my friends on June 9th. I wanted to watch it when I first saw the trailer. I've always enjoyed movies produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, they're always so action packed and exciting. I have never played the games so I didn't know what to expect.

The movie is about Dastan, who was a street kid that the king adopted, and his brothers invading the Holy City of Alamut because they get word that the city is supplying weapons to Persia's enemies. Soon after, Dastan is framed for killing the king and he runs off, along with Tamina, a princess of Alamut, who is also the protector of the dagger containing the sands of time. Dastan has to go back to Persia to clear his name and rescue his brothers from the evil mastermind behind the king's death and the invasion of Alamut.

I thought it was a good movie, with some witty banter between Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Tamina (Gemma Arterton). It certainly met my expectations for a Disney and Bruckheimer film. My sister, who has played all the computer games, said they changed a lot of things, so I'm not sure what hard core fans of the game will think. I don't like Jake Gyllenhaal, and wish they had cast someone else for the role of Dastan, but I suppose he did a good job. For the regular movie goer, I'd definitely recommend the movie. I'm hoping there will be a sequel. 5/5 stars!

Best Buy Won't Honour their Lowest Price Guarantee! >: (

Earlier in the month, I had some trouble with Best Buy not honouring their Lowest Price Guarantee store policy. I wrote about it on my other blog, but I think I'll copy and paste it here so you can get the full story:

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I was at the Cambie Best Buy location to purchase the Alice in Wonderland Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack selling for $34.99. I brought in a Zellers flyer, which advertised the same product at $29.99. Since Best Buy has a Lowest Price Guarantee policy that includes price matching as well as an additional 10% off the difference, I knew I would get the best deal here, as they were also offering 400 bonus Reward Zone points (worth $5!). This would have made the price of the combo $29.49. Disney also offers a $10 off coupon for the combo pack, making it $19.49. I went pay but the cashier said I could only choose one or the other. I then spoke with Alison, a new manager who insisted I could only get the coupon discount. However, I have been shopping at Best Buy ever since it opened in the Lower Mainland and have price matched and used coupons on the same product many times before (as my readers can attest to, since I blog about my deals all the time), on the old computer system as well as the new system! I usually shop at several other Best Buy locations, but have price matched and used a coupon at all those stores, as well as Futureshop locations, which is the sister company so should have the same policy anyway. I know price matching and using a coupon is two separate things – one is the store’s policy, and one is a manufacture’s coupon. Also the coupon is not even a Best Buy issued coupon, but a Disney issued one, so the price on the product would have to be manually adjusted anyway. I sent a complaint via the Best Buy website and was contacted by Tricia, the manager, who effectively told me no.

The next day I was passing by Metrotown, so I thought I’d drop by and get the movie there, since that is the usual location I go to and have had no problems price matching and using coupons here. However, the manager from the previous store I dealt with notified all the other Best Buy locations I mentioned to her (I know because I asked the manager at this location) not to give me the Lowest Price Guarantee. I think it is in very poor taste that the manager at the initial location did this, when price matching is a store policy!

I spoke to my friend’s brother who previously used to work for Best Buy (Metrotown location) and he agreed that I should have been able to use a coupon when price matching. I also spoke to people outside of British Columbia, and many people across Canada were able to use the coupon when price matching at their respective Best Buy locations. It's one thing if all stores in BC and across Canada have the same rule to not take coupons when price matching, but when one store does one thing and another store does another, it's very upsetting and frustrating.

I’m really upset that Best Buy is not honoring their Lowest Price Guarantee policy – it’s not really much of a guarantee if they don’t do the price match. I ended up purchasing the product at Zellers. I can’t trust Best Buy to honour their own policies so I don’t think I will be shopping at Best Buy or Future shop stores in the foreseeable future. Best Buy needs to get their policy straight between all the stores, because it is very frustrating when one store says one thing while another store says another.

--------------------------

Anyway, after going to Metrotown, I was still upset so I sent off another email to BestBuy. I received a reply from the people at the call centre that dealt with customer complaints, who said it was being forwarded to the district manager. Well I never got a call back. So a few days later, I sent off a letter to the President of Best Buy. I was actually going to send it to the Senior Vice President of Retail Operations because from his job description, he deals with the customer aspect of the chain. But friends told me to send it to the President if I wanted more attention, so I did. I didn't hear anything back for almost a month, but today, I received a call from who I assume is the secretary looking for me. I never left any contact information besides my address, but she said the President wanted to contact me. My complaint was going to be forwarded to the district manager because he is the one in charge of the stores in the Lower Mainland. I'm having doubts though because the call centre said my email was going to be forwarded to the district manager as well, and I never heard back. I should have mentioned this when the lady called, but I wasn't thinking because I got all annoyed at Best Buy again. Ugh. Well we'll see what happens, and I'll update you on what they say (if they even contact me).

FREE NetiPot!

There are a lot of Facebook freebies popping up now, and NeilMed has gotten in on the act, offering a free NetiPot! I've always wanted to try one but didn't want to spend the money so this was a good opportunity for me! Basically the NetiPot cleanses your nasal passages! You just pour some cleaning water (they provide the packets) through your nostril and it pours our the other one. Pretty cool. Go sign up to get yours now!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/NeilMed-Neti-Pot/109791295699813?v=app_7146470109&ref=ts#%21/pages/NeilMed-Neti-Pot/109791295699813?v=app_7146470109&ref=ts:happy5:

Club Nintendo Year Ending June 30!

Just a reminder for those of you who collect Club Nintendo Points! June 30th is the last day to reach Gold or Platinum status for the Nintendo year! Each level gets you a prize. Last year, the Gold status members got a calendar, and the Platinum status got to choose either a Mario hat or a Knock Out Wii game. The prizes haven't been announced for this year yet, but I'm hoping it's something good, because I reached Platinum status this year (egads, buying too many games!).

FREE Pilsbury product!

Yay, more free food!

You need to have a save.ca account before you can get this. Make sure you log in first before clicking the link!

http://www.save.ca/lmd_reconnect?sc_lang=en&lcid=en&utm_source=100504_LMD_REC_EN&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=100504_LMD_REC_EN&puid=4E27E00A-2FA7-4A1B-8E70-9FF88EB2BC83

Shoppers Bonus Redemption This Weekend! (June 26-27)

Since I wrote about the new changes coming to the Optimum Program, I thought I throw it out there that there is a Bonus Redemption weekend coming up. It will be the LAST ONE using the old points system!! So hurry up and cash in your points if you have them, because once July rolls around, your points will be worth less! I'm frantically trying to get enough points to go for the maximum level by Friday evening. Eeeek!

The bonus is pretty crappy for BC residents. $10 extra if you're redeeming 40,000 points, and $20 extra if you're redeeming 75,000 points (versus $25 and $50 extra in other provinces!!). Regardless, the changes coming up will make it harder to get enough points to redeem, so go go go this weekend!

Shoppers Optimum Program Changing!

Shoppers Drug Mart is changing their Optimum points program as of July 1st. Now you're going to have to earn a LOT more points before you can redeem. Here's the points rate come July:

Kinda sucks, doesn't it? Right now, you only need 75,000 points for the max level for $150. Also they are getting rid of the points kickback for VIP status members. Also there might not be anymore points given for buying Shoppers gift cards. Boo. :( Hurry and get your gift cards this week before the changes!

Lack of Posts

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I spent all of May with my grandpa in the hospital. He passed away at the end of May because the doctors refused to put him back on dialysis. You can read about how they forced him to die here.

Because of all this, I was unable to go to EAT! Vancouver or EPIC, so I apologize for not writing a review on how it was. Maybe next year. I also had to give up advanced screening tickets to Sex and the City 2, so no review for that either. I also won a contest for The Lion King, for $100 Oakridge mall gift card as well as The Lion King swag, but had to forfeit it because I had to be able to go to the grand prize contest Saturday morning June 5th, but it was the same time as my grandpa's funeral. There's always next time I guess.

I've also been at my temp job for the last week and a half, and I had such late hours that I didn't really have much time to go online. I'm done now so it's back to job hunting. Sigh.

Anyway I hope all my readers has been doing well while I've been away. There will be a lot more posts about stuff in the coming week, as I have a lot to blog about! Stay tuned!