Tips for Old Navy Weekly

If you shop at Old Navy, visit Old Navy Weekly and get a coupon before you go on your next shopping trip!  

The site is updated weekly.  The current coupons are valid until 7/9/2009.

Here's how to get the remaining coupons:

$20 off $100 -- Click on the link to the video in the bottom left corner of the page.  Keep your cursor arrow positioned over the video.  Once the arrow changes into a hand, click to uncover the coupon!  The time to click changes so you just have to watch for the hand.

$15 off $75 -- Drag and drop the "E" keychain into the cargo pants pocket of the model on the right in the last/fourth panel.  The model's name is Eva, thus the "E" keychain.   The keychain goes into the big pocket over her left thigh.

$10 off $50 -- Drag and drop the "E" keychain, compact and pink coin purse into the pink striped tote bag.

10% off any Rec Tech item -- Click on the lollipop held by the little girl on the right, third panel.

Each person is limited to one coupon per email address.  These coupons (except the 10% one) are limited in quantity so get yours while they last.

Printable coupons

I was going to list some printable coupons but there are many existing sites that already do that. So, instead of reinventing the wheel, I am posting a link to one of the more reliable sites out there.  It's another blog called Mommy Saves Big.  

Before you print away, please note that not all establishments accept printable coupons. Comments on the website give you an idea on how reliable the coupons are based on other people's experiences. Also, double check the expiration date on the coupon before you go shopping.  That being said, when you find good coupons, they're definitely worth the trouble of searching and printing.

Old Navy weekly

For those who aren't already addicted, Old Navy's coupon website is called OldNavyWeekly.com.  Every week, they upload new hidden coupons into the site, which requires shoppers to click and/or drag-and-drop various items on the still images and videos to discover the hidden coupons.  It is mostly fun but can be frustrating if you're deadset on getting one of the big ticket coupons.  This week, the biggest coupons are $65 off $100 and $45 off $100 but in the past weeks they've been as big as $75 off $100 and $50 off 100.  Those coupons are gone in a few minutes from when the site refreshes, so unless you're waiting at your computer for the refresh, you probably aren't going to get them.  Once you discover the hidden coupons, you can print or email one to yourself AND send one to a friend.  

Old Navy just refreshed their site early this morning.  As of this posting, there are still a bunch of $20 off $100, $15 off $75 and $10 off $50 available!  Happy hunting!

Inside Columbia magazine exclusive offers

Inside Columbia's weekly e-newsletter, Inside Scoop, offers subscribers exclusive deals and discounts.  From what I recall, they've offered, among other items, a free car wash, free ice cream, half-off tickets to local events and raffle entries for tickets to Arrow Rock.  The e-newsletter also provides information on upcoming events.  All you have to do is sign up through their website.  The link is in the lower right corner of the main page.

More pre-owned children's items

Speaking of pre-owned children's items, another good program is the Just Between Friends Sale.  Aside from children's items, they also buy and sell teen's and maternity clothing.  The Columbia/Jefferson City Just Between Friends (JBF) franchise holds two sales in Columbia, one in the spring and another in the fall.  The spring sale this year was held at the Boone County Fairgrounds. There is a summer sale coming up which will be held in Jeff City on July 15 and 16.

The cool thing about this sale is that if you volunteer, you get to shop earlier than the general public.  How much earlier you shop depends on how many hours you volunteer. See their website for details.

Pre-owned children's items

If you're a mom who likes to buy and/or sell pre-owned children's items, then you probably already know about Children's Orchard. The local store is located at 3906 Peachtree Drive, Suite E.  The store buys and sells gently used pre-owned children's items.

A couple of months ago, another children's resale store opened in the north part of town.  It's located in the Parkade Shopping Center and is called Harmony's Treasure Box.  It's locally owned and is not a franchise.  It works pretty much like Children's Orchard.

If your closets are overflowing with children's items, you might consider selling them to either of these stores.  You would make some money and not have to go through the hassle of selling them yourself.

If you're in the market for pre-owned children's items, Children's Orchard carries some good items, even some unused ones (have found Janie and Jack outfits with tags still in place a couple of times).  The only downside is having to search through a bunch of clothes and finding only a few.  If you enjoy the search, this place is for you!  This is also good for those items you would use only once or a few times, like Halloween costumes and winter coats.  When I visited Harmony's, they had just very recently opened so the selection wasn't very good yet but it will surely improve with time.  

Chris McD's, Grand Cru, Les Bourgeois Bistro for less

Restaurant.com is a website that offers discounted gift certificates. You pay only $10 for a $25 gift certificate.  You pay online and print the certificate, then you're good to go.  There are limitations such as minimum purchase requirements and day/meal restrictions.

If you pay with a Visa credit card, you can avail of an extra 40% discount!  To avail of this discount, you will have to go through the Visa website.

There are only 3 restaurants in the area that participate in this program, but all three are pretty good:

1.  Chris McD's -- $10 for a $25 gift cert (min purchase $50, not valid on Sat)

2.  Grand Cru -- $4 for a $10 gift cert, $10 for $25 gift cert (min purchase $35, dinner only)

3.  Les Bourgeois Bistro -- $10 for a $25 gift cert (min purchase $50, Sun to Thu only)

The best deal is at Grand Cru.  (All 3 restaurants used to have a $35 min purchase.  Now the other 2 have increased theirs.  Sign of the times, I guess.)  As an example, if you take advantage of the Visa offer, you would get a $25 gift certificate to Grand Cru for only $6. If you stick to the $35 min purchase, you would be spending $16 for a $35 meal. That's more than 50% off!

Local online marketplaces

One of the best places to look for good deals is an online marketplace.  If you haven't shopped on one before, it can be a little scary because of the possibility of outright fraud (no item at all!) or inaccurate advertising (a "gently used" shirt arrives looking like it's been through a couple of hundred wash cycles).

There are ways to minimize your risk, one of which is to KEEP THINGS LOCAL.  A local transaction removes the uncertainty of whether or not the product actually exists and you can check for quality before completing the deal.  You simply can't do that if the goods are hundreds of miles away.

Here are the local marketplaces in Columbia MO:

1.  Craig's List -- columbiamo.craigslist.org

Good old Craig's List has a category for everything which makes for easy searching.  Not all cities have a Craig's List site so neighboring cities also list under Columbia.  If you're interested in something that's strictly within city limits, use "Columbia" as a search term. On the other hand, if you're willing to drive a couple of hours for a good deal, St. Louis and Kansas City have their own Craig's List sites.

For the next two, you will need to have a Yahoo! account because they are both Yahoo! Groups.

2.  KwikSwapColumbia

This is a moderated Yahoo! group for trading and selling items. Transactions are conducted via email.

3.  FreecycleColumbiaMO

This is another moderated Yahoo! group but only for FREE stuff! Yes, only completely FREE stuff.  The idea is to keep people from just throwing things away and adding to our overflowing landfills. Members post things they want to give away and things they need. There are a bunch of things people offer from furniture to plants to barbecue grills to lawnmowers to garage sale leftovers.  Anything and everything, really.  Trading and selling are NOT allowed. Transactions are often conducted via email.  Sometimes, the items are left on porches and sidewalks free for the taking.

In search of good deals in Columbia MO

Everyone loves a good deal.  As a mom, I am always on the lookout for coupons, freebies and sales!   These days, saving money is less of a bonus and more of a necessity. 

Recently, I've decided to stay home with my little one and I've had more time to spend on the internet looking for deals.  So, I decided to start this blog to share what I've found with like-minded, deal-seeking moms.  What I haven't found online is a resource of deals specific to Columbia, MO.  Aside from sharing deals for national chain stores, I am hoping to find and share deals for local establishments.

For online deals, I've visited a lot of websites.  Recently, my go to sites have been www.dealcatcher.com and www.dealseekingmom.com.

Anyone have a reliable website, blog or forum they visit for good deals?