Archives for September 2015

September 2015 options are up for the Samsung eBook Deals

If you have a Samsung Galaxy device, depending on which device and when and how you purchased it, you may be eligible to a free e-book every month, from a choice of four options that change monthly. To get these, you must needs download the Kindle app from the Samsung Galaxy Apps store (not from Google Play or Amazon). On the plus side, this version works with the S-Pen. You can have both running side by side on your device (a bit awkward but works).

samsung_book_deals_september_2015

Anyway, the options for September 2015 are:

  • “The Thief Taker” by CS Quinn
  • “Where the Wind Blows” by Caroline Fyffe
  • “What Might Have Been” by Matt Dunn
  • “Dis Enchanted” by Robert Kroese

[Read more…]

September 7, 2015 Filed Under: shopping Tagged With: , ,

20% on new Roku if you have a registered Classic (old Roku player made from May 2008-2011)

If you have one of the older Roku boxes, what they call a “Classic” Roku box, made between May 2008 and May 2011, you may qualify for a 20% off discount towards the purchase of a new Roku box. The dates are manufacturing dates, not purchase dates. The reason for this is that Roku will no longer actively develop or update the older players, so they are trying to encourage customers to upgrade.

IF you are eligible for this offer, check the email address you used to register that old Roku box. They will have sent an email with this title: “Important notice for owners of classic Roku players (made before May 2011).”

Both the coupon code and the url found in the e-mails are unique to each email subscriber, so you can’t use the coupons unless you have been sent one.

The Classic Roku players that will no longer be updated are:

  • Roku HD (2000C), Roku HD (N1100), Roku HD-XR (N1101, N1000)
  • Roku XDS (2100X), Roku XD (2050X)
  • Roku SD (N1050)
  • Netgear XDS (NTV270), Netgear XD (NTV250)

You can find the relevant parts from that email pasted/posted after the jump…

[Read more…]

September 4, 2015 Filed Under: tech Tagged With: ,

The Discover Q4 2015 5% Cashback Bonus is ready for Activation

If you have a Discover Credit Card, you can now sign up for the fourth quarter (October 1 until December 31 in 2015) 5% Cashback Bonus rewards. Activation is simple, you logon to your account, go to the Rewards page, and press the orange “Activate 5%” button.

The categories for Q4 are:

  • Amazon (which is also a Q3 5% reward, so you don’t have to worry about end of month last minute purchases – unless you are (or will be in Q4) close to the $1500 limits)
  • Amazon includes the Prime membership fees, AmazonLocal and AmazonFresh and Gift Cards too
  • Department Stores (eg Kohls, Dillards, Macy, JCP, Sears, Saks, etc)
  • Clothing Stores (eg GAP, Armani Exchange, Ann Taylor, Men’s Warehouse, etc)
  • more example merchants are shown in your account page

A screenshot of the relevant part of the Activation page is included below for those not already familiar with it:

discover_Q4_2015_cashback_bonus

September 3, 2015 Filed Under: shopping Tagged With: ,

LG G3 (D851, 32GB, T-Mobile Unlocked GSM, No Contract) for $250

If you like the sweet value of former flagships, and also prefer no-contract GSM unlocked smartphones, there’s another temptation among the latest eBay Deals, you can get the new condition LG G3 (32GB, D851), T-Mobile Unlocked GSM smartphone, no contract, for $250 with free shipping. Limit five per customer. The seller of record is MobilePros1 (97.7%). Over 1900 units got moved so far from this listing.

This was opened for unlocking purposes but it is otherwise new. As a refresher, it has a 5.5-inch screen, 3GB RAM, 32GB on-board, comes with Kit Kat and can be upgraded to Lollipop, and such. As a former high profile release, there’s plenty of information, reviews and hacks posted about it.

September 2, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Lucky Rewards: FREE 15~oz Tostitos Salsa (claim by 9/8/15)

The Lucky Rewards program is kinda rewriting the rules on how to run a Rewards program. If you are a member, check your emails! Another freebie offer is ready for you to add to your card. You have to manually click through from the email to add it to the card, but that’s all the “work” needed. This came with today’s email. We even have a choice between the 15.5oz Chunky Salsa or the 15oz Salsa Con Queso. The offer expires 9/8/15, so be sure to redeem it by then!

free_tostitos_lucky_rewards

The continuing stream of freebies is really the best part of their rewards program. The actual points are on the meh side of things, they are essentially 1%, and they expire fairly quickly, so these are probably more useful to big shoppers or people who buy all their groceries and supplies from Luckys.

Further Reading: our earlier post on what to expect from the Lucky’s rewards program.

September 2, 2015 Filed Under: shopping Tagged With: , ,

YMMV: Get 1000 Membership Rewards points with $50+ purchase at Whole Foods B&M

This is a targeted promotion that is part of the American Express credit card offers, for cards with Membership Rewards points. The promotion runs from 9/1 to 10/31 in 2015, and gets you 1000 Membership Reward points if you make a purchase of $50 or more at a Whole Foods store. This amount has to be reached in a one in-store transaction (any combination of items that gets you to $50+).

If you stick close to the $50 mark, it is essentially a 20% discount, assuming you are planning to use the 1000 rewards points in a 1:1 (points to pennies) exchange rate later on (for example, redeem them for gift cards for other merchants).

wholefoods_membership_rewards_offer

The offer is limit one for the promotional period. As usual, you have to first manually opt-in, which is easier than it sounds, you just press the “Add to Cart” button on your account. While many of the offers are shared between this and the AMEX Blue cards (so you can choose which one to activate it on), this one, because it is a Membership Rewards promotion, it is not eligible (does not show up) in the Blue AMEX Offers.

With the Amex Blue offers, I did a combination of physical goods and gift card purchases and the promotion worked fine. This is the first time I am doing the Membership Points offer, but since gift cards are not excluded in the terms and conditions, it should be fine.

September 2, 2015 Filed Under: shopping Tagged With: , ,

Science Deal: “Into the Universe” BluRay for $8.50

Science deserves its deals too. The critically acclaimed documentary “Into The Universe” with Stephen Hawking is currently on sale for $8.50 and eligible for free 2-day Prime shipping at Amazon.com. It averages 4.5 out of 5 with 140+ customer reviews. Runtime is about 130 minutes, so it’s accessible, you don’t have to devote a month to it. It is essentially three TV episodes long. It is a Discovery and Gaiam production. The BluRay is currently slightly cheaper than the DVD even!

September 1, 2015 Filed Under: shopping Tagged With: ,

Hot for Panera Rewards members (YMMV): Free Coffee Every Day in September 2015

If you have a Panera Rewards account (free to sign up for), check your account or the email you used to register for it. There is a promotion offered to some reward members that gets you FREE coffee every day in September 2015. That’s 30 free coffees if you go there everyday. I have no way of knowing how many Rewards members are eligible.

The email announcing this promotion will have this giant, hard to miss graphic (screenshot underneath):

my_panera_free_coffee_in_september_2015

This is quite a power play from Panera. Instead of spending their marketing money on flashy (and annoying) TV and online ads, they are using them to get people into their stores and more importantly create a new habit. Because if you go to Panera in 30 days in a row for you free coffee, you will probably continue going after the promotion expires. Plus, once there, many people will not be able to resist the siren’s call of their many pastries, or perhaps they’ll feel guilty for the freebie and feel compelled to buy something else as well 🙂

September 1, 2015 Filed Under: shopping Tagged With: , ,

Kindle First Choices for September 2015: Pick One Out of Six Options

September is here already, and a new month, among many other things, means a new round of Kindle First selections. If you are a Prime member, you are allowed to select one of those pre-release e-books for FREE and start reading it immediately (they get released to the general public on October 1st).

If you are not a Prime member, you can buy one for $2. If more than one interest you, you have to wait until October 1st for the rest. Some may be part of Kindle Unlimited, so check that too before buying them.

For the September 1st until the 30th time period, we have SIX selections to pick from. IF you are not certain, wait a few days until they build up reviews – those can be helpful in figuring out which one might be the most interesting to you. Without further ado, the options are:

  • “The Capital of Latecomers” by Nina Nenova and Vladimir Poleganov in Modern Science Fiction
  • “Pale Queen Rising (Pale Queen Series Book 1)” by A. R. Kahler in Fantasy
  • “Still Waters (Sandhamn Murders Book 1)” by Viveca Sten, Marlaine Delargy in Mystery
  • “Hot Sur” by Laura Restrepo, Ernesto Mestre-Reed in Literary Suspense
  • “The Prettiest One” by James Hankins in Thrillers
  • “Kissing Mr. Right” by Michelle Major in Romance

You can see the September 2015 selections at the Kindle First page. Keep in mind, the selections change every month. The ones mentioned above in this post are only good for the full month of September 2015.

September 1, 2015 Filed Under: shopping Tagged With: ,