Joan’s Boomer Blog

I recently discovered Groupon and it’s a great way to save money on restaurants, entertainment, spa treatments and more. How does Groupon work? You sign up for free for the city or cities of your choice and then each day one business offers a special deal which saves you anywhere from 50% to 90% for dinners, yoga classes, massages, bowling, or just about any service or business you can imagine. The deal is emailed directly to you each day.

If you want the Groupon deal, you can purchase a printable coupon and off you go.

The idea behind Groupon is that if lots of people group together and take a deal, it makes it worthwhile for the business to offer it.

Groupon.com is not specifically a senior discount site but it sure helps seniors stretch their dollars. Yesterday I bought a Groupon certificate for a local restaurant. The deal was $25 worth for $12. So the next time we visit Habenaro’s Mexican Restaurant, our first $25 is already paid for with more than a 50% discount.

The only drawback to Groupon is that you have to live near a major city but more cities are being offered all the time. Plus, think of Groupon next time you travel. You always have several months to use the deal after you buy it. You can also buy Groupon coupons to give as gift certificates so if you have a friend or relative in a major city, sign up for their city and view the deals!

Visit Groupon today and save.

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Want to go organic but don’t like the high prices? You can get organic food coupons for many of your favorite products to help save you money. If you know where to look, you can find coupons for organic milk and yogurt, organic meat, organic baby foods and more.

Organic food coupons.com offers links to printable coupons for everything from organic dairy products to organic pet food. The website also has a handy listing of local supermarkets so you can browse their ads for organic foods. Chose an item, like organic free range eggs, and get a list of website to find coupons.

MyGroceryDeals.com is another site where you can find organic food coupons and it also compares in store sales at supermarkets in your zip code. If you search for “organic food” and then go to “category,” it gives you choices such as bakery, fruits and veggies and juices. You can also clip and print coupons on this site.

Another way to find organic food coupons is to visit the site of the company which sells organic foods and see if they have printable coupons. For instance, Laura’s Lean Meat offers a $1 off coupon for organic meat and Stoney Field where you can get coupons for their organic yogurt, milk and ice cream.

Organic Valley organic milk also offers coupons on their website for their organic milk, half and half, cottage cheese, butter and more. Print them out and take them to the store with you to save big on these organic products.

Most of these sites require registration, but it’s free. You can sign up for newsletters and email info too if you’d like and many of the articles are very informative.

Coupons.com sometimes lists coupons for organic foods too. Print out several if it’s a product you like. Recently, they had a $1 coupon for Muir Glen organic tomato paste. Since one can costs $1.79, I got more than 50% off the can.

Compare prices on your favorite organic products at The Find.com. I just recently discovered this fantastic, money saving website. You can put in any search term you want, for instance Organic foods which found 8,651 stores with 242,098 organic food offerings. You can compare prices, whether or not coupons are offered, or if the item is on sale or has free shipping.

The Find also offers lots of money saving articles on many different topics as well.

Other places to save on organic foods without a coupon:

Costco - Costco is carrying a wider variety of organic products these days. Be sure to break down the price per unit to see if you’re really saving money, however. Just because it’s at Costco, doesn’t necessarily make it cheaper. If you can’t use a huge bin or organic lettuce and throw 2/3 of it away, are you really saving money? On the other hand, if you can freeze or preserve the leftovers, and you can use it all in a green smoothie, for instance, you would save money on that tub of spinach.

Walmart too is starting to carry more organic options. However, be sure to check for freshness. I’ve seen organic grapes and other produce at Walmart for a good price but because not many people are buying them, half the bag is inedible.

Eating organic foods is better for your health and the environment at a whole and now you know it’s possible to get more of these nutritious foods into your diet and save money with organic food coupons.

As I find more websites offering Organic coupons, I’ll add those too so check back frequently. If you have a good source for organic food coupons or can thing of other great ways to save money and eat organic, please leave a comment and we’ll check it out.

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Joan’s Boomer Blog - More Coupon Sites for Deals and Freebies

I love getting freebies and using money saving coupons. Coupon sites are growing in popularity and I’ve found some new ones through reading ShopSmart magazine. Put out by Consumer Reports, ShopSmart contains no advertising so there is no conflict of interest in the products and tips they offer to help save you money.

In a recent article, ShopSmart offered these freebie and coupon savings sites. Although these aren’t strictly for seniors, seniors can certainly benefit from these money saving websites.

Coupon Savings.com

Coupons.com

Grocery Smarts.com

Beauty Product Freebies and Coupons:

These money saving coupon sites let you know when department stores are having product giveaway days - such as free gift with purchase. Search by brand name or retailer. You can also subscribe to these great websites so you can get updated on new deals and freebies.

GWP Addict.com - Keeps you up to date on best shopping days for freebies with products like Clinique. Also a coupon page for instore or online coupons, grouped by when they expire so you aren’t trying coupons that are out of date already.

My Gift with Purchase.com

To get coupons for beauty products, lotions and body care products, also sign up with company websites. Ulta.com has a free membership card where you can accumulate points toward gifts, plus they email you discount coupons for online or in store shopping. Other companies like Aveda and Oil of Olay also offer discount coupons for signing up at their website.

Forums where coupons savings shoppers swap tips:

A Full Cup.com

Moms View.com

Slick Deals.com

Some recommendations when using freebie and coupon sites:

Print only from reputable coupon sites. Make sure coupons contain bar codes and expiration dates.

It might be helpful to set up a separate email address just for all your coupons site sign-ups. This will help you avoid spam and keep all our coupons and newsletters in one place. I’ve had to create new email addresses over the years when old ones got too spam filled. I use these older ones for my coupon site sign-ups.

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Have Fun and Earn Prizes with SwagBucks!

Want to have some fun and win some prizes? Swagbucks is almost a phenomenon these days. Sign up is totally free and everything you do helps you to win Swagbucks prizes. I recently installed the Swagbucks tool bar so it comes up each day. I can use the Swagbucks search tool, check the blog for the daily prize code, or shop using the stores on Swagbucks. Just about everything you do can earn you come bucks, which you can then spend on free prizes.

What Kind of Prizes can I win with Swagbucks?

One recent special offer was a $5 Amazon gift card for 450 Swagbucks. This was marked down from 1,000 Swagbucks and thousands of people took advantage of this one. Every day there are some special offers or you can just visit the Swagbucks store to see prizes like:

• Gift Cards for various online stores
• Tee shirts, hats and other fashion gear
• Magazine subscriptions
• Books
• Gift sets
• Video games
• Music

Here’s a great way to save money when dining out. With just 400 Swagbucks you can purchase a gift card for a $25 e-card for Restaurants.com. At Restaurants.com you can then buy $25 gift cards for various restaurants for just $15 - which would be free if you used your Swagbucks card.

There are 43 great gift card choices, including Starbucks, Target, Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Ticket Master, Lowes, Paypal and many many more. You’re sure to find a gift card that you can use yourself or give as a gift.

You can also get Swagbucks widgets for your blog or website. There’s a group on Facebook to keep you up to date as well.

Another way to save with Swagbucks is to sign up for their free newsletter which lists the latest offers for your favorite stores or the latest Swagbucks news.

Sign up for SwagBucks today. Have some fun and win some prizes, all for just searching or shopping at stores you’d ordinarily use anyway.

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Free Newsletters for Senior Discounts, Coupons, Freebies and Samples

‘ve scoured the internet for Senior Discounts and I came up with a list of websites which offer free daily or weekly email newsletters listing new discounts, coupons, freebies and samples. Many of these discounts aren’t just for senior citizens either. Anyone with a little time can save big on the many discount and coupon offers out there.

If you sign up for the free newsletters, you get a summary of new coupons and discounts and also, having  link handy in your inbox helps you remember who has the great money savers you are looking for. I can tall you that, with age, memory is the first thing to go-lol.

Here is a great list of online discount and coupon websites that offer free registration and a free newsletter, along with a summery of what they offer.

SeniorDiscounts.com offers a weekly newsletter with “hundreds of senior discounts,” opportunities to enter contests and more info on how to locate senior discounts. On their homepage is a list of featured discounts. There is also a paid subscription to this site but you don’t have to join to gain benefits. You can also submit any discounts you find to this website too.

These sites also have free newsletters with coupons and freebies and they aren’t just for seniors. You can save a lot of money each week with these great newsletters though.

CouponSurfers - Emails you a newsletter with about 10 of the weeks’ new printable coupons. They list nearly 300 printable coupons on their website.

Coupon websites abound on the Internet. Many have free newsletters or you can save the listing in a file and check them weekly for the best deals. You don’t have to be a senior to get these great discounts!

Printable Coupons.blogspot.com offers grocery, restaurant, retail, pet food coupons and more.

StartSampling.com offers printable coupons and samples and freebies. The only catch to the freebies is that you have to give your name and address so they can mail them to you. This can be good or bad. They can mail you samples and coupons if you don’t mind getting a little more “junk” mail.  I’ve gotten free magazine subscriptions through this website, including Parents Magazine for my daughter and Better Homes and Gardens for me - as well as lots of free samples.

CouponCabin.com offers a weekly newsletter with coupons to your inbox, plus a listing of coupons you can use on the internet. Great listing of printable coupons.

ValPak.com You may be familiar with the Val-Pak that is mailed out to you with great discount coupons but they also have an online version. You can sign up for their free newsletter, tailored to your zip code, with great weekly deals.

Costco If you’re a member of Costco, you can sign up for their free newsletter and find out about their latest coupons and sales.

My Grocery Deals.com newsletter with links to printable coupons. You can also put in your zip code and get deals just for your area.

Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter for your favorite grocery store. I go to Kroger all the time and they offer a free newsletter and printable digital coupons on their website. You can fine tune it for your zip code too. Kroger stores also include Fred Meyer.

Another great tip for saving on groceries - take your weekly newspaper coupons and match them up to the sales at your favorite store. Most of the time, Kroger and Albertsons, for instance, will match their weekly sales to the weekly newspaper coupons, which doubles your savings.

Don’t forget newsletters for products you like also. I love Betty Crocker products so I signed up for the newsletter, which offers free recipes and over $16 in coupons in the last issue.

Here’s another hint for shopping on the Internet. If you want to purchase something, do a search for “product name and Promo code” to see what comes up. When I was purchasing domain names for my websites, I put in “GoDaddy promo code” and came up with a discount that brought my domain name down from $9.99 to $7.69 each. This works for just about any product if the coupon is out there somewhere.

If there is a store you frequent, sign up for their membership club or any newsletters they have. I love hobbies so I get an email newsletter from Joann’s and Hobby Lobby each week with printable coupons and all their latest sales.

You can also set up Google alerts to be delivered once a day to your inbox, keywords like senior discounts and you get a listing each day of blogs, websites and others which mention senior discount. I have alerts set up for baby boomer, RV Travel and Knitting, as well as Senior Discounts, which keeps me current on what’s being written on these topics each day.

Keep checking back for more senior discounts as I find them!

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Where to Find Great Senior Travel Discounts
Among baby boomers and seniors, travel is often a number one priority in retirement. Finding travel senior discounts can a great way to save money and, lets face it, saving money is fun too! Here are some great senior travel discounts to help you save money:

Senior Travel Tips and Discounts

Senior Discounts on Transportation

When you begin planning your trip, how to get there is the first thing on the list. These places offer senior discounts:

Greyhound Senior Discounts - Traveling by Greyhound bus allows you to really see the countryside and leave the driving to someone else - Plus it saves money over flying. Greyhound offers discounts for seniors of 5% on fares for those age 62 and older.

Amtrak offers a 15% discount for those age 62 and older. For those age 60 and older, Amtrak offers a 10% discount.

Hotels offering Senior Travel Discounts

Best Western offers a 10% discount for those over age 55, plus extras like early or late check-in, free room upgrades or complimentary continental breakfast.

Choice Hotels offers a 10% discount to seniors over age 50 and a 20-30% discount for those over age 60 with advance reservations.

Hyatt Hotels offer up to a 50% discount for seniors over age 62.

Marriot Hotels offer a 15% discount for over age 62, available for hotels worldwide.

Other Travel deals for Seniors

National Parks Senior Pass This pass is for seniors over age 62 and costs $10, which gives free or reduced rates at National Parks. The pass is valid for the lifetime of the cardholder so it’s well worth the $10!

Check out special seniors only tours like this Younger Next Year Boomer Ski Retreat or these Spring Training Travel Packages for Seniors. Besides the advantage of traveling with other seniors, great travel rates are built into these all-inclusive packages.

Travel specialists like VacationsToGo offer senior travel discounts on cruises and tours.

Check out Exploritas, formerly Elderhostel, which offers not-for-profit travel for learning and adventure for those over age 50. Over 8,000 different tours available in all 50 states and 90 different countries.

As always, if you are retired military, a member of AAA or other groups, be sure to check those discounts too when you travel. Sometimes the way to get a great deal is to ASK for it! One way to keep up with new discounts is to sign up for newsletters offered by sites like these:

AAA offers a newletter on discounts available

AARP members get discounts on travel items like airport parking, rental cars, at hotels and more.

Orbitz and others. Besides a newsletter, Orbitz offers many travel discount coupons to use when planning a trip through their website.

Be aware that sometimes the best senior travel discounts are available only on the website and sometimes, it’s best to call the hotel or place you’d like the discount to see what’s available. If you don’t see the discount on their site, call and ask.

If you’re traveling outside the continental US, make sure the senior discounts still apply. Also ask about possible restrictions. Sometimes better deals are available if staying during the weekdays as opposed to weekends, for instance.

This is just the tip of the iceburg in senior travel discounts. As I find more great discount sites, I will post them so keep checking back.

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Over Age 55 Discounts for Valentine’s Day or any Special Day

Those over 55 can get great Valentine’s Discounts on flowers, candy, Valentine cards and more.Check out some of these great age 55 discounts, not just for Valentine’s Day, but every day of the year.

Factory Card & Party Outlets Those over 55 enjoy discounts of 10% off most party items purchased in the store. Planning a retirement party or anniversary party for someone over age 55? Check with individual stores to find those who participate in the senior discount program.

Many Hallmark Hallmark stores offer senior discounts and you can buy all your cards here at a 10% discount. Plus Hallmark also offers lots of gift items. Check with each individual Hallmark store near you to see what sort of senior discount, if any, that they offer.

Rite Aid is a large drugstore chain with stores in almost every state. Ask about their free Living More program. As a senior, you can enroll for senior discounts such as 20% off your entire purchase on the first Tuesday of each month and 10% off Rite Aid brand products any other day.

Need a Discount on Flowers this Valentines Day? Check with local flower stores and florists and ask about senior discounts.

1800FLOWERS offers a 15% senior discount to those over age 50 by putting in the word SENIOR into the promo code spot when ordering, either online or by phone. When ordering by telephone, mention the word SENIOR to the operator.

Check with your favorite florist to see if they offer a senior discount.

Many stores offering gift baskets also offer over 55 discounts. Most Mrs. Fields Cookies stores offer 10% senior discounts to those over age . You can get gift baskets here, as well as other sweets and gifts.Check your local Mrs. Fields for age requirements.

Would you like to take your sweetie out to dinner for Valentines? Here’s a listing of restaurants offering senior discounts on About.com. One other money saving tip for eating out - sign up for the membership offer on your favorite restaurant’s website. You usually get discount email coupons for $5 off an entree, a free appetizer or a free dinner on your birthday.

You can also go to a website like RetailMeNot.com and do a search for your favorite restaurant coupons. That way, if they don’t have a senior discount, per se, you can still get a deal on dinner.

Try this great book, available on Amazon.com for more senior discount info and ideas:

Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures that You Absolutely Can’t Get Unless You’re Over 50, 2009-2010

Many department stores, like Kohls, offers senior discounts, so check with them for age requirements and the specific days for shopping. The Kohl’s in my area offers a senior discount to over age 60.

Some jewelry stores, like Zales, offer online coupons if you’re in the mood to get your Valentine some jewelry for the holiday. Check with other coupon sites as well. These aren’t strictly for over age 55 but you can still get a good deal.

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I love finding online coupons and getting free samples of products. I’ve been a member of Start Sampling.com for quite some time and have found lots of great money saving coupons there. Sign up is totally free and here’s just some of the money saving coupons and tips they offer:

Just some of the current free samples available at Start Sampling are for Prilosec, Head and Shoulders, Loreal products, Remedy Life, which is an email ezine on health and healthy aging which also offers free samples and coupons, Dove Products and many, many more.

Do you use discount coupons when you shop? What a great way to save money! Start Sampling also offers dozens of coupons such as a $2 coupon for Nivia body wash, Pup-Peroni and Milk Bone dog treats, $1 coupons for Kellogg cereal, Keebler crackers, Buddig lunch meats, Aunt Jemima syrup and lots more. Just clip and print these coupons every time you go to the grocery store. You can even get these coupons sent to your cell phone!

Other Start Sampling goodies include forums, games, helpful hints and recipes. free newsletters and ebooks.

Features now available at Start Sampling are forums to give reviews of products or read what others are saying. Whenever I buy something new, I usually check customer ratings and reviews and Start Sampling has a new section called Vocal Pont.com where you can sign up and read and write these reviews. Free product samples and coupons are available here as well and sign up is free.

Check out our other articles on saving money, senior discounts and money saving coupons.

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I’m always looking for more money saving coupons, especially at Christmas time when everybody is more budget conscious. Here are some of the latest coupons to save you money this holiday season.

Coupon for $5 off Enfagrow Premium Vanilla - use at your favorite supermarket

Save at least 75 cents on any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal at your favorite grocery store

Save your feet this holiday - Save $2 on any Dr. Scholl’s For Her Insole or Dr. Scholl’s For Her Smooth my Sole micro file at your favorite pharmacy

Lose weight this holiday season - Save $3 Off any ten Weight Watchers Smart Ones products at your favorite grocery store

Get a coupon for $10 off your next purchase at your local Comp USA or Tiger Direct store

Get up to 50 FREE prints from CVS Photo Center! Sign up today!

Save 40% on Oh Boy! Oberto products sold by Amazon.com

Save $1.50 on any package of Hormel Refrigerated Entree at your Favorite Supermarket

Buy One Get One Free on next order at Lane Bryant - Denim Jackets, Cardigan Sweaters, Jeans, Danskin Activewear and more

Make everyone smile with award-winning photo gifts in minutes with 30 free 4×6 prints and free shipping from Shutterfly

Join the largest online diabetic community and see if you qualify to receive a glucose meter at no charge

Get an extra $10 off Magazine prices - as low as $4.69 - Parents, Good Housekeeping, Oprah, Ladies Home Journey + more

check out more great money saving coupons at Coupon Surfer.com

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