they add up

i am no financial guru but thought i'd share some recent experiences on saving money. I just got off the phone with my cable company and will now save $40 a month and get HBO free. I signed up with them on a special deal and, of course, that deal expired. I just called to ask if they could do anything to lower the bill before I start shopping around and what do you know? $40 a month. Hmmmph. I don't know whether to be happy about future bills or upset about past bills.

I also just read that you should clear out your browsing history and cookies regularly so that you get online vendors best deals. If they know you're a regular customer, they evidently give you lousier deals.

If you're not yet a www.upromise.com member, please become a member. You can save for a child's college tuition (any child) or use the funds to pay off student loans. I've been a member since 2001 and they have paid off over $1600 of our student loans. Free money. One penny at a time.

I'm sure you already use this or something like it, but just in case, after being sure that the online retailer is going to pay a percentage back through UPromise, I then visit www.RetailMeNot.com to see if there are any discount codes I can use.

And one more thing before I get off my pulpit, sign up for restaurant 'clubs' and email lists. We get coupons via email at least weekly from restaurants we already like! Oh! And check out www.restaurant.com for discounted gift certificates for restaurants in your area.

I also just read that you should take the coupons out of Sunday's paper and hold them for four weeks because the industry's cycle to push a product is one month coupon, then next month big sale at the grocers. I haven't tried this. I haven't even cut any coupons. But maybe one day. Anyhow, what thrifty tips do you have?