an Ace in the Hardware

Now, this is a bit of a strange one, but Ace Hardware, yes the hardware store, actually has a pretty good rewards program. If you sign up at their store, they'll give you a handy dandy rewards card (can someone please come up with a better way) and you just scan it every time you make a purchase. The purchases give you points, etc... etc... etc... The thing is you actually get rewarded for having their card. At least every other month they are sending me coupons or 5 bucks off some purchase. Now, here's where it gets good. Ace also has a huge rebate program that's simple to use online. Most of the time the items are free or a buck. You buy those in combination with your rewards card and you are on your way to lots of great free stuff or at least cheaper stuff you need. Just make sure you sign up to receive their ad or look online each week and you'll also agree that ace is a helpful place to save some cash.

Quality and the Amish

Being frugal doesn't mean buying cheap. It means purchasing quality items (or getting them free) that are both useful and that will last. Many products out there are made extremely cheap and will break or be useless after just a few uses. The Amish are known for their quality. Both their food and their furniture are amazing. While you can not use the term inexpensive to refer to the cost of their products. They are a great quality product for what you are paying for. In fact, they will probably outlast or at least look immensely better than any other product you purchase somewhere. Plus, their furniture is made of real wood, which is practically impossible to find anywhere at this point in American culture. So, I recommend that if you want to save some money, purchase from the Amish, you usually can find somewhere within a few hours drive and you'll probably only have to buy one of that particular product in your lifetime.Enjoy.

Buy For Christmas ... in August?

I know, that seems ridiculous right. But, I'm serious. If you start thinking about Christmas, Birthdays, any sort of gift buying day early, you'll almost always save money, plus you'll have it done way beforehand and not have to worry about it. And that my friend is what WhatTheFrugal.com is all about.

Coca Cola Ties The Score

Since we're on the topic of soda, we might as well take a minute to look at Coke's reward program. They call it mycokerewards and have been doing the same program for quite a few years now. Which has worked out very well for my pockets. Basically, on 20 oz bottles, 2-Liters, 12 and 24 oz can packages, etc.. most Coke products have a code. You go to mycokerewards, sign up and put those codes into the system, then after you collect so many points, you can cash them in for free items. I've been able to get multiple gift cards to places like Sony, TGI Fridays, Nike, and Napster. They offer magazines and a ton of other stuff, too. Some of which is good and some of which is crap. So, start collecting points and remember to always collect coca-cola.

One Box Two Box, REDBOX Blue Box

If you haven't heard of Redbox, you're in a for a treat, and if you have, then read on for some helpful tips. Basically, for those of you who don't know what Redbox is, it's a vending machine that lets you rent DVD or blue-ray movies for $1 a night. I know, you're probably saying, "Wow, a buck, that's cheap." Well, WhatTheFrugal.com says, "Not Cheap Enough!". So, here's the deal, there are a few "free" promo codes you can use in combination with your credit card. (They use your credit card as your membership card.) The codes are: DVDATWAG, DVDONME, BREAKROOM, DVDKROG and REDBOX. You can also sign up for codes via text on your phone and search for other codes online. Anyways, these codes work only once per card. They basically give you one free rental. Awesome, Right. Well, it gets better. You can use these codes on any credit card and you can use as many different credit cards as you want. Redbox also recognizes Visa prepaid cards as acceptable cards, so you can use those in combination with these codes too.With all those different cards and codes, it should take you a while before you have to actually pay $1 for a movie rental. So, just sit back, relax and enjoy your free movie and feel free to send me some popcorn for all that cash I just saved you.

Pepsi Hits A Homerun

In the past I've received "free" stuff from returning bottle caps, entering codes from bottle caps, etc... and the "free" items have always had a big logo plastered on them, which makes them nice house wear, but not something you'd wear out in public. Well, recently PEPSI did a promotion on collecting and matching certain bottle caps and returning them for a MLB (Major League Baseball) hat of your choice. I figured that I'd receive a hat that had a MLB team symbol (not the one I'd choose) on it and also would have a big PEPSI label plastered on the side, but instead I got a fairly decent hat with the team I chose and no PEPSI logo whatsoever. Great job PEPSI, I know no one will know that I'm wearing a hat from you, but I do and now, the people reading do also. Keep up the great job not promoting yourself.

Who Ya Gonna call ... Feit Electric

Yes, Feit Electric. While they might not have anything to do with ghosts, they definitely know how to make a consumer's day. I recently purchased this package of light bulbs which says they'll last for around 4000 hours and also won't corrode. Well, it only lasted for about 1000 hours and then corroded. So, I promptly gave them a call and let them know what happened. They then sent me a free package of light bulbs. Very nice customer service. Great job Feit Electric.