Kohl’s – Sign Up for Sale Alerts for Big Savings

My favorite store, Kohl’s, has the best sales! In addition, because I’ve signed up for their sale alerts, I often receive 15% off shopping passes. These passes allow you to save 15% off your entire order (even sale priced and clearance items). Sometimes they also offer 20% off if your purchase is more than $100 (which I can EASILY do)!

So, if you like Kohl’s and you like to save money, sign up for their email sale alerts and go shopping!

Kohl’s is all over the U.S., with 1,100 stores in 49 states.

Costco Special Offer – 50% Off Local Restaurant Gift Cards

Just received an email from Costco: they are offering 50% discounts off selected restaurant gift cards when you purchase them in their warehouse. That’s a great deal, because generally they offer 20-25% discounts. They mentioned a few of the offers in my closest location (Vallejo, CA) and they are worthwhile deals. Check it out! But be quick about it, the deal is only good TWO DAYS ONLY: May 6-7, 2011.

Starbuck’s Happy Hour – 1/2 Price Frappuccinos

From May 6 – May 15 between 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. every day, enjoy 1/2 price frappuccinos at participating Starbucks!

Click here for details.

OpenTable.com for Restaurant Reservations & Bonus Cash

OpenTable is a free restaurant reservation website. You can use OpenTable to book a restaurant reservation online for more than 20,000 restaurarnts throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

So, where does the “deal” come in? Easy: Every time you honor a reservation that you book through OpenTable, you earn 100 “dining reward points.” Once you reach 2,000 points, OpenTable sends you a gift certificate for $20 that you can redeem at any of OpenTable’s participating restaurants. Another bonus to watch for is that many restaurants offer 1,000 for a single reservation. Book and honor two of those and you’ll already earn your $20 gift certificate!

OpenTable also offers an iPhone app that is very handy when you’re on the road or in an unfamiliar city.

Social Buying is All the Rage

You might see them referred to as “social buying,” “collective buying,” or “online daily deals” sites. Whatever the name, there are deals to be had through sites like Groupon or LivingSocial. There are other sites, but those two are currently the most popular.

You can often score 50 to 90% discounts off restaurants, hotels, spa treatments, retail shops, and recreation (just about anything, really). The social aspect: Each deal is good only if a presubscribed number of people join in on the offer before it expires.

I have purchased a few deals from each of the sites. I’ve had a great customer experience on both and have been thrilled with the deals I was able to get. It’s a great way to save money on something you would have purchased anyway; or better yet, it’s a great way to try something new with less risk because you’ll save so much money.

A bonus: LivingSocial gives you your deal FREE if you refer the deal to three friends who also purchase it.  Groupon will award you $10 when you refer a friend and they purchase their first deal.

Both sites have local deals available in tons of locations all over the world. There are iPhone applications available for both sites which come in handy. Another good tip is to sign up for email alerts for the locations you are interested in so you don’t risk your favorite deal expiring before you discover it.

So give it a shot, and let me know if you get a great deal!