photo credit: Tessss

All for the low price of $25 -

25th Burt Day Celebration Grab Bag

Celebrate our 25th Burt Day with a bag full of goodies!

How it Works

It’s our 25th Burt Day and we’re ready to celebrate with a gift – just for you! We’ve mixed and matched our most popular natural products and other special gifts into our premium Burt Day Celebration Grab Bag. A bag full of these goodies sells for over $50 MSRP, but we’ve lowered the price especially for our birthday.

You’ll get 6 regular-sized products: 4 lip products, a 4 oz. spearmint lime body wash and a 3 oz. nourishing body lotion; 12 mini-size products; and 4 special gifts!

Give the gift of well-being to others or keep them all for yourself. And of course, Happy Burt Day!

• 6 Regular-Sized Products:
• Lip Shimmer Merlot
• Lip Shimmer Toffee
• Replenishing Lip Balm
• Beeswax Lip Balm
• Spearmint & Lime Body Wash (4 oz)
• Nourishing Body Lotion (3 oz)
• 12 Mini-size:
• Baby Bee Buttermilk Bath
• All-in-One Wash
• Lip Gloss Red
• Lip Gloss Nude
• Natural Skin Care for Men Soap
• Peppermint Soap
• Citrus Spice Soap
• Baby Bee Buttermilk Soap
• Orange Essence Facial Cleanser
• Peppermint Foot Lotion
• Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar
• Therapeutic Bath Crystals
• 4 Special Gifts:
• Bamboo Poof
• Burt’s Bees Gardener’s Gloves
• Red Wristlet Bag
• Lip Balm Clip-On
• Items may vary. All sales final. No returns or replacements.

photo credit: wayneandwax

Unless the people in my previous post, Mr. Savvy and I generally have great success with our DIY projects.  Case in point, for the last few weeks, there has been a strong gas smell when we use the oven.  I finally decided to call the gas company, sooner rather than later, as I don’t want to blow up our house.

Friday, the gas company rep came out and said the issue was with the oven, most likely the ignitor.  So Monday, an appliance repairman came out.  He confirmed it was the ignitor and told me it would be $210 (parts and labor) to fix it.  He didn’t have the part with him but said he would return later.  I didn’t like the idea of paying that much for what looked like a simple fix (I could see the ignitor when he dismantled the oven to diagnose the problem).  So when he called back to reschedule, Mr. Savvy declined.

After locating an appliance parts store, we were able to purchase a new ignitor for $32.  After about an hour of Mr. Savvy’s time, the oven was fixed.  So instead of paying $49.95 for the service call and $210 for the repair, we paid $49.95 and $32.  We saved $178, almost 70%, by doing it ourselves.  How have you saved money by DIYing?

The other thing summer means is going to the beach. Mr. Savvy and I always spend a week at the beach at some point during the summer.  Last month, I was dismayed to discover that one of my favorite swimsuits doesn’t fit anymore.  I mean, I could still get in it but all body parts are supposed to stay IN the suit, not creep out.  LOL.  So I’m on a quest for a new swimsuit.  I refuse to wait until the last minute.

As I’m typing this, I’m starting to think that I could probaby use another beach hat, a pair of beach-appropriate sandals, a cuter beach purse and on and on.  I guess I’ve got my work cut out for me.  Where do you find summer deals?

photo credit: alanwoo

Back in October, I posted about how I was able to get a deal on a rug for our living room.  Yesterday, I scored my final deal of the year on some dining room furniture.  The same day we found the rug, we finally decided on dining room furniture that we both liked (a miracle in and of itself).  However, the price was $7760 before tax or delivery.  That was much more than we wanted to spend and told the salesman as much.  Of course he told us there was a sale that day and the price would actually only be $6596.  15% off jut for asking, not bad.  But that was still more than we wanted to pay so we left without buying anything.

We did really like the furniture though so we debated what to do.  I decided to google the manufacturer and model of the furniture.  I found a store in North Carolina that carried that brand.  However, everything is made to order (meaning they don’t keep it in stock, they only order from the manufacturer once you place your order with them).  I called for the pricing and was quite pleased.  The same furniture would only cost $4086 plus $637 for delivery, so a total of  $4723.  We placed the order yesterday.  So we ended up saving 40% just by exercising delayed gratification.  The furniture should arrive in mid to late February which will give us plenty of time to paint before it arrives.

Anyone else find any year-end deals?

photo credit: johnkalad

I recieved an e-mail last night from the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas.  For those who aren’t familiar with the Wynn, it’s one of the newer (and nicer) hotels on the Strip.  It actually has a Lamborghini (or maybe Ferrari) dealership on site.  The Wynn is offering 4 nights lodging and $150 in dining credit for the grand total of $109 plus tax!  Amazing.  I was almost tempted (which was the point of the e-mail) but we just went last month.

Has anyone else seen great deals being offered lately?

photo credit: New Internationalist

Mr. Savvy and I have decided it’s high time we got around to furnishing/decorating our dining room.  So we went to a local furniture store weekend before last.  We actually found both a rug and a dining set that Mr. Savvy liked…no small feat.  So we were all set, right?  Wrong when we saw the prices!  So we went home to contemplate our options – save up a little longer or look for something else.  We both really liked what we found and neither of us really likes shopping so we didn’t want to try to find anything else.  That left option C.  But I gave two options you say.  Well that’s right but I’m impatient.  So rather than save up a little longer, I decided to see if I could find the same thing for cheaper.

The rug was $869 plus tax at the local furniture store for a total of $921.14.  The salesman had written down the rug info for us so I googled the name.  I found a website that had the same rug for $689 with no tax and no shipping.  That’s 25% off, not bad.  We were ready to buy until…I decided to thumb through the Macy’s circulars that we’ve been getting lately.  And there was the same rug on sale for $689 with another 10% off.  That sounds like an even better deal!

So off we went to Macy’s on Sunday evening.  But we didn’t buy the rug.  While the price was lower, there was a $60 delivery charge which wasn’t mentioned in the ad.  The total price would have been $717.31, almost $30 more than the internet site.

However, yesterday I decided to call Macy’s to verify the price one more time.  I wasn’t too keen on making a large purchase from an unknown website.  This time the Macy’s price was $699 with $50 off plus the 10% off (Columbus Day sale).  There was still a $60 delivery fee but the grand total was $677.45, $12 cheaper than the internet site and a reputable company.  So I ordered the rug from Macy’s.  All’s well that ends well.

But the story doesn’t end there.  Shortly after I placed the order with Macy’s, Mr. Savvy told me he had an e-mail from Macy’s advertising free shipping on rugs on their website.  I told him I had previously looked at the site and the rug was more expensive ($716) so it would have slightly more money, even with the free shipping.  But something told me to check the website anyway so I did.  The rug price was $716 but there was a $100 off promotion (vs the $50 off in-store) plus the 10% off AND free shipping.  The total was $587.67, $90 cheaper than what I had just paid!  So of course, I called right back and explained the situation.  The saleswoman cancelled my previous order and re-rang it for the website price. 

So in summary, we paid $587.67 for a rug that was $921.14 at the first place we looked.  Over 30% savings for about an hour of my time.  Not bad, huh?  How have you found deals for furnishing your home?

Fast foward a few months and I heard about how there are plans for the same price as mine but that have unlimited texting, which I don’t have.  I don’t really like to text but it comes in handy on ski trips when cell reception is spotty on the mountain.  On my recent trip to Tahoe, I had about 70 text messages at 15 cents a pop.  I wasn’t a happy camper.  So, I sent Sprint an e-mail saying that I wanted free text messaging too, being such a loyal customer and all.  Within 24 hours, I received a response saying they had agreed to my request.  Now I won’t have to pay for text messages anymore.  No, it wasn’t a huge amount of money but it’s MY money and I like to keep it in my pocket.  So the next time you see a deal you want, JUST ASK.  All they can do is say no but they just might surprise you.

For example, I’m attending a baby shower in a few weeks and went online today to look at the registry.  First, I decided to see if I could find any of the big ticket items (high chair, etc.) cheaper.  The registry was at Babies R Us and one item (a baby monitor) was listed at $99.99.  By using the wonderful site MySimon, I was able to find the same item for only $79.99 at Kmart.  But I don’t really like shopping at Kmart and there’s not one near enough to me to make me want to go out of my way.

While looking for Kmart coupons, I came across the Coupon Cabin site.  There was a store, Diapers.com, that had a $10 off $50 coupon and free shipping.  That was right up my alley!  I would save money and not have to drive anywhere.  Yippee!  I compared the registry items to those sold at Diapers.com and found three that were lower in price.  So I purchased those using the coupon.  I should receive my order on Friday.  I saved over 25% (about $15) by spending ~15 minutes on the ‘net and I didn’t have to go out of my way to drive to BRU (also not really near the house).  Mission accomplished!