Recently in Deals of the Week Category

This week you'll find lots of Halloween inspired deals and one you should mark on your calendar for this time next week. Thanks to all the viewers who've been sending me deals.

Remember if you spot something worth a mention, feel free to send me an e-mail.

Free Boo-rito
The name alone may make you want to take part. Customers who visit Chipotle on October 31st dressed as a burrito or something Chipotle-like (they say anything in foil, a head of lettuce, bag of chips, avocado, etc.) will get a free burrito, order of tacos, bowl or salad. They do this every year and Micah, one of our producers here at KVUE, says the managers are pretty liberal with what they consider costumes. Thanks Tom for letting me know this deal.

Free Black Jack Taco
Taco Bell says it's not a trick but a treat. Come into any Taco Bell between 6pm and midnight on October 31st and get a one free Black Jack Taco. The fine print says it's up to each manager to decide whether to participate in the giveaway.

Halloween Fun
Bass Pro Shops is having an entire day of Halloween fun for the kids. From noon to 4pm at all the stores they'll be decorating masks and roasting marshmallows. Thanks Susan for letting me know.

Super Sonic Halloween Specials
Kathy told me that Sonic is pulling out the treats as well. You'll find several 50 cent Halloween specials. Drive into any Austin area Sonic Drive-in and get 50 cent Corn Dogs and 50 cent ice cream dishes ALL DAY Saturday, October 31st open to close. You can go here to find a Sonic near you.

Free Ice Cream next Wednesday
Amy's Ice Creams celebrates its 25th anniversary in November. So mark your calendar because as a way to say thanks to all of their customers ALL locations will be giving away free ice cream from 2pm to 6pm on Wednesday, November 4th.

Restaurant Deals
Once again Restaurant.com is offering some of the best savings of the month. Up until Saturday, October 31st you can save 80 percent on restaurant gift certificates by using the discount code TREATS before you check out. That means the $25 gift certificates which normally sell for $10 can be purchased for just $2.

Travel Deals
• Don't forget about the Southwest Airlines deals. You must book by tomorrow, Thursday, October 29th to take advantage of the airfare that's as low as $25 one way. To read more check out my blog posting from yesterday.

• I found this site the other day and thought it was a great place to find several travel deals from some of the bigger websites all in one place. It may be worth checking it out if you've got plans to vacation or are simply looking for an excuse to getaway. One of the great reminders is that you can get a $200 voucher if you book a flight or a flight and hotel through Expedia by the end of the year.

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Categories: Deals of the Week |

This week you'll find some terrific book deals and lots of freebies. And stay tuned for a really sweet treat next week. Enjoy!

Book Deals
• There is a big book price war happening right now. It started with Amazon and Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart started it by offering the 10 most anticipated books for $10. Then Amazon decided to get in the game by matching those prices. So Wal-Mart countered dropping the price to $9 and Amazon matched again.

Well now Target has gotten in on the deal, offering nine books for $8.99.

• Barnes & Noble has several eBooks that you can download free.

Restaurant Deals
Restaurant.com is offering 70 percent off gift certificates through October 25th. Just use the code PUMPKIN before you check out and the $25 gift certificates that normally sell for $10 can be purchased for just $3. Remember to read the fine print under the tab where you select the amount you want to purchase to see if there is a minimum purchase required.

Free Snuggie
Let the jokes begin. You know you've wanted to try these out since seeing the infomercial, so here's your chance. You can get a Snuggie free by going here.

Free Luggage Tags
KLM is giving away two free luggage tags that you can personalize. You can upload your own photos so that you'll always recognize your bag or use one of their photos to make them memorable.

Amazon is offering downloads for what it calls the world's most relaxing music free.

Free Recyclable Bag
Red Gold is giving away free recyclable bags all you have to do it go here to sign up. Sorry all of my fellow Austinites--this deal is only good for people living in Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. It is also only good while supplies last.

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Categories: Deals of the Week |

The deals are a bit slim this week. Sorry about that. I'm on vacation and didn't have much time to scour for them. But you'll find a great new way to get a deal on shoes, a fun free kid event and some travel savings. Remember if you spot a deal, drop me an e-mail.

Shoe Deals
• One of our KVUE news producers, Liberty, shared this great new site called Shoe Dazzle. For anyone who loves to buy shoes, this could be just the site you need.
She even sent me some photos of the shoes she received.
Here's how it works. You pay $39 a month, then select the kinds of shoes you like. They then send you some pictures of five similar shoes and you choose the pair you like and they send them to you. The shipping is free and you get to keep the shoes. You can do this every month or pick the option to skip and then start over again the next month. The one thing I will remind you of is that you have to choose the skip option by the 5th of the month in order to avoid a shoe order that day.

It's very similar to some of the websites I've written about before that let you pay a certain amount each month and then get your pick of purses and bags. And if you're a shoe hound this could be a cheaper way to stay up on the trends.

• Through October 24th Karavel Comfort Center is offering $10 off a Clarks footwear purchase to anyone who brings in a gently worn pair of shoes. The idea is to help the Soles 4 Souls organization. If you haven't heard of that organization it provides shoes for people in need. The effort began after the 2004 tsunami and since then the organization has donated 5.5 million shoes to people in need.

Kid Event
Throughout each month the Lady Bird Wildflower Center has all kinds of great events for kids. Friday, October 16th from 6pm to 9pm there's a terrific event called Flight of the Monarch Butterfly. It's a chance for kids to learn all about butterflies.

Travel Deals
Book by October 15th and you can get airfare for as low as $35 through Southwest Airlines. The best fares from Austin were about $60 one-way.

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Categories: Deals of the Week |

This week you'll find deals on movies, free breakfast all weekend and a free way to shred your documents. Remember I'm always looking for deals, so send me an e-mail if you spot a deal worth mentioning.

Movie Deals
• Deep Discount.com is offering some pretty great movie deals. Get four movies on one DVD for just $11. You'll find all kinds of great movies like the Ocean's collection or the Matrix collection. Some like the Godfather collection are a little bit more expensive.

• Best Buy is also selling some movies on DVD for as little as $5.

Food Deals
• Visit Ikea Saturday, October 10th through Monday, October 12th and get a free breakfast. The offer is not good for the Houston, Hicksville or Ikea Direct stores.
• Restaurant.com is offering 60 percent off savings through October 10th. Just use the discount code ENJOY before you checkout and you can get $25 gift certificates which normally sell for $10 can be purchased for $4.
• At Quiznos you if you buy one sub you can get one of equal or lesser value free by printing off this coupon.

Magazine Savings
Amazon.com offers up some pretty good magazine deals every week. This week they're offering a one year subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids for just $5.

Money Saving Site
Deal coupon.com is a great place to look for coupons or discount savings codes.

Clothing Deals
Eastbay is offering 50 percent off NFL fan gear. Use this code LKS19T52 and save an extra 20 percent.

Shoe Deals
6pm is having a big boot blowout sale. You can save up to 75 percent off on some of the latest fall boots. But the sale is only good today.

Toy Deals
Toys 'R Us is giving away a free Snow White Baking Set with any Disney princess purchase of $25 or more through October 10th.

Travel Deals
• This is the last day for Royal Caribbean's Wow sale. They've reduced deposits by 50 percent and giving each person who books a cruise $200 on board credit.

• If you've got Vegas on your mind you may want to check out the $66 a night sale at Mandalay Bay.

Free Shredding Service
Saturday, October 10th the Better Business Bureau is sponsoring a free shredding day. It's a chance to shred or recycle sensitive documents. You'll find several locations across Texas including one in the Austin area. So here are the details:
When: Saturday, October 10, 2009 from 9am to 1pm.

Where:
Round Rock: Dell Round Rock Campus Building #8 at 2401 Greenlawn Blvd.
Corpus Christi: KIII-TV at 5002 S. Padre Island Drive.
San Antonio: Crossroads Mall at 4522 Fredericksburg Road.

Why Recycle? According to Keep America Beautiful, only 57 percent of all paper consumed in the United States was recovered for recycling last year. The shredding services on BBB Shred Day will recycle 100 percent of the shredded materials. BBB Shred Day is a chance to take advantage of a free service and help promote a greener community.

Why Shred?
According to a report from Javelin Strategy and Research, 78% of ID theft cases in 2008 occurred through traditional means such as a stolen or lost wallet, going through a personal mailbox or trashcan, and lifting documents from inside a home or business.

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Categories: Deals of the Week |

This week we've got a way for you to save money on groceries, Facebook freebies and more savings at local restaurants.

Furniture Tent Sale
Louis Shanks is having a big tent sale this weekend. Saturday from 9:30am to 6pm and Sunday 12-5pm you can save 50 to 75 percent on everything under the tent.

Grocery Savings
Sometimes it can be difficult to know which stores are offering the best deals. My Grocery Deals.com puts all of the information from grocery store sales fliers in your area in one place so that you can make your list according to the sales.

The site lets you add items to your grocery list and even puts which stores are offering the sales so you'll know if you need to make more than one stop. They've also got coupons right there on the site to help you double your savings.

This site covers 55,000 zip codes right now. So check it out to see if your area is available and check back because they are adding new zip codes constantly. It's a really convenient way to save money and organize your shopping trip before you go to the store. And the best part--it's FREE. All you do is sign up using your e-mail address, add a pass word and start saving.

Facebook Freebies
One of my favorite sites Bargainist.com created this terrific list of all the great deals you can get on Facebook.

Check them out:
• Free Songs for Your iPod - Become a fan of iTunes on Facebook and you'll have access to lots of free music. Right now you can get the 15-song Austin City Limits 2009 Sampler for free, but the free songs change regularly so you can always get free fresh music to fill up your iPod.

• Free Christmas Gifts - Facebook can be a source of great (and completely free) Christmas gifts. Like this one--become a fan of Walgreens by Friday, October 2 and you'll receive a free 5X7 photo book. You will have to pay a small shipping fee, but this would be a great gift for plenty of people on your holiday shopping list.

• Free Beauty Products - Plenty of businesses offer up Facebook freebies. Herbal Essences is holding the Gorgeous Giveaway for Facebook Fans. Once you become a fan, RSVP to the Herbal Essences Gorgeous Giveaway and come back to the page on October 2 for the details. You'll get a chance to try any Herbal Essences shampoo or conditioner for free.

• Free Food - Restaurants love to give away food on Facebook to their fans. Become a fan of "Woody" on Facebook and if he makes it to a million fans by September 30 everyone will get a coupon for a free burger at TGI Fridays. Once you become a fan, make sure you click the "register" tab and enter your email address in order to get your free burger coupon.

• Free Sweepstakes Entries - There are lots of opportunities to enter exclusive contests and sweepstakes on Facebook. Become a fan of Dave & Buster's for a chance to win a trip for two to New York City.

Remember you can always become a KVUE news fan on our KVUE Insider Facebook page and see all kinds of cool behind the scenes pictures and videos.

Restaurant Savings
My husband and I used one of our Restaurant.com gift certificates this weekend at the Thistle Café and the owner told us people have really been racking up on these coupons.

Through today, Wednesday September 30th, you can save 80 percent on gift certificates by using the discount code word CHEF. That means the $25 gift certificates that normally cost $10 can be purchased for just $2. Remember to read the parameters for each certificate. Many restaurants require you to spend a certain amount in order to cash in the gift certificate. It's still a great way to cut your costs when you eat out.

Travel Deals
• Airtran is offering some big savings. Some one way flights are just $39. The cheapest airfare from San Antonio is $59 one way to West Palm Beach, FL. You've got to book by October 13th.

• Southwest Airlines is having an airfare sale. Flights will cost you as little as $59 one way. You've got to purchase by October 15th for travel through February 11, 2010 and there are some holiday blackout dates.

• If you like cruising you may want to check out some of the deals being offered by Royal Caribbean. They have some really amazing prices if you want to take a vacation around the holidays or the first of the year--including a two night cruise in the Bahamas for as little as $150 a person.

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Categories: Deals of the Week |

This week you'll find another great way to get half priced deals on all kinds of local businesses and how to help your garden grow. Enjoy!

Half Price Deals
I've mentioned this here before, but in case you haven't checked this out KVUE.com has its own half price deals section. This is a great place to find deals on spa certificates, restaurants and clothing. These are all locally owned businesses. The deals are constantly changing and if you look to the left you'll see how many certificates are left.

Clothing Deals
You can enjoy an evening of Sushi, Shopping and Savings courtesy of two of Downtown Austin's establishments. Today from 5pm to 8pm Dress Shop 9located at 315 Congress Avenue, Suite 100) is offering a 10 percent discount on all purchases (except for accessories while Piranha Killer Sushi will provide guests with sushi rolls. This is all part of Style Week.

Food Deals
Through Sunday, September 27th Restaurant.com is offering 70 percent off. Just use the discount code word TREAT. That means the $25 gift certificates which you can normally buy for $10 will cost you $3.

Magazine Deals
One of my favorite sites--BradsDeals.com mentioned this great magazine offer. You'll find some really well known magazines like Men's Journal, Consumer Reports selling a lot cheaper than most places. Some of the deals are less than $5 for a year's subscription.

Plant Swap
This Saturday, September 26th there are three different plant swaps across Texas. Fort Worth-based Calloway's Nursery (and its Houston counterpart, Cornelius Nursery) is an independent chain and is having a free plant swap from noon to 2pm. This is a really great way to add plants to your garden.
You can go here to post what you want and to look at what others need.
Here are the locations:
• Calloway's: 1000 Preston Rd., Plano, TX 75093. 972-964-3084
• Calloway's: 760 Grapevine Hwy., Hurst, TX 76054. 817-581-6361
• Cornelius: 1200 N. Dairy Ashford, Houston, TX 77079. 281-493-0550

Museum Deals
This Saturday, September 26th is National Museum Day. Unfortunately there are no museums here in Austin taking part in this, since they just had their free day last Sunday, but there are several other museums in Texas and across the country that you can get into free. All you have to do is go here and then print out your pass.

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Categories: Deals of the Week |

This week you'll find a Longhorn burger special, a great new deal web site and some travel savings. Remember if you spot a good deal send me an e-mail.

Longhorns Burger Deal
In honor of the Horns football season and the new fall semester Terraburger at 2522 Guadalupe Street is offering half price burgers all day Friday, September 18th from 11am to 11pm. Thanks to George for letting me know about the special.

New deal web site
There's a great new web site to Austin that you should definitely try out if you like a bargain. Each day Groupon.com sends out an e-mail with a new deal of the day. The deals are specific to the city in which you live.

It can be anything from restaurant deals to museum passes. The site just launched in Austin a few weeks ago and I bought one of the deals the other day because it was such a good deal--I got $50 worth of food and drink at the Woodland for just $25.

Here's how it works. You get the e-mail with the deal of the day. If you decide you want to purchase it, you click buy, fill out your credit card information, etc. Then at the end of the day if the site has sold the amount needed (it will tell you right below the deal if they have secured enough purchases) it will send you an e-mail with your coupon. If you decide the deal is not something you're interested in, just delete it and wait for the deal tomorrow.

There are two dozen cities across the country that this site advertises daily deals for including Charlotte, Minneapolis, Dallas and Chicago. So if you're traveling to any of these destinations it's a great way to secure some deals before your trip.

Halloween Costumes
A good friend of mine, Maria, told me about this next deal. It's perfect for anyone in search of a Halloween costume, but not looking to spend a fortune for something you'll likely only wear once. Buy costumes.com is offering 5 deals for under $5 all week long. For example today there's a Santa Claus costume for less than $5.

Free Prostate Cancer Screenings
A reminder there are still two more times to get the man in your life screened for prostate cancer free. St. David's Healthcare is offering free blood test and rectal exam for men over the age of 40.
• When/Where:
9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

• Saturday, September 20
St. David's South Austin Hospital
901 W. Ben White Blvd.
• Saturday, September 27
St. David's North Austin Medical Center
12221 N. MoPac Expressway

Travel Deals
Southwest Airlines is having a fall airfare sale. Tickets are as little as $49 one way to all kinds of destinations. You've got to book by September 17th and travel between September 29 and December 17th. You also can't travel during the Thanksgiving holiday week.

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Categories: Deals of the Week |

This week we've got an interesting mix of deals for you--some deals to keep you healthy, a new coupon site even some help for parents who are out of work but hoping to get a new job. Remember if you spot a deal, send me an e-mail.

Enjoy!

Free Prostate Cancer Screenings
Prostate cancer kills almost 40,000 men annually and yet it is one of the easiest cancers to beat. The key is early detection. So St. David's Healthcare is offering free prostate cancer screenings for men over the age of 40. Prostate screenings will include a blood test and rectal exam.

• When/Where:
9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

•Saturday, September 13
St. David's Medical Center
919 E. 32nd St.
• Saturday, September 13
St. David's Round Rock Medical Center
2400 Round Rock Ave.
• Saturday, September 20
St. David's South Austin Hospital
901 W. Ben White Blvd.
• Saturday, September 27
St. David's North Austin Medical Center
12221 N. MoPac Expressway

Free mammograms
The Austin chapter of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure teamed up with the clinic at El Buen Samaritano (Seton Cancer Screening) to offer free breast cancer screenings. Komen for the Cure funds the mobile mammogram program. The free screenings were offered today and are being offered again tomorrow, September 10th at El Buen Samaritano. Women must make an appointment by calling 512-505-5528.
Update: 4:30pm All booked for tomorrow , but you can still call the number above to find out when there will be a free clinic near you.

New Coupon Site
I just joined this new site called Groupon. Here's how it works, people sign up and then each day Groupon sends you a new deal. You have a certain amount of time to buy the deal. A minimum number of people have to buy in order for you to cash in. So if enough people don't buy you won't get the deal.
To give you an example, yesterday, they sent out a deal for the Woodland restaurant off South Congress. You pay $25 but get $50 worth of drinks and food. They had to sell 25 of them and by the end they had sold over 200, so everyone who bought in got the deal. They send you the deals to your e-mail.

Childcare Help
This was a deal I thought was too good to pass up. The Goddard Schools are offering to give parents a "free childcare day" for parents that are going on job interviews. Marie tells me "Parents only need to fill out minimal paperwork. Schools also ask parents to call ahead to reserve a spot, as there is limited availability at the schools depending on class capacity."

Here are the schools that are participating:

• The Goddard School
1905 El Salido Parkway
Cedar Park, TX 78613
512-258-5292

• The Goddard School
1730 Union Street
Leader, TX 78641
512-528-1918

• The Goddard School
1040 E. Wells Branch Parkway
Pflugerville, TX 78660
512-670-5034

• The Goddard School
4076 Gattis School Road
Round Rock, TX 78664

Food Deals
To celebrate 9-9-09 Restaurant.com is offering 90 percent off gift certificates. That means the $25 gift certificates which you normally buy for $10 will only cost you $1. Update: This deal was originally only good Wednesday, but Restaurant.com extended the offer until Sunday, September 13th. All you have to do is use the discount code word NINETY. I just did this and bought $100 worth of gift certificates for $4.

Fashion Deal
It seems everywhere you go these days someone's wearing Crocs. The company is having a buy one get one free sale plus free shipping.

Music Deal
Amazon.com is offering 12 free downloads from Sargent House.

Travel Deal
Save an extra 15 percent when you book flight on Jet Blue using American Express. Book by September 20th for travel by December 16th.

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Categories: Deals of the Week |