More FREE Propane!!!

One of the biggest misconceptions about GroupOn is that it is strictly for restaurants, entertainment, and travel. Well, your humble correspondent has taken advantage of those discount offers but for the most part, I have used GroupOn for "meat and potatoes" necessities. And one of my favorite necessities is propane. You might remember I had a post in this blog last year about getting FREE propane and guess what? I did it again!

I bought the propane last year in August but used my GroupOn coupon in January to score my FREE propane. Well, since I use the barbeque a couple of times per week, my tank will soon run out of propane. A few days ago I drove by the propane place where I got my tank in January and made the wish that the propane deal would become available again. It was almost like the Coupon god was reading my mind because on Monday, I saw the same propane deal on GroupOn again. Of course I immediately "bought" it since this is something I definitely need.

I put "bought" in quotes since I actually paid NO money for the propane. The reason is that I referred so many people that I earned plenty of GroupOn bucks with which I "paid" for the propane. In fact, the grand total of money out of my pocket that I have spent ever since joining GroupOn has been $7 and that was for a $15 eBay gift card which I used immediately. Everything else was purchased with the GroupOn bucks I earned from referrals.

My most exotic purchase so far has been for a four hour kayaking trip which I will take in a couple of weeks. Everything else has been the meat and potatoes stuff.

Since my propane wish has been granted perhaps I can be granted my other GroupOn wish: Discount tickets for Rapids Water Park in West Palm Beach. I've seen the Water Park from the outside and it is HUGE. If GroupOn makes such a discount deal available, I would snap it up for myself and relatives including 3 kids who I know would love the place.

Of course, this would end up as a FREE deal for me if I earn just a few more GroupOn bucks. So just click HERE to give me those referral bucks that I could apply to the Water Park. BTW, it is FREE to join GroupOn and the advantage is that you will be informed of all the deals in your area so you will be ready to snap them up when they become available.

Oh, and just so you know, I did see a Bahamas cruise for two for two nights including meals for just $199. So if you are planning to visit South Florida sometime in the next year, you might want to take advantage of that at GroupOn.

The Coupon Whisperer Becomes South Florida Barter King

Using the amazing powers that I developed as The Coupon Whisperer, I am now combining those skills to become the South Florida Barter King. I am sort of inspired to do so by the new "Barter Kings" show even though that series is obviously highly scripted. However, since I had some good barter experiences in the past, I plan to hone my bartering skills hopefully up to the level of my couponing skulls.

Yesterday, I performed my first coupon/barter deal. I picked up two dozen FREE bottles of body wash using coupons and traded them to my friend the Liquor Man for a 1 liter bottle of Grey Goose. The value of the Grey Goose is between $40 and $50 while the value of the body wash was about a hundred bucks. However, keep in mind the cost of that body wash to me was ZERO plus I already have a year's supply of the stuff and don't need any more.

So what to do with the Grey Goose? Well, I can drink it...or trade it for something else. And what would that "something else" be? Well, for me it would ultimately be a 1080 HD video camera so I can record episodes of "The South Florida Barter King" and upload them to YouTube so other folks can learn how to combine couponing with bartering.

But WAIT!!! The South Florida Barter King now has a SWEETENER! I am willing to throw in a 100% leather licensed Miami Heat jacket into the deal! Size large. I rarely wear it since I wear it only in very cold weather which doesn't happen too often down here. Therefore the jacket is in EXCELLENT condition.

So if you have a 1080 HD video camera that you want to exchange for a bottle of Grey Goose AND a Miami Heat leather jacket, pleased contact the Coupon Whisperer. As a fringe benefit, I would use that camera to record the sealing of the barter deal so you would appear in the FIRST episode of The South Florida Barter King show.

Fantastic Easily Available Meat Coupons

I don't often post new editions of The Coupon Whisperer but when I do, you know they are good. And in this edition I will show how you can drastically CUT your food expenditures.

If you are even a casual couponer you know it is not difficult to score stuff like toothpaste and body wash for FREE or close to it. Plus you should have no trouble finding coupons for many food items. However, the major part of any food budget is meat and where do you find coupons for those packages of steak and other such goodies. Well, GOOD NEWS!!! I accidentally discovered a way to drastically cut down on meat costs. Here is what happened:

Several weeks ago I was at my local Super Target to buy Scrubbing Bubbles toilet kit refills. They had a deal where you got a $5 gift card when you buy 3 of them and combined with coupons the cost was almost nothing. Well, I spotted a half dozen of the refills on a shelf but I discovered that I had FORGOTTEN to bring my coupons so I went home. Since I was too tired to return to the Super Target, I decided to return the next day first thing in the morning to make sure I could get the remaining Scrubbing Bubbles toilet kit refills.

The next morning I was there at a little after 8 AM just after the store opened. I got on line with my refills and I noticed two women ahead of me who both had a bunch of skirt steaks so I asked them if they were on sale. They showed me the steaks and they all had $3 coupons on them. Since I love skirt steaks I immediately left the checkout line and made a beeline to the meat department where I pulled out several skirt steaks with the $3 coupons on them. Since the original price on all was a little over six bucks, that meant I got them all for a little over $3 each! The meat manager also told me they put out the meats with the coupons first thing in the morning.

Therefore I have made many morning trips to the nearby Super Target for the meat coupon deals. I don't always find the coupons on steaks but I almost always find them on other items like premium hamburger meat and boneless chicken breasts. The best time to get these deals is between 8 and 9 A.M.. I used to find these meat deals in the afternoon but not often. The best stuff get scooped up in the morning. Look for those $3 coupons on the smallest cuts available to get the most meat bang for your buck.


************************************** A couple of days ago I scored a FREE Jiffy Lube Oil Change coupon via Groupon. Many of you probably think Groupon is strictly for restaurants and recreation. Not true. There are a lot of very practical offerings from Groupon such as the oil change deal. In this case they were selling the coupon for $19 but I got it for FREE via my Groupon bucks that I earned for referrals. In fact the whole time I have been on Groupon I have payed a grand total of only $7 out of my own pocket and that was for a $15 eBay gift card so that was like giving me 8 bucks. It's FREE to join Groupon and you can start earning Groupon referral bucks after your first purchase.

Since I know you will be so incredibly grateful to me for offering such great coupon information such as this meat deal, you will want to show your gratitude by clicking HERE so I can earn more Groupon bucks after you make your first purchase should you decide to do so. Of course if you click on any of the Groupon links here I still qualify for the Groupon bucks. Hee! Hee!

Score $1 Swiffer Kits & Refills + FREE Quart Paint

It's been like a coupon desert out there for the past few weeks but, fortunately, tomorrow there are a couple of SUPER Deals. In particular you can score Swiffer Duster Kits AND Refills for just a buck each. Here is how it works:

First go over to Dollar General and print out a couple of their $5 off $25 purchase coupons which are good for Saturday 3/10 ONLY. Then cut out a few of the Swiffer Coupons from the March Procter & Gamble inserts which state "Buy One Swiffer Starter Kit, Get One Refill FREE." You don't have the March P&G insert? Then blame YOURSELF because The Coupon Whisperer has already told you to collect them and treat them like gold.

For those who heeded the advice of The Coupon Whisperer, then head over to the Dollar General store on Saturday and pick up 2 Swiffer Starter Kits which sell for $4.50 each and 2 Refills which sell for $8.00 each. Add that total up and it comes out to $25 but you won't be paying anything near that because the first thing you do after it is all rung up is hand the cashier the $5 off $25 coupon. After that hand her two of the Buy One Swiffer Kit Get One Refill Free coupons thus making the two refills FREE to you knocking $16 off the $20 price ($25 total minus the $5 DG coupon) making it a grand total of only $4 or only a buck per Swiffer item.

For those of you who did NOT take my advice about collecting as many P&G inserts as possible, a consolation prize. You can still score a FREE quart of paint at Ace Hardware tomorrow. Just print out this COUPON and fill it out. Then head out to Ace Hardware first thing tomorrow morning to redeem it for a FREE quart of paint. I say go FIRST THING in the morning because each Ace Hardware store is giving away only about 40 quarts of paint so you want to get there before supplies run out.

Finally, for those of you aspiring writers suffering from Writer's Block. Good news! Help is on the way in the form of my personal guide recently published and available at Amazon: How To Overcome Writer's Block In Less Than An Hour. It is the BEST guide out there on how to overcome this affliction. How do I know that? Because I suffered severely from writer's block for years and checked out a lot of literature on the subject. None of them did me any good. Too much hocus pocus about self-hypnosis, meditation, etc.. Therefore I endeavored to be like a Thomas Edison of Writer's Block with trial and error experiments. This guide is the result of my successful experiments that are guaranteed to make you easily overcome writer's block in LESS THAN AN HOUR.

And if you want to see just how horribly I suffered from writer's block then just click on the FREE "Send Sample Now" button. Remember, you don't need a Kindle Reader to read Kindle books and articles. You can read Kindle material on your own computer by downloading Kindle software for FREE right HERE.

Good luck tomorrow scoring your CHEAP Swiffer Duster Kits, Refills, and FREE paint. And if you are struggling with Writer's Block, a whole new world is about to be opened up for you via my guide on Amazon.

Family Dollar Surreal Coupon Experience

The Family Dollar stores have a DESERVED reputation for being hostile towards coupons. Some of the stores accept coupons with no problems but others act like they absolutely HATE coupons...and couponers. One Family Dollar store in Broward County, at the corner of Broward Blvd. and State Road 7, is especially notable for their hostility towards coupons and I normally avoid it like the plague. However, on Friday, I was looking for some easy laughs so I went to that particular store more for entertainment purposes than to get the product, Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Kits. Yes, I did get my comedic entertainment but at the same time I also entered a surreal Twilight Zone.

I came up to the cashier with four Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Kits and this is what happened after the cashier stared at my coupons as if they were radioactive objects from an alien planet:

ME: I believe those strange things are called "coupons."

Then the cashier left her post and rushed over to the manager in the back office for consultation.

The manager comes over to me with his "sincere" regrets:

MANAGER: Sorry, we can't use those coupons because they expired.

ME: Read the date on the coupons.

MANAGER: December 31.

ME: Right but what year?

MANAGER: December 31, 2012.

ME: So what's the problem?

MANAGER: They're expired.

ME: What year is this?

MANAGER: 2012.

ME: Right, so what's the problem?

MANAGER: They're expired.

ME: Not until the last day of THIS year.

MANAGER: Oh, I see now. They aren't expired. I'm sorry for the error.

Okay, so cashier is about to scan the coupons when ANOTHER manager comes up to us.

NEW MANAGER: I have to check these coupons first on the computer.

ME: For what?

NEW MANAGER: I have to make sure they're not fake.

ME: Ma'am, these coupons are printed on both sides on cardboard. Not printouts from the Web.

NEW MANAGER: I still have to make sure.

(Five minutes goes by while New Manager checks on the computer.)

ME: Can I use my coupons BEFORE they expire at the end of this year?

NEW MANAGER: Sorry. Okay those coupons aren't on our list.

ME: Good. Let's finish this purchase.

MANAGER: But first, I need to call the corporate office.

ME: What for?

NEW MANAGER: To make sure these coupons are okay.

ME: Right because obviously the North Koreans could be taking a break from forging hundred dollar bills by switching to forged $3 coupons. One just can't be too careful.

(New Manager talks on phone for several minutes.)

ME: Why do I feel like I am trapped in a rip in the space/time continuum?

NEW MANAGER: Okay, they couldn't find anything wrong with the coupons.

ME: You mean we can finally complete this purchase?

NEW MANAGER: Yes, but first I have to double check with someone else at corporate.

ME: Why do I feel like I travelled back in time 70 years to a train checkpoint in Occupied Europe? Achtung! Papieren!

(Confused look on New Manager's face.)

(Minutes go by)

NEW MANAGER: Okay, I think I can let you use the coupons.

ME: Are you sure you don't want to completely waste another 15 minutes of my time?

NEW MANAGER (to cashier): Go ahead and check him out with the coupons.

ME: Gee! I finally get to see what life is like on the other side of Checkpoint Charlie.

****************

Some of you might have seen the 60 Minutes interview last Sunday with the founder, Andrew Mason. I've been using GroupOn for over a year and maybe it isn't a great business model for them but for us customers, some of the deals are absolutely spectacular. For example last week I got myself a propane tank refill for absolutely NOTHING using my GroupOn coupon that I "purchased" last summer using my GroupOn bucks which means the propane cost me NOTHING. Perhaps the GroupOn business model might ultimately fail which was hinted at during the program but for now the deals are fantastic for us so I'm not going to worry much about the future.

If you haven't already signed up with GroupOn, you can do so by clicking HERE. It's FREE to sign up and the deals are tailored to your geographic area.

After you use GroupOn the first time, I earn more GroupOn dollars so I can continue getting FREE stuff. You can do the same via referrals.

99 Cent Quarter Chicken Meal!!!

Ok, I have some good news and some bad news about this INCREDIBLE 99 cent quarter chicken meal. First the good news:

It truly is only 99 cents and it includes rice and beans at La Parrilla restaurant. NO coupons needed. I checked it out today with some trepidation since I usually like to eat a half chicken. However, while waiting for my order to be presented I noticed a plate with a HUGE mound of rice plus a large bowl of beans. I figured it must be part of an order for a whole chicken. I was WRONG! It turned out to be my order. I went to condiments table and piled up a bowl chock full of marinated onions. Then I mixed the rice, beans, and onions together. That along with the quarter chicken really filled me up. In fact, I was so full, I don't know if I could have even finished a half chicken if it had been available. Also the chicken itself was outstanding. Definitely MUCH better than Boston Market chicken and I think even better than Pollo Tropicale. The onions are really outstanding due to the way they are marinated for an incredible flavor and texture.

And now for the bad news and this will make many of you cry:

This deal is ONLY available at La Parrilla restaurant in Margate, FL from 11 AM to noon on weekdays. If you show up at 12:01 PM you are out of luck. You MUST be there at the time stated for the deal. For those lucky enough to live in South Florida, especially in North Broward County, you can find La Parrilla at 1875 N. State Rd. 7, south of Copans, in Margate. Be sure to take advantage of this deal as soon as possible because the ad flyer stated this will be available for a LIMITED time only.

***********************

Are any of you out there planning to visit Disney World between now and next March? Have you given any thought as to WHERE you will be staying? Well, good news! GroupOn is now offering a half off deal at the Mike Ditka Resorts in Kissimee. Among the amenities are full kitchens, separate living room areas, FREE shuttle service to Disney World, Wi-Fi, multiple flat screen TVs, and two thematic heated outdoor swimming pools. The prices range from $69 to $85 per night. The latter is for a total of six people in two bedrooms. You can buy two GroupOns if you want to stay for 2 nights. Hey, even if you don't need this deal, I highly recommend you join (free to join) and find out any great deal in the future by clicking HERE.

And, remember, only suckers pay full retail.

FREE Propane!!!

Think "propane" and probably the first thing to come to mind would be Hank Hill of "King of the Hill." Lately, however, when I have been thinking of propane, the word "expensive" comes to mind.

I used to get a tank of propane for a mere $10 per tank at the City of Sunrise. Years ago that town had a fleet of vehicles that ran on propane (and what happened those vehicles?) but as that fleet was drawn down they still had a big propane station. So what they did was offer really cheap propane to the public. I used to love it. Just pull up to the propane station, hand them 10 bucks, and fill up my tank. So imagine my distress last May when I pulled up to the Sunrise propane station only to be hit with a notice that the service would NO LONGER be available. Talk about depressing...especially when I went to a regular propane station and shelled out 20 bucks.

However, good propane news hit me yesterday. Groupon sent me a notice that I could get propane locally for 50% off or just $10. Even better I had earned a bunch of Groupon bucks for referrals so paying with those, it meant NO money out of pocket, i.e. FREE!!!

I know there are some who claim that Groupon only offers deals on stuff that you don't need. Really? You might not need propane but The Coupon Whisperer sure does for his barbeque. If you have an emergency and lose power that propane comes in mighty handy for cooking up hot meals.

Anyway, it doesn't cost anything to join Groupon and you will be sent deals specific to your area. Refer your friends and it is amazing how many deals you can get for FREE like I did with this propane deal.

So what are you waiting for? Click GROUPON and get in on the deals. It costs NOTHING to join and you could end up scoring FREE propane.