celeritini's SD life and more

Have been thinking about start a log for a long long time ago just to use it as my Sig, when the first time my sig ran out of word limit. But now it could mean more to me, and maybe other people
Let me start with my original and simple purpose:

My SLICK DEALS and how
(NOTE: strictly bought for my personal use only. Some were not quite replicable. None for resale purposes; none w/ Staples illegal coupons; no FAR/MM softwares; no sweepstakes or chance wins)

Year of 2010
Jul $35.47 | Thermaltake TR-800P [tigerdirect.com] 800W PSU | Work-around
Jul $126.xx | Acer H243Hbmid [acer.com] 24" Monitor (1080p, HDMI) | Work-around
Aug $1842.30 | MacBook Pro 15" MC373LL/A [everymac.com] w/ High-Res Antiglare 1680x1050 (MSRP $2134+tax) | Work-around:

Apple Edu Order (Laptop + iPod + Printer): $(2134+199+99.95), no tax (tax holiday), 5% SDR CB, $300 MIR on iPod & printer (FREE), $170 selling iPod & printer
that was before Apple Authorized Resellers could sell latest customized (esp. on screen) laptop, and a hi-res anti-glare option was like the "Retina effect" in pre-Retina era - you just love it once you see it

Nov $1.57 | Two Trico NeoForm [tricoproducts.com] Wiper Blades | Work-around: inspired by FP: Wiper Blades for $18.31 AC (in an order of $52.76, 20 off 50 code), 10% SDR CB, $15 MIR
Dec $134.75 | Intel X25-M [intel.com] 120GB SSD | Work-around: FP w/ 5% SDR CB, GC "cash-out" when >$2/GB on SSD

Year of 2011
Apr $5.55 | IDQ R-134a w/ Gauge | Work-around w/ Target REDCard most deals were at 7-9 bucks
Apr $742.15 | MacBook Air 11" MC505LL/A [everymac.com] (Usually ~$945; MSRP $999) | Work-around: Order w/ 10% IE9 eBay Bucks, 5% SDR CB, eBay Bucks "cash-out"
Aug$8.91 | Two Corsair CMV4GX3M1A1333C9 4GB RAM [tigerdirect.com] | Work-around: FP w/ 5% SDR CB + 20% eBillme CB (That was a Tuesday - eBillme's routine double CB day on merchandise purchases, and TD was 10% regularly)
Dec $209.49 | OCZ Agility 2 240GB SSD [tigerdirect.com]Work-around: Order of $289.99, 15% UP CB (w/ 11% CB "Thanks 2011" promo), $30 MIR, $7 selling the bracket and sticker
when ~$1.25/GB SSD, although this is a SATA II, the top speed my laptop could use anyway

Year of 2012
June $8.97 | Patriot Flex 32GB USB drive | Work-around w/ 5% ShopDiscover
Aug FREE | TigerDirect Inner Circle FS Membership | Work-around:

Order of 200 4GB AMD USB drives and 400 DiRT Showdown game coupons for resale purpose, with the Inner Circle FS membership ($49.99) added to minimize shipping cost, got canceled on the next day. Yet the membership was granted immediately after the order and remained active even after the cancellation somehow. Just lucky

My MIR experiences
Bad stories:
XigmaTek case fan rebates in Nov 2011 and Feb 2012: the marathon of marathons for me

From a FP on 11/8/2011 to a flamed TD on 2/9/2012, I personally experienced all of it.
10 emails out, 5 emails back. two associates responded then got lost (vacation, holiday, etc.) First saying 12 weeks to process rebates (Feb), then disappeared. The second time, a new CSR said (Jun) "processed" but "with 'discrepancy'(showing off your English or something?!)" which I submitted "Invoice Details" printed from Newegg's guide rather than "the actual invoice". They really think they are something huh... Anyways, provided their desired actual invoice, and told (Aug) payment in queue and would take a week or two. Then four weeks later (Sep), no one responded again. Finally, on Sep 27, I received the rebate via PayPal.
And I learned how difficult to deal with "in-house" rebates, which I'd take serious caution to decide whether taking those MIR offers or not. Also, no XigmaTek products and rebates for me at all in future, ever.
Out-of-house rebates are much reliable and faster. 4myrebates.com and status-now.com, etc.

Another story is about a Verbatim wireless mouse in 2009, $12 rebate check. I missed it after I moved to a new address and something, anyway, that's the only rebate I've missed so far. Learned to scan and keep records from then on.

Lucky stories:
$20 in ad, $30 when registered: twice (Aug 13th and 20th at TD).

OCZ Agility 3 240GB SSD for $130 and $120 respectively. That was days before Newegg's OCZ madness sale, which still didn't really beat these prices.
Both rebates got approved and the payment is being processed as of Oct 15, 2012.

My way dealing with MIR
1. Register and print out the MIR form RIGHT AFTER the order
2. During MIR prep, scan the materials before sealing the envelope. I always scan the MIR form with UPC taped on first, then invoice/packing slip, and the envelope in the end - that's how 4myrebates scan your documentation too.
3. Name the scan files in certain format that is easy for look up. Mine is "Vender_Brand_ItemDescription_$Amount" (i.e. Egg_Corsair_700PSU_$35.pdf).
4. Two directories containing scanned files: "Pending" and "Cleared". Move file to "Cleared" upon receiving the rebate card/check
5. A heat gun or your exhalation helps to peel out the UPC without much damage on the box (maybe useful for resellers)

Turn rebate cards into cash - liquidate MIR
I did searched thoroughly for solutions but turned out most recommended ways WITHOUT ANY FEE CHARGED are using Amazon Payments (send money with Credit Card) or simply using it up!!! Well, for me, with 3 dozens of cards piled up, that isn't something I wanted to do.
You might have already known that most rebate cards are either VISA or AMEX. And for VISA, there is a good chance to "cash advance" the full amount at a local bank (the bigger bank, the better chance); as for AMEX, the usual answer is "NO WAY", yet I did found a way on SD that is encouraging, which basically is to request check from AMEX. I Will try to verify both and update here later.
Update on AMEX rebate cards: the above method (call 800-297-7327, input card #, then 5, then 0, talk to rep, "request check"). The rep I talk to is really patient with all my 25 cards, and 20 out of those had a $1 temporary hold (stupid me), the check will take some time (20 days or so), but the phone call did take about 40 minutes also...
Anyway, one more reason for me loving AMEX.

Two paid membership for 20% on GC and more
(NOTE: trying to describe plainly rather than persuasively)
CompleteSavings.com [completesavings.com](CS in short) (my membership: 1/21/2011 - )
ShopperDiscountsandRewards.com [shopperdiscountsandrewards.com] (had my membership: 7/28/2009 - 7/31/2012)
The both are programs ran by WebLoyalty.com Inc. [webloyalty.com], which I didn't know runs programs more than those two.
Enrollment right now appears only available by sending the customerservice@xxxx an email requesting enrollment. They may be other ways though.

The both have the same benefit - 20% off GC (up to 4 per month; almost all the GCs are of $25 face value). I personally used them all on gas since I use gas fast. Store GCs don't expire, so no worries on expiration. Other categories are dining (Applebee's, BurgerKing, Red Lobster?? I can't remember), department stores (Land's End -> Sears/Kmart, etc.). There are others, not of my interest at all though. Sadly, no Walmart, Kroger, Food Lion GCs. I don't remember about Best Buy and Staples... Anyways, okay selection overall. I just need gasoline for my 6-cylinder.

They both charges $12 as monthly membership fee. Then they would issue you a $10 monthly bonus/rebate check upon request via email enclosing a receipt/invoice/order confirmation for one of the purchases on anything during that month. That offer expires at the end of each month if not requested/claimed for. - This makes the fee only $2 per month.
In addition, both memberships welcome new customers with a $10 welcome bonus check upon request. How to request is the same as previously mentioned. However, CSRs tend to mess up this type of requests with monthly rebate ones which are more common. So you need to pay a little bit attention and bug them till that check arrives at your door.

Now, the differences:
CS offers up to 6 movie voucher at $5 each (Regal, AMC, and Cinemark). These vouchers have similar (or say pretty much the same) terms of use as those from previous FPed Groupon, or Google Offer deals. I bought some of them. That's how I know. Their other benefits like $2 magazine subscriptions, coupon for local restaurants and grocery stores, are not so great or of my interest. One more benefit I barely used but DID use, is their slow but working reward-point system. I just noticed that as of today, I have 650 pts available, and another almost 500 expired (which is like Kroger points). And now I'm going to redeem 500 pts for a $25 AMEX GC (other GCs: B&N, HomeDepot, and Outback Steakhouse). Redemption also works with $10/250pts and $50/1000pts.

Before it went downhill, SDR WAS really a steal for me in the old days, which offers deep % off CB rate compared to most FREE CB memberships (FW, urlhasbeenblocked, MR, even Discover and Chase URMall, etc.) Couple of examples would be: 5% Apple (vs 0-2%, usually excluding iPad, iPhone);10% MacMall (vs ??); 5% ebay (when others had it at ~2%, but ebay went away and came up with their own ebay Buck thing); 5% Newegg (vs 1-2%); 10% Buy.com (vs 3-5%); 5% TD (vs 2-4%);10 or 15% Drugstore (vs 8%); 18% ShoeBuy (vs 10-12%). During the time when eBillme runs promo like crazy, I always double dip the benefit from both SDR and eBillme. However, it IS really a bitch now and then, especially you forgot to read some fine prints on exclusions, I had it once with iPad, but got eased because no sites offer CB on iPad purchases, LOL. Sometimes they missed a transaction for CB pending, you have to contact AFTER a month for it (they reply "please allow 30 days for the system automatically bla bla bla"). So just be a little bit cautious for more CB that is desired. I guess the lesson is no free meal after all, you got what (more CB) you paid (time) for. But I terminated my membership in July this year, because suddenly the program started to falling down with CB rate for most stores I shop at dropped to the level which most FREE sites offer. Thus there's no need for me to deal with the hassles of that $12 fee charged and $10 bonus check back.

Those two sites could be "scam" if you search them in google, as of today, I noticed that I actually had membership with SDR once without awareness from Dec 2008 to Feb 2009, then called in for cancellation, without knowing what this membership really offered and how it worked. So your experience may vary.

Now in terms of CB, I use an index - CashBackMonitor.com [cashbackmonitor.com] most of the time, and search vendors there for best CB rate to shop with. FW, MR and eBate are mostly used, plus (MyDeals&Coupons) impressed me once with Verizon accessory sales with 30% (vs 0% on accessories from SDR back then). Also, (Top Cashback) has considerable CB rate sometimes. However, the latter two are really really really slow to cash out. I don't need those CB urgently, so I leave them deposited and piled up.

My tiny little contribution to the community
FPs

Corsair Mini 32GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive for $25.5 in Oct 2011
NZXT Source 220 ATX Case for $30 in Aug 2012 - sorry that I didn't order this personally and report easiness on the rebate
Lexar 8GB USB Flash Drives at OfficeMax; obviously the community contributed more than I posted

Popular

Parallels Desktop 7 for $29.6 (May 2012) and $28 (Aug 2012)

Lurk-warm

Portable Hard Drives in Aug 2012 more like a summary
Open-box Dell V313w Wireless Inkjet Printer for $18.56 + S/H or options in Oct 2011

My wall of shame (douche, dumb, etc.)
Remembrance of these stories keep me being humble, respectful to people and less judgmental. Hopefully there would be no more listed here...
HP TP needs a 2Amp charger, indeed... i felt like a jerk afterwards.

Other funny things to share
Being arguing on tech info for 1.5TB portable HDD
Being amuzing on a typo
Being comforting (one side though) on TC twice: Cheap Chinese tablets are bad and
Celeron are weak
Being ... douche?! or pretending to be cool?! LOL X61t vs E36 M3 D16A6 CRX

//Edit in progress - I think I'm close to the end though, 10/15/12

Abbreviation used in this post (just in case):

SDR: ShopperDiscountsandRewards.com
CB: CashBack
BCB: Bing CashBack
UP: UPromise
MIR: Mail-In Rebate
AC: After Coupon
FAR: Free After Rebate
MM: Money Making
OOP: Out Of Pocket
GC: Gift Card/Certificate
FW: Fat Wallet
MR: Mr Rebates

Gradually became very SD-addicted, not really good. After all, saving doesn't make money, hard working in my career does.

do your own homework

no need for a blog, just one thread holding everything, every story of mine here at SD.
If you find yourself entertained or want to entertain, that's your self-awareness and it's good for you.
I have no comments.
I'm just writing out my experiences, and others say what they want to say.

The playground is open. - That's the words just came up in my mind, reminding me that I am in the/a Lounge

EDIT: I appreciate with any correction on my wording and language (trying to be write more properly and accurately). Opinion-wise, you are welcome.

Well, now that the "How to retire at Age 35 by Consuming less" thread in the Finance forum finally got locked after 380 posts maybe this one can be the next form of riveting entertainment.

http://sixrevisions.com/tools/top...-blogging/

Ok. Thanks.

Ok you can just click on the "I Bought This" button to auto-create a list of SD that you jumped on...

reserved just in case.....

Quote from celeritini : Have been thinking about start a log for a long long time. Let me start with the simple: Abbreviation used: SDR: ShopperDiscountsandRewards.com CB: CashBack BCB: Bing CashBack UP: UPromise MIR: Mail-In Rebate AC: After Coupon FAR: Free After Rebate MM: Money Making My SLICK DEALS and how (NOTE: strictly bought for personal use only, not quiet replicable. None for resell perposes; no w/ Staples illegal coupons; no FAR/MM softwares; no sweepstakes or chance wins - I had some of the "no" deals too, but not worth mentioning since everyone had some similar experiences and is mostly repeatable) Year of 2010 Jul Thermaltake TR-800P 800W PSU 80 PLUS (@ TigerDirect.com [goo.gl]) Final OOP cost: $35.47 an FP price still Work-around [goo.gl] Jul Acer H243Hbmid 24" Widescreen Monitor (1920x1080; VGA/DVI/HDMI) (@ Staples B&M) Final OOP cost: $126.xx still a very good price these days Work-around [goo.gl] Aug MacBook Pro 15.4" mid-2010 Core i7 620M 2.66GHz w/ High-Resolution (1680x1050) Antiglare Screen (@ Apple Store for Education) Final OOP cost: $1842.30 (compared to MSRP $2134+tax) Work-around: Order (Laptop + iPod touch 8GB + Epson NX420 printer): $(2134+199+99.95)+ NO TAX (during tax holiday) 5% SDR CB: - $121.64 MIR on iPod + printer: - $199 - $100 (Making it FREE) Selling iPod + printer: - $140 - $30 that was before MacMall and Apple Authorized Resellers could sell latest customized (esp. on screen) laptop, and a hi-res anti-glare option was like the "Retina effect" in pre-Retina era - you just love it once you see it Nov Pair of Trico NeoForm Wiper Blades (@ Advance Auto Parts; online order + B&M pick-up) Work-around: inspired by FP [goo.gl]; Final OOP cost: $1.57 Wiper Blades: $18.31 AC, in an order of $52.76, 20 off 50 code. 10% SDR CB: - $1.74 MIR: - $15 Dec Intel X25-M 120GB SSD (@ Newegg) Final OOP cost: $134.75 when >$2/GB on SSD Work-around: FP [goo.gl] Note: Newegg GC got "cashed out", rather than used by myself. Year of 2011 Apr IDQ Sub Zero R-134a Sub Zero Refrigerant w/ Gauge (@ Target B&M clearance) Final OOP cost: $5.55 most deals were at 7-9 bucks Work-around [goo.gl] w/ Target Red Card Apr MacBook Air MC505LL/A @ eBay via MacMall [ebay.com] Final OOP cost: $742.15 (vs usual price $940-950 and MSRP $999) Work-around [goo.gl]: plus 10% IE9 eBay Bucks [goo.gl] Order of the laptop: $879 5% SDR CB: - $43.95 10% eBucks + initial $5: - $92.9 (cashed out by ordering for a friend) Aug 2 x Corsair CMV4GX3M1A1333C9 4GB DDR3 RAM @ TigerDirect.com [goo.gl]) Final OOP cost: $8.91 Work-around: FP [goo.gl] Order of 2 RAM + S/H: $(59.98+4.89) 5% SDR CB: - $2.99 20% eBillme CB: - $12.97 (That was a Tuesday, eBillme's routine double CB day on merchandise purchases, and TD was 10% regularly) MIR: - $40 Dec OCZ Agility 2 240GB SSD w/ Desktop bracket (@ TigerDirect.com) [goo.gl] Final OOP cost: $209.49 when ~$1.25/GB SSD, although this is a SATA II, which topped my MacBook Pro already Work-around: Order of the SSD: $289.99 15% UP CB: - $43.50 (including 11% CB "Thanks 2011" promo [goo.gl]) MIR: - $30 Selling the 3.5" bracket and OCZ sticker: - $7 My MIR experiences Bad stories first: XigmaTek case fan rebates in Nov 2011 and Feb 2012: the marathon of marathons for me bla bla bla Scan before mail-out: There's one Lucky stories: $20 in ad, $30 when registered: 3 times?? Tips dealing with MIR 1. Register and print out the MIR form RIGHT AFTER the order 2. During MIR prep, scan the materials before sealing the envelope. I always scan the MIR form with UPC taped on first, then invoice/packing slip, and the envelope in the end. 3. Name the scan files in certain format that is easy for look up. Mine is "Vender_Brand_ItemDescription_$Amount" (i.e. Egg_Corsair_700PSU_$35.pdf). 4. Two directories containing scanned files: "Pending" and "Cleared". Move file to "Cleared" upon receiving the rebate card/check 5. A heat gun or your exhalation helps to peel out the UPC without much damage on the box (maybe useful for resellers) Two paid membership for 20% on GC and more CompleteSavings.com ShopperDiscountsandRewards.com My tiny little contribution to the community posted deals (FPs)

Didn't you buy anything in 2012?

Also, QPLR, just in case.

Any good referral sites you can tell us about?

nothing irritates me more (besides icon) than users coming here, looking for deals and then tell about buying it from other sites. it's sucks to read it but do you really have to list them? like wot the fark man? wot are we?? chopped liver?? do you have no loyalty here? are you not sensitive to the founder of this site's feelings? do you know how many servers it takes to run this site? how many fake mods we have just to say we have mods?

for that i am going to punish the hamster. no food for 4 days.

Quote from serra : nothing irritates me more (besides icon) than users coming here, looking for deals and then tell about buying it from other sites. it's sucks to read it but do you really have to list them? like wot the fark man? wot are we?? chopped liver?? do you have no loyalty here? are you not sensitive to the founder of this site's feelings? do you know how many servers it takes to run this site? how many fake mods we have just to say we have mods? for that i am going to punish the hamster. no food for 4 days.

PMSing OR What?

Quote from cupcake42 : PMSing OR What?

perhaps. wot's it to you?

Quote from serra : perhaps. wot's it to you?

You're not good at sharing your toys either are you?

You edited it!