Pocketbook Helper$

Web Sites That Can Save You Money On Everything From Gas To Groceries

(CBS) 

APPAREL
www.Pricegrabber.com

"Buy off-season" is the old rule. A new twist is that you can get a major selection even before a season ends! For instance, PriceGrabber has 854 ski jackets listed. They're practically giving many of them away! Popular brands, such as Spyder and Bogner & Nils show up, heavily discounted. Forty-percent off a $365 men's jackets is a $140 savings!

Gift Cards
http://swapagift.com/

The perfect "one-size-fits-all" gift, a gift card, isn't always just right, and you usually can't redeem a gift card for cash. That is -- unless you go online to swap it or cash it in. Lewis checked on swapagift and learned she could currently get $32.50 for a $50 GAP gift card. There is, she says, almost no other way to get cash for gift cards.

ELECTRONICS
www.cashmyphone.com

Each month (especially this month!), people fall out of love with an estimated 9 million cell phones; they're tossed out or thrown in the junk drawer. But CashMyPhone will pay you for your old mobile. Log on, locate your make and model, and get a quote in seconds. Prices usually range between $3 and $115. That's a big range, but it's worth a shot.

Expect to be "up-sold" on purchasing a better replacement phone through the site (a "trade"), but if you're after cold cash, they'll send you a check within 30 days.

All phones have to be in working order, so don't send in any that can't make a test call. Lewis has an old one that's water damaged. It wouldn't make the cut.

You don't need to send in accessories (chargers, etc.) Also, make sure you take off all your contacts and the call history before handing it over, just in case they're is not erased. The phones, ultimately, are refurbished and resold, mostly in developing countries. Win, win!

The site is also taking iPods.

TRAVEL
www.Yapta.com

You book, prices drop -- it's NOT game over! This could be one of the Web's best-kept secrets: On Yapta, you can plug in your itinerary (before or after you book) and it will alert you if/when prices drop.

All major airlines offer a refund or travel credit when fares drop below the price of a ticket purchased at an airline's Web site. So, if you lock in your price today, and then tomorrow or 10 days from now, the fare goes down, you'll instantly know about it.

When you get your itinerary, just e-mail it to them at [e-mail]. It's literally, just a matter of forwarding what the airlines send you. It couldn't be easier.

Don't be surprised if there's a fee to change/re-book your itinerary or have a credit issued. Airlines usually charge $75 or $100 for that, which can in some cases negate your credit altogether. But there are carriers, including United and Jet Blue, that charge no change fees. Yapta lists all these particulars on its site by airline (http://www.yapta.com/faq/) and will automatically calculate the amount of refund or voucher you may be entitled to, deducting any change fee levied by the airline. In other words, if your $400 roundtrip ticket is suddenly $299, you might have $100 bucks headed your way.

[shan05-2009]

Printing out coupons at home is a great way to save money but if the stores do not accept them then you pretty much are out of luck. Publix and Wal-mart will not accept coupons printed from home. I''m not going to drive all over just to use a printed coupons, that makes no sense.

[stockpiles]

Another fantastic site & friend of so many is... www.StretchThatDollar.com

[bettdev]

"Actually, it''s a business, and those folks resell them on thecouponclippers.com. They literally take newspaper circulars, chop ''em up, and resell the coupons."

They do NOT sell the coupons! They give you the coupons, but charge shipping and handling fee. It''s ILLEGAL to SELL COUPONS! Please don''t get these nice people in trouble for reporting a falsehood.

[bettdev]

"Actually, it''s a business, and those folks resell them on thecouponclippers.com. They literally take newspaper circulars, chop ''em up, and resell the coupons."

They do NOT sell the coupons! They give you the coupons, but charge shipping and handling fee. It''s ILLEGAL to SELL COUPONS! Please don''t get these nice people in trouble for reporting a falsehood.

[karmas1-2009]

It would be very nice to be able to print out coupons at home and use them but our stores won''t take them either. Walmart makes you feel like you are trying to cheat them if you even try to use a home printed coupon. That "tip" works great if you have stores that will cooperate and will help you by accepting the home printed coupons.