Posts made by MrVietnam

Thanks for the advice. I used a McDonald’s address in New Hampshire and no sales tax was charged. I guess California now charges sales tax on downloadable software. I hope I don’t get in trouble for tax evasion though. I guess that is highly doubtful that would happen.

Good thing it is not for AT&T Prepaid. A few months ago I just paid $199.99 for an iPhone 6 at Best Buy for AT&T Prepaid. I would have really felt burned.

I got the download version and I live in California where software downloads are not supposed to be taxed. When I go through the checkout process it says “estimated tax to be collected $3.10”. Can anyone else confirm that California does not have sales tax for software downloads? Or did some new tax law pass that I wasn’t aware of? If indeed they are taxed, I would be better off buying the boxed version in-store so at least I could recoup 5% of the 7.75% sales tax in rewards to cut my losses.

Select Conair hair appliances on sale for $10 get $5eb.
The turbo blow dryer w/ diffuser attachment pictured is regularly $20.99.

@dangeruss said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

@mrvietnam said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

Yes, I did buy the regular version and I know it did not come with a smarthub. I was just posting that for your benefit and others who might be interested in the Plus.

Well you said you were debating returning yours based on the fact that it doesn’t have a full featured hub, so I thought that maybe you thought yours came with a hub.

It’s a great device for what it is, although I’m not sure if a full size one is necessary, the dot is probably fine for most people.

Actually I was posting a question and answer that I saw on the Amazon site. I thought it might be helpful to you and others who were debating between the Echo or Echo Plus. No big deal though. Thanks for posting.

@dangeruss said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

@mrvietnam said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

@dangeruss said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

@mrvietnam said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

@dangeruss said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

@mrvietnam I want the echo plus because it has a smarthub built in. Then I can start adding devices to it.

I have a couple of devices that work with alexa, including my thermostat, but I barely use the integration.

Does the first generation Amazon Echo (regular price $180) have a smarthub built in? It does, doesn’t it? I wonder if the smarthub is improved on the second generation or just the same?

Nope, no smarthub. It only communicates with other devices over wifi.

For what it is worth, here is a question and answer on the Amazon site:

The Echo hub functionality appears to be extremely limited and I’m debating returning mine.

Question: The Echo can control devices, with the Echo Plus, what does it mean to work as a hub?

Answer: For most hubs, it means you can connect all sorts of devices and then program to to interesting things, like when I turn on this light, turn that light on too. Or when no motion is sensed in this room for X minutes, turn off the lights and change thermostat settings to save power (because nobody’s there). There’s all sorts of cool things you can do.

The Echo Plus’s hub supports “turn this light on” and “turn that light off”. That’s basically it. No programmability. No support for sensors, can’t do anything interesting with switches. It also doesn’t support as many types of devices as most hubs.

Super disappointing.

I thought you bought the regular version, not the plus? In that case it wouldn’t have a hub anyway.

The Echo itself is great, but it sad to hear that the hub is not fully featured.

Yes, I did buy the regular version and I know it did not come with a smarthub. I was just posting that for your benefit and others who might be interested in the Plus.

@dangeruss said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

@mrvietnam said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

@dangeruss said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

@mrvietnam I want the echo plus because it has a smarthub built in. Then I can start adding devices to it.

I have a couple of devices that work with alexa, including my thermostat, but I barely use the integration.

Does the first generation Amazon Echo (regular price $180) have a smarthub built in? It does, doesn’t it? I wonder if the smarthub is improved on the second generation or just the same?

Nope, no smarthub. It only communicates with other devices over wifi.

For what it is worth, here is a question and answer on the Amazon site:

Question: The Echo can control devices, with the Echo Plus, what does it mean to work as a hub?

Answer: The Echo hub functionality appears to be extremely limited and I’m debating returning mine.

For most hubs, it means you can connect all sorts of devices and then program to to interesting things, like when I turn on this light, turn that light on too. Or when no motion is sensed in this room for X minutes, turn off the lights and change thermostat settings to save power (because nobody’s there). There’s all sorts of cool things you can do.

The Echo Plus’s hub supports “turn this light on” and “turn that light off”. That’s basically it. No programmability. No support for sensors, can’t do anything interesting with switches. It also doesn’t support as many types of devices as most hubs.

Super disappointing.

FYI, to answer what a hub is. No, you won’t need a hub for your echo dot to operate devices which do not require a hub (such as nest thermostats which can contain their own hub for other devices too). Those are devices with built in wifi which can attach to your home wifi signal, so no hub is needed. A hub is required when devices use other signals besides wifi, like zigbee, or zwave. These are home automation signals which can extend the range of communication just by adding more devices too. They mesh or bridge the signal over one another automatically. Wifi devices can be limited by the distance from the router.

@dangeruss said in Amazon Black Friday starts now with Alexa:

@mrvietnam I want the echo plus because it has a smarthub built in. Then I can start adding devices to it.

I have a couple of devices that work with alexa, including my thermostat, but I barely use the integration.

Does the first generation Amazon Echo (regular price $180) have a smarthub built in? It does, doesn’t it? I wonder if the smarthub is improved on the second generation or just the same?

By the way, for this early access event it is limited to Prime members only.

Alexa Deals Terms and Conditions

Offers only apply to products purchased from Amazon.com using Alexa voice shopping on an Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Amazon Tap, Amazon Dash Wand with Alexa, Amazon Fire TV, or compatible Fire tablet device.
Offers good while supplies last.
Shipping charges and taxes may apply to discounted and free promotional items.
Each product discount is limited to one per customer and one per device.
Offers only apply to selected items displayed on this promotional page.
Offers available to Prime members only.
Amazon reserves the right to modify or cancel the offers at any time.
Offers are non-transferable and may not be resold.
If any of the products related to these offers are returned, your refund will equal the amount you paid for the product(s), subject to applicable refund policies.
If you violate any of these terms, the offers will be invalid.

I bought a second generation Amazon Echo (black charcoal fabric) for $79.99 when I ordered through Alexa (regular price $99.99). So now I will have two (one first generation and one second generation). One for my living room and one for my bedroom. I tried to use my $30 off a $60 Am Ex Membership Rewards promotion, but Amazon customer service said I could not specify the number of Membership Rewards points to pay when using Alexa. It just takes the credit card you have on one click and bills that card or takes from your Amazon gift card balance if you have one. I also had a $20 Amazon promotional credit on my account (how I got it I know not). I called Alexa customer service and the agent told me to place the order through Alexa to get the Black Friday $20 discount and then when the order ships he will manually adjust the amount due and give me a $20 credit plus tax in lieu of the $20 Amazon promotional credit I was not able to use when ordering via Alexa. So as it looks maybe Amazon’s strategy is to push sales of their Alexa-enabled devices by giving the best deals when ordering through Alexa. Makes sense. I believe my first generation Echo that I already have and bought at Target a few months ago for $85 can be used for a smart home should I choose to have a smart home, which right now I don’t. It will be interesting now that I will own both generations to see if there is really an appreciable difference in sound quality in the newer one or not.

@ma-barker said in Free Movie Tickets - Marlboro Account Required:

@rowan DH found it in his spam folder so check to see if it went there.

About how long did it take to come? I ordered about two hours ago and still nothing.

Bing accounts get free $5 gift card YMMV

Microsoft sent $5 store gift card to each of my bing account, all went to “Junk Email”

Subject: Here’s a $5 gift card just for you
From: Microsoft Store

There is no physical gift card or even the option to print one out. Instead they add it to your account and can be spent online.

Must redeem by November 30, 2017. and spend within 30 days of redemption.
(Even though they say that after I redeemed the gift card I looked on my online Microsoft account and it says the credit is good until February 20, 2018, so it looks like 90 days from redemption.)

A couple years ago Dollar General had a similar promotion but it was $10 off wyb 2 gift cards, so I bought a boatload of $10 Burger King gift cards, so in effect I got 50% off Burger King for the foreseeable future. Looks like now they have wised up and put a limit of 2 in one transaction and made the discount $5 wyb 2 instead of $10. So while 25% off is nothing to sneeze about, it is not nearly as stellar as 50% off was. They used to carry $10 Burger King gift cards. Not sure if they do anymore.

Also, be advised that using a credit card to buy gift cards at Dollar General is YMMV. The register will accept it if the cashier is willing to do it. The Dollar Generals near me in So Cal insist you pay cash for gift cards of any type.

“This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available.”

“This item is out of stock.”

@my4mainecoons said in Rite Aid Black Friday Ad Scan 2017:

@mrvietnam Its not good on BF but it will work just fine on Senior Day and FNF 30% off day.

Not good BF, but I might find a cashier who won’t read it carefully and manually enter it as a $2 Rite Aid coupon… Worth a try.

@mrvietnam said in Rite Aid Black Friday Ad Scan 2017:

I was at Rite Aid today getting my $1 MM Crest toothpaste (see weekly thread) and out popped a $2 off $20 Rite Aid Catalina. That should come in real handy for Black Friday weekend shopping. Will be very easy to hit $20 with all the freebies being offered. YMMV on getting the Catalina. I got it on one Plenti card, but not on my other one. At the store I didn’t get it at, the cashier told me the machine (green light) was on, so it was working.

Upon closer examination of the Catalina, it says at the bottom, left-hand side of the Catalina: “Offer valid 11/27/17 thru 12/24/17.” It was a little hard to see as it is written in a dull black and is on a darker blue background. I will try to use it anyway and see if they will manually push it through. Worst case scenario is I will have to use it later, but being Christmastime I am sure t won’t be too hard to get a $20 subtotal.

I was at Rite Aid today getting my $1 MM Crest toothpaste (see weekly thread) and out popped a $2 off $20 Rite Aid Catalina. That should come in real handy for Black Friday weekend shopping. Will be very easy to hit $20 with all the freebies being offered. YMMV on getting the Catalina. I got it on one Plenti card, but not on my other one. At the store I didn’t get it at, the cashier told me the machine (green light) was on, so it was working.

For those who loaded both the $2 and $1 (note: the $1 L2C coupon expires 11/24/17) L2C Crest toothpaste coupons, they both come off at the register on only one tube of toothpaste, so that turns the Crest deal this week to a $1 MM after 2 digital coupons. In the OP I said a $2/1 Crest coupon would be coming in last Sunday’s paper, but evidently that didn’t materialize, so you have to use L2C coupons. Evidently the $2 Crest L2C is a store coupon and the $1 is a manufacturer coupon, so that is why they are both coming off on only one tube of toothpaste.

No freebies or MMs, correct?

One more freebie:

Free after MQ and ECB:
Lady Speed Stick 2.3 oz. $1.49 receive $1 ECB L1
Speed Stick Lady $.50/1 deodorant 2.3oz+ (11/25) SS 11/5/17

This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available

There is also an Am Ex offer available: Spend $25 or more and get $5 back. So if you spent $35 and paid with an Am Ex card with the offer activated you could double dip on the two offers and only pay $20 after the dust settles.

If you still have the $5 off Almay coupon from last week (or maybe the week before?), you can get some pretty cheap concealer. The Smart Shade concealer tube was $10.49 near me and Almay is spend $10, get $5, so 49c after CRT and EB.

@canusa said in CVS 11/19 - 11/25 (free Colgate, Gold Emblem, Hershey's, Trolli a/ man Q and/or eb):

FYI

I asked the manager which gift cards were included in the deal . The ad says 100’s. She said CVS never told her and of course, gift cards are not returnable. I tried (2) $25 Cracker Barrel gift cards. No $15.

Probably the only gift cards you will get a $15 ECB back on are the ones actually pictured in the ad. I think they were trying to say in the ad that they have 100s of gift cards available, but I doubt they are included in the deal.

I tried to pay with eBay gift cards that I bought some time ago at 20% off, but the system wouldn’t let me. I checked the balances and they had money on them. Do they no longer allow you to buy gift cards with eBay gift cards? This is a good deal as it is, but would have been a stellar deal if I could have got another $17 off the $15 this deal offers (nearly a third off), but no dice.

Gave it a try and signed up. I’ll see if I get anything from it besides junk e-mails. Thanks OP.

@noahbody said in UPDATE! Now Get Two $5 Amazon GC with 5 Coke Caps Codes Ea Time (20oz) Text Required (NEW OFFER):

@mrvietnam said in UPDATE! Now Get Two $5 Amazon GC with 5 Coke Caps Codes Ea Time (20oz) Text Required (NEW OFFER):

So it will know the difference between other caps from other ounce sizes (such as 2 liter bottles)?

I used five 16.9oz. cap codes and it went thru no problem. (BTW 16.9oz. six pack is $2.50 at Walmart in SoCal.) so a good money maker.

Thanks for the tip about buying cheap Coke at Walmart. I never thought of that before actually having to buy the product to get the codes, Usually I have just found them on the ground.

Another freebie:

Glade warmer units .99
2 x .99 = 1.98
get $1 s* and $1 ch51 = free

get some useless warmers but cash out $2 in points into $2 in cash, just pay sales tax

Thx staxin/sd

Use Ibotta to make the freebie lightbulbs a MM:

-$1 wyb GE LED Light Bulbs for any variety, any size, limit 5. Expires February 19, 2018 11:38 AM ibotta offer (offers & exp may vary by user)

IP for $1/2 Planter nut products (can use on Planter 3-pack of nuts on sale Black Friday weekend):

https://www.coupons.com/?CRID=CJ_20090225&PLID=CJ&go=14602yf7310&cid=20017399&varb=7206546

planters peanuts holiday 3 pk $5.99 get 300 pts ($3) limit 2, so only $2.49 each wyb 2 a/ man Q and pp

IP for $2 off 1 Zim’s (will make each Zim’s a $2 MM):

https://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource2/static_content/app/#/index.html?Link=YXULBOQNBEXEK&MID=22307949344&MID=22307949344&token

FREEBIE

Colgate Optic White toothpaste 3.5 oz $3.99 get $3 eb limit 2

-$1 Colgate Optic White toothpaste 3 oz+ (exp 12/31/17) from previously purchased box

Other Deals Worth Mentioning

Should be some free or cheap G.E. Abound products if you still have the CVS q’s. They are bogo and they track for the cash card.

2 Snapple/7Up/A&W/CD $2 get $1 EB (hoping for another coupon)

If you can find a store that still has any of the S.H. Nuance Cosmetics they are spend $10 get $9 EB

Select Hair Appliances $15 get $10 EB

Physician’s formula spend $15 get $10 EB

I went to the dealership. Didn’t have to take the test drive and the $50 Amazon.com gift card was waiting for me in my e-mail when I got home. To take a line from Staples: Now that was easy.

UPDATE: It turns out the Catalina that prints says “SaVE $2.50 on games” although it will scan perfectly on almost anything Rite Aid sells if you can get a cashier to scan it.

Also, this deal is now much less hot because the CO51 rebate now has 0 remaining rebates for this week. I bought 5 boxes of cereal last night and got my CO51 rebate on one account. Then I bought 5 more boxes this morning on the way to work and I was planning to submit on another CO51 account I have, but now, after I just got home from work, I see there are 0 remaining $3 rebates. Those rebates sure went fast. They were supposed to be available through next Wednesday. Bummer. Savingstar is still available though.

The ad is blurry, but there is a PP offer on buying Rite Aid gift cards. Can’t see the amount. My only concern is that some RA stores will become Walgreens stores at some point, so I don’t know if the RA GC will be useless once that happens. I guess you could always use it online.

I will update this when I get more information.

EDIT: It looks like spend $50, get 1,000PP back. Not a bad deal when you consider this is giving you a 20% discount and if you are at Gold Wellness you get another 20% discount, so 40% off Rite Aid’s regular prices.

A little personal disclaimer here:

Be careful with Rite Aid gift cards. At least make sure they have a silver scratch off. I did this exact deal at Rite Aid a year or two ago and didn’t use the cards for a few months. When I tried to use 2 at the register at Rite Aid the clerk told me they had no money left on them. These particular cards I got did not have a silver scratch off portion on the back. Rite Aid stepped up to the plate and when I reported it to their loss prevention department and after an investigation they sent me 2 $50 Rite Aid gift cards to make up for the ones that were drained.

I guess moral of the story is if you do the deal use your gift cards promptly and do not sit on them too long.Probably sage advice for any gift cards (not just Rite Aid).

Freebies:

Bengay 6.49, 3.75= 9.75- $3 (2-1.50/1 Qs 11/5 ss)- $4 RAQ (2- $2/1 pamphlet Qs)= 2.75 oop, get $3 pp (25 cent MM) L2

J&J Baby 2/$6 (buy 4) - 4 $2 IPs (coupons.com)- $4 RAQ (4-$1/1 in pamphlet)= FREE

Buy 4 Arnicare creams or gel which are BOGOF this week ($11.49 RR at my store). Use four $3 coupons from today’s RP and get back $5 + $3 + $3 PP. So you pay $10.98 and get back $11 in PP.

MM

hydralyte & tummy zen $5.99 get 500 pts ($5) limit 2

-$3 wyb Hydralyte Effervescent Electrolyte Tablets. Expires 1/3/2018 savingstar offer
-$2 wyb Hydralyte Oral Electrolyte Solutions. Excludes 8.5oz single serve bottles, 4-packs of 8.5oz single serve bottles, and oral electrolyte powders. Expires 1/3/2018 savingstar offer

There is also a $2/1 man printable coupon here: http://www.hydralyte.com/special-offers/

Thanks. Got it. Hyundai allows a test drive incentive once every six months.

Good to hear. I hope I find a cashier willing to manually enter a $10 printable.

Evidently to get the $2.50 Catalina you must buy 5 boxes:

$2.50 catalina reported to print wyb 5 rice krispies/cocoa krispies/corn pops!

Also, if you like Rice Krispies you can get 200 pts ($2) wyb $10 rice krispies limit 2 (november deal). That would necessitate you buying 6 boxes though as they are $1.99 each, so it would be like getting the 6th box free after PP.

Good deal on Kellogg’s cereal. Several varieties of Kellogg’s cereal is on sale this week for $1.99 a box, I bought 5 Corn Pops and a $2.50 Catalina printed. I also get $3 both from both S* and Checkout 51. also used mq coupon from Kellogg’s making it a money maker. I’m not sure what the Catalina promotion is and if you have to buy 5. The S* and CO51 offers are good through 11/22. There is a $1/1 Kellogg’s cereal coupon on Kellogg’s Family Rewards website but it will cost you 850 Kellogg’s points each. There are free Kellogg’s cereal man Qs in the 11/12 RP and also some no charge printables on the KFR website of lesser values.

Hello toothpaste is on sale for $2.00 on Black Thursday-Saturday, and there’s a $2.00/1 off coupon at http://www.hello-products.com/campaign-coupon/ . I was able to print two.

Also, for those who couldn’t print the $2/1 Zim’s Max Freeze coupon because you don’t have a coupon printing machine at your local store, you may still be in luck. There are reports that there will be a $2.00/1 Zim’s Max-Freeze coupon in this coming Sunday’s SmartSource, which at $5.00 with 500 Plenti points would make that a moneymaker.

Great news, Maine. Thanks for the update. Now the only roadblock will be getting the store to manually enter a beeping $10 printable coupon. I guess if one store refuses then I could always try another store. I hope stock doesn’t become an issue also.

I have not contacted Savingstar customer service for several months, but I must say I am pleasantly surprised at the quickness of their support reply. I remember in the past it would take at least a week to hear back from them. It was quite aggravating.

@fivetalents said in Sending a message to someone on Phatwallet:

Can I mark this resolved @MrVietnam?

Yes, I know how to chat now. Thanks.

@connman said in Official Kellogg's Family Rewards Program Codes Master Thread:

@tuskers: 0 for 6: “Sorry, the bonus code you have entered has expired.”

Same here. Almost all say expired, however one or two say this code has already been enetered. 0 for 6 nonetheless.

So it will know the difference between other caps from other ounce sizes (such as 2 liter bottles)?

Any word on for those who purchased this a couple days ago did you automatically get credit to your Ssavingstar account? If after two days it doesn’t automatically post, it is doubtful it ever will.

EDIT: I see Maine posted this just a day ago, so we may have to wait one more day to see if anyone gets automatically credited.

Do you have to create a sign to be eligible for the $25 e-code or do you just need to rate designs for 10 days to be eligible or both?

It will be interesting to see if anyone is automatically credited the Savingstar offer or you have to fight for it. I think I will wait until the dust settles before purchasing.

I did not get an 11/5 RP insert either, but I printed two couoons from redplum.com, one for each of my Savingstar accounts linked to my two Plenti cards. I wonder if a Rite Aid cashier will balk at pushing through a $10 printable coupon that beeps. I know in the past they used to have a $5 limit for printable coupons at Rite Aid, but I think they did away with that rule some time ago. I think if I get this I will buy it with other things I get at Black Friday that way making it not so conspicuous.