Coupon $10 off $50+ purchase at Sears for Citi Cards members

Citi Cards members check your statements! There is a coupon in the statement, part of the statement, that gets you a $10 discount off your purchase of $50 or more at Sears! The coupon is valid until May 31st, 2008, so that gives you plenty of time.

You do have to use a Citi Card to pay for your purchase in order to use the coupon! But of course as with most coupons, it is not an unconditional $10 off $50, there are excluded items from this offer. For example, you can't buy gift cards, which makes sense since they won't move any merchandise, but instead they would be giving you an extra $10 in hand.

Actually the list of excluded items is long, here it is. The offer is not valid on the following:

Introductory offers

Electronics

dvd movies, video games and systems, CDs

closeout and clearance

special purchases and Great Price items

Land's End and Levis

Sears.com or Sears Auctions on eBay

outlet store

catalog orders

fragrances

compact refrigeration

Kenmore Pro

Stearns and Foster mattresseses

Celestial Star diamonds

water heaters, propane tanks, Weber

automotive services

pharmacy

beer and wine

install home improvements

repair service

Two Hearts Maternity and other licensed businesses

gift cards (of course)

money orders (duh!)

wire transfers (duh!)

protection agreements (don't want to cut into those high margins!)

And now if there's anything left in-store you want to buy, you can use your coupon! :-) The terms state one coupon per purchase, and cannot be used in combination with another coupon. If you have multiple Citi credit cards that participate in this promotion you should be able to use them in separate purchases since the terms do not mention "one per person" but rather "one per purchase".

Deals and ads of interest from the Sunday paper (8/12/07)

Check previous posts for Circuit City, Best Buy, Staples, Office Max and Office Depot.

Digital cameras and camera & photo deals are listed here

Compaq Presario F572us notebook computer just $450 after mail-in rebates at Office Depot this week. Check the Office Depot ad from earlier on for more details.

Mattress Discounters

You may remember them from the jingle jingle song in their ad: "have a good night sleep on us (or is it "for less"?), mattress discounters".

$150 mattress sale, any size, twin, full, queen or king, $148 each peice when you purhcase them as a set, FIRM. Extra Firm is $179 each, Sealy Plush is $219 each, Simmons Euro pillow top $280 each, Simmons Beautyrest Luxury Firm is $350, Sealy Posture-pedic Cushion Firm $400 each, Simmons BeautyRest Plush $450 each, and Sealy PosturePedic Pillow Top $500 each. You must purchase a set to get the special prices. Good for any size, twin to king!

Also available Tempur-pedic, Sleep Number beds, Adjustables beds, and Casual Convertibles

Verizon Wireless

The New Chocolate in Black Cherry, Black or Blue Mint flavors, LG VX8550 model, $100 after $50 mail-in rebate with new two-year activation

LG VX8300 VCAST capable, bluetooth headset, $50 after $50 mail-in rebate with new two-year activation

enV by LG, Verizon exclusive, LG VX9900, $150 after $50 mail-in rebate with new two-year activation. Built-in QWERTY keyboard

LG VX8700, Verizon exclusive, $150 after $50 mail-in rebate with new two-year activation.

Motorola Q Black, with MS Windows Mobile 5.0, $180 after $50 mail-in rebate and $100 advanced device credit with new two-year activation.

Also on sale these accessories: Doney and Bourke fashion case, DBPCHCRM $50, Motorola 700 bluetooth headset MBT700Z $100, Moto stereo headphones and armband MBT59SHSZ $130, and Motorola S705 stereo controller with headphones, MBTS705SHSZ $100

BroadBand Access is $60 per month for unlimited browsing, with new 1-2 year activation and qualifying voice plan. You get a FREE Rev A capable 5750 PC laptop card after $5 mailin rebate. Requires 2-yr plan for this limited time offer.

HomeWorks

Pay nothing until March 2009. Read terms and conditions for details

Receive a FREE 12-function super utility tool when you arrange for a free in-home design consultation.

Michaels

Four coupons in today's circular!

50% off your entire custom framing order

40% off any one regular priced item

40% off any one regular priced item (good for next week: Aug 19-25)

15% off your total purchase (Teacher Appreciation Week)

12 foam brushes for $1

Stickopotamus photo safe stickers 99c each

T-shirts, 17 colors, adults and youth, 2 for $5

Coupon books

Three coupon books were found in the Sunday paper,two from Smart Source and one from Valassis

Book #1 from SmartSource: Sherwin Williams, Dole, GE, Glade, Upromise sweepstakes, GUM, Muscle Milk, Chiquita, Chef Boyardee, Hebrew National, Reddiwip, Slim Jim, ACT II, Crunch n Munch, Banquet Homestyle bakes, Hunt's Manwhich, Hunts, Van Camp's pork beans, Kraft LiveActive, Kraft Singles Select, check printing,

Book #2 from SmartSource: DirecTV, Revlon Renewist Lipcolor, L'Oreal Paris Skin Genesis, Ban, Wartner, Excedrin, Promax, Lamisilk, Blair $10 knit ponte pants, Purina, Edge, Shout, Raid, Busy Bone, checks, Flat Earth Baked Fruit crisps, Breath Rx, PediaSure NutriPals, Budweiser sauce (not beer), and anti-aging spa slippers, and two Pearle Vision coupons

Valassis coupon book: Best Foods Canola Mayo, Knorr Pasta Sides, Skippy Natural Super chunk, Lawry's sesame ginger, Ragu along with five free recipes, Slimfast, Q-tips, Dove, Degree men ultra clear, All smal and mighty, Lever 2000, Snuggle, Caress, Russell Stover B1G1, L'Oreal infallible and True Match, Newman's Own, Land O Frost premium lunchmeats, Borden singles, Nivea sun-kissed moisturizer, Clairol Nice'n'Easy, Frigo Swirls, Knox NutraJoint, Loctite Super glue, Smuckers Toppings, Pillsbury, Nexcare bandages, Silk Soymilk, Alavert and more checks.

Restaurants featured: Boston Market (4 coupons), Chuck E Cheese's (four coupons)

Financial Offers

Discover Miles, double miles up to $3000 in travel and restaurant purchases each year. One mile for every $1 on all other purchases. No annual fee. Unlimited miles never expire. 0% APR on purchases and balance tranfers until September 2008

Discover Get More Cashback Bonus card, 0% APR on purchases until Sept 2008, 3.9% APR on balance transfers until 2011, 5% cashback bonus on select categories that change every three months (travel, apparel, movies, gas, home, restaurants, etc). Up to 1% cashback on the rest. 5 to 20% cashback bonus when you shop online through the Discover card website.

Citi PremierPass, 10000 bonus points when you make your first purchase within 2 months of account opening, 0% APR on balance transfers until 12/1/08, 1 point for every $1 spent, and 1 point for every 3 miles flown, no annual fee, participation in improved Thank You Rewards Network. Any airline, any time, no blackout dates!

Union Bank 5.05% APY 10-month term CD, $10,000 minimum balance

USA Weekend ads (formerly Parade magazine)

Dell Inspiron 531s desktop, AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dualcore, 1gb RAM, 250gb HDD, Vista Home premium, free 19" widescreen flat panel, $500, no coupons/rebates

Dell Inspiron 1521 notebook, choicee of eight vibrant colors, AMD Turion dual core TL-50, Vista Home Basic, 2mp built-in webcam with noise isolating earbuds, 1gb RAM, 160gb HDD $700. No coupons/rebates.

Also Dell all-in-one printer 926 $50

Nutrisystem two weeks of food for free

Bookclub: 8 Disney storybooks for just $2

Free ...sandwich recipes

Free genuine amethyst solid sterling silver ring, just pay for S&H (they say)

SleepNumber bed coupons

Bose Wave coupons

Inside the newspaper offers

Red hot clearance at Macy's (see earlier posts for details)

Free Gift with Lancome purchase of $28.50 or more

Lots of appliance specials from Western Appliance including free home delivery and 12 months no interest when you make 12 equal payments.

Financial ads and offers in the August 5 sunday paper

Discover Get More credit card offers 0% APR through September 2008, 3.9% APR on balance transfers until 2011, $60 cashback bonus after you make your first $500 in total purchases, 5% on special categories that change every 3 months, and up to 1% cash back bonus on all other purchases

Also the new Discover Motiva that offers 0% APR on purchases til Sept 2008, 3.9% APR on balance tranfers til 2011, 5% to 20% cashback bonus at top online retailers via ShopDiscover, up to 1% cashback on everything else, a full month's interest paid back to you if you make six on time payments in a row (Pay-On-Time bonus)

Citibank Premier Pass credit card offers 0% APR on balance transfers until Dec 2008, 10,000 bonus points after you make your first purchase within 2 months of account opening (any purchase!). You earn 1 point for every $1 you spent, and 1 point for every 3 miles flown. No annual fee. Rewards through the ThankYou Rewards Network.

Countrywide 5.35% APY with a 3-month term CD with $10,00o minimum balance. Also 5.25% APY money market account with $50,000 minimum balance

$0 points, lender fees, closing costs from Downey Savings

Review: Digital Camera Rewards by Citibank's Thank You Network rewards

Citibank's Thank You Network (formerly Thank You Merchants) rewards program features 18 digital cameras that you can redeem your earned points for. So are they a good deal? Let's take a look!

Samsung S630, 14500 points

Olympus FE115, 20400 points

Sony S650 (I think), 22600

Fuji A820, 23900

Philips 7" digital photo frame, 28500

Casio EX-Z1000 (10mp), 32500

Canon SD1000, 32700

Samsung S8x0 (8mp, 3x, 2.5" LCD) 32900

Sony W55 (model name not mentioned, my guess based on specs, 7mp, 3x, 2.5" LCD, LiIon, 58mb internal memory), 36300

Canon A550 + photo printer bundle, 36600

Samsung NV3, 36800

Casio EX-Z (not sure, maybe 1050?), 10mp, 3x, 2.6" wide LCD, 37900

Nikon L5, 39300

Panasonic FZ-8 (according to the picture), 41500

Fuji E900, 45600

Canon EOS Rebel XT (350D) 8.0 MP Digital SLR Kit with 18-55 EF-S lens, 113100.

Canon® 10MP EOS Digital Rebel XTi (400D) with 18-55 EF-S lens, 167300

Nikon D80 with 18-135 lens, 167300

Analysis: So how do you evaluate these as rewards options? One way is to compare them to the other available rewards offered by Thank You Network. For example, with 10,000 points you can get $100 gift card at a number of major electronic stores such as Circuit City, Best Buy, J&R, Staples. To make it an apples and oranges comparison, convert the points for each camera to dollars, by diving them by 100. So for example, the Nikon D80 with 18-135 lens will cost you the equivalent of $1673 in equivalent J&R World gift cards. This camera is now available at J&R for around $1150. Of course you do have to factor in shipping & handing and sales tax if you purchase from J&R, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc, instead of taking the reward. The camera rewards are shipped free and no sales tax is collected from them. But as it is shown in this case, there is a big difference.

Another way to look it however, is that the rewards are earned at the 1% and 5% level. So a camera that is worth 15000 points is the equivalent of $30 (if you only buy 5% reward items) instead of $150 if you use the flat 1% cashback rate most other credit cards offer. This is not the most financially-savvy choice but it's the more fun! You get an actual camera in your hands as a reward, instead of a gift card.

The logical decision is to compare the camera price in points (divide by 100) with the prices at your favorite retailers (eg Best Buy, J&R, Circuit City, Office Depot, etc). Do factor in the cost of shipping and handling and sales tax in each case. S&H will be more important in cheaper cameras, sales tax will be a bigger factor for more expensive cameras. And the logical choice is to go with the lower cost in points :)

The fun decision is to forget about the math, and just pick up the camera you want from the list. Not the most prudent use of points, but you still come out ahead if you compare them to the 1% flat rate of most other credit card rewards program. Take the Samsung S630 for example. It costs 14500 points ($145 equivalent). Most retailers sell it for $100. If you use the card for only 5% items, then the equivalent price compared to a flat-rate 1% card is $29. So you are getting this camera at the equivalent of $29 in cashback bonus from a generic credit card. If you have a balance of 1% and 5% purchases, it averages to 3%. So you are getting a $100 camera for the 1% equivalent of $50. Still good!

Citibank 7 month CD 5.35% APY

Citibank 7 month CD 5.35% APY. With a Citibank checking account. I guess that's one way to get more people to open checking accounts :-) But they do have options that have no monthly fees.

Credit Card Rewards Strategy session

This post will be growing organically.

Here are some suggestions on how to maximize your credit cards rewards:

For grocery, drugstore and gas station purchases, Citibank offers 5% rewards, either in a cash-only rewards program or a rewards program (Thank You Network or Thank You Redemptions or something like that). You can have both type of cards. You can't complain with 5%! There is an annual cap on your total rewards per individual credit card.

Chase has a new creative idea for their Chase Freedom card. They have fifteen (15) categories of purchases. Each month, they calculate your top three categories and give you a 3% reward on those purchases. Everything else earns 1%. The categories are computer-calculated for every statement. You have a choice of rewards or cash. You can switch between the two choices once per month

American Express has special mail-in and email offers to receive double points for purchases until August 31, 2007. This means your Amex Blue or Optima purchases earn 2% instead of 1%. Not bad for things that don't qualify for higher rewards in other cards.

Discover's Get More program offers featured rewards that change every quarter (every three months). These earn you a flat 5% reward on those featured purchases regardless of your regular reward percentage status. The 5% reward has a cap per quarterly promotion

As always with all these, make sure you read the fineprint!