If you weren’t able to listen live, the August taping of Viva La Value is available through the widget below. The hour flew by and our hosts Lisa and Kate are as delightful as they sound on air. It was definitely an experience to remember and I hope you enjoy some of our insider tips!

(To my amazement, I’m not completely annoyed by my voice on radio!)

Sara of Saving for Someday, Red Plum editor Kate Acieri, Toni of The Shopping Adventures of Cheapo McFrugalpants, Vivia La Value host Lisa Reynolds, Heather of Inexpensively, and yours truly.

I’m on a blogging hiatus this week as I attend BlogHer in NYC. Yes, I realize how ridiculous it is to neglect my blogs while I’m attending a blogging conference, but I have a great guest post to tide you over.

Enjoy!

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Free shipping! Save 50%! Buy one get one free! Coupon codes are everywhere. Especially during holiday and Back to School time, stores are pushing coupons almost daily. If you spend more than 10 minutes online, you are probably getting them via email, seeing them on Twitter or Facebook, and watching them pop up in banner ads. It can be both tempting and confusing when you see a whole list of online coupons for your favorite stores. How do you make sure that you get the best deals?

First, be sure that you are looking carefully at the fine print of the coupons. Sometimes it does not appear until you actually visit the landing page for the coupon. Certain brand names can be excluded or there may be minimum purchase amounts. The former is often the case with higher end stores and the latter is true of a large percentage of online coupons. The last thing that you want is to take the time to fill your cart only to find out that you will not be getting the deal that you initially thought that you would.

Second, evaluate whether you can “stack” the codes. This means combining more than one offer such as a free shipping coupon with a percentage off or dollar off coupon. If you cannot stack the codes, you will need to weigh the amount that you would save using a free shipping coupon versus the amount that you will save with another coupon. Your first step should be to look for a link on the shopping page that gives shipping costs. If the store doesn’t have one, you may have to go the whole way through the cart and experiment with the codes.

Third, do not buy more just to save more if you do not really need the merchandise. It can be easy to get pulled into spending more money just to get free shipping. If you are close to the free shipping or coupon minimum, it makes sense to throw another low price item into your cart. However, if you are buying things you do not need just to satisfy the minimums, it is not a deal at all.

Shopping online can save you a great deal of money if you know how to use the online coupon codes properly. Be a smart consumer and evaluate all of your coupon options before choosing the best. Then shop like away!

Tricia Meyer is the owner of online coupon and cash back site Sunshine Rewards. You can follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sunshinetricia.

I am pretty excited about this.

On Thursday, August 5th at 4 pm, several Inexpensively contributors, and myself, will be broadcasting LIVE from NYC on RedPlum’s monthly radio show, Viva la Value.

We’ll be sharing practical saving tips, discussing couponing and budgeting, and how we live life frugally without sacrificing anything! You won’t want to miss it.

Read the full press release.

You can listen to Viva la Value live at BlogTalkRadio (if that link isn’t valid the day of airing, I apologize, and will update as soon as I get back from NYC).

Morton Season-All Salt is a staple in my spice cabinet. My grandma used it, my mom used it, and I use it on everything from meat to veggies on the grill and on the stove-top.

Give the image above a click (page will say Collective Bias) and enter your email address to print a coupon for $0.55 off Morton Season-All Salt.

I wouldn’t ask you to enter your email address if it wasn’t totally legit. Pinkie swear. Collective Bias is a great company and a partner in the Morton Salt campaign. Please see my site policy with any questions.

Here’s a great little back-to-school perk for teachers and students – show your college or high school ID and receive 25% off your entire Old Navy purchase THIS WEEKEND ONLY!

What a great time to take your student to stock up on jeans and tees! Make sure to check out the Facebook event page and tell all you’re friends where you’ll be shopping!

Did you go? How much did you save? What did you get?

Congratulations to our winner…Jill Myrick

Here’s how the winner was chosen.:

First, there were four Aquafina posts with eligible entries. Post #3 was chosen using random.org.

Here are your random numbers:

3

Timestamp: 2010-06-21 15:54:25 UTC

Second, the entry #29 was chosen from all eligible entries on post #3 using random.org.

Here are your random numbers:

29

Timestamp: 2010-06-21 15:55:50 UTC

This week I sampled the seventh, and final, Aquafina FlavorSplash flavor…Peach! I continue to be impressed by how much FlavorSplash tastes like realfruit.

I always make sure that our refrigerator is stocked with water and we never leave the house without bringing a few bottles with. A few bucks for a case of water is a lot more budget friendly than a few bucks for a single bottle of water!

Especially with this $1 off Aquafina FlavorSplash coupon! (Make sure to use your back button and print two!)

Still haven’t tried Aquafina FlavorSplash? Well this is your LAST CHANCE to enter the GRAND PRIZE giveaway! Here’s what the grand prize includes:

• 4 FREE 6-packs of Aquafina FlavorSplash
• 4 Aquafina Lip Balms
• reusable straws
• party napkins
• other goodies to enjoy Aquafina FlavorSplash in style!

To enter, answer the following question in the comments:

Do you recycle your water bottles? Do you have a fun craft of special use for water bottles? Please share!

Will will be announced on Monday, June 21st and will be chosen from all entries on all Aquafina posts on this blog to date.

I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for Aquafina FlavorSplash and have received various FlavorSplash samples to facilitate my participation. Mom Central will send me a gift card at the end of the program.

The fine print… Entries will be accepted until midnight, Sunday, June 20th. One (1) winner will be chosen at random and announced on Monday, June 21st. Winner will be contacted by email and/or Twitter and will have 48 hours to respond. Please use your real first name a valid email address when entering. I am not responsible for incorrect contact information. Aquafina has provided the gift certificates and I will be purchasing all other prizes which will be shipped directly from me. Good luck!

I don’t mind paying for convenience. Especially tasty tasty convenience made with whole grains and real cheese, like Ritz Crackerfuls.

Ritz Crackerfuls come in four flavors: Garlic Herb, Four Cheese, Classic Cheddar, and Cheddar Cheese & Bacon. Each Crackerful is a generous severing and is individually wrapped and ideal to have on hand when hunger strikes.

My husband is a paramedic, so he works out of an ambulance for 24 hour shifts, and I don’t like him stopping for fast food whenever he gets hungry. It’s expensive and unhealthy! I threw a few Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Crackerfuls in his bag, and not only did he have something filling to snack on, he was eating real cheese and getting 6 grams of whole grains!

The crackers are just what you expect of Ritz- rich and buttery. The cheese is flavorful and creamy and definitely a step-up from other cheese and crackers sandwiches.

I was really impressed with the taste, portion size, and ingredients used in Ritz Crackerfuls and really happy to find something to keep my husband satisfied and away from the drive-thru at work!

I think Ritz Crackerfuls are a great value and to help make convenience all the more budget-friendly, head over to Facebook for $1 off Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Crackerfuls coupons!

I received tasty product samples from the fine people at Ritz Crackers and One2One Network in order to craft my review. All opinions are 100% mine. Please see my site policy with any questions.