Sept. 3, 2010 — -- If you're looking for bargains, this really could be the best Labor Day ever!
I teamed up with MyCityMommy.com, a group of mommy bloggers who share deals in their cities to find the best bargains out there.
Toys 'R Us is helping get old, outdated – and sometimes unsafe – car seats, high chairs, strollers and similar items out of people's homes. If you bring in almost any used baby gear like this, you will get 25 percent off of new replacement gear. There's no limit to how much you can trade.
Click HERE for the web-extra Labor Day promo codes.
While you're there, can pick up something fun for the older kids. Toys 'R Us will be offering Lego City sets and Hot Wheels – buy one, get half off. And on Zhu Zhu Pets add-on playsets are buy one, get one free.
Click HERE to learn more.
If you're taking a holiday weekend roadtrip, good tires are so important.
Starting this weekend, Midas shops are offering a deal where, if you buy and install four select Bridgestone tires you will get an Amex gift card worth up to $100, depending on which tires you buy.
Click HERE to learn more.
The Coleman Roadtrip grill works for backyard cookouts or tailgating at the game. It has wheels – that's because it was designed by Paul Teutel Jr. of "American Chopper" fame. The man knows how to put things on wheels! It folds up to the size of a rolling suitcase for easy transport.
The website price yesterday was $179, but if you go to Coleman's Facebook page right now and "like" Coleman you will get a discount code that knocks $50 off that price.
Final price: $129. More and more discounts and deals are offered on Facebook these days.
Click HERE to visit Coleman's Facebok page.
There's a neat website called HousewaresDeals.com that offers one deeply discounted item per day. The more people buy, the more the price drops. They carry a Farberware 14-piece professional cutlery set that normally retails for $100, but if you buy it on Sunday, you can get it for $22.
Plus, HousewaresDeals.com is offering free shipping all week.
Go to the site and use the promo code "MDMFREE" for free shipping all week.
Eat Out For Less
Fifteen thousand restaurants nationwide participate with restaurant.com, a site that offers discounted gift certificates. This weekend restaurant.dom is offering $25 gift certificates for only $3. That's a 70 percent savings.
Click HERE to visit restaurant.com, and use the promo code "savory" to get the $25 gift card for just $3 from Sept. 3 through 7.
Another great way to get low cost or no-cost restaurant food is to sign up for your favorite chain's e-mail club.
I keep a separate e-mail account just for offers like this. It pays off right away. For example, just signing up can get you a second Bob Evans breakfast and Aussie-tizers at Outback steakhouse – for free. Hundreds of other restaurant chains offer similar deals.
I also like to try mom and pop restaurants, especially when I'm traveling. So sign up for daily deal sites like Groupon, Living Social and more. Many people join those sites in their hometown, but it's a great idea to check the sites in cities you're visiting, too. For example, I found a deal where you get $25 worth of food for $10 at McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon in Grand Rapids, Mich., with just a few clicks.
Here are some other sites where you can find similar deals:
Everyone has been griping about the fees for checking bags. So the IHG group, which owns Holiday Inns and Crowne Plazas, came up with a solution. If you stay at one of their hotels worldwide for any two-night weekend, IHG will reimburse you for the cost of checking your bags. The value of this offer is $50, but you can take advantage of it every time you stay from now until the end of the year. Just use your Visa card to pay the bill.
Click HERE to learn more about IHG's offer.
Another great deal comes from Hotels.com, but you have to get moving. Book your stay by Monday and you can get a discount of up to 40 percent off.
Click HERE to learn more about the offer.
Staycation Deals
If you're staying home this weekend, you can get deep discounts on movie tickets at major chains by buying passes ahead of time from citydeals.com instead of buying directly. We're talking as much as 50 percent off – and you know how pricey movie tickets are these days.
Click HERE to visit citydeals.com
The only thing more intriguing than a sale is a freebie! Target and Bank of America are separately sponsoring free museum weekends in cities around the country. From the Spring Preserve in Las Vegas to the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, N.H., and hundreds of cultural attractions in between.
Here are links to the freebies:
MyCityMommy.com is a group of 31 women who regularly share great deals in their home cities, from shopping to groceries to travel and more. Click HERE to go to their website, search for your city and then imitate the experts for huge savings.
Don't see your city? You could be the next mommy blogger to share deals in your area with your community.
This Labor Day weekend, scores of online stores are offering even deeper discounts if you have a promo code to enter in the little box at checkout. Here are 15 hotties, and if you don't see your store here, just type the name of the store and words "promo code" or "coupon code" into a search engine and see if anything comes up.
