Omnivorous Surfer

You never know what you'll find when you follow a photo to it's origination! I saw the image above in a teacher's blog post about three student bloggers in her Web 2.0 computer applications course. Curious about the photo as I thought I might have some use for it, I traced it to flickr, where I saw its title given as "MOO cards for blogging workshop." The explanation was that these were cards with questions on the reverse to be used in a blogging workshop for journalists. "MOO cards? What's that?" I asked myself, thinking perhaps this was some new educational concept. It was not.

MOO is a printing company that creates postcards, business cards, minicards, and notecards with a twist, well, a couple of twists. First, each pack includes a number of different images (an example is shown at left) instead of identical cards, and second, you can place content on both the front and the back of each card. You can use your own photos or graphics, or you can use images from their designers.

I can see using the business cards or postcards for workshops or classes, as the flicker member mentioned above did. The business cards would be perfect for photographers or craftspersons to promote their businesses. It might be nice to order postcards or notecards using your own photos for your own use or as gifts.

The journey from photo to source and beyond took me to a very interesting business. I wonder where the next image might take me. Where will yours take you?

I probably won't use this site right now, because Handy Shopper, which I have been using on my PDA for many years, meets my current needs. Should I not have that available in the future for some reason (or should I get an  iPhone), this site looks like it would be a likely candidate for a  replacement, at least for grocery shopping.

ZipList lets you create grocery lists which can be accessed and shared via Internet, text, email, or instant message. Item entry is as simple as entering "2 lg cans of peaches" or "butter;olive oil;bread" or, for a high priority item, "milk!" Your list will be organized by category, and you can add prices for individual stores and enter coupon information. The site appears to be incredibly easy to use.

Now, that's the straight shopping portion, but there's more. ZipList also features a Recipe Box for storing recipes clipped from the Internet (at the present time--see post date--there is no allowance for hand-entering recipes). An "Add to List" button on each recipe lets you click to indicate items you don't have on hand from the list of ingredients and then add all those to your shopping list at once.

I learned of this from a post on one of my new favorite blogs, Coupon Cravings. This is a great place to find out about all kinds of great deals--free offerings, discounts, and coupons for anything from retail items to restaurants and other retail establishments.

I have registered (free, of course) for this one and have the number in my cell phone directory ready to use. I've tried it a couple of time and found it to be somewhat useful.

Get price comparisons while shopping using Frucall and your cell phone. You can call, send a text message, or use mobile web, if you have access on your phone or PDA, to send a product name or barcode to Frucall. You will receive in reply a list of vendors and their prices for the same item. It works online, too, and you can try it out on the website without registering. This uses Yahoo Shopping to generate the listing.

I registered a week or two ago, and my registration has not generated any junk email.

The Internet provides lots of ways to help save money. Of course, most of us know about price comparison sites that help you find the cheapest price for a variety of items for purchasing at the listed site or for using the pricing information to purchase offline. Some of these sites include shopping.com, mysimon.com, shopping.yahoo.com, and pricegrabber.com. There are also sites like overstock.com and the clearance sections of retail sites that give access to online bargains. But there's more...
This obviously isn't an all inclusive list, but it's at least a starting point to begin looking for thrift help on the Internet. These sources were included in a Reader's Digest article in the October 2008 issue.
Codes. When you checkout from many online sites, there's a place to put a code that will give you extra discounts. Well, when you're at that point in your purchase, check out one of the sites that offer currently active codes. These include retailmenot.com, currentcodes.com, keycode.com, and rather-be-shopping.com.
Coupons. You can find coupons, rebates, and Sunday newspaper circulars listing weekly deals at dealcatcher.com.
Shoes.  You can order shoes with a free return policy (they also pay return shipping!) from zappos.com. This site carries a wide variety of types of shoes. For athletic shoes, try holabirdsports.com.
There's just too much in this two part article, so for even more sites and suggestions, see both parts on the Reader's Digest website:
Get a Great Deal on Anything and
More Ways to Get a Great Deal on Anything