💰The Deal Guy Newsletter - Issue #64

🧾 INSIDE THIS WEEK’S NEWSLETTER:

**These deals could end or sell out at ANY time. If you buy something through any of the links featured in this newsletter I may get a small share of the sale.

🤗 Free $5 Delivery Driver Tip on Amazon: There’s now an extra way to acknowledge the great service from a delivery driver through the Amazon App or an Echo device with a $5 tip from Amazon at no cost to you.

If you don’t have an echo or a smart phone, you can type “thank my driver” into the Amazon Search Bar. This applies to all deliveries in the U.S. within 14 days of receipt.

🚘 Cash Back on Car Rentals Through Amazon: Prime Members booking with Avis or Budget now score up to 30% off base rates, plus an additional 10% back in the form of a gift card after your trip is complete.

🎁 Disney+ Subscriber 12 Days Of Gifts: Disney+ is running 12 days of subscriber perks from December 1 through December 12.

Each day includes something different with behind the scenes member access, Disney-related giveaway contests and an offer from Fandago today (December 9th), with a Marvel related one expected tomorrow.

🌮 BOGO Chipotle: Dinner could be a lot cheaper next week thanks to an upcoming buy one get one burrito deal on December 13th.

Just walk into a store after 4pm and buy any burrito to unlock a free burrito or entree of equal value.

💵 Free $10 OFF at Nordstram Rack: Until this Wednesday (December 10) new and existing members of the free to join “Nordy Club reward program” will score a one time use $10 discount code that you can use toward any Nordstrom Rack online purchase until 10:59pm PT December 10th. A minimum $10.01 purchase is required.

🛒 REFER A FRIEND TO COSTCO, GET $$$: Costco is running a new promotion where if you bring a friend to the membership counter and sign them up for a membership, you’ll both score a $20 Digital Costco Shop Card or $40 one depending upon which membership they choose.

Here are some recent subscriber submitted money-saving tips:

Maureen from AZ writes: “I've made some purchases on Amazon lately where the seller offers a monetary "gift" in exchange for a 5 star rating. So if you take ratings into consideration before you buy, they can't always be trusted.”

Pam from IN writes: “As a CVS Extra Care member, I get texts each week with coupons. I tap the link to send them to my member card whether I'm interested or not so if I need it I've got it. Once I checked out with several items and my final cost was $0.01! My member credit of $10 per month plus those coupons (already in their computer) covered almost all of it. (I ran out to my car to get a penny!)”

Josh from HI writes: “Before I buy anything online over $50, I add it to my cart and walk away for 24 hours. About half the time I either get a price drop email or realize I do not need it at all.”

Reply to this email and share it with me! If I feature your tip, I’ll give you a shoutout in next week’s newsletter!

(Include your first name + the state you live in so I can add it to the shoutout)

❌ Winter clothing: With the exception of warehouse clubs and the odd flash sale (like we saw in my Top 5 deal list above), winter clothing stays at full price this month. Waiting until January allows the clearance racks to fill and the discounts to grow.

❌ Mattresses: If you didn’t score one on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, mattress sales improve after Christmas and again during Presidents Day in February. December rarely delivers the lowest prices on larger bedding purchases.

❌ Televisions: Last month was your best bet but your next big chance is in late January when retailers promote deals ahead of the Super Bowl. December usually costs more unless you land a leftover Black Friday tag.

❌ Furniture: Furniture prices fall once retailers begin clearing floor models in January. December has almost no meaningful discounts in comparison with the exception of a few warehouse club deals and another handful after Christmas.

❌ Travel: If you didn’t make a move on Travel Tuesday last week, I would wait. Holiday demand pushes airfare and hotel rates higher throughout December. Travellers typically see much better pricing once the holiday period ends.

❌ Calendars and planners: These drop significantly in price after January 1. The same items that are full price right now become clearance items almost overnight.

To get your question answered, simply respond to this email with any money-saving related question and feel free to include your first name so I can address you properly.

💡 Earnest from TX Asks: “Hi DG: Love all of the tips and tricks you present! We are in the market for two room sized air purifiers (500 sq ft each) for our house. When is the best time to buy and what brands/items would you recommend?”

Hi Earnest! Honored to be on your radar and thank you for all the feedback. I believe two of the best air purifiers money can be are these full room sized Shark Air Purifiers with incredible purification and some added “AI” so the system adjusts power based on the contaminants it encounters. It’s on sale now and a great time to buy.

💡Tabitha Asks “I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Thank you for all the awesome deals you send my way. I was looking for a solid Polaroid camera for my 10 year old daughter.”

Hi Tabitha, having just researched this identical item for my daughter of a similar age, I will tell you the Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 is what I would favor over a Polaroid branded camera. The performance and nostalgic photo experience is the same but Polaroid film generally costs significantly more than Fujifilm plus the Polaroid cameras are much bulkier for smaller hands.

💡Rick from WA asks: “I still have a ton of great CD's that I want to listen to but can't because the vehicles we drive no longer come with CD players. If you rememebr the "Sony Walkman" CD players of the 80's, might you recommend a portable wi-fi compatible CD player?”

Hi Rick! I vividly remember my adolescent years with the Walkman and my teenage years with a Discman (and how cool it was when the “anti-skip” features came out so we could actually walk around with it). These days, Philips still produces some excellent CD players with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi streaming capabilities and this would be my top pick.

Later this month I will be releasing a full video showing you all the clearance items you should be buying between December 26 and December 28 to save some serious cash. Here’s a sneak peak of three of those items:

💪 Exercise equipment: This is a confusing category. Prices are low for Black Friday, then almost full price for the rest of the December but wait until after Christmas as we inch closer to New Year’s Eve and all the “new year, new you” promotions kick in with superb savings.

💄 Holiday Beauty Sets: Buy before Christmas and you’re paying the highest price of the season. Wait 24 hours after Christmas, and you’ve locked in the lowest price of the year, just like that!

🏠 Home Appliances aka Black Friday Take #2: Shoppers are always shocked by this advice but I constantly remind people the exact same Black Friday appliances sales repeat 24 hours after Christmas and run until December 31st. If you missed out or cash flow wasn’t as comfortable back in November, this second chance is one of my favorites!

Every week in this section of the newsletter, I share some of the most interesting and helpful money-related articles I’ve read over the past week. I hope you find these as valuable as I did!

💵 “Why boring investing may build the most wealth” - READ HERE.

💵 “The reason why TCL TV’s are so cheap!” - READ HERE.

💵 “Why personal finance advice doesn’t work for most Americans” - READ HERE.

As we inch closer to the end of the year, I’ll have a special eye out on all the top closeout deals you’ve been asking for. Thank you for all the support and wonderful tips for fellow newsletter subscribers. Please keep them coming 🙂

Happy Savings! 👋

The Deal Guy (Matt Granite)