Saving You Money 3-8% At A Time

With so many online shopping destinations now, it's a wonder people even go into real stores any more. Sites like Retail Me Not and My Points are great for saving you money and earning you gift cards, respectively, but a few months ago I discovered Ebates and my life has been changed forever.

The premise of Ebates is that you log in, search for an online retailer (anything from Gap to Groupon to Sephora), click the link to go to the retailers site, and you will earn Ebates Bucks on a percentage of the purchase you make at the retailer, usually from 3-8%. Once you have earned at least $10, Ebates will send you a check - simple as pie!

Since joining a few months ago, I've already earned about $20 in cold hard cash just for making purchases I would have made anyway. Every so often Ebates will run specials as well so you will get double or triple the percentage of cash back. An exciting new development - Groupon just increased its percentage from three to six percent back! So next time you want to buy that 50% off restaurant gift certificate, you can save another 6% on top of that!

So screw 5th Avenue, sign up for Ebates. Do all your shopping online and use your savings for a night out!

AWESOME SAVINGS: $10 off Tickets to the NY Wine Expo

Vino, vino everywhere! That's what you can expect to find at this year's upcoming New York Wine Expo. To be held this month at the Jakob K. Javits Convention Center from Friday the 25th through Sunday the 27th, the expo offers consumers the chance to taste more than 600 wines produced by about 170 winemakers from around the world. In addition to the grand tasting, the expo will offer seminars like "Taste Wine Like A Pro: Learn the Secrets Behind How to Taste Wine Through a Blind Tasting" from 6-7 p.m. on Friday and "Wine Spectator Presents The ABCs of Argentina" from 3-4 p.m. on Saturday.

The consumer show will run from 6-10 p.m. on Friday and from 2-6 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are available online. Using promo code "AWESOME,"Awesome in New York readers can save $10 on Friday Grand Tasting tickets until 2/18. If you're a wine lover or have always wanted the perfect venue to explore a worldly palate, you definitely don't want to miss this event!