Lazy Man and Money

Deal: Bluetooth, Noise-Cancelling, Earbuds (Under $20)

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Once every 6 weeks or so, I find a deal that I think is worth sharing as a separate post. Today is one such deal.

Amazon has Bluetooth TaoTronics Earbuds for $17.99 after you add to cart and apply the coupon code of 6I6RYEEF. Please don’t flip out on me if you don’t see the $17.99 price listed when you go straight to the page.

These wireless headphones are billed as “Sport Earphones Headsets”, which I hope means that I can jog with them. They also have Bluetooth 4.0, Delicate Sound, Build-in Mic, aptX, CVC 6.0 Noise-Cancelling.

The reviews are very, very good… 4.8 out of 5 stars. I read on a deals site that the company is known for attempting to influence 5 star reviews and many of their reviewers review all the products from the company. That’s not the kind of tactics I approve of, but I can’t prove anything. Even if some positive reviews are influenced, there are almost no negative ones, so they can’t be shipping a terrible product, right?

I’m a Prime member, so shipping is not only free, but because I’m in no rush to get them, I’ll get a $1 media credit. I also put it on my Amazon credit card which earns me 3% back. By the time, I’m done the price is closer to an effective $16.

I’m mostly planning to use them in conjunction with my my Treadmill Desk. The only downside with the treadmill is that it is a little loud for watching things on my tablet. This appears to be the easy solution.

I don’t know how long this deal will be around, but if it something you are interested in, I suggest pulling the trigger quick.

Update: I had someone say that they prefer over-the-ear headphones better. I found on deal on those too. See these Original Ausdom M04 headphones and use coupon code: EK3MMFN3. The price in your card should be $31.74. It’s obviously more than $20, but probably still a good deal. The headphones are very well-reviewed… 114 reviews and an average of 4.6 stars with 83% giving it 5 stars.

Deal of the Month: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (nearly $300 off)

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I wasn’t planning on writing an article today. I told myself I wouldn’t and instead I would on a couple of others that I had planned for over the next couple of weeks.

The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.

Since it was released, I’ve had a little crush on the Microsoft Surface Pro 3… and today you can get the best deal I’ve seen on it.

The previous Surfaces at 10″ were too small for everyday use. I’ve already moved from a 15″ screen to a 13.3″ one. Going down to 10 is a step too far. However, the Surface Pro 3 at 12″ is a good match. It’s also extremely light at 1.75 pounds. The best part is that you get a real Intel laptop-quality processor. I don’t think anything else is as power with such great portability… and still big enough to be a full-time computer.

The battery life isn’t bad at around 5 hours or more either. That would be the biggest complaint as more efficient processors have come out recently, but have yet to make their way into the Surface.

(I told you I had a little crush, right?)

I think they’ve been around for a year and I’ve need seen them on sale. I’ve even been known to scout out Ebay to see how cheap the used ones are. There rarely is deal there.

However, today you can get a deal. It comes with one catch, but it is still notable because any deal is so rare. Let me start off by saying that Microsoft itself is supporting this. Their official stores on Ebay and Amazon are selling them. What they are selling is the best value Surface, the i5 with 128GB of hard drive space. There’s a cheaper i3 with 64GB of space, but that is typically only a $100 cheaper. You can go up to an i7, but that starts to add hundreds to the price. The i5 with 128GB is what I’d buy.

The catch is that it is refurbished. In my world that means, “I can save more money” especially when it comes from Microsoft itself.

Normally, this Surface would cost you $999 and then you’d have to buy the keyboard for another $130. That’s nearly $1130 for a laptop replacement. Today you can get the combination for $850 with free shipping. For a savings of nearly $300, it is a very big deal in my opinion.

I don’t know which you prefer shopping at, so here’s the Surface deal on Ebay and here’s the Surface deal on Amazon. It seems like it is fulfilled by Microsoft either way, so I would just go with whatever company you feel more comfortable buying through.

Big hat tip to Rick Broida at CNET Cheapstake blog for writing about the deal. His blog is one of my few daily “must-reads.”

Deal! Two Years of ESPN Insider (and Magazine) for $9

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I usually don’t post deals that find on the blog. On Twitter, I do. However, I feel like the blog is for longer articles that are a little more in depth. Today, I’m making an exception, because I think this is a good enough deal that is of interest to many readers. If you don’t like sports, you can click away now. Of course, I have to wonder why you are reading this giving the title.

I love SlickDeals.net. Sure it costs me some money as I buy things that I might not otherwise. However, it gives me that “shopping fix” on the cheap. I probably buy one item a week from there. This is an example of some big savings that can be had when you follow the deals.

As the title suggested, here’s how to get Two Years of ESPN Insider (and Magazine) for $9. I don’t care about the magazine. I’ve got more magazines than you can shake a stick at. (Who shakes sticks at things anyway?) My wife is going to read this post and say, “Oh great, yet another magazine.”

The big deal here is the subscription to ESPN Insider. That’s ESPN’s premium online subscription, giving you access to a ton of great articles and research. If you want to buy it month-to-month, you’ll have to spend $8.95/mo. For 4 cents more than the price for a single month, you get two years of access. At the best pricing, signing up for two years, you’ll spend $59.95 for access and the magazines. This deal saves you $50 on something that is extremely popular.

You know me, I’m frugal. I’m too frugal to pay $60 for two years of ESPN Insider. However, make it $9 and you got yourself a deal.

I don’t know how long this deal will be active. It might even be a mistake. I jumped on it. What about you? Let me know in the comments.

Free Money and Free Fitbits For All!

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Today, I present to you one of the best deals I’ve seen in years. It’s just as the title says, free money and free Fitbits for everyone. It’s not one of those giveaways that 2 people win (and it is never you). Everyone that participates should get free money and that’s where the free Fitbit comes in.

Let me explain how it works.

1. Buy a Fitbit

There are a few types of Fitbits available at different price points. Personally, I’d buy a Fitbit Ultra on Ebay. (That link should take you directly to a Buy It Now option above $30, so you don’t have to bid multiple times or wade through pages of accessories.) You can sometimes find them for between $30 and $40, but I think they are a great deal at $60. The Ultra is an older model that won my award for Product of the Year in 2012.

Fitbit phased out the Ultra, but I really like the design. Today there is a Fitbit Zip that looks a little large for my tastes, but syncs with smartphones and tablets with bluetooth. At $50, it is a solid frugal choice, but it won’t track sleep or count floors (a key feature) like the Ultra.

For all the Ultra’s features (floor climbing and sleep tracking), plus the bluetooth connection (not a big deal to me), you’d have to get the Fitbit One at around $99. Meh, get the Ultra on Ebay.

Fitbit also makes some wrist-tracking devices, but those are also $99 and $129, which defeat the purpose of this deal, unless you really love that design and think it is worth the extra money.

3. Sign up for AchieveMint

I learned about AchieveMint a couple of months ago. The website rewards you for doing healthy things, such as checking into a gym with FourSquare. There are tons of ways to earn points, including using most of the popular social media sites, but right now I’m just using the Fitbit.

What do AchieveMint points get you? Money. For every 25,000 point you get, they’ll send you a Visa gift card for $25.

The next natural question is how easy is it to get to 25,000 points. Everyone is going to be different, but I’ve been a member for a couple of months now and I’m averaging 143 points a day. That’s 52,195 points a year, or $50 a year. That stated, I also have the Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Scale that gives me 30 points for weighing myself and doing a body fat measurement. Most of my points are still from walking with the Fitbit.

Also, I have a dog and give him a few walks a day, but other than that I’m fairly sedentary at a computer. I don’t think it would be too unusual for most people to get $40 a year with AchieveMint (especially if you use the ways to earn points).

3. Profit

If it wasn’t obvious by now, the “free” Fitbit comes in the form of payments from AchieveMint – almost like reimbursements or a rebate. However, I think it is a little better in that the money keeps on coming… as long as AchieveMint is in business and making payments. That might be a big assumption, but you can keep your risk very low ($30-$50 for the Fitbit tracker) and always resell it later on if it isn’t your thing. I figure that in worst case scenario AchieveMint goes bankrupt the day after you buy your tracker, you decide that you hate the idea of measuring your health, and sell it for a net loss of $10… not exactly the end of the world.

I should mention that AchieveMint gathers statistics that are aggregated and anonymized. Your information is being put to use, but they “never reveal personal information or individual level data.” I consider that a non-event when it comes to privacy.

Let me know what you think about this deal in the comments. I understand it is not going to fund your beach house payments any time soon, but I hope to get points for getting you a piece of cool technology and show you how it can actually make you money, without doing anything extra.

PSA: Grab this Nexus 7 for $160 Now…

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I almost never write a post to highlight a quick deal like this… then again, I rarely see a deal this good on an awesome product.

If you’ve been looking for a good tablet, you don’t have to look further than the Google/Asus Nexus 7. There’s a reason why it is currently the 6th best technology product (and best tablet) in the CNET 100. Products this great are usually priced at a premium, but right now (as I publish this) you can get 30% off a refurbished unit that is “Asus Recertified with a Asus Warranty.”

I bought one of these myself a months ago. I liked it so much that I switched to a Nexus 5 phone. My wife ended up using the tablet more than me and also switched to a Nexus 5 phone. A couple of weeks ago, I realize that it would be perfect for my mother. She’s not a techy person and the super light-weight tablet can do most of she needs… with minimal technology support from me. So I went and bought one for her.

I wish I could have got a deal this good. I’m sure it won’t last, so if you are in the market for a great tablet at a great price… get this Nexus 7 now….