If you’re thinking of buying a new PC I very very strongly urge you to wait for about one and a half months when most desktops ship with Intel’s new Core 2 Duo Processors (replaces Intel Pentiums). The Core 2 Duo processors received loads of positive reviews from IT professionals all around the world. Without getting into any computer jargon, new PCs using this Intel Core 2 processor will work significantly faster, quieter and consume less energy.

Here are some reviews:

Wikipedia, Techspot, Cnet

Dell and other computer companies aren’t selling PCs with Intel Core 2 Duo Processors yet but they will very soon. The Dell Dimension 9200 as well as a whole bunch of other models which have Core 2 Duo should be out soon.

Thanks a bunch Acrossenger for allowing me to post this detailed guide on obtaining AVIS Car Rental: Unlimited, No Underage Fee & Insurance Free.
************** NEW CODES **************

Avis AWD discount code C031529
https://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/reserva…NUMBER=C031529

-”Business” class car rental agency
-Excellent Rates
-Unlimited miles
-Discounted one way rentals
-No driving area restriction (except you shall not drive into Mexico)
-Anyone can use this code
-Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) included ($3000 deductible)
-Outstanding fleet. I got operational upgraded to Lincoln Town Car /
Cadlliac CTS/DTS / Lincoln Navigator / GMC Yukon XL / Mustang at times.
-Avis has excellent area / branch coverage
-Most airport locations are 24 hours and will stay open late until your flight arrive

On the second page of Avis booking page, ALWAYS ALWAYS select lowest rate option.

Stack your saving with coupon. In theory, no actual paper coupon is needed, however, I posted some actual Avis coupon links. Try these printable coupon first. The coupon is NOT calculated into your rate when booked online, it is deducted upon RETURN of the rental. You MUST MUST use AWD code C031529 to ensure these coupon works. Some people reported without using C031529, the coupon was not honored. Read on for the best one that suit your needs.

$15 Off + 25 Amex GC on Neighbourhood Rentals
Coupon Number MUFA234 / MUFA235 / MUFA236
Expiration date: 05/15/07
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accounts/MUFA234.html

$20 Off Weekly Rental + 1 upgrade
Coupon Number MUCA201
Expiration date: 10/31/2007
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accounts/MUCA201.html

Save $30 on SUV Weekly Rentals + Free Ski Rack + Unlimited Mileage
Coupon Number MUFA186
Expiration date: 4/30/07
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accounts/MUFA186.html

Save $30 on Weekly Rental
Coupon Number MUWA086
Expiration date: 6/27/07
http://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/US/e…g&IID=30weekly

Two Free Days on a Weekly Rental
Coupon Number TCNA044
Expiration date: 6/15/07
http://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/CA/e…y&IID=en_2free

$10 Off per Day on 3 day Weekend Rental
Coupon Number MCNA076
Expiration date: 06/15/07
http://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/CA/e…ding&IID=10off

Free Upgrade on Weekend Rental
Coupon Number UUWA055
Expiration date: 12/31/07
http://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/US/e…Weekendupgrade

$20 Off Weekly Rental
Coupon Number MUCA010
Expiration date: 12/31/2007
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accounts/20off_cp.html

Save $10-$20 off a weekend rental
Coupon # MUMA011 for a 2-day rental
Coupon # MUMA012 for a 3-day rental
Coupon # MUMA013 for a 4-day rental
Expiration date: 12/31/2007
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accounts/1020off_cpn.html

Third Weekend Day Free
Coupon Number TUBA002
Expiration date: 12/31/2007
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accoun…eekend_cp.html

$30 off weekly rental
MUWA086

$30 off a weekly rental on SUV or Premium
Coupon: MUGG327
Coupon valid on a Premium (Group G) or a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV Groups W, L, Z). Dollars off applies to the daily time and mileage charges only for the entire rental with a minimum of five days that includes a Saturday night stay over. Taxes, concession recovery fees, customer facility charges ($10/contract in CA), optional items and other surcharges may apply and are extra. Coupon must be surrendered at time of rental; one per rental. May not be used in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or offer, except your AARP discount. An advance reservation is required. Coupon valid at participating Avis locations in the contiguous United States and Canada. Offer subject to vehicle availability at the time of rental, and may not be available on some rates at some times. Offer may not be available during holiday and other blackout periods. Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Minimum age is 25, but may vary by location. Renter must present proof of membership at the time of rental. Rental must begin by 12/31/2006.

$25 off a weekly rental
Coupon Code: MUGA088
Coupon valid on an Intermediate (Group C) through a Full Size 4-door (Group E) car. Dollars off applies to the daily time and mileage charges only for the entire rental with a minimum of five days that includes a Saturday night stay over. Taxes, concession recovery fee, customer facility charges ($10/contract in CA), optional items and other surcharges may apply and are extra. Coupon must be surrendered at time of rental; one per rental. May not be used in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or offer, except your AARP discount. An advance reservation is required. Coupon valid at participating Avis locations in the contiguous United States and Canada. Offer subject to vehicle availability at the time of rental, and may not be available on some rates at some times. Offer may not be available during holiday and other blackout periods. Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Minimum age is 25, but may vary by location. Renter must present proof of membership at the time of rental. Rental must begin by 12/31/2006.

2 Class upgrade
Coupon: UUGA018
Terms and Conditions:
Coupon valid for a one-time, two-car group upgrade on a Compact (Group B) through a Full-Size Two-Door (Group D) car. Maximum upgrade to Premium (Group G). Offer valid on weekend and weekly rates. Taxes, concession recovery fees, customer facility charges ($10/contract in CA), optional items and other surcharges may apply and are extra. The upgraded car is subject to vehicle availability at the time of rental and may not be available on some rates at some times. Coupon valid at participating Avis locations in the contiguous U.S. and Canada. Coupon must be surrendered at time of rental; one coupon per rental. A 24-hour advance reservation with request for a double upgrade is required. For reservations made on avis.com, double upgrade will be applied at time of rental, subject to availability. May not be used in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or offer, except your AARP Passport discount. Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Minimum age is 25, but may vary by location. Renter must present proof of membership at the time of rental. Rental must begin by 12/31/06

-Save $15 on a weekly rental
MUMA010 / MUSA004 or MUWA015
5 days min / Intermediate-Full size / Rental before 05/31/07

-Save $50 on a long term rental
MUMA014
28 days min / Intermediate-Full size / Rental before 05/31/07

UUSA008 One car group upgrade.
Coupon valid for a one-time, one car group upgrade on an Intermediate (Group C) through a Full-size 4-door (Group E) car. Maximum upgrade to Premium (Group G). Offer valid on weekend or weekly (5 day minimum with a Saturday night overstay) rentals. Coupon must be surrendered at time of rental; one per rental. Coupon may be used with Leisure Pass discount number but not in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or special offer. Coupon valid at participating Avis locations in the contiguous U.S. and Canada. An advance reservation with a request for an upgrade is required. The upgraded car is subject to availability at time of rental. Taxes concession recovery fee, customer facility charge (In CA, customer facility charge is $10/contract) and other surcharges may apply. Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Rental must begin by 12/31/2006.

Muwa031,032,033,034,035 are all res center coupons. I am not sure which one is which, but one is 20 dollars off a weekly, 30 dollars weekly, 35 off two weeks, 40 off three weeks and so on and so forth. something like that. im not an expert in these, just from obersvation on what shows up in front of me.

Make sure you give them your frequent flyer or hotel points number to earn 500 points per rental. The points alone should be worth around $10-15 for each rental.

[10 iTune download per rental]
http://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/US/e…scom_freemusic

If you rent often, sign up with Avis Weekender Club. Rent 4 times get a free weekend.
https://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/CA/…der_club_image

[Additional Canadian location perks]
And for additional perks, you can get Blue Jay tickets/free round of golf/ski pass(or other stuff) each time you rent. For information:
https://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/CA/…=ca_speci als

************** OLD CODES START HERE **************

Car Rental from AVIS
https://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/reserv…_NUMBER=C031529

AWD code “C031529” offers:
-Excellent Rate (US/Canada/International)
-Driver can be as young as 21 years old WITHOUT underage driver fee
-Free UNLIMITED Kilometers when the car is returned to the renting city
-Discounted one way rentals
-NO driving area resitrction (except you shall not drive into Mexico)
-$3000 MAXIMUM free Loss Damage Wavier (LDW) insurace built-in. In the event the rental car is damaged/totalled, you are responable for maximum $3000 for Avis’ car as well as lost of revenue. So if you drive out a new Lincoln Town Car($50,000 car), and totalled right the way. With AWD C031529 code, go back in and ask for another one. You will be asked to pay $3000 in a Avis letter later, no more issues afterward.
-NO ID is needed in order to use this code
-Outstanding fleet. I got operational upgraded to Lincoln Town Car / Cadliac DTS / Lincoln Navigator / GMC Yukon XL / Mustang at times.
-Avis has excellent area / brach coverage
-Most airport locations are 24 hours and will stay open late until your flight arrive

In Canada: It seems Avis would allow G2 license drivers.
GRADUATED DRIVERS LICENSE –
BRITISH COLUMBIA..NOVA SCOTIA..AND NEWFOUNDLAND CLASS 5
NEW BRUNSWICK CLASS 7 – LEVEL 2 ONLY-..AND CLASS 5
ONTARIO CLASS G AND G2.

Insurance (Actual Avis Terms)
If the renter does not accept and pay for the “LOSS DAMAGE WAIVER” option, the renter’s responsibility for all loss or damage to the rented vehicle, whether due to theft, collision, vandalism or any other cause not excluded under the rental agreement, will be limited to $3,000 when the car is rented under C031529.

Make sure you use e-coupon code to save more. No actual paper coupon is needed, however, I posted some actual Avis coupon links. The coupon is NOT calculated into your rate when booked online, it is deducted upon RETURN of the rental. You MUST use AWD code “C031529” to ensure these coupon works. People reported without using C031529, the coupon was not honored. Read on for the best one that suit your needs.

Save $10-$20 off a weekend rental
Coupon # MUMA011 for a 2-day rental
Coupon # MUMA012 for a 3-day rental
Coupon # MUMA013 for a 4-day rental
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accounts/1020off_cpn.html

Save $10-20 off 2-4 days rental
$10 Off 2-day rental Coupon number MUCA198
$15 Off 3-day rental Coupon number MUCA199
$20 Off 4-day rental Coupon number MUCA200
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accounts/MUCA198.html

TUCA043 Rent 5 days, get the 5th day free!
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accounts/TUCA043.html

MUCA010 $20 Off next weekly rental
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accounts/20off_cp.html

UUCA037 Double upgrade
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accounts/UUCA037.html

MUDA085 $30 off a Weekly Rental/500 OnePass Miles
Coupon valid on a luxury (group H), convertible (group K) car and full-size SUV (group L) and premium SUV (group Z). Dollars off applies to the time and mileage charges only on a minimum five day rental period. Taxes, concession recovery fees, vehicle license recovery fee, customer facility charges ($10/contract in CA) and fuel charges are extra. Optional items such as LDW ($22.99/day or less) and other surcharges may apply and are extra. One coupon per rental. An advance reservation is required. May not be used in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or offer. Coupon valid at participating Avis locations in the contiguous U.S. Offer subject to vehicle availability at time of rental and may not be available on some rates at some times. For reservations made on Avis.com, dollars off will be applied at time of
rental, subject to vehicle availability. Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Minimum age may vary by location. An additional daily surcharge may apply for renters under 25 years old. Rental must begin by September 29, 2006. Please allow six to eight weeks after your first purchase for OnePass mileage to post to your account. Mileage earnings and redemption are subject to the OnePass terms and conditions set forth in the Frequent Flyer section of continental.com. All OnePass terms and conditions apply.

UUSA008 One car group upgrade.
Coupon valid for a one-time, one car group upgrade on an Intermediate (Group C) through a Full-size 4-door (Group E) car. Maximum upgrade to Premium (Group G). Offer valid on weekend or weekly (5 day minimum with a Saturday night overstay) rentals. Coupon must be surrendered at time of rental; one per rental. Coupon may be used with Leisure Pass discount number but not in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or special offer. Coupon valid at participating Avis locations in the contiguous U.S. and Canada. An advance reservation with a request for an upgrade is required. The upgraded car is subject to availability at time of rental. Taxes concession recovery fee, customer facility charge (In CA, customer facility charge is $10/contract) and other surcharges may apply. Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Rental must begin by 12/31/2006.

TUBA002 Third Weekend Day Free
http://redirect.avis.com/corp_accou…weekend_cp.html

TUSA012 or TUGB348 Free weekend day (Use TUBA002 first)
Offer of one weekend day free of the daily time and mileage charge applies to the third consecutive day of a minimum three-day weekend rental of an Intermediate (Group C) through a Premium (Group G) car. Weekend rental period begins Thursday and car must be returned by Monday 11:59 p.m. or higher rate may apply. Coupon must be surrendered at time of rental; one per rental and cannot be used for one-way rentals. Coupon may be used with Leisure Pass discount number but not in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or special offer. Coupon valid at participating Avis locations in the contiguous U.S. and Canada except New York Tri-State areas. An advance reservation is required. Offer may not be available during holiday and other blackout periods. Offer may not be available on all rates at all times. Cars subject to availability. Taxes, concession recovery fee, customer facility charge
and other surcharges may apply. (In CA, customer facility charge is $10/contract.) Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Rental must begin by 12/31/2006.

MUSA004 or MUWA015 $15 off a weekly rental
Coupon valid on an Intermediate (Group C) through a Premium (Group G) and including a Luxury (Group H) car, Minivan (Group V) or a SUV (Group W). Dollars off applies to the time and mileage charges for the entire rental with a minimum of five days. Coupon must be surrendered at time of rental; one per rental. Coupon may be used with Leisure Pass discount number but not in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or special offer. Coupon valid at participating Avis locations in the contiguous U.S. and Canada. Offer may not be available during holiday and other blackout periods. Offer may not be available on all rates at all times. An advance reservation is required. Cars subject to availability. Taxes concession recovery fee, customer facility charge (In CA, customer facility charge is $10/contract) and other surcharges may apply. Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Minimum age may vary by location. An additional daily surcharge may apply for renters under 25 years old. Rental must begin by 12/31/2006.

-Coupon: UUCA038 (call in only?)
Make a reservation for travel this summer from now through September 30, 2006 and save up to 25% on your next rental from Avis. Plus, you’ll experience a little extra luxury with a free Double Upgrade.*

Muwa031,032,033,034,035 are all res center coupons. I am not sure which one is which, but one is 20 dollars off a weekly, 30 dollars weekly, 35 off two weeks, 40 off three weeks and so on and so forth. something like that. im not an expert in these, just from obersvation on what shows up in front of me.

Join Avis “deals and destinations” program by calling Avis customer service. $1 for the first 3 months and $14.99 a month after that. Cancel any time. Avis gives you 4 $10 gas rebates and a coupon book even if you do cancel. So free $40 worth of gas from Avis.

Make sure you give them your frequent flyer or hotel points number to earn 500 points. The points alone should be worth around $10-15

[Additional Canadian location perks]
And for additional perks, you can get Blue Jay tickets/free round of golf (or other stuff) each time you rent. For information:
https://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/CA…IID=ca_specials

Finally, if you rent often, sign up with Avis Weekender Club. Rent 4 times get a free weekend.
http://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/CA/…=weekender_club

An anon poster posted an awesome story about NYFI just recently started to work at South St. Burgers. This is a fast food joint, and its owned by New York Fries. The burgers here are so delicious. Check out their website www.southstburger.com. The store sells New York Fries, and I actually learned a couple of their secrets on how to make good fries. By the way, there are only two of these stores in the World. They are starting to expand their chain (its owned by NY Fries).

One secret that makes New York Fries taste so good, is because the potatoes they use have sugar in them. When the potatoes are harvested, and when they are being processed, they are soaked in Sugar. So basically there is some sugar in New York Fries. Also another thing is that, NY fries, cooks its Fries in three different stages. First they cut the fries, and then they scoop a basketful, and place it in low temperature oil, until the skin starts to wrinkle. Then, after that step, they put it in another oil which is slightly higher in temperature and they take the fries out when the fries start to turn a little yellow. And then they hang it. So when people come to buy the fries, they fry it in a third oil, which has an even higher temperature than the previous two oils. And finally when the fries turns golden yellow its ready to serve.

Also please go to one of the two South St. Burgers that have opened so far. One is around Finch Station and the other is around Eglinton and Laird (these are in Toronto).

Also check this website if youre in Search of the Perfect French Fry.

Canadian Mark posted this wonderful article on his blog as well as SmartCanucks’ forum. Thanks Mark!

You can visit Canadian Mark’s blog here for many interesting articles 🙂

Mark also earns 7 candies for posting a blog-worthy topic on SmartCanucks’ forum.

If you’ve been into (mostly) any major Canadian fast food establishment – or even greasy spoons for that matter, you’ll have discovered that a meal size plate of nearly anything goes for between $7 and $12 after tax.

Comparatively, a home-cooked meal worth the same amount will often provide 4 or 5 portions. What I’m suggesting here, is a good old fashioned recipe swap of frugal Canuckian cuisine – tried and true recipes from those college days, when Mr. Noodles was the main component of 90% of your recipe repertoire. You can mix up anything with those noodles, I swear.

I’m going for interestingly creative and fun here, but nonetheless practical – and certainly not limited to Mr. Noodles. Quick, cheap, inexpensive, obscure, yet gourmet recipes.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is what this thread is all about. I hope.

I’ll even go first:

Andre’s End of the Month Spicy Fiesta

Ingredients:

2 packages of instant oriental beef noodles
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 White onion
1 – 3 of the hottest peppers your local grocer happens to sell. Ask if you’re unsure – I’ve never met a produce manager that didn’t love talking about food.
1 Package of fast-fry steak (thin cut)

You should be paying less than 5 dollars at the checkout for this 2 plate meal.

Preparation:

Prepare noodles as directed, meanwhile, slice the steak, onions, and peppers into strips. Saute the onion and peppers in a heavy skillet (or preferably a wok) over medium heat (using the vegetable oil, of course). Once the vegetables become translucent, add the fast fry steak.

At about this time, and depending on the peppers you chose, eye protection might be necessary, due to the possibility of mustard-gas-like fumes.

Toss this mess about for close to two minutes, then add the prepared noodles. Now is a good time to see if there’s any soy sauce packages laying about from the last time you got Chinese take-out. It’s not necessary, but it does add a little something extra. Toss constantly for about a minute, remove from heat, and serve immediately. Although the spicy-heat remains constant, this dish tends to lose its temperature-heat rather quickly.

Serve with bread or crackers – You’re going to need it – and much cold beverage of your choice, let’s not forget about that.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE UPDATED POST 

In my opinion, this is the hottest deal/freebie around!

For our new SmartCanucks.ca visitors here is the link to the detailed post about getting a free iPod shuffle or iPod Nano from TDBank starting from May 29th, 2006.

I think I should add a new section to SmartCanucks.ca’s sidebar and list the hottest deals around or maybe just the hottest deal of the week.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE UPDATED POST  

Let the Canadian iPod craze begin! 

 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE UPDATED POST 

Thanks a bunch AlexElder for allowing me to post your stunning article! I’m so grateful for your help 🙂

Yes yes yes you smart Canucks out there! TD Bank are once again giving out free iPod Nanos and iPod Shuffles starting on the 29th May, 2006. Read AlexElder’s awesome guide below for all the details.

” Hello everyone,

 

Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) are having a Secret Thursday Event on June 1st, 2006 where you receive 20x the points when you spend $50 or more

Tell a friend and when they spend $50 or more you receive 1000 bonus points and so on (up to a maximum of 100,000 points).

You can sign-up for Shoppers Secret Even here

Details:

Register today for this exciting one day event where joyful rewards await:
– Spend $50 or more* and receive 20x the Shoppers Optimum Pointsâ„¢

Spread the joy and collect up to 100,000 Shoppers Optimum Bonus Points!
– Get your friends to register and earn 1000 Bonus Points for each friend that shops and spends $50 or more on the day of the event.
– Receive an extra 1000 Bonus Points for each friend they refer (and so on) who registers and spends $50 or more on the day of the event.
– After the June 1st 20x event, we will email you an exclusive redemption event certificate so you can redeem 40,000 points for $100 off your purchase on June 10th or 11th . That’s worth an extra $25 in free products.

What do people usually buy on a SDM 20x events?
iPod is the hottest product to buy on a 20X event. Here is how it works:

Regularly, you collect 10 Shoppers Optimum Points for every $1 you spend at Shoppers Drug Mart. On a 20x day you get 20 times the points i.e. 20×10 = 200 Shoppers Optimum Points for every $1 you spend

So for iPods you’ll approximately get (iPod prices slightly changed but I’m too lazy to recalculate them):
– iPod Video 30GB costs $379 so you get 379 x 200 = 75800 points
– iPods Nano 4GB costs $299 so you get 299 x 200 = 59800 points
– iPods Nano 2GB costs $249 so you get 249 x 200 = 49800 points

You can redeem these points for huge savings. Here is how much you can redeem your points for:

 

So buying an iPod video on a 20x day would get you a discount of $150.
For the iPod Nano 4GB you get a discount of approximately $110.
For the iPod Nano 2GB you get a discount of approximately $80.

You’ll find it almost impossible to get a better deal on iPods if you want to buy it from a well known retailer.

A few months ago Subway introduced their daily $2.99 six inch special: each day a different 6″ sub is only $2.99.

You can also make your $2.99 six inch sub a meal deal for only $2.00. Here are the daily subdeals. Note that they slightly vary from province to province.

Monday – Turkey Breast and Ham
Tuesday – Meatball
Wednesday – Turkey Breast
Thursday – Italian B.M.T
Friday – Tuna
Saturday – Roast Beef
Sunday – Roasted Oven Chicken Breast

For your convenience, I’ve compiled the McDonad’s McDeal Specials here.

McDonald’s Ontario McDeal
Monday – Big Xtra
Tuesday – Big Mac
Wednesday – McChicken
Thursday – 2 Cheeseburgers
Friday – Fillet o Fish
Saturday – Double Cheeseburger
Sunday – Quarter Pounder with Cheese

McDonald’s Nova Scotia McDeal
Monday – Big Xtra
Tuesday – McChicken
Wednesday – Double Cheeseburger LT
Thursday – Quarter Pounder with Cheese
Friday – Fillet o Fish
Saturday – Double Cheeseburger
Sunday – 2 Cheeseburgers

McDonald’s Quebec McDeal (can someone please check this)
Monday – Big Extra
Tuesday – Big Mac
Wednesday – McChicken
Thursday – 2 Cheeseburgers
Friday – Filet O’Fish
Saturday – Quarter Pounder
Sunday – Double Cheeseburger

Unfortunately, A&P and Dominion are changing their Fresh or Free policy. Thanks to rkinkley for the following detailed explanation of their new policy 🙂

I don’t really know much about this new policy so if you have further enquiries please contact rkinkley at [email protected]

I was looking at your website and laughed when I read your story on Fresh or Free. Most of what you said was correct. But… not all. Items that have the date best before june 10th, are considered expired on midnight june 9th. So if you see best before june 10th and its june 10th, then that item is considered expired and you would be able to get a fresh replacement on it.

The fresh or free policy is about to change. The new rules which take effact Monday April 24, 2006 will be the following. This is a reply from the forum discussion that I started on the website that I list below!

“The old program ends April 23th, and the new one begins April 24th.

Purchases must exceed free stuff, and are not returnable, and can only be exchanged. FREE stuff is not returnable OR exchangable.

Receipt needed for everything now EVEn house brands.

Berries(straw,blue, rasp, ETC) are now NOT part of the F or F promotion, they can turn bad in hours.

Organic UNDATED product in now not covered by the ForF promotion due to a complete lack of use of pesticides ETC, but dated organic is ForF, based on date only.

Rainchecks are NOT offered for ForF stuff if we don’t have a EXACT replacement, we will offer a comparable product instead.

Rainchecks are issued for products, but are not unlimited, we “reserve the right to limit quantities”.

just some dude!

Have you ever been shopping when you find an item, read its displayed price and decide to buy that item but then when you checkout the cashier scans it for a different price? a much higher price? Yes it happens to all of us and the cashier does one of two things… either apologizes for the wrong price and says he/she’ll charge you the lower displayed price or the cashier just acts like a total %$# and says the display price is wrong.

Well in both cases believe it or not, many well known stores in Canada should give you the item for FREE! Many chains are members in Canada’s Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code.

How does the code work?
If the scanned price of an non-price ticketed item is higher than the shelf price or any other displayed price, the customer is entitled to receive the item free, up to a $10 maximum. When the item has a price tagged, the lowest price applies. When identical items are incorrectly priced, the second one will be sold at the correct price. Under this code you are eligible

What does the code cover?
The Code covers all scanned merchandise at participating retail outlets where the “Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code” sign is displayed at the store entrance or checkout. Note that you’ve probably seen this sign before but never knew what it is. A&P have it posted on every checkout isle.

What happens if two or more identical non-price ticketed items are incorrectly scanned?
Customers are entitled to the first item free (up to a maximum of $10) and the subsequent item(s) at the correct price.

Which stores participate in this code?
Here’s a rough list of participating stores. Please feel free to notify of additions/deletions to this list:

the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores (CACDS)
Shoppers Drug Mart
The Groupe Jean Coutu (NB and Ont only)
Lawton Drug Stores
London Drugs
Lovell Drugs
Pharma-save (BC and Sask)

the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors (CCGD)
Canada Safeway Limited
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company of Canada Limited
Loblaw Companies Limited
Sobeys Inc.
Metro Inc.
Thrifty Foods
Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
Co-op Atlantic
Federated Co-operatives Limited

the Retail Council of Canada (RCC)
Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
The Home Depot Canada
Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd.
Toys r Us
Shoppers Drug Mart
Wal*Mart Canada Corp.
Giant Tiger Stores Ltd.
The North West Company
Best Buy/Future Shop ( in implementation stage)
2 Home Hardware franchisees

the Federation of Independent Grocers (FIC)
Thrifty Foods
Overwaitea Food Group
The Harry Watson Group
Longos Brothers Fruit Markets

As well as over 1000 independent locations

Where can I get more details?
http://www.ccgd.ca/en/PriceAcc.html

This article is a continuation of my previous post. Please read my previous post first if you haven’t already done so to understand what this is about.

The following post is a detailed explanation of how you could make good use of the We’re Fresh Obsessed concept to get free food. Thank you Mike for this awesome article.

There are a lot of other grocery stores that offer a “fresh or free” policy as well:

A&P Canada
Dominion
Kohl’s
Farmer Jack
Rainbow Foods

However, to keep things simple, I will only concentrate on A&P grocery stores in Canada. By all means, see if other grocery stores have similar policies for yourself!

There are extra rules to the policy that aren’t advertised. For example, you can NOT take any expired food from the in-store bakery. Also, you can NOT take anything that has any sort of Clearance or $1 off stickers on them. Everything else is pretty much up for grabs though. If you aren’t sure, don’t take it.

To get an item that says “best before: July 12th” for free, it must be July 13th or after. Even though the “best before” implies that it is actually expired on the 12th. Don’t argue with A&P employees. The customer is never right, apparently.

You can only get 1 of each item. You can’t score 2 bags of Lays BBQ chips. However, you CAN score a bag of Lays BBQ and a bag of Lays Salt & Vinegar. Or the same flavour in different bag sizes.

These policies aren’t put into place for the customer’s sake, they are used to make the customer do the job of their employees. Keep the merchandise moving. Because you can only have 1 of each item, if a customer finds 1 item out-of-date, usually there are 20 of the same item also out of date. Now that they are aware, hey can check for and return the 20 other items.

FINDING A&P LOCATIONS.

Obviously, you are going to want to find A&P’s near your house. Preferably 24 hour ones, but that isn’t necessary. As far as I know you can locate stores here.
If you click on the “info” button beside each store, you can also see its operating hours.

Most other grocery store websites also have a “Store Locator” type section.

WHEN TO GO

Now that you’ve found a few A&P’s near you, you have to know what time to go to maximize you free food intake. Obviously, you can go at any time if you want some food.

If the A&P is open 24 hours, going in slightly before midnight is your best bet. The food only has a few more minutes before it is out-of-date. By the time you go to cash out, just make sure it is past midnight.

If the A&P isn’t open 24 hours, then the earlier the better. The less time they have for the employees to find the out-of-date items the better. Regardless, any A&P at any time can possibly yield an amazing score.

Items are usually dated in groups. For example, certain brands of chips will all be dated for the same day of the week, regardless of what day of the week the product was actually produced on. This is most likely to help store employees remove the items from the shelves, by only having to check once a week instead of daily. Knowing the day of the week that items go out-of-date will definitely help a score. If all bags of chips go out on Wednesdays, then going on a Monday won’t increase your amount of scored chips any.

Check the items dates, and look for patterns. Usually the dates will always be 7 days apart. A lot of chips (Lays, etc) are out-of-date (ready to be scored) on Wednesdays. A few brands are Tuesdays. Pillsbury products also have a date pattern.

ITEMS TO CHECK / ITEMS NOT TO CHECK
Check:

Juices (in the cooler, not on the shelves)
Milk (not bags)
Pillsbury products
Cheese Wiz (usually Black Diamond)
Chip Dip
Yogurt (12 packs & large containers)
Pudding
Little Debbie Snacks (Joe Louis, Ah Caramel, etc.)
Pies
Butter Cups
Pitas
Flat Bread
Chips / Nachos
Cream Cheese
Pizzas
Pizza Crusts
Pastas and Sauces (Just the refrigerated fancy ones).
Cheese Cakes
Some Fancy Chocolate Bars (with dates)

Don’t waste your time on:

Dried Pasta
Canned Stuff
Margarine
Milk in Bags
Individual little yogurts
Lunchables
Anything being displayed in the cardboard box it was shipped in.
– These haven’t even been taken out and put on shelves yet!
Most things that are on sale.
– they are on sale to get them out of the store.
Almost any Meat Product.
– they change the dates anyways to make sure they don’t go out-of-date.

HOW TO CHECK FOR OUT-OF-DATE ITEMS

For the most part, the out-of-date items are usually right in the front. The grocery store is hoping someone will still buy it without looking at the date, then they can still make a profit off of their out-of-date items. Sometimes lazy employees do not put the newest items to the back, so there may be out-of-date items far in the back as well. This is almost always the case with Pillsbury products, do to the weird dispenser thing. It is usually a good idea to take a “random sample” from somewhere near the back as well, especially if it’s something you really want! 🙂

Don’t forget to look up and down! As silly as it sounds, when shopping, people have a tendency to only see things at eye-level (studies have proven this). Things at the top or bottom have probably been there the longest. Plus, it probably also applies to the employees looking for out-of-date items. Out-of-date items will most likely be found on the top or the bottom shelf.

Once you’ve been to the store a few times, you can get a good pattern to follow to check everything. You can visit things that are a priority first, like the pizzas. The less time you aren’t in the A&P, the better. Also, when you score an item, remember where you found it. When you cash-out, you will most likely be told to find fresh versions of your items.

CASHING OUT

You don’t want to get bugged for not buying ANYTHING, because it will look like you went to the store just for the purpose of scoring. So, if you have to do some grocery shopping, save it until you go to score. If there’s nothing you have to buy, just pick up something cheap, maybe a pack of Generic Mr. Noodles for $0.25. Enough to let them know that you are a real customer who just happens to have a good eye, not a teenager with the munchies and no money.

Bring your score to the Service Counter, which is usually near the entrance (it’s where they sell lottery tickets and cigarettes). If nobody shows up, bring it all to a cashier. Show them what you’d like to purchase, nd then point to your score and tell them that the items are out-of-date. After that, you can stand back and watch the confusion…

You will most likely be told to “find fresh ones”, so you can go do that while the cashier tries to figure out how to handle the situation. Make sure you get the freshest replacement items available, since you want to keep the items going out-of-date soon on the shelves, so you can score them later. If all the items are out-of-date, the policy says that you can replace it with a similar item. However, some Managers might not know that, and try to not let you have anything (or they may try to give you a rain-cheque). Take what they give you, and don’t argue.

The whole check-out process is quite amusing. Cashiers must void each product and apply stickers to things. Cashiers usually aren’t trained in the process, and usually make up their own little way of doing it. Once everything has been voided, you can pay for any items you may have legitimately purchased, and then you are on your way!!

TIPS
– If you visit the same A&P regularly, you might want to make mental-notes on things that are going out-of-date soon. If you see a Cheese cake that is going out next Wednesday, try to remember it!

– Go with a friend or two! You can split up to find items, so you only have to be in the store for a few minutes. At the same time, avoid going in a huge pack.
– Avoid conflict with Managers. They are very bone-headed individuals, who are often quite defensive after seeing you score $30 worth of free food. After all, it may take them all day to earn enough money to afford that food, and you are just reminding them of how bad of a job they are doing at being “fresh obsessed”.

– Double check your dates before you cash-out! A bitter cashier would love nothing more than to make you pay for some pitas after you thought you’d be getting them for free.

– Don’t talk about you score while you are scoring. Think of yourself as doing A&P a service.

– Try to mix up the days, times and locations that you visit an A&P. After a few visits, Managers will definitely be keeping an eye out for you.

– Don’t do anything stupid!! Sure, you can easily bring in your old bread-clips and clip them onto any loaf you want. Sure you can hide a Cheese Cake under a few other products, and get it next week. The problem is, if you’ve scored several times before, there are definitely Managers watching you. If you do something “illegal”, they will definitely find out on the video tape. After all, they are probably just waiting for an excuse to kick you out of the store, and fraud is a pretty good reason.

Summer is fast approaching and soon we’ll be renting cars and traveling all around Canada (and maybe the US too). But the process of renting a car and getting a good deal is so aggravating! My friend, Jawaad, prepared a comprehensive article that explains how to get a good deal on car rentals. He compares different rent-a-car rental agencies including Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National and Thrifty.

Thanks Jawaad for using the Suggest a Deal form and notifying me 🙂 You can read his article here.

It’s no coincidence that Fresh and Free both start with the same three letters. At A&P, Dominion, Ultra Food & Drug and The Barn Markets store you’ll always get your grocery fresh or free. Yes that’s true! Although most customers have heard of the “We’re fresh obsessed” slogan very few know that it means you can get your grocery for free (and fresh too) if it’s not originally fresh. So here is how it works:

If you find any spoiled item at A&P, Dominion, Ultra Food & Drug or The Barn Markets store, just take that spoiled item to the Customer Service Desk and they’ll give you one fresh replacement free of charge 🙂 Yes, it’s that simple!

What is a spoiled item?
Well according to them, it is any item where the “best before” date has passed. Products with “Best Before” dates are considered fresh until midnight the day before.

What is not a spoiled item?
– Minor food bruises and discolouration occur naturally and don’t affect freshness.
– Damaged or reduced items are excluded – this includes Extra Ripe Produce.
– With multiple items like a bad banana in a bunch, they’ll only replace the individual item.
– Since organic grown produce can appear blemished or less fresh due to the lack of pesticides and fertilizers used, it isn’t included in this free guarantee.

So in a nutshell, if an item’s best before date has been reached, just take that spoiled item to the Customer Service Desk and they’ll give you one fresh replacement free of charge.

Please leave your comments and let me know what you think of my articles. Thanks

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