Petcetera has emailed a nice coupon to all their members. From today until August 15th save $20 off any $50 purchase (before tax.)  You have to be a “plus” member but this is free to sign up! What a great time to stock up on doggy food!  I usually skip going into Petetera since it’s very overpriced but this coupon makes it worthwhile. Click here for the coupon.  Thanks Raindty for the heads up.

Our wonderful member MLE on the forum has had the great idea to keep track of all the best back to school deals!  (Of course she would be a member of  Smart Canucks, bringing you the hottest ideas and deals first!)  Each week her list will be updated with the best and cheapest back to school deals, with various members contributing.

Heres the list for this week:

WAL-MART
Crayola coloured pencils (24 count w/ bonus sharpener) – $1.25
Bic 10-pack round stic pens – $1
Hilroy coil notebook (80 pages) – $.0.15
Assorted backpacks – $15
Crayola fine tip washable markers (50 count) – $7.00

STAPLES/BUREAU EN GROS
Crayola crayons (24 count) – $0.86
Woodcase pencils (10 count) – $0.38
Crayola coloured pencils (60 count) – $5.96
Retractable ballpoint pens (large package, exact amount not specified in flyer) – $7.96
Multiuse paper (white; 500 sheets) – $3.99
Impact 3-piece backpack set (includes backpack, pencil case, and lunch bag) – $12.98
Hilroy 6-pack excercise books (6 books; 32 pages each) – $0.33
Hilroy coil notebook (80 pages) – $0.18 (cheaper at Wal-mart but still a good price, some Staples have deals on them for $0.15; also includes a coupon for 5-star refill paper inside)
Staples brand lined refill paper (150 sheets) – $1 ($0.25 at some stores)
Staples brand white erasers – $0.75
6 pack pen style highlighers (assorted colours) – $0.99
Staples brand glue stick – $0.99
Ross school glue – $0.69
1″ Poly binders – $0.98
Poly Report Covers or Portfolios – 3 for $0.99
Sharp Scientific Calculator -$7.48

ZELLERS
Look for yellow stickers for an additional 50% on products
Crayola coloured pencils (24 count w/ bonus sharpener) – $1.69 (cheaper at Wal-Mart but still a good price)
Crayola pointed-tip scissors – $1.69
Hilroy coil notebook (200 pages) – $1.99
Crayola washable markers (8 count) – $2.59
Bic wite-out correction tape – $1.49
Bic 8-pack round stic grip pens – $1.49
Licensed pencil pouches (Tinkerbell, Iron Man etc.) – $2.97
Masterlock or Dudley combination locks – $4.99
Buffalo 14-piece math set w/calculator – $9.99
1.5″ zipper binder – $4.99
Sharpie black permanent markers (5 pack) – $3.99
Ross glue sticks (3 pack; 2 regular + 1 bonus) – $1.99
Bic assorted cristal pens (10 pack) – $1.49
Bic mechanical pencils (5 pack; .5mm or .7mm available) – $1.99
OLA retractable pens (5 count; 4 + 1 bonus) – $2.99
Assorted licensed backpacks (Tinkerbell, Iron Man etc.) – $16.97
Dickies or Brooks backpacks – $19.97
Sportex backpack set (includes backpack, pencil case, and lunch bag) – $9.97
Z-grip retractable pens (7 count in assorted colours) – $ 1.49 (with yellow sticker)

Giant Tiger

Bic liquid white-out (package of 2) – $0.99
Elmer school glue – $0.99
Papermate expressions stick pens – $1.97
Papermate eagle blue pens (12 count) – $0.99
Dixon woodcase pencils (20 count) – $0.69
COSTCO
Bic cristal pens (50 count assorted) – $4.49

LAND’S END
25% off backpacks & lunch bags with free shipping to Canada using the following codes: at checkout‚ on the Billing Information page‚ go to the section labeled “Promotion Code” (above the credit card payment box) and manually enter the Promotion Code CLASSES and PIN 1590 in the space provided.
(Last day for this deal is August 9th, 2010)

 Remember to check the forum every week for hot new back to school deals! Once again thanks so much MLE

CN Tower is offering  a buy one get one total tower ticket free coupon.  This coupon is valid until September 6th 2010. “Total Tower tickets include access to the Look Out, Glass Floor and Sky Pod levels, Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D film and Himalamazon motion theatre ride.  Must be 107cm tall to ride.”  This definitely makes it affordable to actually take the family with you, provdied their tall enough lol!

Click here to print your coupon.

Thanks Sager for letting me know about this hot deal. You can score yourself a nice 10mp digital Canon camera for only $79.99! Original price was $149.99!

Heres some details:

Affordable, intuitive and fun, the PowerShot A480 uses Canon know-how to let everyone take great 10 MP photos. Available in four colours, its compact, lightweight design slips easily into any pocket.
High Definition 10.0 MP CCD featuring 3.3x Optical Zoom
DiG!C III Processor enables advanced face detection, fast start-up time, extended battery life and incredible processing speed
Large 2.5″ LCD monitor is great for both shooting and viewing images
Motion Detection Technology automatically detects subjects movement and optimizes camera settings for the perfect photo
Noise Reduction Technology reduces noise in high ISO photography
Automatically correct red-eye while shooting or in playback with Advanced Red-eye correction
Image Inspection Tool allows user to easily check, compare and organize images

 Shipping looks to be $10. Click here to check out this deal.

I know that most of us here use coupons. They are awesome – but some people don’t want to deal with the “hassle”. You CAN save money without using coupons (although it isn’t as much fun!) by following these tips:

Make a shopping list and stick to it.
Before hitting the store(s), check your local flyers and jot down the best deals. Try to only buy what is on sale (although this is sometimes not possible, I know!). Once you get everything on your list, get your butt out of the store!

Make a weekly menu.
After you have noted what is on sale at the stores this week, plan your meals around the sale items. Are ground beef and pork chops on sale? Looks like you’ll be having burgers, pasta and pork chops for dinners. See oatmeal and Shreddies on sale? Guess what’s for breakfast?!

Shop alone.
Bringing your kids or spouse with you will only lead to unneccesary purchases (trust me on this one!). If you MUST bring your kids, make sure that they know you have to stick to your shopping list and buy nothing else.

Stock up when things go on sale.
Set aside a certain amount in your budget each month for stocking up on sale items. Then, when things like meat or cereal or juice go on sale for super cheap, STOCK UP! Purchase as many as you can afford/store/use before the item goes bad.

Eat less meat.
Let’s face it, meat is expensive. Delicious, but expensive. Try having at least one meatless meal per week to save yourself some money. When you do have meat, try making your other dishes the main course, and the meat the side dish so you do not eat a large portion of it.

Stop buying convenience items.
Grated cheese, chopped garlic, and pre-cut fruits/veggies are all items you should avoid if you want to save money. Stop being so lazy and just do those things yourself!

Buy the store brand.
I understand that there are certain items some people would NEVER trade for store brand (mac and cheese for me – I LOVE YOU KD!), but most things you can. We use store brand honey, crushed/diced tomatoes, nuts, spices, crackers and many other things and they taste just as good (sometimes better) than the name brand! Store brand items are almost always cheaper than name brand, so try them out if you want to save some serious cash.

Shop AROUND the store.
Produce, meats, dairy and bread are all located around the store. The center aisles are filled with things like chips, pop, cereal, crackers, condiments, etc. – and many of those things are not necessary. Shop AROUND the store for the freshest, cheapest foods.

Only buy produce that is in season.
There is always something in season. Check your flyers to see what the cheapest items are (using on the front or back page) – those are the items that are in season!

Don’t shop when you’re hungry.
Please tell me you knew this rule already. Right? Shopping while you are hungry always leads to very bad things. Impulse buys will just KILL your grocery budget. Eat something filling before you head out to go shopping.

Look high & low.
The most expensive items are ALWAYS placed at eye level. Look at the top and bottom shelves to find cheaper items (and sometimes you will get lucky and even score some CLEARANCE items – clearance is your friend. I call him Clarance.).

Compare unit prices.
See which size item has the lowest cost per unit – that’s the one you want to buy! Of course, make sure you are actually going to use the whole thing. Saving money on something you just end up throwing away is not actually saving money at all.

Yay! Another Living Well freebie! August 9th (anywhere from 9-5) there will be 4000 Nicorette inhaler samples available. What a great freebie if your thinking about quitting smoking. The link provided will update to the Nicorette offer when its ready for your information.  I wont be ordering this freebie since I’ve been smoke free since January 2009 but I know some friends who will order it.

I’ll bump this up on Monday 🙂

*hurry theres only 1800 left as of 11 15 am

Thanks Holly for using the “suggest a deal” feature here on the blog and informing us of this awesome offer!  Over the next month Lick’s is offering 30 cent burgers to celebrate their 30th anniversary!  Quanities are limited and only available on specified days below. *One burger per person* Click here for Lick’s website.  I’m not sure what their burgers are like, I tried the instore ones and they were oddly spicy to me.

If you were a fan of LOST TV show you’ll love this! A 12 minute epilogue of the show has been released 😀

Although it doesn’t explain everything this Lost Epilogue does answer a few of the unanswered questions a lot of us had. I really enjoyed these 12 minutes and wish Lost hadn’t ended!

Click here to watch the Lost Epilogue

American Apparel is offering free shipping from August 8th until 11th. You also can save 15% off by signing up for the mailing list.  Now I’m not sure if you can combine these offers but its definitely worth a try.  I’ve heard American Apparel has so really nice clothes that last a long time.

Click here to check out American Apparel.

Naturalizer is offering another discount code. This time it’s for 15% off and is good for use until December 31 2010.  There are of course some exclusions such as the “shape ups” knock offs.  If you do run into something not valid for the discount it will save “coupon not valid.”  Simply enter “NATCASAVE”  at checkout.

Click here to check out Naturalizer online.

Aeropostale is offering their classic v neck tees for only $7 in-store while supplies last.  What a great time to stock up your take your teen shopping to stock up for back to school. Hopefully theres a nice selection to choose from.

Aeropostle not your style?  Old Navy has some great graphic v necks on for $9-$10 this week.

What’s that FREE chocolate?!  Save on Foods is giving away individual packs of the new M&M Pretzels from now until August 28 when you present the coupon and your Save On More card at any location across Canada.  These M&M’s are so good and you can’t argue with free.  Yummy freebie!

Click here to print your coupon.

Thanks to bborik18 and carmelon for posting this freebie for us!

Amazon has a new video game deal that may come in handy for the early Christmas shoppers among us.  For this week, when you buy a PSP-3000 you get a game for free.  There is  a selection of games to chose from and the console itself can be purchased in either black or white.  The PSP-3000 is priced at $169.99 and qualifies for free shipping.  This promotion is only running until next Sunday.

A friend of mine bought this for her son as he’s outgrown the Nintendo DS and he loves it.  Fantastic for traveling.

Click here to check out this deal and see what games are available to choose from.

So if you are one of the ones that has taken advantage of the Chapters weekend sale on the Kobo reader, or if you already have an ebook reader of your own, you can save some money of a couple more books to add to your collection.  Right now you can purchase any 2 Kobo ebooks for 20% off by using coupon code Scorcher20 at checkout.  This deal is only available until August 9.  Kobo books can be read on the Kobo reader, the computer and multiple other ebook devices.

Click here to check out the selection of ebooks at Kobo.

While browsing through the deals section, I came across this cool thread that is listing school supply deals for the upcoming school year.  The original poster is updating the list as deals change and new ones crop up.  I know a lot of you have kids going back to school and you’re hunting for the best deals to get them fully equipped to go back so I thought I would let you know about this list.  I think it’s great and really appreciate the hard work going into it.

Click here to go to the School Supplies Deal thread.

Thanks to mle for creating and updating this thread for us!