FREE $10 dining coupons from Restaurant.com.

You may remember this offer from last year, when Restaurant.com just started shooting free $10 dining certificates out of a cannon during the holidays, and it's BACK! Go to their Feed it Forward site and login with your regular Restaurant.com account (or create one) in order to start sending $10-off coupons to your favorite local restaurants. Send one to your coworker, send one to your mailman, send one to your yoga teacher! They're free, so why not?

You can send up to 40 a day, so get going!

Borders: 33% off coupon.

You know I wouldn't leave you hanging right before Mother's Day! Get on over to Borders and get yourself a 33% discount on whatever perfect present you choose. Good through May 9, so even you procrastinators are covered.

Today is Free Shipping Day - WITH guaranteed Xmas delivery.

Now, of course I'm not talking about you here, but if you have a friend who maybe hasn't gotten all their holiday shopping quite done yet, they'll be glad to know that today is Free Shipping Day. Over 1,000 merchants have joined in a mighty fellowship, making a sacred pact to offer free shipping AND guaranteed Xmas Day delivery if you order today.

Some stores are offering this deal for all orders; some require a minimum purchase; and some are offering discounts and sales on top of the free-shipping offer, so you should browse the list of merchants and check out your options. Just don't take too long, because that's what got your friend into this mess in the first place.

(Courtesy of Hey It's Free)

Restaurant.com: Give your friends and family $10 certificates for free.

UPDATE: You can also just use promo code SHPPRSRSRC and get 80% off (which is the usual $0.80 for a $10 certificate or $3 for a $25 certificate.) Exp: 12/31/10.

Restaurant.com has a new promotion called "Feed it Forward," in which you can apparently give other people $10 Restaurant.com certificates just by providing their email address. You can give up to 40 per day, though only once to each person.

I'm sure there's a catch, though I can't see it from here. Are you consenting to have them spam you? Is there some fine-print restriction that I don't see? If you're feeling brave and want to give it a try, here's some more details and the link.



"Feed It Forward™ is a free way to build community and lift people's spirits by giving the gift of $10 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates. Simply let Restaurant.com know who you want to give to and they'll take care of the rest. You can give up to 40 $10 Restaurant.com Gift Certificates every day through December 31. It's a great holiday gift for everyone on your list. And the best part is - it's FREE!"

Seattle: Final Starbucks ticket giveaway today, 2 pm!

Today is the final giveaway day in Starbucks's "We Love You Seattle" promotion. This time, tickets are for selected shows of BURN THE FLOOR, a ballroom-themed dancetacular at Seattle's Paramount Theatre. I'm pretty excited about this one myself, so you'll find me in line at 1:59 pm waiting impatiently for my voucher.

Find a participating store in the area and wait your turn! These free tickets fly out the doors within 15 minutes or so, so don't dawdle if you want some floor-burning action.

Free Spa Translations pocket notebook.

The confusingly-named Spa Translations is offering you a free pocket notebook. I have a similar one myself and I really like it - the pen goes through the loops on the edge, keeping it shut, and the hard case gives you a surface to write on anywhere. This one looks like it has post-it flags and sticky notes inside, which is even better.

Looks like you'll be signing up for a world of junk mail and translation offers, though, so choose your email address accordingly.

Free photo books from Hot Prints.

I haven't tried this out personally, but apparently Hot Prints is an online company that makes custom photo books, calendars, etc., and they're offering one free 16-page photo book per month per customer. It does come with ads, but they'll be on their own pages (not on the other side of picture pages) and can easily be removed.

Sounds like you may have to download some software to lay out your photo book and captions and such, but it could be a nice little Valentine's card or a gift for that aged relative who still can't open picture attachments in email.

(Courtesy of HeyItsFree.net)

Seattle: Free swag bags, sushi, and $20 styles at Swink, 2/4.

Tomorrow, February 4, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm, downtown styling salon Swink (i.e., they don't do haircuts, just fancy 'dos) will be holding a special "SwinkHeart" event. Show up early for free swag bags, free nail polish changes from Julep, free snacks from Redfin Sushi, and make an appointment for a $20 updo. The event itself is free, but you must call ahead if you want one of the styling slots.

Swink is located at 611 Stewart St. in Seattle.

Bath & Body Works: 75% off, + 20% off that.

Bath & Body Works is having a smelly sale on their holiday scented bath products, up to 75% off! Plus, you can get an extry 20% off by using promo code INSTYLE20, or so I hear. I can't imagine why the Red Vines scented lotion didn't fly off the shelves this Xmas, but this tinted lip-balm quad compact is a steal for $6.

Info: The 2010 Gift Wrapping Challenge.

According to this interesting WiseBread article, 50% of the paper consumed in the U.S. is used on wrapping and decorating consumer items. This figure seems a little high to me (I would think junk mail would be closer to that 50%), but okay, I get the point - we use a lot of fancy paper to wrap gifts, and if it's lucky it makes it into the recycle bin, but hardly ever gets reused.

Anyway, the article has some good tips that stemmed from a challenge she issued to a friend: wrap all presents throughout 2009 without using any new wrapping paper, plastic wrap, or gift bags. While some of the tips are pretty obvious (buying gift bags from the thrift store instead of new), some are fairly ingenious ("wrap" gifts in purses and stockings from the thrift store - if the recipient doesn't like them, they can pass it on to "wrap" another gift or donate it back). I gave reusable shopping totes as gifts this Xmas, and while I didn't use them as wrapping (I was mailing the gifts), those also make chic gift wrap that's a gift in itself.

If you're feeling ambitious, you can try the challenge in 2010!

Info: Bonus gift cards with gift cards.

HeyItsFree.net has compiled a BIG holiday list of bonus gift cards that you get when purchasing last-minute, emergency gift cards to a bunch of different stores. Be sure to read the explanatory info up at the top that tells you about the terms, because "bonus" cards work a little differently from gift cards and can have more restrictions and expiration dates.

Still, there's a ton of different stores and restaurants on there, so this might be the perfect panic present for that hard-to-buy-for relative or die-hard Applebee's fan.

Borders: 30% off any item.

Not to freak you out or anything, but I just wanted to quickly note that there are TEN DAYS TILL XMAS. I just finally mailed out my last packages today, sooo... I'm hoping they get where they need to go on time. I hope my mailman sprinkles a little Xmas magic over them.

If you're a bold soul who hasn't yet finished holiday shopping, Borders has a 30% off coupon for any one item. Use promo code BSL7022B to order online. At this point, though, online orders are cutting it pretty close, so you might want to just take that coupon into the old-fashioned bricks-and-mortar store if you want to make sure those stockings are full*.

Free PDF book of mason jar gift how-tos.

Well, this year I barely had time to click "Buy Now" on Amazon for my holiday shopping, but assuming I ever have the time to make some down-home hand-crafted gifts of love for my friends and family, I'm going to check out this PDF book of 34 Ideas for Gifts in a Jar.

There's the usual brownies-in-a-jar and cakes-in-a-jar, but also soup mixes, gingerbread and pumpkin bread baked in the jar, honey bath scrub, and edible chocolate bath scrub (!). There's also something called Cranberry Hootycakes, but you might want to stay away from that one. Just a feeling I have.

Old Navy: 30% off any one item.

Old Navy has a coupon for 30% off one single item, good through Dec. 19. I needn't remind you that we're on the home stretch of holiday shopping, but this would be a good way to knock out at least one more gift... assuming your loved ones enjoy bargain-priced clothing staples.

$1 card from Burger King with free passive-aggression.

Kinda sorta feeling a pang of guilt over excluding that acquaintance/Facebook friend/coworker you smile at but don't really like from your holiday gift list? Burger King will help you make the empty gesture that means so much this season. For $1, you can send your recipient a paper holiday card with a $1 bill inside. (The bill is intended for them to purchase a cheeseburger or something that's $1 at BK - advertising alert!)

I kind of like "Thinking of you a little bit this holiday season," but there's something satisfying about "Because I care deeply about someone who looks kinda like you," too. Nothing welcomes the holidays like a passive-aggressive slap in the face and a crisp dollar bill!

Borders: 30% off any item.

Yes indeed, it's... a Borders coupon! For 30% off any item! No, this is not the same one as the coupon I posted a few days ago. Yes, they put out a lot of coupons. No, I do not know why. You're welcome.

Seattle: Free wine, cheese, 10% off at Husky Deli, Dec. 4.

West Seattleites know and love the Husky Deli, in the West Seattle Junction, for its huge thick sandwiches, fancy gourmet foods and sweets from around the world (where else can you get Kinder Eggs AND butter oil in the same place?), and its delicious ice cream and the milkshakes made thereof.

On Friday, December 4, those of you who don't yet know the delights of Husky Deli (and devoted fans, too) can come to a holiday open house from 5:00 to 9:00 pm (they never update their site, so you'll just have to trust me on this - I got a flyer). Sample wine, cheese, deli meats, and sweet treats from their catering menu as well as various vendors. All purchases made during the open house will get a 10% discount, too! I've got my eye on this sheet of English toffee that comes with a tiny hammer to break it up with. A TINY HAMMER. I could just die.

Free Aveeno tote bag from Martha Stewart.

You can get a free Aveeno tote bag when you fill out this online form here. I know it looks a little shady, but there's a link to it on Martha Stewart's website (scroll down), so I think it's legit. You could use another tote bag in your life, right? Right!

(Courtesy of HeyItsFree)

Cosmo, Oprah Magazine, Esquire, Elle, etc., $5 subscriptions.

Man, $5 magazine subscriptions are THE hot ticket this year! At this rate, I expect to be seeing a dozen or so new subscriptions in my mailbox come January. Here's another promotion with a batch of $5 magazines - some we've seen before, like Esquire, Elle, Seventeen, and Woman's Day, but some I think are new, like O for Oprah Magazine or the Food Network magazine. Anyway, there's something for everyone, so go nuts!

Barnes & Noble: Buy a $100 gift card, get a $10 gift card free.

Barnes & Noble is jumping on the bonus-gift-card bandwagon with their own offer: spend $100 in gift cards, get a $10 bonus gift card free. The best part is, the bonus gift card is emailed to you on Dec. 26, so there's no question of having to give it to someone else - you'll just have to use it on yourself. Coincidentally, that will be right when the post-holiday sales fire up, too. Discounted calendars and next year's Xmas cards, anyone?