Great Deals

American Science and Surplus - Science kits, educational toys, school supplies, arts and crafts items, hobby tools, scales, lab glass, housewares, electronics and much more all at discount closeout prices." (Thanks to a ComputerBob user who chose to remain anonymous!)

Archie McPhee - This company calls itself "Outfitters of Popular Culture!" I get their catalog at home! They've got tons of hard-to-find cool stuff like Pug Dog air fresheners, mini guillotines, rubber rats, boxing nun hand puppets, chocolate coins, red felt Shriner fezzes, rearview vision sunglasses, bowling pin clocks, boxing Amish-guy hand puppets, candy eyeballs, gorilla-head pencil sharpeners, Magic 8-Balls, rubber chickens, spud guns, bubble-gum cigars, giant soft ice cream cone lamps, pink lawn flamingos, 40" rubber iguanas, and much, much more!

Bigfoot - Bigfoot is a free, LIFETIME EMAIL FORWARDING service, not a free email provider! You sign up for a free Bigfoot email address of your choice, and then you tell Bigfoot the address of your current email account -- from then on, you tell everybody to write to your Bigfoot address, and Bigfoot automatically and immediately forwards all of your email to whatever email account you've told it to send it to! Why would you want to do that, instead of just telling everybody to send email to your real email account? Because normally, when you change email providers, which you'll probably do several times in your lifetime, you have to tell everyone you know and every online service and newsletter that you've ever signed up for to stop using your old email address and start using your new email address. With Bigfoot, when you change email providers, you simply tell Bigfoot to forward your email to your new current email account! Simple, eh? Bigfoot can also automatically forward people to your Web site, filter out spam, forward your email to more than one email address, send you reminder emails for birthdays, anniversaries, etc., let you look up the email addresses for millions of people all over the world, and more, all for FREE! I've used Bigfoot for years, and I highly recommend it! NOTE: In 2001, after spending several years, signing up millions of users by claiming that its email address would be "free for life," Bigfoot suddenly changed its policies and began charging each user $20/year, while limiting the number of messages that users can receive per day. Therefore, I no longer use or recommend Bigfoot's services. NOTE: In 2002, Bigfoot doubled its price to $40/year. ComputerBob's Guide To Free Email Accounts has lots more information about free Web-based email accounts.

Cellular Phone Information - Includes technical and pricing information for over 3,000 cellular phone services plans, over 200 models of cellular phones, and over 1,000 accessories! Check out their pros and cons and their tips and tricks for communicating via cellular phone!

ComputerShopper - ComputerShopper keeps track of hundreds of Internet hardware and software dealers. Find the very best price on the Internet for thousands of pieces of hardware and software. ComputerShopper lets you search for the specific item you want, and then shows you several different dealers' prices, phone numbers, shipping charges, etc. In 1997, when I was working as a consultant, one company I worked for was buying PC graphics cards for $189 each from a local computer store. Using ComputerShopper, I found the exact same graphics card on the Internet for $95 each, saving them almost $100 per card! Before you order any PC components onine, be sure to check ResellerRatings.com to find a highly rated online store.

COPYCAT RECIPES - Insider's Recipes has over 400 copycat recipes, Kitchenlink.com has over 9,900 copycat recipes and CruiseLineCuisine contains "signature recipes of cruise line master chefs."

COUPONS AND MORE - Cool Savings is a free service that lets you print out real coupons that you can use at your favorite stores, restaurants and travel companies! There's another great free coupon service at ValuePage.com, that also has free groceries, music, books, samples, and more! (Thanks, Deb Fleming, for ValuePage.com!)

Digital Camera Shopping Tips and Digital Camera SuperCenter - Thinking of buying one of those new digital cameras that doesn't use any film? ZDNet tells you how how they work, what features to look for, and which make and model is the best one for you! What You Really Need To Know About Digital Cameras will tell you... well, you know.

eBay Online Auction - All kinds of stuff for sale, including antique pocket watches! Be sure to check out a person's online references and return policy before sending them any money! Also see uBid, below.

FREE LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE SERVICE DialPad.com is a Web site where you can make free long-distance calls over the Internet from your PC, without downloading or installing any software! All you need is Internet Explorer v4 or newer, or Netscape v4.5 or newer, and your PC must have a sound card, microphone and speakers! The people that you call only need to have a telephone. Dialpad.com requires you to answer a lot of personal questions when you register with them, but they don't say that you have to answer those questions truthfully. (Thanks, Rasta!)

FREE ONLINE STORAGE SPACE - FreeDrive's "TestDrive" option gives you 20MB of password-protected, free hard drive space on the Web! Save your files to FreeDrive and then access them from any Internet-connected PC in the world! Share your files with co-workers and friends!

Free PCs - Are They Really Free? - CNet tells the truth about "Free PC" offers! Sometimes the truth is in the fine print!

FREE STUFF - The Free Site calls itself, "The Home of the Web's Best Freebies"! They've got links to hundreds of free things all over the Web -- you'll have to see it to believe it! If you want MORE and MORE and MORE, then also check out Amazing Free Stuff and Totally Free Stuff and andFreaky Freddies Free Funhouse. If you'd like to receive a different free sample of something every day in the mail, sign up at StartSampling (Thanks, NeeNee!)

Hammacher Schlemmer - Want to buy "the best" ballpoint pen ($50)? How about a paint-by-number canvas of any photo you choose ($180)? Maybe you're in the mood to buy a 100% suede shirt ($300), a classic horse-drawn sleigh ($6000), or a concert grand piano ($150,000)! If you like really expensive stuff, this is a good place to look for it!

ISPs.com - Looking for a new Internet Service Provider? ISPs.com has lots of valuable information and tips for picking the right one for you! Search for information on a particular ISP, or enter your area code, and this site will show you up to hundreds of national and local ISPs in your area, along with their features, services, prices, and sign-up information! Some are as cheap as $4.95/month for unlimited Internet access! You'll probably also want to read my article, My Recommended Internet Service Provider!

LONG DISTANCE - I've been with AmeriCom since 1999. They buy long distance time in bulk from major long distance companies and then offer it to their customers at a discount! AmeriCom's Simplicity Plan offers state-to-state long distance for only 4.9 cents per minute, with 6-second billing, 24 hours a day, every day of the year! They also offer in-state long distance at competitive prices, which vary from state to state! There are no monthly fees, no monthly minimums, no extra numbers to dial, and you can also get a personal toll-free 800-number for 4.9 cents per minute, with no monthly fees or minimums! My first long distance bill from them was for a total of 13 cents!

MediaRing Talk 99 - (3.3 MB - Freeware Beta) Make free long distance phone calls over the Internet! It's true and it really works! If you download this free software and your Internet-connected PC has a sound card, microphone, and speakers, you can make free long distance phone calls, and talk as long as you want, to anyone in the world who also has this software and an Internet-connected PC with sound card, microphone and speakers! You may run into a bug here and there, but it works great! If your PC doesn't have a microphone, you can pick one up at most computer stores for around $10!

Natura - Makers of Innova Canine & Innova Feline - The very best pet foods I have ever found! My dog and two cats eat nothing but Innova!

NoWorry Reminders - Sign up for a totally free service that will automatically send you email reminders for any and all of your important dates! Birthdays, anniversaries, appointments, whatever!

Quotesmith - FREE instant price quotes from 325 life insurance companies!

Refurb Depot - Discount prices on brand name electronics and computer equipment that have been refurbished! According to their Web site, new equipment is 50 times more likely to be defective than refurbished equipment!

RedTag - RedTag buys only brand-name products from manufacturer's overstocks and closeouts, and from companies that are going out of business! That allows them to sell thousands of home electronics, appliances, domestic items, sporting goods, and other items, at deep discount prices!

SCAMS - Sometimes that "great deal" that you found is actually a scam. SafeFromScams.co.uk provides tons of free expert advice on how to protect yourself from all kinds of scams.

Scanners - How To Buy One - ZDNet's complete guide to scanners, including how they work, what features they have, and what you should expect to pay for one!

Sharper Image - Need a lie-detector telephone? How about a paper weight with a million-dollar bill sealed inside? This is a good place to look for some unusual, but pricey, low-tech and high-tech gifts for yourself and others! Wouldn't it be worth figuring out how to get that million-dollar bill out of that paperweight?

Stinko Products - ZDNet rants and raves about several lousy computer products -- are you thinking of buying one of them?

Taylor Guitars - Builders of my custom-made, 955CE 12-string guitar, named "Anastasia," after my precious God-daughter!

TechDeals.net is a great place to look if you want to buy a computer, a digital camera, a DVD player, or any other type of electronic equipment. It has user-posted information about tons of excellent, unadvertised deals.

TRAVEL - A few of the best places to find the cheap airline tickets are Orbitz and Expedia and SeatGuru and SideStep. (thanks, Bob Niemann!) Northwest Airlines CyberSavers - How would you like to fly from Nashville to Chicago and back, and pay only $129 for the round trip ticket? If you're willing to travel on really short notice, you can find super cheap airline tickets to places all over the world! Every Wednesday morning at one minute after midnight, Northwest Airlines posts their CyberSaver fares for unfilled flights that will be leaving that same Saturday morning. The destinations are different every week! You can save a bundle because they'd rather sell you a ticket really cheaply than fly the plane with a bunch of empty seats!

uBid online auction - All kinds of stuff for sale by auction! I wish I had found uBid 36 hours sooner than I did! After doing a week's worth of research, I decided to buy a brand new $249 Epson Perfection 1200U scanner. The best price I found online was $167, so I ordered one at that price. Less than 36 hours later, I found uBid and looked in their scanners section. They had 35 refurbished Epson Perfection 1200U scanners going for only $109 apiece! If only I hadn't ordered mine brand new the day before, I could have saved an additional $58! Also see eBay above.