The Cheapskate's Greatest Hits: Coupons, MP3s, eyeglasses

One of the all-time great Cheapskate deals: 800+ free MP3s.

(Credit: Rick Broida)

I've been at the helm of The Cheapskate for about 18 months now. I don't know how that works out in dog years, but I figure it's the musical equivalent of cutting six or seven albums. (Don't ask me where that math comes from. I was an English major, and I'm working toward a metaphor, dammit.)

Consequently, I decided it was time for a "Greatest Hits" post--a collection of some of my favorite money-saving tips. If you're new to the blog or just missed these the first time around, I hope you'll find them useful.

• Before you click "buy," search for coupons: Do you wish you had a big, juicy coupon code for the checkout page? A quick bit of Google searching may produce one. Or hit up Web sites like DealLocker and RetailMeNot to browse their coupon collections.
• Save a small fortune on prescription eyeglasses: Are you still paying hundreds of dollars on every pair of glasses? Order online and you can get out the door for less than $40, possibly even less. I probably wouldn't use Zenni Optical again, if only because of their slow shipping and poor communication. But there are plenty of other online eyeglass-makers to try.
• Get 770 free MP3s from Amazon: Actually, the count is now 827, with more tunes being added on a weekly basis. You may not recognize many of the artists, but trust me, there's some good, good stuff in here.

Did I leave out any of your favorite "hits"? Needless to say, I'd love to hear what deals really made your day. In the meantime, thanks for 18 months of kind words and support. I'm looking forward to the next 18 months!

[Flyboy16]

Keep up the good work, Rick! I have been a loyal reader of you blog. Look forward to the next 18 as well!

[capatel81]

Don't forget www.fatwallet.com

[rickbroida]

Speaking of free MP3s, you can download Coldplay's new live album, LeftRightLeftRight, absolutely free -- if you can connect to their already overloaded site, that is: http://www.coldplay.com

[1719matt]

awesome. thanks alot

[brianzajac]

Whoa! Awesome comment. You should have used this link today & "best of" on Monday. This is huge!

[jblomquist]

I keep purchasing items you have posted because the deals are too good to pass up. I have yet to be dissappointed.

[funkyboot]

I picked up the X-Box 360 Pro you posted on a few weeks ago. It's the first gaming console I've bought since the Sega Genesis. So far I'm loving FIFA, and am anticipating the release of the new Madden. I honestly thought my gaming days were behind me but...

[benignotx]

Keep up the good work man!

[jcarithe]

Thanks Rick, I check your site everyday! Keep up the great work (and I'm downloading Coldplay as we type).

[Georgia in MS]

What!!!??? You've been doing this for 18 months?? I've only been following you for about 5 months. Look at how much money I could have saved!! I have bought alot of stuff and have tried to buy some things that were already sold out. I look forward to your deals every day.

My best purchase I think --- the HP 9350 desktop. And the Zen 16gb Mosaic. And the Trend Net Ez-N. mmmm ... what else??

[rickbroida]

Hey, speaking of the HP 9350, there's a firmware update for the hard drive that fixes that maddening slowdown problem. Finally!

[Georgia in MS]

Will the HP auto update pull this firmware update or do I need to go looking for it? Also, I never set up the RAID - new disks found on your computer wizard- could you post a link for me on how to fix that so I'll stop getting that message on the bottom right corner?

[rickbroida]

@Georgia: Not sure. I disabled HP auto-update a while back (thinking it might be a culprit). So I fetched the update manually. Try this link: http://tinyurl.com/ouosty

[Georgia in MS]

Thanks, Rick!

[youngc3]

Keep up the good work Rick, I love the blog and stop by on a daily basis! Quick question, do you or anyone else know of a decent back up program I can use with my new external harddrive to back up my desktop? I think I remember an old post, but can't seem to find it.

[rickbroida]

Yep! Try these: http://blogs.bnet.com/businesstips/?p=1821

[TylerHudg]

Hi Rick - I love your blog - keep up the good work!

I was looking through the MP3s on Amazon and it seems a little misleading in a way. A lot of the songs are duplicated on multiple pages. For instance Building 429's song "No one else knows" and Big Daddy Weave's "In Christ" as well as Sixpence None the Richer's "Breath your name are all on multiple pages of the free MP3s.
It is still an awesome site - just not as awesome as it looks at first.

[mmmbrains]

Thanks for reposting the Amazon mp3 info, I missed that one. I find it much easier to navigate than iTunes and there are so many better deals. I can't wait to get home and download some new stuff.
Also, I don't wear glasses but fowarded that on to a few people I know who do and all came back to tell me it was an amazing, solid deal.

[nategion]

Speaking of Amazon MP3 deals, Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown is on $4.99 right now.

Keep up the great work Rick.

[rickbroida]

Already snagged it myself! :)

[livingaudio]

Thanks for all your hard work Rick, loved the incredible amount of free songs on Amazon
*d(-_-)b*

[cmsell]

Awesome CD and even better at that price. Can't beat good, affordable music!

http://www.frugalgadgets.com/amazon-mp3-daily-deal.php

[bernsteinr]

i HATE the cheapskate blog! so much that i have it in my RSS. youve made me spend soo much money! (and the glasses were pretty decent, btw)

[filthysusan]

So where would you buy glasses if you were to do it again?

[bryanb867]

congrats on 18 months! I don't remember how I found your blog (I think I was searching Google for a review and it popped up), but 4 or 5 months later, I'm a daily reader and recommend your blog to lots of other people. Thanks for bringing all the great tech (and other) deals to us every day.

[loose_screw]

Thanks Rick, I've bought a few things after learning about them from your blog. Keep up the good work!

[BrettinKansas]

Way to go Rick! Thanks for all the great deals.