News-Record.com

Fish for free in North Carolina tomorrow.

On July 4 from midnight until 11:59 p.m., anyone can fish in any public water including coastal waters in North Carolina without a fishing license or a trout stamp.

Some of you in Greensboro may have received a coupon in the mail that's good for a free haircut ($15 value) at Sport Clips to celebrate the opening of its Jefferson Village store near New Garden Road and Bryan Boulevard. Also a coupon for a boy's free haircut ($12).

An alien meeting a video game addict is the subject of our latest cartoon. (6:06)

Free admission to the Greensboro Coliseum's Super Flea Market this weekend.

It's Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 10-4.

One of today's hottest deals, according to dealnews:

Best Buy has 20 DVD movies on sale for $5.

Too little, too late?

Sony's hoping to jump start sales in announcing it's dropping the price of the PlayStation 3 by $100 to $500.

That's still a hefty chunk of change. It's $20 more than the Xbox 360 Elite. Nintendo's Wii - the biggest success story in the past year among the big three video game makers - sells for $250.

Speaking of video game news, check out the latest GameBuzz video show brought to you by the News & Record and hosted by yours truly (6:06). Still the best bargain out there (free).

Carolina Coffee and Tea in Greensboro is celebrating one year under new ownership Friday by featuring specials such as a free pastry or cheese with coffee or tea and free snacks with beverages. Specials take place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Harris Teeter has a buy 1, get one 1 free deal on Amy's brand frozen pizza (spinach or cheese).

Deal ends Tuesday.

Krispy Kreme is giving customers whose birthday is Friday (July 13) one free dozen orginal glazed doughnuts. Bring your ID.
Sweet.

You can get a free meal at any of Chick-fil-A's 1,300-plus restaurants if you dress like a cow today.

The fast-food restaurant chain is offering free Chick-fil-A Combo Meals (breakfast, lunch or dinner) in return for looking udderly silly.

Last year, more than 4,000 customers visited the restaurants throughout the country dressed in cow-theme costumes.

Send me some pics and I'll put them on the blog.

Redbox is offering a free movie rental if you sign up for their weekly newsletter.

In Greensboro, you'll find them at Harris Teeter grocery stores.

You can also reserve movies online and pick them up at the store. Movies are still $1 a night.

News & Record file

Tickets for the inaugural Wyndham Championship in Greensboro will be half-price Monday until Friday.

The tournament is set for Aug. 13-19 at Forest Oaks Country Club.

Here's the deal:

The $15 tickets must be bought at the Wyndham Championship tournament office in downtown Greensboro or by phone at 336-379-1570.

Children 15 and under are admitted free with a paid adult.

Details here.

Davis Love III won the final Chrysler Classic of Greensboro in October.
Rob Brown/News & Record

A News & Record interactive feature on the golf course and stories from October's event can be found here.

Deals to be had at the animal shelter.

The Guilford County Animal Shelter is holding its annual Christmas in July event Saturday and Sunday.

Door prizes for those who register. Anyone who adopts gets two entries.

The shelter's also offering a $20 adoption discount now through the 29th.

We got Anna at the shelter in 2002.
Awwww. Ain't she cute?

Fox 8 has a list of where kids can eat for free at Triad restaurants as part of a segment that aired Monday.

More info. here.

An animated rat, that is.

Supper Suppers in Greensboro is offering a free, regular-size baked chicken and bowties kids meal with a ticket stub from a screening of the animated comedy "Ratatouille," Carl Wilson writes in today's Short Orders column.

Deal expires July 31 and is limited to one entree per family.

How low can you go?

The price wars are heating up between the big three video game makers.

Sony recently announced it's hoping to jump start sales in dropping the price of the PlayStation 3 by $100 to $500.

Now there's talk Microsoft is upping the ante by lowering the price of its Xbox 360, which sells two versions for $400 and $480.

Wii is still sitting pretty at $250.

Decisions, decisions. We help sort it all out in today's GameBuzz episode. Still the best bargain out there (free). 6:21. We also talk about some of the strangest things we've ever heard playing a round of multiplayer.

Harris Teeter has a buy 1, get 1 free deal on Healthy Choice frozen dinners.

Deal ends Tuesday.

Never stepped foot in a Habitat ReStore, which sells used and surplus building materials. But my wife's grandfather swears on it regarding saving a wad of dough on building supplies.

He had all the kitchen cabinets and drawers outfitted with gold-color knobs he bought at a Restore near their newly purchased condo. in Sunset Beach (there are stores throughout N.C. including one in Greensboro).

A handyman, Ralph also bought some other materials from Restore he used for some interior work. He said he did some comparison shopping and figured he saved hundreds of dollars when all was said and done. Granted, there may some minor blemishes or the colors may not be exactly right, but the money you save can't be beat, he said.

A deal on lunch that won't leave your wallet feeling empty: Simon 98.7 FM is once again offering a hot dog or hamburger, chips, fruit and beverage for only 98 cents from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Governmental Plaza in downtown Greensboro.

There will also be prize giveaways, samplings and gifts.

Proceeds from Simon's Picnic in the Plaza benefit the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

"What's new is that electronic navigation systems are squelching those arguments as effectively as air conditioners beat heat," according to an article by McClatchy Newspapers, referring to couples fighting about getting from point A to point B.

Prices continue to get cheaper, too. You can now find them for under $200, unheard of even a year ago.

In the Triad, you'll find them on sale in the $180-$230 price range.

Highlights:

The lowest I've seen is a Mio for $180 (regular $200) at Circuit City.

CompUSA has a Magellan Maestro GPS for $200 (regular $300), which is $20 cheaper than Best Buy's sale price.

Can't justify spending $60 on video games, the going rate for Xbox 360 and PS3 titles? You don't have to.

But you also don't have to sacrifice quality for something cheaper. It's simple: Wait for the prices to fall because they will eventually, usually within six months to a year. Call of Duty 3, one of the best WWII first-person shooters ever made in my humble opinion (others like it), sells for $40 these days ($60 when it was released in November).

Still not low enough? Try the western shooter Gun. Not the best game ever made. But still a blast to play and sells for $20 at frys.com

We also talk about game steals and other hot topics (how to justify to your better half shelling out a whopping $600 for a new video game system, for example) at GameBuzz , a video show brought to you by the News & Record and hosted by yours truly (6:33). Always a great bargain (free).

It's just got a tad cheaper regarding playing hi-def DVDs on your Xbox 360:

Microsoft said today it's trimming the price of the HD DVD player to $179 from $199. It's also throwing in five free movies for buyers between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30.

This comes as the battle for hi-definition DVD supremency continues to tilt in Blu-ray's favor (at least the latest news indicates it's ahead in the race). The price drop comes a day after Target confirmed it's promoting the Blu-ray format for high-def DVDs this holiday season, Blockbuster announced the same thing a while back.

The state's annual sales tax holiday weekend begins Friday. But, as usual, there are strings attached. Michelle Jarboe spells it all out in today's Savvy Shopper column.

Xbox lovers take note: You can get 3,200 Microsoft Xbox Live points for $20 at Circuit City under a deal where you save $20 with the purchase of two Xbox Live accessories. So you buy two regularly priced Xbox Live cards with 1,600 points for $20 and only pay for one them. Deal ends Aug. 4.

Those clever Microsoft folks couldn't simply use a dollar and cents system so let me translate: 400 points equals $5 regarding purchases on Xbox Live. So 3,200 points equals $40. So yes, that's a great deal, Gaming Today agrees.

"At the current cost of MS points, this is something that is truly hard to pass on," according to Gaming Today.

So my 15-year-old Diehard trolling motor finally died on me in the middle of Lake Brandt. Not that fishing buddy/co-worker Nate DeGraff and I really noticed. At a whopping 1-horsepower and 18-pounds of thrust, it barely mustered enough power to create a soft breeze, let alone a stiff breeze. So I cast my net for good bargains on trolling motors. Wound up reeling in a MotorGuide Thruster T34 at Wal-Mart this past weekend for $97. Has 34 pounds of thrust and a 5-speed. Don't know if this thing has a hemi. Checked other places in the Triad. The prices were pretty comparable at other stores, but Wal-Mart had a slight edge.