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Best Buy this week announced a new online trade-in program that allows you to exchange used electronics including computers, cameras, camcorders and iPods for gift cards.

Some of the discounted golf stuff I recently bought at Sports Authority included a $10 Ram driver. I know what you're thinking: you get what you pay for, right? I'll admit I had my doubts, too. But after breaking it in at a Greensboro driving range over the weekend, I was amazed at how well I drove the ball.

Just about every drive reached or went over the fence. Some smacked into trees beyond the fence. Yes, hitting balls at the driving range isn't the same as teeing off at a golf course with people waiting and watching, maybe a little beer money on the line.

But I was never this consistently good with my old driver, on or off the course.

Then I remembered that Visa commercial where the guy's playing awful so he keeps blowing huge amounts of money on golf equipment. Priceless.

Who am I kidding? With the price of everything going up, even life isn't giving out free lemons anymore.

But you can still get lemons for a steal. This Sunday's paper includes a coupon for 50 cents off of three or more Sunkist lemons. It's not often that you'll see a coupon for loose produce (the coupon can also be used off of 2 lb. or larger bag of Sunkist lemons). The lemon coupon is in the RedPlum coupon insert.

If you use that coupon at either Lowes Foods or Harris Teeter -- both stores double coupons up to 99 cents -- you could end up with a deal that's really sweet.

Little known fact: Wal-Mart will match competitor's advertised prices. Simply take the advertisement with you and show it to the cashier when you're checking out. The item you're purchasing has to be for the same item advertised and the ad has to be current.

With a little planning, you can take advantage of good sale prices across town without eating up your savings in increased gas use.

A glance at a grocery store dairy case recently may have sent you on a search for Tums instead. Those prices are enough to give you heartburn.

But Compare Foods has a good deal on Pet milk this week. Starting Wednesday, you can get a gallon for $2.99.

Greensboro's Compare Foods is in the Northeast Shopping Center on Summit Avenue. If that's not close to you, clip the ad out of Tuesday's News & Record and take it to Wal-Mart to get the price match. The Compare Foods ad is on the back page of the A section of the March 4th paper and is good Wednesday through March 11.

Triad Chick-Fil-A restaurants will be giving away breakfast on Fridays during the month of March. Get in line between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. to receive the featured dish for the best bargain price of all: FREE!

"Oh no! What have I done? I smashed open my little boy's piggy bank, and for what? A few measly cents, not even enough to buy one beer. Wait a minute, lemme count and make sure...not even close."
- Homer Simpson

A few deals on brews this week:

Harris Teeter has 12-packs of Bud Light bottles for $6.88 and cases of Miller Lite for $14.99.

Food Lion has 18-packs of Coors Light for $8.99.

Cheers.

My birthday is next week. Moe's Southwest Grill, the burrito place, remembered, sending me an email good for a free burrito on my birthday or the three days following it. Happy birthday indeed.

Red Robin also sends out coupons for a free burger on your birthday. And I got a 'Happy Birthday' postcard a few days ago from shoe retailer DSW, good for $5 off a purchase of $19.95 or more during my birthday month.

In all those instances, all it took to get the discount was to sign up at either the company Web site or for a loyalty card in the store.

That's worth it for free lunch and dinner on my birthday. Know of others? Post it in the comments section!

UPDATES:
The closer I get to my birthday, the more offers pop up in my inbox. Trust me, I'm not complaining.

Carolina Cafe & Bakery offers a free sandwich with the purchase of a drink. To sign up for their eClub click here.

Join Qdoba's eClub and you'll also get a coupon for a free burrito when you purchase a burrito or another dish at regular price. Sign up for the eClub here.

There's more. I got a buy one, get one free Blizzard coupon from Dairy Queen. For that offer, join the Blizzard Fan Club.

Red Lobster offered a coupon good for $5 off any two adult entrèes because I'm a member of the company's Fresh Catch Club.

Ryan's offered me a free adult buffet meal with the purchase of an adult buffet meal. To get that birthday offer, join their eClub.

And one of my favorite wing joints, Buffalo Wild Wings, sent a coupon for a free dessert with a $5 purchase. If you want one, sign up for their loyalty club in the restaurant.

I'd never be able to eat all this food in one day. Good thing most of them sent the coupons the week before my birthday and made the offer good for two weeks.

For more birthday coupon offers, check out the comments section!

Walgreens has a good deal on bar soap this week. Pick up a two-pack of Olay, a three-pack of Zest or a four-pack of Safeguard or Ivory bar soap on sale two for $4. When you buy, the register will print a Register Rewards coupon worth $4 good on your next Walgreens purchase. In essence, you got your soap for free.

Pair that sale with the $2 off one Olay bar pack coupon or the $1 off any Zest bar bundle coupon that was in the Sunday coupons recently for a really great deal.

Want to try before you buy? Check out these offers:

Sign up for a sample of Curèl lotion here.

For a sample of Jergens Natural Glow Express go here.

And to try a sample of Dove hair care products go here.

So why did all these people, knowing full well the HD DVD player could go the way of Betamax, buy one anyway?

Josh Levin, in a column in Slate, has a theory, at least regarding why he plunked down $150 for one:

"I have a strange affliction that left me susceptible to HD-DVD's limited charms: I'm a gadget-loving cheapskate."

He also calls himself a moron and an idiot. I think this guy needs a hug.

Anyway, Levin hopes to make all those "HD-DVD-buying losers," himself included, feel a little better by pointing out Blu-Ray's days are also numbered.

"If there's any consolation for us HD-DVD-buying losers, it's that disc-shaped physical media won't be around much longer," Levin writes. "Once high-definition digital downloads, like those available through Apple TV, hit the mainstream, Blu-ray will be as dead as HD-DVD. Take that, Sony!"

Belk, as part of its "night owls/early birds" special, has a Sharper Image digital photo keychain for $18 (regular $30).

Sale is 4 to 10 tonight and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Features a color 1.4-inch LCD screen, slideshow function and holds up to 60 pictures.

You see a lot of coupons for 35 cents off, 50 cents off and 75 cents off when you flip through the Sunday coupons. But I had to pause -- and clip -- when I got to the FREE coupon for Frank's Red Hot hot sauce in this week's Smart Source insert.

You can't beat free.

The Canon PowerShot 7.1-megapixel camera (A570IS) is on sale this week at hhgregg for $129.97 (regular $179.97).

Couple of things that prompted me to get this camera in December (for $60 more. Figures): image stabilization, the convenience of using regular batteries, the ability to record decent video and solid customer reviews at various store feedback sites.

Match a sale with a good coupon to get an even better deal. Here are a few coupon-sale matchups I found this week at Walgreens:

Walgreens has No Nonsense pantyhose on sale Buy One, Get One Free (BOGO). Pair that with the $1 off coupon in this week's Smart Source insert.

The store also has Chex mix BOGO. There's a 50 cents off coupon in this Sunday's paper.

Like most stores, Walgreens has Easter candy on sale. Match this week's 2/$3 sale on bagged Easter candy with the 55 cents off two Brach's Easter candy coupon from last week's paper for extra savings.

A sampling of grocery store deals in the Triad this week:

Food Lion: Two-for-one deals on stuff including: 2.5-pound bags of Food Lion frozen boneless chicken breasts, 1-pound bags of Food Lion medium cooked shrimp, Frosted Flakes, Nabisco single serve snacks, Ritz crackers, Campbell's dinner kits,

Harris Teeter: Two-for-one deals on stuff including: Progresso soup, 2.5-pound bags of boneless chicken breasts, 16-ounce Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Northland cranberry juice.

Sears has a deal on a spotlight: $9.99 from 9 to noon Saturday. Regular $19.99. But this isn't your ordinary spotlight, mind you. It's the equivalent of 3 million candles, according to the ad.

Three million candles?

Maybe I've already spent too much time trying to conceptualize the power of 3 million candles. Reminds me of one of those cell phone commercials, where callers are wasting time pondering stuff like whether you can get something specific in a general store.

But still. Would you ever say to yourself, "man, that's a great deal on a spotlight. But 1.5 million candle power? Please. Wouldn't be able to see my hand in front of my face."

It's like horsepower. Why do we still refer to engines as having horsepower? Can anyone born in the latter-half of the 20th century relate to that metaphor?

"Hey man, this baby's got 500 horse power."

"Really? So it's like 500 horses are pulling your car around the track? That's the power you have under the hood? Holy cow!"

Glad I'm getting this off my chest.

I know. I'll call my circle of friends and discuss this more.

The good news regarding the growing popularity of high-definition DVDs: standard DVDs are cheaper than ever. At Circuit City for example, you can get a bunch of flicks for $3.99 each. Yes, some of them are so bad you couldn't pay me $3.99 to watch it. But there are some good ones in the mix, including "Silence of the Lambs," "Reservoir Dogs", and "Capote".

The prices of Blu-Ray players, however, are going up.

Up?

"That's right: Since Toshiba gave up on HD DVD in mid-February, Blu-ray prices - which had been showing some modest declines back in December - have spiked," one tech blogger writes.

Yet another reason you may want to hold off spending that tax rebate check on a Blu-Ray.

A sampling of grocery store deals in the Triad this week:

Hams:

Compare Foods: Frozen whole smoked hams for $1.18 a pound.

Food Lion: Regular or brown sugar Smithfield spiral sliced hams for $1.49 a pound.

Harris Teeter: Smoked, honey glazed or brown sugar spiral sliced bone-in half ham for $1.59 a pound.

Lowes Foods: Gwaltney whole or half honey glazed or brown sugar halves of premium spiral sliced ham for $1.39 a pound (limit two with additional purchase).

Kmart: Smithfield spiral-sliced ham (limit two with additional $20 purchase).

Two-for-one deals:

Some retailers, hoping to ease the anger felt by some customers stuck with an HD DVD player after it lost the format war to Blu-Ray, (or perhaps hoping to preempt being dragged into a class-action lawsuit) are offering rebates or extending their return policies.

Best Buy recently announced it's offering a $50 gift card to customers who bought one before Feb. 23.

Circuit City has also agreed to accept HD DVD player returns in exchange for store credit. It also extended its return policy from 30 days to 90 days after purchase.

You may be among those out there who are perfectly content with watching regular DVDs on your standard DVD player.

You have no urge to blow hundreds of dollars on one of those Blu-Ray high definition players you've been hearing a lot about lately. Besides, you don't have high definition TV, so what's the point? And you might be a wee bit suspicous: are manufacturers forcing new products upon us by making our existing ones obsolete for no good reason so they can make money? That's just the thing a co-worker wondered. OK, he's still angry he bought an HD DVD player, muttering something about using it as a doorstop. But it's a good question.

Some megastores are giving its employees more leeway to ignore the sticker price and make a deal with customers -- something that could work to your advantage if you're willing to do a little research before hitting the stores.

According to this New York Times story, Home Depot adopted an "entrepreneurial spirit" campaign in the last year to give employees wiggle room to negotiate prices to keep customers. Other shoppers have had success talking down the sticker price on electronics.

This is a YMMV (your mileage may vary) phenomenon, but if you're about to lay down some hard earned cash for a purchase, it never hurts to ask.

Check out the sheet of AAA Car Care coupons on the back page of the A section in today's News & Record. Included in the mix is a coupon for a $9.95 oil change, which is a pretty good deal.

The oil change includes 5 quarts of GTX oil, an oil filter and a 16-point inspection. The AAA Car Care Center is open to the public; you don't have to be an AAA member to have your car serviced there. But if you are an AAA member, you get a sweeter deal: The Car Center will double the warranty on their work and give you a 10% discount on labor.

CVS has a Vivitar 50x/100x telescope with tripod for $14.99 that might be fun for you and your kids to check out stuff. About a dozen people weighed in at Overstock.com, giving it mixed reviews. For what it's worth, I have something similar as far as a low-range, introductory scope that I use with my 7-year-old nephew to check out Jupiter's four largest moons at grandma's in the summer. She's a pretty good ways from light pollution, so that helps.

Coupon Clippers: Get your scissors ready!

Harris Teeter will be TRIPLING the face value of coupons, up to 99 cents, for three days this week. The deal starts 7 a.m. Thursday and goes through midnight on Saturday. The store will only triple 20 coupons per customer per day, so choose carefully. You'll need a VIC card to take advantage of the deal.

Taking advantage of triple coupon sales is a great way to slash your grocery bill. That 30-cent coupon? Now worth 90 cents. Got a 50-cent coupon? Now the register will subtract $1.50 off your total. And for a 75-cent coupon, the store will take $2.25 off your bill. Match it up right, and you can get some groceries for pocket change or even free.

Clip away!

A sampling of grocery store deals in the Triad this week:

Food Lion: 10 for 10 deals on stuff including: Michelina's frozen dinners, pasta or Rice A Roni sides, Chef Boyardee canned pasta and microwave bowls, 32-ounce Gatorade, Zone Perfect or Power Bar, Kellogg's cereal in a cup.

Harris Teeter: Two-for-one deals on stuff including: London broil or top round roast, boneless chicken breast, 8-pack Scott paper towels, 6-packs of Coke, 2-pound packages of EZ peel white or HT Traders tail-in shrimp, sliced, smoked or honey-smoked turkey breast, Purina Dog Chow.

This New York Times reporter took that goal to the extreme, eating and serving a week's worth of meals made from ingredients bought mostly at 99 cent stores.

Was he successful?

I'm not going to spoil the surprise! Read the article and post your thoughts in the comments field.

Anyone willing to try this challenge locally, eating for a week on food from the dollar store? If so, shoot me an email at lanita.withers@news-record.com.

We stayed at a KOA cabin at Hatteras regarding a charter fishing trip last fall. Make that crammed into a KOA cabin (six guys, two bunks, one double bed. You do the math).

I don't mind roughing it, but I try to avoid it when possible. That's where my queen-size, raised inflatable bed came to the rescue (plus it avoids those uncomfortable "those aren't pillows!" moments since I can sleep alone).

I was in snoozeville in no time. One drawback - queen size is a tad too big for a KOA cabin. People exiting and entering the cabin through the main door kept bumping into it.

In any event, JC Penney happens to have a queen raised inflatable on sale for $49.99 (regular $99.99). Includes pump.

Happy trails.

Walgreens is having a special four-day sale with some pretty fabulous in-store coupons. You have to print the coupons to get the sale price.

Included in the deals: Four-packs of Walgreens brand C or D batteries for $.99 and three-packs of Scotch brand tape for $.99. Both of those are great deals.

The sale ends Saturday.

That's a question that I get asked every so often, usually by naysayers who watch in amusement as I clip coupons while I'm waiting for a informal meeting to start or during a basketball game.

I think I'll start carrying around some receipts to prove that you can get a banging deal on groceries with the right mix of coupons on a sale.

Example #1: I went to Harris Teeter during lunch today to take advantage of their triple coupon sale. Had I paid full price for my purchases, I would have spent $86.76. But by buying things on sale and using coupons, I ended up spending $13.86.

$13.86!! That's a savings of 84 percent.

Can you really save money using coupons? YES!!

Not sure why: Bud Light and Miller Lite are on sale at Food Lion through tomorrow for $4.99 a 12-pack, which is the lowest price I have seen in memory. Bountiful crops of barley and hops? Oversupply? Too much beer flooding the market? Who knows. Where's a brewconomist when you need one?

It is interesting to see this at a time when the prices of foods and other goods are going up, up, up, partly (or mostly) because of soaring oil and gas prices.

Cheers.

When is the last time you got an offer to fill up for free?

This coupon isn't for a free tank of gas (I wish!), but Wednesday at Walgreens, you can get a free printer ink cartridge refill.

Just print out this coupon and take it with you to the store.