Not like we should need incentives to vote. But……since this is America, land of the marketing gimmick:

Starbucks is giving away a free “tall” coffee to customers donning their red “I voted” sticker. One per customer.

Ben and Jerry’s is scooping free ice cream to voters between 5pm and 8pm tonight.

Know of any other election-related freebies? Do share! You know I love free stuff.

I recently discovered the pure joy of a cold glass of ice water. I used to be one of those people who rarely had ice in the house, and as such, I had no ice trays. But then we started buying bagged ice and if there’s one thing that you really don’t need to pay for, ice would be it.

So on Friday, when I was out and about, I noticed that Linens N Things was finally bought by a liquidator and is marking down items to reduce inventory before going out of business. They have ice trays there.

Right now the discount is small– between 10 and 30 percent. They aren’t taking coupons and all sales are final. But if you’re a going out of business vulture that lays in wait for the major discounts, keep your eyes open. And use your gift cards if you have them. The clerk told me they are still accepting them.

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This week’s episode of the Dollar Duo features a segment on online coupons. I shared my experience trying to redeem a manufacturer’s coupon at Cub Foods. I failed, despite the fact the corporate policy is that such coupons are accepted.

More and more coupons are available online these days– from manufacturer’s themselves, online shopping sites and circular companies such as redplum.com.

Other coupon sites to try are coolsavings.com, fatwallet.com, and couponmom.com.

Have you had success using online coupons in brick and mortar stores? What are your favorite sites?

Does “free” have a cost? Credit Bureau TransUnion is trying to get college students to think about that riddle as they head back to college campuses. Many schools have banned tables offering freebies in return for filling out a credit card application. But some students will still be greeted by seemingly harmless goodies in return for getting a credit card.

Problem is, if you charge up that card and don’t pay the balance in full, that free t-shirt ends up costing a pretty penny, especially considering most cards geared towards college kids have higher finance charges. Who reads the fine print standing outside of the student union?

As part of the campaign, TransUnion sent me a gray t-shirt emblazoned with a piggy bank that says “Free credit card t-shirts can be scary…if you don’t do your homework.”

So here’s the deal. Share what you think is your best college money tip– whether it’s about student loans, saving money, dealing with credit, you name it.

I’ll pick my favorite on Wednesday and will send the winner the T. And Ka-Blog readers will thank you.

From Laura P. at  FatWallet.com:

Post a Hot Deal, Get a Free T-Shirt.

My desk is buried under bins full of FatWallet T-Shirts. And I need your help.

The first 1000 members to post a Hot Deal receive one free FatWallet T-shirt each. When you post a deal, I get to walk one of these sweet Ts out of my office to shipping and receiving (better known as Debbie) where it will be whisked away via USPS to you, our valued member.

To Get Your Free T
1.Post your Hot Deal
– If after 24 hours, your smokin’ deal is rated positive (above 0) by the FatWallet community –
2.You will receive PM and/or email notification of your deal’s eligibility, linking you to the page where you claim your prize (give us your address)
3.You should receive your kick butt T-shirt within 10 days of submitting your shipping information. One T-shirt per member

Challenge! Members who post a Hot Deal from a FatWallet Cash Back merchant will receive the exclusive, previously unreleased “I am the Revolution” FatWallet T-shirt (while supplies last ‘cuz these shirts rule)!

Eligibility
· Deal must have a positive rating 24 hours after being submitted
· The usual Hot Deal criteria (Hot Deals FAQ : No reposts, no spam, compare your price, forum guidelines…) apply
· Only Deals from a FatWallet Cash Back merchant qualify for the “I am the revolution” FatWallet T-shirt
· Limit one T-shirt per FatWallet.com member per promotion
· Eligible deals posted after 7/22/08 12:00 a.m., CST
· While supplies last