Washer fluid for a dollar a bottle

Dollar Tree in Roslindale on American Legion Highway has windshield washer fluid right now. This isn't something they always carry. Stock up! They also have huge bottles of ketchup for anyone who needs some before the next time it's free or better than free with coupons (probably Independence Day for good deals on condiments).

Some good deals right now using multiple mobile apps

Marley coffee is $1 off on Snap, $1.50 off on Checkout 51, and $2 off on iBotta. The shelf price is $6.99 at Wegman's. Mike's Hard Lemonade is also on multiple apps, as are Ciao Bella gelato, Scrubbing Bubbles, various Clorox products, CLR products, and Beech-Nut baby food.

Bing Rewards is now getting me $5 every 18 days

So, I'm at gold status, I'm doing the 25 searches every day and clicking on the stuff, and I've been getting a $5 Amazon card every 18 days (sometimes sooner when they run promos). It's pretty fabulous; our household has a prime account that was $39 for the year using a student ID, so we don't pay shipping. I put the Amazon cards in my gift card account as they accrue, then any time I need a school supply, battery, light bulb, etc. that's not available at the stores I regularly go to (which would be Dollar Tree and grocery stores) and is going to be overpriced there anyway, I go onto Amazon and it shows up before I would have had a chance to go to a specialty store. It's such a great thing for busy families.

If you want to try it out, show me some love and use my referral linky thing.

Free bananas

Right now:

• iBotta has an offer for 20 cents off bananas
• Checkout51 has an offer for 25 cents off bananas
• SavingStar has an offer for 20% off bananas

Bananas are 39 cents per pound at Wegman's right now. Buy one pound, use these three offers, and you'll get 7 cents plus 20 cents plus 25 cents back, making the bananas -13 cents. Is it sad that I'm mentally figuring out what equation one would use to figure out how to get the most free bananas?

(And if you don't have these apps already, use my referral links to help out the broke mofo who told you about them, right!?)

EDIT: The math is actually pretty simple; 56 cents worth of bananas is the maximum that would be free -- you'd get back 20 cents + 25 cents + [X/5, which is 11 when X is 56], so 56 cents back.

Free pizza!

I came across this story, in which people are apparently using this online chat/dating app to get people to buy them pizza.

My first thought of course is, hm, I could pose as a young lady and take advantage of some desperate guys with too much time and money on their hands, right? Of course, my next thought was, naw, I'm grown, I got other stuff to worry about, I'm not actually going to give my address to these sort of people, nor am I going to take advantage of anyone, even cocky rich boys trolling on the internet.

The idea kind of intrigues me though, and I'm sure I have readers who are the type to try this, so, well, I thought I'd let you know it's a thing. You're welcome.

Nail clippers for -43 cents at CVS

This worked at the Fresh Pond CVS in Cambridge using the self checkout. Near the nail care items, there are hanging coupons for $2 off any Beauty 360 implements. The implements on cards are all $4-$10 or so. To the right of that are loose implements in bins, including $1.57 nail clippers. The tiny stickers on the bins indicate that they are Beauty 360. It was a ridiculously cheap price for nail clippers anyway, so I figured I would try it and pay full price if it didn't work, but it did. Unfortunately, the coupons say one coupon per customer, so you can't use them to get a whole bunch of free stuff. 

Free financial literacy training

I came across this training offered by ABCD, which looks good. It's free, but you have to preregister. 

Free entrance to museums and cultural sites this summer

I've heard great things about this Free Fridays program. My family generally prefers to go to museums during non-peak times, because of family members with medical and mobility issues, so I've skimmed right past this offering in past years. Looking at it more closely though, I'm thinking some of the sites that are a little ways out of the city and/or largely outdoors might be less crowded and worth checking out. Has anyone had experience with this program?

Local libraries offering free and discounted admission to museums

I've been aware of the museum pass program at the library for well over a decade, but I just recently found out that they've redone their system so that it's much easier to use. The first system I remember involved calling or visiting each library branch and asking what passes they had available on what dates, and they would look in a physical signout book. I did use this a few times, but it was tedious and I would end up reserving whatever pass they had for several months out. The next improvement was basically an online version of this, in which
one went onto the website, chose a branch, a date, and a museum, and did this repeatedly until an available date came up.

I was extremely pleased to see the new system, which has a searchable interface that lets you put in the date, branch, and museum, or leave it as open as you want. I did one search to see what passes were available for the next few days and found that there are many openings; if you aren't picky about which museum you visit, you could go tomorrow. I specifically wanted to go to the aquarium (holy expletive, it's $26.95 for 12 and up, $17.95 for kids, and there is no low-income discount available), and there are many passes available starting in a few weeks.

If you're interested in different museums from the ones BPL offers, Momlifehacker has a nice roundup of different museum passes that are available at different libraries in the area. FYI, the BPL, Minuteman, and Old Colony library networks have a policy that any Massachusetts resident can apply for a card in their system. Minuteman and BPL let you use the same physical card for convenience, but they each have to register it separately. I've found that several of the staff members at the town branches seem to think library cards are only for residents of that town, and will try to have you pay for a day pass or courtesy card or some crap to check out materials. It's not actually required unless you don't live in Massachusetts; just check the policy on the system's web site and show it to the library staff if you have to.

Free ferry rides to Georges Island tomorrow

The ferry rides are offered on a first come, first serve basis and more information is available here. The ferries are accessible to people with mobility impairments and Georges Island is probably the most accessible island, with flat paved trails, modern restrooms, and so forth. Georges Island is a neat places for kids, with a historic fort as well as gorgeous natural areas.

Pleasant surprise in the mail today

This is one of the bigger checks I've gotten from class action suits. But come on, it really was the least they could do for causing me pain and suffering, right?