Noteworthy “Free Money” American Express Offers + Other Online Shopping Fun

I love adding cash back offers to my American Express card(s). On this relaxing Sunday evening, as I am catching up on my deals and paying bills (yuck), I just so happened to see what the “Offers For You” tab at American Express had to offer.

Here are some noteworthy offers:

• $5 back on $30 at Exxon: Simple enough – we all spend money at the pump. Here’s a way to a quick $5 rebate if used by 12/31/13.
• $10 back on $25 at Bonefish Grill: A nice 40% “rebate” on a dining-out purchase.
• $25 back on $250 at Best Buy: Terms say e-gift cards are not eligible, but I know that Best Buy does sell physical gift cards in the store (some even sell $200 Visa gift cards). I will happily be the guiena pig this week and report back with an update if the statement credit posts on a gift card purchase (I have a feeling it will).
• $50 back on $150 at Chicos: I don’t plan on using this offer personally, but it might be useful for holiday shopping!
• $50 back on $200 at White House Black Market: If I need some immediate retail therapy, I’ll be sure to keep this in mind!

Speaking of retail therapy, I treated myself to some goodies at Sephora (10 United miles per dollar until 11/5). I also used promo code “BLITZ” at check out to get an additional 8-sample gift pouch of products (for orders over $25), along with the standard 3 free sample bonus. Shipping is free on orders over $50.

…and I didn’t stop there. It’s starting to get chilly in the northeast, so I used that as the perfect excuse to invest in some Ugg boots. I decided that the “Bailey Bow” style was cute and a splash more feminine than the standard boot; however, discount/promo/coupon codes are almost always not applicable to Ugg Australia purchases at most online retailers. In the end, I decided to make the $205 purchase (eek) at Shoes.com and receive 13% cash back using TopCashBack (~$27 savings). I also get free 2-day shipping with ShopRunner.

Another option I considered was ordering the boots from Neiman Marcus to earn a total of 23 AAdvantage miles (18 AAdvantage miles per dollar + an additional 5x for using my Chase Freedom), but the boots were on back order there for an undisclosed amount of time, and I frankly have had horrible luck with the AAdvantage shopping portal in the past. That purchase would have earned me ~4,700 miles, but I was more interested in the cash back and instant gratification.

Lastly, if you haven’t already, find a buddy and don’t forget to “Tweet a Coffee“, a promotion with Starbucks, Twitter, and Visa that allows you to receive a free $5 Starbucks e-giftcard when you send $5 using a Visa to someone else (comes down to $5 purchase = free $5).

What online shopping deals have you stumbled upon this weekend? I  *do* have some minimum spend to work on… ;)

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