This year will make it six years with Mint Mobile cellular service. They have provided reliable service at a low cost, and it fits my needs. They use the T-Mobile GSM 4G LTE and 5G networks, which means most phones are compatible and switching just requires swapping in a new SIM card (more recently I just use eSIM for instant over-the-air switching). (Mint was so successful that T-Mobile bought them.) I am an affiliate for them, but I’m also a loyal user.

This is their best deal in recent memory: New customers can get 12-Month Unlimited Plan for only $15/month. This is 50% off their normal low pricing of $30 a month for 12 months ($360 a year), for a savings of $180. Usually they only offer this discount for 3 months, so make sure you don’t buy the 3-month plan by accident! Offer ends January 2nd, 2025.

Want a new phone too?

• Google Pixel 9 for $299 ($500 off) along with the year of unlimited from Mint Mobile for $15/mo.
• Samsung A15 for only $60 along with the year of unlimited from Mint Mobile for $15/mo.

Note: “Unlimited” data still means speeds are throttled after 40 GB per month. Video streams at 480p. My personal primary complaint is that as an MVNO they are lower data priority, so at concerts or large public events, I feel my cellular data is slower than others. But I can’t bring myself to pay the full price of regular T-Mobile over that.

Use their phone compatibility checker first to see if you can bring your current phone over. All of their plans offer the slower 128 kbps speeds after you use up your LTE data, which is nice as you can still check your email and access basic services. (New customer means your phone hasn’t been on Mint within the past 90 days.)

7-Day “No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee” (starts upon SIM activation) so you can test them out before making any commitment.

All of our full phone plans and See for Yourself Kits feature a 7-Day Money Back Guarantee for all purchases made on mintmobile.com or using the app. You can cancel your wireless phone plan service for any reason within 7 days of activation and we will refund you 100% of the purchase price, including any fees and taxes. Shipping is not refunded.

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links above, I may be compensated.

Sam’s Club has a new discount offer on new memberships. This is slightly cheaper than the previous Sam’s Club Groupon deal. Each includes a Household member card. Expires 1/31/25.

• New 1-Year Club Membership for $20 (Regular price $50)
• New 1-Year Plus Membership for $60 (Regular price $110)

Fine print on the Club offer:

Join now and receive $30 off a $50 Club membership for a final price of $20. Must join as a new Sam’s Club or Sam’s Plus member through the link provided to qualify for this Offer. Offer is valid for new Sam’s Club members only; and is not valid for (i) membership renewals, those with a current membership, those who were Sam’s Club members less than six (6) months prior to joining, or Walmart and Sam’s Club associates.

Fine print on the Plus offer:

Join now and receive $50 off a $110 Plus membership for a total of $60. Must join as a new Sam’s Plus member through the link provided to qualify for this Offer. Offer is valid for new Sam’s Club members only; and is not valid for (i) membership renewals, those with a current membership, those who were Sam’s Club members less than six (6) months prior to joining, or Walmart and Sam’s Club associates.

Upgrading from Club to Plus will get you:

• Free curbside pickup of club order with no minimum. (Club members have a $50 minimum pre-tax.)
• Free delivery from your local club warehouse on order of $50+. Works within 15-mile radius of a participating warehouse. (Club member have $8 fee per order.)
• Free shipping on eligible online orders of $50+.
• 2% Sam’s Cash back on in-club purchases, up to $500 a year. (Nothing with Club)
• 3% back on Sam’s Club purchases with the Sam’s Club Mastercard (1% with Club).
• Extended early shopping hours at some warehouses.
• Early access to select online deals.

You may also wish to try to stack your Sam’s Club purchase with a cashback shopping portal. I’m not sure if it will work with all of them, but maybe. Many offer new customers bonuses if you make a qualifying purchase, including Swagbucks ($10 bonus), MyPoints ($10 bonus), Rakuten (formerly eBates) ($40 bonus currently, varies), TopCashBack (varies), and BeFrugal ($10 bonus). So you could sign-up and stack this deal to trigger the bonus. I have cashed out of all of these in the past.

$40 offer is back through 12/16. Rakuten (formerly eBates) is one of the biggest cashback shopping portals, where you earn a rebates on your online (and possibly in-store, see below) purchases. Right now, they have an limited-time $40 new user bonus via referral when you make your first purchase of $40+ through any participating Rakuten retailer within 90 days of joining. The standard non-referral bonus is only $10.

Some popular examples of retailers that could trigger the bonus include Sam’s Club, eBay, Lowe’s, Apple, Samsung, Chewy, and Temu.

Many retailers also have extra cashback percentages during this Holiday time period, so be sure to use some sort of cashback portal if you can.

Finally, note that many travel sites participate, including Booking.com, Expedia.com, VRBO, Hawaiian Airlines (direct), Marriott.com (direct), IHG Hotels (direct), Priceline, Orbitz, Hotels.com.

Rakuten is also somewhat unique in that they offer in-store cashback as well at a variety of physical stores like Macy’s, Mattress Warehouse, Staples, Neiman Marcus, Petsmart, Nordstrom Rack, Food Lion, Sephora, and more.

Here’s an overview of the process:

• You must first link your debit or credit card and provide eBates with your credit card information. Works with Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
• Then, you must manually add a specific store. You can use their smartphone app (iOS/Android) for convenience. Be aware of some exclusions like gift card purchases.
• Shop at the store register with that specific credit card. Debit cards must be run as “credit” purchases where you sign (no PIN). It’s very discreet. You don’t need to say anything, show a membership card, provide a coupon, etc. You don’t need to keep the receipt.
• After you shop, the store will be unlinked automatically. If you want to shop at that store again, you must remember to manually re-link the offer again to your card.
• You may not get instant confirmation. Look for a confirmation within a week or so.

Deal will be back 12/7 and 12/8. In what has become an annual recurrence, Target Circle is offering 10% off up to $500 in Target Gift Cards ($50 potential max savings) on Saturday, December 7th and Sunday, December 8th only (2024 press release). Offer available both in-store and online. Before you buy the gift cards, you must activate the offer in your Target Circle account first online or in the Target app. (This is how they prevent people from buying a million gift cards in separate transactions.) Remember to buy all your gifts cards in a single transaction.

• The offer is available exclusively for members of Target Circle, their free-to-join loyalty program.
• Target GiftCards can be purchased online or in store
• New this year, the discount will be automatically applied to Target GiftCards at checkout for Target Circle members.
• Make sure to use your Target profile (app or online) to make the purchase or enter your phone number at checkout in-stores.
• Consumers can purchase up to $500 in Target GiftCards to maximize their savings.
• Target GiftCards never expire, so shoppers who have checked off their holiday lists can still gift the cards to themselves for future use.

5% cash back stacking on top of 10% discount. A reminder that the 5% Target REDcard discount does not apply to gift card purchases, so you should use another rewards credit card. You may wish to use your Discover card as it offers 5% cash back at Target this quarter.

Alternatively, you can also pay for your order with PayPal linked to a Chase Freedom Flex card, as it is offering 5% cash back on PayPal this quarter.

Black Friday deal for 2024. The benefit of “old-school” desktop tax software is that it doesn’t require your Social Security Number and financial details to be stored in the “cloud”, a fancy word for a third-party server where it can be copied or hacked. Amazon often runs one-day deals on H&R Block Desktop Tax Software. Black Friday is usually one of them, and right now I see:

• H&R Block Deluxe 2024 Federal + State for $29.99
• H&R Block Deluxe 2024 Federal Only for $25.99
• H&R Block Premium 2024 for $42.49
• H&R Block Premium & Business 2024 for $49.99

H&R Block Deluxe includes guidance for stock gains and losses, home mortgage interest deduction, and other itemized deductions. Premium adds “advanced” Schedule C guidance and Schedule E guidance for rental property income. All flavors include “Refund Bonus” where you can a 2% bonus if you take your refund in the form of an Amazon gift card.

Keep in mind that for these products 5 Federal e-Files are included but State e-File is extra ($19.95 per state). I would consider just printing the (usually shorter) state return out and snail mail it in if you don’t have a free State e-File option.

Have the Amazon Prime Visa card? Get an additional 15% cash back on H&R Block with the Amazon Prime credit card as one of its Prime Card Bonus items. Through 12/5 at 4pm EST, you can still get an instant $200 Amazon gift card with new Amazon Prime Visa approval.

Hulu has a Black Friday deal of $0.99/month for 12 months on their Ad-supported plan that includes two devices and HD resolution. Regular price is $9.99/month. Ends 11:59pm PST on 12/2.

After you sign up, you can also add on Disney+ (Ad-supported) for $2/month or add Starz for $0.99/month for 12 months. Works for new and returning members (must have canceled for at least a month). Set a calendar reminder if you don’t want to auto-renew.

Savings compared to current regular monthly price. Offer for Hulu (With Ads) plan only: $0.99/month for 12 months, then auto-renews at $9.99/month or then-current regular monthly price. Ends 11:59 PM PST on 12/2/24. Cancel anytime, effective at the end of your billing period. No refunds or credits for partial months. New and eligible returning subscribers (who have not been Hulu subscribers in the past 1 month) only; Disney+ Basic and Disney Bundle subscribers are not eligible. Additional terms apply.

You can also try to stack with a cashback portal like TopCashback or Rakuten.

You can sign up for Peacock TV Premium (ad-supported) at $19.99 for 12 months with promo code REALDEAL. Works for new and returning customers (but not current ones). Or get $1.99/month for 6 months with promo code REALDEALMONTHLY. If I am not mistaken, you can cancel at any time after purchase and you can watch the rest of the year without auto-renewal. Otherwise, remember to set a calendar reminder to cancel if you don’t want to auto-renew.

Limited time offer. Excludes current Peacock Premium and Premium Plus subscribers. Current retail rate applies after offer ends (currently $79.99/year or $7.99/mo). Cancel anytime. Eligibility restrictions and terms apply.

Honestly, this is about the right price for me. I just ended the same $20/year offer from last year, but will take another year for $20. The kids enjoyed Despicable Me 4.