Review of Match.com & Flyby of Eharmony: A Frugal Gurl's Take

How did Frugal Girl find Lurve via Online Dating Websites?

A special three-flavored wedding!

I guess I lucked out! And I didn't pay a cent to meet my match, married now for four years (after a long courtship). Actually my DH didn't pay a cent to Match.com either, but more on that later. Anyway, THANKS Match.com! Well I have been recommending Match.com for years to all my single-n-looking friends, and thought I should write a review about it, and also Eharmony, who is Match.com's archrival in the online dating scene. Both claim to be The Number 1 Dating Site, with Eharmony adding 'Trusted' to their pitch. So here's my take on Match.com, and my flyby impression of Eharmony (gathered from user forums, comments and a few books: 

• The Ugly Woman's Guide to Internet Dating: What I Learned From 70 First Dates (by Rosemary Thornton who has an awesome website HERE)  
• Meeting Your Match Online: The Complete Guide to Internet Dating and Dating Services - Including True Life Date Stories (Tamsen Butler) and 
• Chemistry and Numbers: The Online Dating Guide (Steve Monas)). 

My experience with Match.com
I placed my ad / profile on Match.com in 2002. I wanted to broaden my horizons and meet interesting men and women from around the world. 

The sign up process was easy, and actually quite fun. I didn't pay anything, but waited for people to contact me (a privilege for which they had to pay haha). Match.com, with the various cool individuals who struck up friendly correspondence with me, was a breath of fresh air that helped me 'get out there' again after a horrible, horrible relationship. 

Interestingly, I received an email from this Dude who said he found my Match.com profile intriguing, and this email wasn't sent via Match.com at all! This very resourceful dude (now my DH), had figured out my profile name gracetabithalim might work as an email too, and had tacked on hotmail, gmail, yahoo and all the other email servers he could think of, in the email that eventually reached me. El-Cheapo meets Frugal Girl!  

Match.com has since fixed this loophole, and you'll need to fork out $35 for a month-long subscription or $17 a month for six months of dating matches (here's a 20% Off Discount special for my readers :p). The latter is a decent deal, because of their guarantee of an additional six months FREE if you haven't found that special someone at the end of the first six months. You can also try 7 days Free.


Eharmony?
I had a look at the website, and it's nicely laid out, easy to navigate. The personality test that you have to take when you sign up (I did that with the 7 day free trial) is erm... ridiculously thorough! Wow, half an hour into the thing and I was only 60% done. But ... I kinda like it! It's all very scientific, professional and calculated (and sure wasn't how I met DH hehe). And it pledges to match you up with people who complement you.

I think this would be the way to go for someone who hasn't had much luck dating because they keep picking the wrong type. For example, in Match.com, you get to select characteristics of the person you'd like to meet, so you could theoretically end up with your doppelganger if you are a control-freak who chose all your own fav traits.

In Eharmony, it appears that the step-by-step process (with Dr Neil Clark Warren holding your hand all through), guides you and your potential mate to wonderful discovery of each other. Forcing people to talk to each other about things that matter, at the very start of the relationship, is possibly why Eharmony is responsible for 5% of all US marriages (that's what their website says the Harris Poll found). Definitely for folks who have a serious eye towards marriage, I'd say.

The cost though is $60 for a month-long subscription, coming down to $20 a month for a year's worth of courtship opportunities.

Frugal Girl's Take
Back in the day, online dating was Taboo, and carried a sort of seedy stigma that the person was 'desperate' or 'damaged goods'. Online dating is pretty much mainstream now, and in my view, a very good way to meet a potential mate. 

The profile matching in Match.com helps narrow down the list of people that fit your selection criteria, so you can quickly scan and pick the ones that look the most promising, to start correspondence. And this is done in the safety and comfort of your home. Beats the bar scene any time! 

While Match.com worked fine for me, I think if I were single and seriously looking for a marriage partner, I might 'invest' in Eharmony. Then again, Eharmony's scientific-based matchmaking and hand-held communication process is a tad too unromantic for my taste hehe. So Match.com it is! (Try these links for a 20% Off Discount, or 15% Off Discount or a 7-day Free Trial at Match.com.

FREE Dale and Thomas 10% off $50 Discount Coupon Code

Hi everyone!

Dale & Thomas Popcorn is a gourmet popcorn that has been featured on Oprah's "Favorite Things" and has been declared on the Today's Show as "The Rolls Royce of Popcorn". It would make a special gift for any occasion, even a special treat for yourself and your loved ones.

CLICK HERE to get 10% off your purchase of $50 and up at Dale & Thomas (That's $5 off $50 or $10 off $100!). Enter the Coupon Code AFF10 at checkout and you're good to go!

Other details: Redeemable for merchandise only and may not be redeemed for cash. Valid only for Dale and Thomas® products at www.daleandthomaspopcorn.com. Minimum order of $50. Limit one per order/visit. Cannot be used for wholesale orders. Does not apply to previously placed orders. Cannot be combined with other promotions or offers. Cannot be replaced if lost or stolen. No cash value. Cannot be used to purchase gift cards or gift card refills.

By the way, I've also compiled in one handy location, links with discounts and coupons to all the places where I shop online. Check out Where Gracie Shops!



xo Gracie

P.S. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Giant Eagle Nestle Choc Chips $1.16 each with coupon and cashback

This week Giant Eagle has a 'Buy $10 worth and get $2 off' for their Nestle Toll House Choc Chips, which also happen to be on sale at $2 each. I had a couple of $1 off 2 Nestle Choc Chip coupons and thought this would be a good time to use them :)

Question of the week
Did I need to buy $10 worth of choc chips before or after my $1 off coupons were applied? I asked

Zone Perfect Bars for 9 cents each with double $0.55 coupons

Zone Perfect bars are selling for $1.20 each at my Giant Eagle. I had 20 coupons for $0.55 off one bar or one box of these yummy low-carb Atkin-friendly treats. Giant Eagle doubles coupons up to $0.99, so each coupon doubled to $1.10.

Price after coupon = $1.20 - $1.10 = $0.10 each bar
Cost for 20 bars = $2

Plus I was on a big

How to buy $100 Restaurant.com certificates for $6

Summary of Post
This article draws from my experience with Restaurant.com savings. I buy $100 Restaurant.com certificates for $6 (sometimes less), while the regular price at the Restaurant.com website is $40. How?

Step One: Get 80% off
Sign up as a member of Restaurant.com. Membership is free, and Restaurant.com will email you to let you know what discounts they have on. Wait for at least a 70% off sale and buy plenty. These certificates never expire, so stock up when it's cheap! I usually wait until the 80% sale comes around. So instead of paying $40 for a $100 certificate, it would only cost $8. Once a year there is a 90% sale too....

Wait. Want to save even more? Here's how I do it:

Shoebuy.com 10% off any purchase plus free ship

Hi everyone!

This is a straight out 10% off any purchase plus free shipping. CLICK HERE for the discount (and enter the coupon code 'SHOEBUY' to redeem at checkout.

By the way, I've also compiled in one handy location, links with discounts and coupons to all the places where I shop online. Check out Where Gracie Shops!

Peace.


xo Gracie

P.S. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

FTD Flowers Gift $10 $15 20% 25% Discount Promotion Code Entertainment Book

I've listed choice links that I've personally tested (they work as of 3 Aug 2012!) and they are good for $15 off your FTD.com purchase (minimum purchase of $19.99), or 20% or 10% off your purchase. It's possible to buy a gift for $5 (birthday bear soft toy) or lovely fresh flowers for a little as $14.99, using these discount coupons/links.

I actually got the $15 off link by subscribing to Entertainment Book. An insert in the book states "With this special offer Entertainment members save $15 on each item purchased". I've looked, and while there are 10% to 15% discounts floating around, mine is currently the only site linked to the 20% discount. I used to link to a 25% discount too - that one isn't working presently but I will bring it back when it works again.

I've done the math - if your purchase is less than $60, use the $15 discount; but if your purchase is more than $60, you'll save more using the 20% discount.

For a $15 discount on online orders (Gracie's pick! For orders below $60, prior to discount being applied):
Visit www.ftd.com/ent2010 and place your order. The $15 discount is applied automatically when you go through this LINK. (Update: 20 July 2012, I just checked and this link works good!)

For a 20% discount on all products (Gracie's pick! For orders above $60, prior to discount being applied):
Visit www.ftd.com/entertainment2010 and place your order. The 20% discount is applied automatically when you go through this link.

Other options (if the 20% coupon doesn't work):
For a 10% discount on all products:
Click through this link (The 10% discount is applied automatically)


For a $10 discount for phone orders:
Call 1-800-SEND-FTD and use the promo code: 20100 when placing your order.


By the way, there is a cool way to see how the different links give you different discounts off the same item. First visit

IHerb.com $5 off discount code for new customers

Summary of post
To get $5 off your first purchase at Iherb.com enter this discount coupon code RAC010 at checkout.

Everybody likes getting a good deal on their purchases.

I'm the type of shopper who spends hours comparing prices of supplement brands that I take. I calculate the shipping and total cost of buying a product from several different merchants. Laying this information out in an MsExcel spreadsheet helps with the comparisons and decision-making. Over the years, there are several merchants that I have found give consistently low prices on their products. So I usually compare product prices for just these merchants to save time.

Today, I was comparison shopping online for the New Chapter (Bone Strength Take Care and Every Woman's One Daily) and the DHA fish oil supplements that I take, and I found out that iHerb.com, one of the online merchants I usually frequent just launched a rewards program that gives new customers an instant $5 off their first order. All you need to do to get this $5 discount is to enter this discount code RAC010 at check out.

I'm interested to see how this new rewards program works out. We'll see!

By the way, I've also compiled in one handy location, links with discounts and coupons to all the places where I shop online. Check out Where Gracie Shops!


xo Gracie

P.S. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!