Yard sales are a great way to get rid of stuff but for buyers they can be an amazing way to get amazing deals. If you’re heading out to a yard sale, here are a few things you can do to help yourself get the best deals, according to the NBC10 Consumer Team.

Also, be sure to check out NBCPhiladelphia’s map showing local consignment stores, flea markets, thrift stores, estate sales, and upcoming yard sales in the area to save you the time of hunting these deals down. Tell us some of your favorite spots on my Facebook page and we’ll add them to the map.

Click here for links where you can search for even more yard sales, garage sale, state sales and thrift stores that are not on our map.

Local moms helping you save money with their venture, Two Frugal Mommas.

Facebook is launching a deals program Tuesday in five U.S. cities, following on the popularity of Groupon and other services that offer deep discounts — for example: $50 worth of food at a local eatery for $25.

By allowing small businesses to leverage the Internet while helping consumers score great deals, these group-couponing services have become some of the fastest-growing businesses in the world.

Facebook now wants a part of that. It hopes to exploit its existing networks of friends and family when it begins testing offers in San Diego, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas and Austin, Texas.

Many deals sites have a social component. For instance, if you get three friends to buy a LivingSocial voucher, yours is free. Groupon’s offers become valid only after a certain number of people purchase them.

But the deals are circulated to users through email, and the community aspect is secondary.

Facebook is hoping to change that.

“We’re building a product that is social from the ground up,” says Emily White, director of local for Facebook. “All of these deals are things you want to do with friends, so no teeth whitening, but yes to river rafting.”

Starting Tuesday, when Facebook users in the five test markets log in to the site, they will see a deals insignia at the bottom of the page. (The dashboard pops up automatically if the “current city” listed in your profile is one of the five included in the pilot.)

Clicking on it brings up a list of available offers.

A user can buy one, click the “like” button to recommend it to others or share the offer with friends through Facebook’s private messaging system. When users purchase or “like” a deal, it shows up in their friends’ news feed.

That means “the discovery of the product can happen in lots of different places,” White says.

To get the program started, Facebook has enlisted 11 companies that already supply deals elsewhere. Restaurant reservation service OpenTable will broadcast offers for local eateries, while online ticket seller Viagogo will market events.

“Dining out is an inherently social activity, so extending our reach to deals on Facebook is a natural experiment for us,” says Scott Jampol, general manager of OpenTable’s deals program, Spotlight.

Leveraging social tools and direct sharing among friends will be “a key to success for daily deal companies” going forward, says Lou Kerner, social-media analyst at Wedbush.

This is not the first time a social network has made a foray into disseminating deals. Twitter launched its own daily deal program called Earlybird Offers last year but canceled it after just two months.

Last November Facebook launched a product called Check-in Deals that allowed users to “check in” via their mobile phones when they visit certain businesses and in turn receive discounts and other special offers.

Location-based social network Foursquare has a similar program.

Offers through Facebook can last anywhere from a day to a week.

The social network won’t disclose how much commission it takes. (With Groupon and others, the deal site typically takes up to half the revenue.)

There are hundreds of Groupon copycats willing to accept lower commissions, but many small businesses prefer to partner with larger companies such as Groupon and LivingSocial because they reach more potential customers.

To read the full story: The Seattle Times

For the first time since digital TVs hit the market in 2005, TV sales are dropping, the Consumer Electronics Association reports. TV makers shipped about 500,000 fewer sets to stores in 2010 than in 2009. And they expect to ship even fewer in 2011.

Why? Because more than 70% of homes now own a digital TV, most likely a plasma or thin LCD HD display.

With consumers tightfisted, retailers’ annual Super Bowl sales promotions, which close with Sunday’s game, have extra importance.

“The holiday season was a bit disappointing for some retailers, so there is a little bit more inventory that they have to clear though before they can bring in the new 2011 models,” says Paul Gagnon of DisplaySearch.

That could mean major markdowns for customers. Best Buy, which had double-digit percentage declines in TV sales in December from the year before, has 35% to 40% off some Samsung and Sony LCD TVs. Sears has similar deals, including 50-inch Panasonic and Zenith plasma TVs for less than $600.

As TV prices have dropped, consumers have gotten savvy about waiting for special promotions. Deals drove recent holiday TV unit sales up 5% over 2009, according to The NPD Group. However, TV sales revenue was down 2%.

Pre-Super Bowl specials are expected to drive similar sales bumps. As many as 4.5 million consumers were considering a new set before the game, the most in five years, a Retail Advertising and Marketing Association survey last month found. “We’ve always seen the Super Bowl as a sales driver,” says CEA’s Megan Pollock.

To stimulate 2011 sales, TV makers are including a variety of new features in models on the way to stores.

Vizio, for example, has a new wider-screen TV due the second half of the year (no price yet). It has a 21-to-9 width-to-height ratio (typical widescreen sets are 16-to-9). The extra width leaves room to run apps next to full widescreen video.

To read the full story: USA Today

You know it’s January when fast-food deals are as common as snowflakes — and diet ads.

Virtually every major fast-food chain — from Burger King to Wendy’s to Taco Bell— is wheeling and dealing with specials, promos, even freebies to thaw sales in what is typically the toughest quarter of the year for the $170 billion industry.

The ugliest driver: Unemployment remains at double digits for fast food’s core demographic, 18-to-34-year olds, says David Ovens, chief marketing officer at Taco Bell. For 16-to-19-year-olds, unemployment was at 26.3% in the fourth quarter, and at 14.9% for 20-to-24-year-olds, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “For them,” Ovens says, “value is even more important now than it was a few years ago.”

After the holidays, consumers are cash-short, says Christopher Muller, dean at Boston University’s School of Hospitality. Going out for pricey meals now is a stretch. But fast-food deals can lure folks back, often to buy more than planned, Muller says. “You can’t sell something to someone who isn’t in your restaurant.”

Many consumers are less eager to eat fast food in the winter months — especially those on diets, says Jeff Davis, president of Sandelman & Associates. That’s not stopping the major chains from courting customers with:

• Two-for-ones. Burger King is touting two-for-one chicken sandwiches (normally $3.79) through Jan. 16. It appeals to customers who don’t want to reach “deeper into their wallets,” says Jonathan Muhtar, vice president of marketing.

• Freebies. Wendy’s has a “Free Fries For All” promo with a social-media twist. To get the free Natural Cut Sea Salt fries, folks go to Wendy’s Facebook app, then click on the fry icon. If they share it with friends who also click on it, the friends get the free fries, too, says Wendy’s spokesman Denny Lynch. The promo goes through January.

• Cheap pizza. Papa John’s and Pizza Hut have $10 large pizzas. Domino’s has two mediums for $5.99 each.

• Daily deals. On Mondays, Pizza Hut sells two mediums for $5.99 each. On Tuesdays, it sells two orders of pasta and five breadsticks for $10. On Wednesdays, 50-cent wings.

To read the full story: USA Today

American Express today announced it is eliminating monthly fees on all of its gift cards. This includes all gift cards that have already been purchased and those that are in stores now. This means consumers no longer need to worry about their gift card losing value if they don’t use it quickly.

American Express is the only major issuer of  gift cards to eliminate all fees after purchase. In addition, American Express and Simon Property Group, Inc. announced today a new, expanded relationship that makes American Express the primary provider of Simon gift cards, who will also undertake the elimination of monthly fees.

Mikael Thygesen, chief marketing officer, Simon Property Group states, “Through our expanded relationship with American Express, we will continue to reinforce our leadership position. The elimination of monthly fees on the American Express/Simon Giftcard will be a major differentiator in the marketplace and will drive our growth this season and beyond.”

http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/American+Express(R)+Gift+Cards+Take+a+Permanent+Holiday+from+Monthly+Fees/4981220.html

If your contemplating travel plans for the holidays, some experts say you may want to start your ticket search and book soon to take advantage of airfare deals before it’s too late.

Nationwide, ticket prices are down about 20% from last year, but airlines know more people will fly over the holidays, so the cheap fares and deals being offered now won’t last forever. Also, airlines are less likely to offer last-minute deals around the holidays, and if there are deals, they may not be for the routes or times that you’re looking for. A wave of deals was launched last week, so right now is a good time to start your research because according to Travelzoo senior editor, it’s unlikely that Thanksgiving or Christmas ticket prices will fall much further.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090914/BUSINESS/

Zips Dry Cleaning in Warminister, Bucks County is offering free dry cleaning to people who are unemployed or between jobs. They offer free dry cleaning for up to three garments a week, to keep you looking nice for your next interview. And don’t forget to tune into NBC10 tonight at 5:30 for “The Good News Is” to see local stories that will make you smile and feel proud to live here.

Did you know that you can use coupons, even if you’re receiving food stamps? How about using coupons to pay for college tuition? The Coupon Diva explains…

The world’s largest consumer products maker is offering cash-strapped shoppers more reasons to buy its products. This fall, Procter and Gamble plans to roll out deep price cuts, add more promotions, and unveil better products to cater to bargain hunters.

P&G is already lowering the price tags on about 10% of its global product line, plus its offering more coupons, promotions and other discounts. The CFO said the company has seen increased sales on products like Charmin Toilet Paper, Tide Laundry Detergent, and Bounty Paper towels since the price cuts. Next month, it plans to promote its Cheer Detergent as a bargain brand, and cut the price by 13%.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2009-09-10-procter-gamble-cuts-prices_N.htm