DailyCheapskate Inbox time: Q&A with three readers

I love, love, love getting email from readers, especially the ones with great questions. Here are three goodies from May's inbox:

	Dear Daily Cheapskate, Where is the best (meaning cheapest) place to buy a lettuce spinner?  The one I see most often is the OXO one for $30, but I can get it for $24 at Bed, Bath with my coupon. Any better ideas?  I eat a lot of salad.  I hate wet lettuce, don't you? -Amanda J., Brooklyn, NY
	Dear Amanda, Ikea.  $2.99.
	Dear Daily Cheapskate, I spend a fortune on organic produce and foods at Whole Foods all the time.  My friend told me about Sprouts and said they had the same kind of organics items but for much less.  What do you think? Layla G., Dallas, TX
	Dear Layla, I shop at both Sprouts and Whole Foods; they each have their value. There are at least four Sprouts/Sunflower stores in the Dallas area, and here are some tips for saving money there.  First of all, if you haven't already, join Recyclebank and get yourself a stash of $5 off $40 coupons for Sprouts and never walk into the store without one in hand. That's a savings of 12% right there. Next, sign up for Organic Girl and Earthbound Farms coupons.  These are two national organic companies that offer tons of coupons. Organic Girl comes out with a multi-print pdf $1 coupon each month and Earthbound Farms has been coming out with a new $0.75 coupon each week.  Use them!   Recyclebank  also has Odwalla and Stoneyfield Farms coupons.   Next, go to the Sprouts website and sign up for their email list. They send out a coupon for a free organic product each month, as well as subscriber-only store coupons.  Like Whole Foods, you may stack one store coupon with one manufacturer's coupon per item at Sprouts.  They also have a ton of store coupons on their website, and the occasional one on their Facebook page.   Also, make sure you check out the Mambo Sprouts coupon page for their continuous list of organic coupons that you can stack with the store coups.  Finally, read my post on saving money on organics here.  And realize this:  you might not always be able to save money on organic produce and such.  If that is the case, and buying organics is a value to you,  you need to create a margin of money in areas where you can save, and then put that money towards those $6 bags of spinach.
	Dear Daily Cheapskate, I love your posts about Swagbucks and how the program is a "no-brainer" way to save money. I'm not such a couponer, but I'm so grateful to you for turning me on to Swagbucks, as I love Amazon gift cards. Got any other no-brainer ways to save money up your sleeve? Robert G., Santa Fe, NM
	Dear Robert, I love Swagbucks too, believe me.  I'm always shocked to meet people who haven't signed up for  Swagbucks  yet.  I'm swimming in Amazon gift card credits thanks to Swagbucks. My current top no-brainer is definitely the pre-paid American Express card deal. For the inconvenience of moving money around, you get a free $25.  No credit check, no fees, no strings, no nuthin, just a free $25 gift card.  I don't understand why anyone wouldn't take advantage of this offer.  It takes all of 2 minutes to fill out the form. Other no-brainers?  Ok, here are three. Library cards.  Yes!  Not just for the books, but also for the free Kindle or iPad ebooks, the free movies/DVDs, free CDs., free legal mp3 downloads.  Many libraries also have free museum passes and low-fee classes, free movie screenings, etc.  Public library cards are fountains of free. Freecycle.  Freecycle is a national grass-roots group of community lists where basically you can get and give away free stuff.  The giving away is just as important as the getting, as decluttering is a major money-saver.  What have I gotten from Denver Freecycle lately?  Plants!  Lots of them. Over the last few months, I've picked up tons of aloe cuttings, spider plant cuttings, and a very cool basil plant.  My kitchen plant shelf runneth over with beautiful plants that have not cost me a red cent (sorry Home Depot). Tomorrow, a Freecycler is giving me five tomato plants that she doesn't have room for in her backyard.  What have I given Freecycle this month?  About 100 magazines, lots of tupperware that was past its prime, clothing, non-kosher freebies that came in the mail, and spare dog accessories.  I love  Freecycle . Target RedCard, .  You save 5% on every single solitary thing you buy at Target and Target.com. You get free shipping on Target.com with no minimum.  And as an added perk, the K-12 school that you name gets 1% of all your RedCard purchases.  You get special high-value Target coupons in the mail each month, including a few free-item coupons.  If your credit is less than sterling, you can get a RedCard debit card that just deducts money from your checking account, and there will be no credit check.  This is an extreme no-brainer.     Bonus round:  Three more no-brainers are cash-back programs,   ShopKick  (if you own a smartphone) and MyCokeRewards.  Ok. Your turn! Anything to add about lettuce spinners, buying organics or money-saving no-brainers?

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