Butterviews

You know, I’ve played a lot with the various “buy through us, and we’ll get you money back.” Even my own businesses built around that concept. It’s just never really paid off for me to work that hard for something versus the return those things gave me. Until now.

EQUATION: According to the Ebates site:

How Ebates Works? Ebates has over 800 merchant partners that pay us for your business. Most sites keep the money, but not Ebates! We send you the savings in the form of a big fat check!

Basically, you buy through them, and they send you a rebate based on the total amount of your purchase. The various merchants have various percentage return rates.

PLUS: I definitely shop through them, so the fact that I use them myself is a plus. The biggest positive to me is the actual stores. You’re not getting rinky dinky mom and pop stores of eclectic goods… You’re getting the big kahunas like Old Navy, Target, and more. And to prove it, here’s my printscreen (click to embiggen): You get paid whatever rebates you’re due each month. I get mine through PayPal.

MINUS: They don’t have EVERY store known to man, so depending on where you’re used to shopping this could be a negative for you. It’s not for me, since they do the big ones I go to. Other than that, I don’t particular care for the colors they use, but that’s a personal aesthetic – site navigation is fine. So – yeah… Not many negatives in my book.

EQUALS: POSITIVE! I love using them, and getting money back. Love it. I use it every time I’m shopping for something. Or – if I find something I’m looking for via other ways, I first go see if I can click through to that store from Ebates. It’s a win/win all around I say.

I honestly don’t remember who turned me onto this site, but I think it was one of my Twitter pals. Mon.thly.Info is basically a site to track your period easily.

From their site:

How does it work?
Each time you start your period, add the date to your Mon.thly account, and it will use your history to predict the next time your cycle will start. This provides you with a record of your menstrual cycles, which can be an important addition to your medical history. If you want, Mon.thly will also email you a customized reminder before or on your next estimated start date.

PLUS: It’s a great site design. Aesthetically pleasing, love the graphics, and way easy maneuverability. There’s a clear “About” page to tell you how to do it. If you choose, you can have an email reminder sent to let you know your cycle’s coming. The more data you feed it over time, the better it becomes at predicting your cycle.  Great for knowing when it’s coming, or to have the info for that infamous question, “And when was your last period?”  Here’s some screenshots in which you find out more information than you EVER wanted to know about me.

MINUS: The only thing I can see is that you cannot mark notes on the days – it’s strictly a calendar.  In other words, if you want to track your flow, or pain levels, that’s not possible here.  This also wouldn’t be a totally fabulous tool to try and get pregnant, except for a general ovulation date.

EQUALS:  LOVE IT.  I love it.  I use it.  I recommend you use it too!