The Daily Deal for January 12, 2008

Dreaming of spring? You could spend any amount of money grasping at the season-to-come. You could take a long weekend trip to the southern hemisphere. You could buy tulips and peonies shipped from Chile. You could get your fill of out-of-season asparagus.

Or you could get an heirloom seed catalog, and fill your long dark afternoons of winter planning a garden that would help preserve biological diversity, combat global warming, and fill your summer tummy full of delicious, fresh, healthful things. Sweet Chocolate Bell Peppers. Cimmaron Red Romaine. Grandpa's Cock's Plume Tomato. (Or Silvery Fir Tree, Zaryanka Sunrise, Whippersnapper Cherry.)

You can shop online, but seed catalogs are full of plenty and far more authentic. Seeds Trust will send you their 2008 catalog for $4.00; Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds will send you a catalog faster for $3.00 (it's slow, for free); Victory Seed Company will send a catalog for $2.00; Territorial Seed Company offers a free catalog.

The Daily Deal for January 9, 2008

I can't believe I'm sending you to a site that seems targeted toward skateboarders bent on spending all their allowance, and then some, on not-so-needful things. But, here I am, suggesting you spend $6 plus shipping for a Sigg bottle whose picture I can't even show you (it is NOT the one in the photo, here, although it's the same size and general idea).

The bottle's image doesn't seem to be available anywhere, but the bottle is from the Fall Progressive Line, 2005, and it's beige, and .6 liters (the size of the one here). I found a couple of photos of beige Sigg bottles, and many of them seem quite girly. One has pink polka dots. So bear that in mind. But you won't find a deal like this again -- the bottles go for $19 in most stores -- and you can always cover it with stickers.

I just bought two. Hurry, the deal ends this evening.

The Daily Deal, January 7, 2008

There's no better time to stock up on bike gear than the dead of winter. And if you're like most fanatic bicyclers (raising my hand!) you're about done with your drippy bike gear. If only you had something new, bright and reminiscent of the sunny tropical climes to get you inspired to leave the car behind...

How about this one? A 'Caribbean Blue' Bell helmet for only $14.95 from Bike Nashbar, the respected dealer in all things bicycle. The retail price is $34.95, but the 'last seen' price was $19.95. And if it gets you to ride your bike instead of driving, well, it could save you a lot more.

The Daily Deal for January 3, 2008

Did you resolve to be warmer in the new year? If you did, and you also resolved to be more "eco-senstive," REI has the jacket for you. The cushy, down-insulated Antifreeze jacket has a shell made of 88% recycled materials, fends off rain showers and snow, and is windproof to 60 MPH. It'll keep you safe in a storm and you can listen to your iPod through the handy headphone portal.

The jacket is on sale for $109.83, off its regular price of $159.

The Daily Deal for December 31, 2007

Given that it's New Year's resolution time (and in my family, a wholesale reorganization of our entire existence), the honey-do lists in most homes are a mile long. We've decided we want to eat more local food, so my husband's list includes not only put up shelves; organize laundry room; renovate master bedroom; and fix fence but also build chicken coop. Yeah, it's not easy being the "honey" here in my house.

But it would be so much easier with a laser level. A Bushnell pivot-point laser level, of course. And how about a screaming two-day deal at Wire4Less? It's only $8.99, with $4.99 shipping, compared to a $32.68 list price and $26.79 at Amazon.com.

The deal is good through January 2 at 10 a.m. MST.

The Daily Deal for December 29, 2007

Are you resolving to live a cleaner, lovelier life in 2008? I am bigtime, and I'm nearly finished a total makeover of my sons' chaotic room. The fun-but-maddening foam alphabet puzzles have been picked up and put away, and in their place will go simple, orderly, and largely unmovable carpet tiles from Flor.com. Imagine my delight when I saw three colors of the textural 'Morning Coffee' line on sale; two, 'Scone' and 'Cannoli' perfect for my purposes given their soothing colors.

At $8.79 each or less than $4 per square foot, these are the best prices offered anywhere on the 'net, and the shipping was comparable to other sites. I paid $22 to ship 16 of the company's 50 cm x 50 cm tiles. Stick 'em on, move 'em later, change 'em out if you spill something. These colors are closeouts, though, so you'll want to keep that in mind when you're choosing quantity.

The Daily Deal for December 28, 2007

I'm not a fan of encouraging you all to buy stuff that will create clutter and waste. I like useful, needful things. The umbrella stand is not usually something I'd encourage. But when things transcend their thing-ness and become more artful -- well, I'm swayed. Especially when a bargain is involved.

Enter the 'Rain Bowl' umbrella stand from DWR. Long my favorite wishbook, the DWR catalog is filled with modern furnishings and the occasional odd gift. "Modern" is, of course, another word for "spendy," and the regular price on this simple die-cast aluminum umbrella stand is a vastly expensive $180. But today? It's only $68, bringing it at least further down the spendy spectrum to fulfill the "within reach" part of the retailer's name.

The product doesn't appear to be available elsewhere on the internet, so this is likely the best price you'll ever see.

The Daily Deal for December 26, 2007

It's Boxing Day in the U.K. and Canada; in the U.S. we celebrate "put together your Christmas presents" day. My husband started the celebration early yesterday, and by the end of the sugar rush from Santa's candy gifts he had installed two hangers for a suspended chair from IKEA, one chandelier, and a partridge in a pear... o.k., I know you're really tired of 12 Days of Christmas references. Anyway, if you're like me and are planning a full week of Putting Things Up, you'll wish you had a better drill.

This DeWalt Factory Reconditioned Heavy-Duty XRP 1/2 inch 18V Cordless Hammerdrill/Drill/Driver Kit from ToolKing.com will do the trick. I'm a fan of factory reconditioned products, especially when they're from a name I trust as much as DeWalt. One of these babies would have avoided the whole mess with the bolt at a 45 degree angle (ahem) and ToolKing.com offers free shipping on orders over $99. The retail price on a new product is over $500 and most outlets price it between $299 and $319; and the cheapest price I could find on a similar reconditioned model was $219.99 at Amazon.com. The price will expire soon but I wasn't able to see exactly when. You'll need this right away, though, those hanging chairs aren't going to hang themselves ...

The Daily Deal for December 25, 2007

If you're like my sister, you didn't get a new iPod Nano for Christmas -- your family was broke and, after all, you were one of the first to get the 1st or 2nd generation version! But don't feel bad. It's still gorgeous in its video-less-ness. Looking around at your friends with their brand-new video Nanos, you've got to recall your more seasoned love affair with your own music player. Where is that thing, anyway?

Bring it back out into the open with this Apple-brand iPod armband from Deal Squared. At only $9.99 plus $5.00 shipping, it's still $15 less than the armbands for the new Nano at the Apple store. It'll be almost like having a brand new MP3 player. While you're at it, buy a couple of new songs. There you go. The music still sounds just as good and now you can reclaim your old flame

The Daily Deal for December 22, 2007

Talent Show A Go Go is an adjustable microphone that connects to an MP3 player for karaoke. My kids' playdates often turn into "concerts" where they dance and belt out Hannah Montana songs in the basement. I've been eying Talent Show A Go Go at Restoration Hardware to help add a few decibels-and some pizzazz to the performances. But I didn't buy it because the price seemed steep.

Then I stopped in my local Restoration Hardware store this morning and I noticed a huge display of musical toys on sale. Music A Go Go is on sale for $44.99 (reduced from $89). The set, which includes an adjustable microphone and base, connects to an MP3 player for karaoke. It also comes with a remote that imitates applause, drum rolls, boos and laughter-which means I don't have to sit through every performance.

Karaoke to Go Go is also on sale from $129 to $64.99 and roll-up drums are $41.99 from $59. Now all we need is some voice lessons. All of these items are also on sale on the website and could be delivered in time for a New Year's Eve bash!

The Daily Deal for December 10, 2007

We're big fans of protecting your data here at WalletPop. Let's face it: we've seen far too many of our friends and colleagues lose days of productivity and weeks of work thanks to an untimely hard drive crash. And if any of you have children who like to jostle you while you're drinking your coffee... well. You get the picture. Backup drives are Very Good Things. Deals on quality USB backup hard drives? Even Better Things.

That's why we picked out this reconditioned, portable, high-speed 80 GB USB hard drive from Iomega as our Daily Deal. It's $55.95 and ground shipping to my address would be $8.95; not a screaming bargain on the shipping, but still cheaper than a comparable product at Amazon, even with Amazon Prime's free shipping (this Western Digital hard drive was the best deal at $77.99, 20% off retail price; elsewhere the best price we could find was $81.99 for a TEAC unit at PC Connection). The deal is good through Tuesday early morning.

The Daily Deal for December 5, 2007

I was going to refer you to this Sigg bottle at Delight.com -- only $18.99 and such a winter-appropriate design! And then I saw the shipping, a whopping $7.99.

While you can't get that exact design at REI, you can get the bottles for $19.00 (a penny more) and the 'Sunray' bottle pictured here looks plenty festive to me. Drinking from a Sigg will not just make your life prettier, but will be better for your body (no danger of chemicals from plastics leeching into your beverage) and the environment (no disposable bottles makes Mother Earth a happy lady).

REI's shipping is $5.99 for this item, but here's a way to really save: pick it up from your local REI store, for free. Maybe you can ride your bike there and just keep on saving money, and the planet.

If you have to have the 'Source of Life' design from Delight.com's deal of the day, get it here at Massey's Outfitters.

Wine.Woot.com is branching out (har, har) into gifts of all "classy" sorts for a week of gift giving. (Unlike the daily Woot.com, Wine.Woot.com typically has one item each week; this week will be one non-alcoholic gift each day.)

The first one is a great buy on an attractive and zen-tastic plant, a six-year-old bonsai juniper tree. Why six years old? A bonsai's age is its mark of distinction; the older, the awesomer. And, as someone points out in the comments at Wine.Woot.com, you'll want to keep your bonsai somewhere close to a window and frequently expose it to outdoor air (a porch or windowsill would be ideal).

The price is, indeed, a bargain: the same tree is $36.95 at The-Gift-Wizard.com, and a non-age-specific tree is $35.00 at eastern leaf.