This week's free C&C download.

This week's download is yours to select from the offerings at a massive audio-buffet showcasing a sampling of the acts who played this year's SXSW Festival. This year's playlist features free Mp3s from over 120 artists, including Screaming Females, Peelander Z and The Wedding Present. Unlike some promotional playlists, you can download individual tracks, instead of having to download one lump file and manually fast-forward through any tracks you don't care for. You can also sample all the tracks first, either individually by clicking on the title of the song you want to hear, or by streaming the entire playlist. Start streaming and cherry-picking tracks to downloads here.

App Review: Coupon Sherpa

Coupon Sherpa is a free, mobile app from couponsherpa.com for the iPhone, the iPod touch and the Android system.

Essentially, what Coupon Sherpa does is it rounds up hundreds of in-store online coupons available from various national retailers and compiles them in one handy application. It also offers some exclusive mobile coupons accessible only through their app. There are two ways to use the coupons accessible through the mobile app. The first is to access the coupons through the application, email them to yourself and then print them out from your computer. The second is to use the coupons directly through the app by showing the cashier the coupon on the screen of your mobile device at checkout. Some of these coupons will have a bar code that will scan at checkout, depending on the type of scanner being used. Optical scanners can scan bar codes from the screen of your mobile device, but laser scanners cannot. Coupon Sherpa cannot guarantee that a retailer will honor coupons shown on your mobile device, but the refusal to honor mobile coupons is reported to be rare. If you're worried a retailer won't accept mobile coupons, you can always phone ahead to find out what their policy is ahead of time. If they don't accept mobile coupons, then you can always use the alternate method of emailing them to yourself and printing the coupons before you go shopping. Retailers must first register with Coupon Sherpa before any of their offers are made available through the app or couponsherpa.com, so you shouldn't have any trouble getting the discount so long as it is presented in the preferred format. In addition to offering coupons to national retailers, Coupon Sherpa also aggregates coupons offered by several national grocery store chains.

Though I've only used Coupon Sherpa a handful of times, I've never had any problems with it. Last autumn I used coupons from Coupon Sherpa at Famous Footwear, Ulta, and Express to get discounts on items I needed for my move abroad. Unfortunately, as Coupon Sherpa coupons are only valid in the US, its only use to me now is using it to alert my friends and family to coupons in which they might be interested. The variety of retail discounts offered seems to be consistently varied throughout the year, with offerings from dozens of stores, catering to a variety of different demographics. In addition to offering discounts at family favorites such as Target and Walgreens, there are also coupons for trendier stores like Aeropastale, DSW Shoes and Torrid. The grocery coupons section was nearly no use to me, as the area in which I used to live was served almost exclusively by smaller, regional chains. However, as Coupon Sherpa lists thirty different grocery stores, it could be very useful indeed depending on where you reside in the US. Some of the grocery chains offering coupons through the app include: ShopRite, Foodtown, Giant Eagle, Ralph's, and Genuardi's.

Geography may be the thing that makes or breaks this app for users. One critical reviewer complained that none of the retailers offering discounts through the app had branches in her area. Another complained that "almost all the stores don't even know they are on the app and don't except(sic) the coupons." This is totally contrary to my experience with the app however, as I had no trouble with retailers accepting the coupons. The Famous Footwear in my area did not accept mobile coupons, but they did accept the printed version of the discount voucher. All in all, Coupon Sherpa does what it claims to do, which is offer valid discounts at a wide variety of retailers across different categories. For this I'd rate Coupon Sherpa as worth having if you live and shop in the United States.

$5 off Rioja at Total Wine

This week the regional liquor store chain Total Wine is offering a $5-off coupon for a bottle of Aspaldi Rioja Reserva (2006). Use the online code 3015 at checkout if shopping online, or print the image below (click for full size) and show it to the cashier in-store to get this bottle that's usually priced at $19.99 for $14.99. This coupon is good now, through the 1st of April, or while supplies last; unfortunately this offer is not available in Georgia.

(Right click and open in new tab to print full-size image)

This week's C&C free download

Cheap and Cheerful is proud to introduce a new feature of a weekly free and legal mp3 download. This week's selection is a bright little tune from The Plimsouls, a power-pop band of the Paisley Underground. Their song "Who's Gonna Break the Ice" is available for free download through the Amazon Mp3 Store. We still haven't figure out a great way to navigate through the store if you want to download a single track, so the easiest thing to do may be to go this page where the collection featuring the free mp3 is being sold, and scroll down until you find the "GET MP3" button for the track. On the version we viewed, the free track is track six.


If you have any recommendations for a free mp3 of the week, leave a link in the comments and we'll feature it in our next edition, in addition to your regularly scheduled mp3.

One more step to building a better brown-bag lunch.

The Kitchn has put together a great collection of packed lunch recipes, ideas and inspirations. Buying lunch out everyday is expensive, but bringing a sack lunch is such a drag if you aren't sure what to pack. While there's nothing wrong with occasionally treating yourself to your favorite sandwich from that cute little cafe around the corner, bringing your lunch to work or university for the week can be better for your health as well as your wallet.

The main collection of (Our) Best Tips and Ideas to Help You Eat a Fabulous Lunch at Work is a great place for both beginners to start their build-your-own-brown-bag-adventure and for packed-lunch veterans to get some innovative ideas. Our personal highlights include: Office Lunch Survival Kit: 6 Essentials to keep at the Office, 5 Quick and Delicious Lunches Under 400 calories and Lunch-Packing Inspiration