Of all the photo-processing and printing Web sites, my personal favorite is Shutterfly. Not only do they do a nice job with photos, but they also offer a ton of promotions and deals.

The latest one to land in my inbox was a promotion of Shutterfly's new Share Web sites. You can design your own Shutterfly Share site, upload pictures and invite your friends and family to look at them. Through Sept. 24, Shutterfly is offering a free 8x10 photo when you order 30 prints of any size. Use the code 55SUMMER when you check out. To learn more about the Shutterfly Share sites, click here.

I know, I had no idea! I got a press release from the The Coupon Council this week promoting National Coupon Month. The thing that caught my eye was this statistic: "The majority [of shoppers]  spend less than 10 minutes per week clipping and organizing their coupons, and achieve a 7 percent average savings on their grocery bill."

So to me, that means that even if you don't want to devote a lot of time to saving, you can still save a lot with a little effort. If you say the average family spends $100 a week on groceries, 7 percent of that is $7. And $7 multiplied by 52 weeks is $364. I'd say that's worth it... and of course, if you invest a little more time, you can make your savings grow in a big way.

If you like to go hiking or running on our local trails, you may want to consider entering New Balance's "Own the Trails" contest. New Balance is asking people to tell them about their favorite trails, and the winners will receive free New Balance equipment. You can enter here..

I mentioned awhile back that Harris Teeter had sent me a mailing with a really good offer for transferring my prescription to the Harris Teeter pharmacy. It seems now that a slightly different version of this offer is available to all VIC card members.

Through Sept. 30, you can get a free $25 gift card for transferring your prescription to Harris Teeter. Then on top of that, you will also get a $10 credit added onto your VIC card for EACH prescription you transfer. There is no limit. So if you transfer one prescription, you'd get the $25 gift card and the $35 credit. If you transfer two, you'd get the $25 gift card and two $10 credits. That's a mighty nice incentive for a very small amount of work. You can find the details of the deal on Harris Teeter's Web site here.

(As always, I caution do want to people who have multiple precriptions that bouncing them from pharmacy to pharmacy could be dangerous because of possible drug interactions.)

Office Depot has launched a new Web site that offers consumers the chance to trade in their used electronics for store credit. Or, if the items are so old that they have no trade-in value, you can simply pay a small fee to have Office Depot recycle it and get it out of your house.

So, basically, shoppers can go to www.officedepot.com/techtradein and search for the compuer, MP3 player, Smart phone, etc., that they wish to trade in. You tell the site a little bit about the condition of the product and it tells you what it's worth. If the amount is acceptable, you hit OK and receive a shipping label and instructions. Once your product has been received and inspected to make sure it matches your description, you are mailed an Office Depot gift card loaded with your trade-in amount.

Or, if you just wish to recycle items, you will need to pay a $5, $10 or $15 fee for the box and shipping, and Office Depot will take care of the rest. Seems like a mighty fine time to go hunting through your closets and garages for some old electronics to me...

Due to the current weather situation in Raleigh, North Hills has rescheduled two events.

The center's Iron Chef Competition is now rescheduled for two weeks from tomorrow on Saturday, Sept. 20. Chefs from Bonefish and Mura will go head-to-head using ingredients from the Farmers' Market, dishing up delicious treats for you to taste.  Proceeds will go to benefit the InterFaith Food Shuttle.

And, the Farmer's Market that would normally take place tomorrow has been canceled. It will return as scheduled, next Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. 

Oh, it's Friday... which means it's time for freebies!!

*You can request a Quaker Simple Harvest granola bar here.

*There's a sample of Secret Clinical deodorant (this is a good one because that stuff is like $8). Try this link: https://secretsport.safeprocessing.com/

*I've posted other Greenies samples before, but I think this may be a new one.

*And there's a sample of Bounce dryer sheets here.

Just for Men is offering a "Try Me Free" mail-in rebate for up to $8 when you purchase Just for Men hair color. You'll need your cash register receipt, dated before Dec. 31, 2008, plus the UPC code from the package and the mail-in rebate form that is available for download below...

In an effort to raise awareness of Cameron Village's Sunday shopping hours, the center is going to give away free ice cream every Sunday in September. YUM.

Customers are asked to bring the coupon from the N&O or the Cameron Village Web site to either the Baskin-Robbins shop in Cameron Village or the special "Cone Cafe" set up on Clark Avenue near the Party Shop and Accipiter. (If it rains, the Cone Cafe plans will be scrapped, and scoops will be available only at Baskin-Robbins.) The promotion runs from 1 to 5 p.m. each Sunday, but I'd get there early to make sure you don't miss out...

The Franklin Street Yoga Center holds a community/donation class on the first Friday night of each month (that would be tomorrow). Each month a different nonprofit group is selected to be a beneficiary of the free class. For September, Franklin Street Yoga selected the Goathouse Refuge, a safe haven group for cats based in Pittsboro. If you attend the class, which will run from 6 to 7:15 p.m., you will be asked to make a donation to the Goathouse Refuge. Franklin Street Yoga Center is located at 123 West Franklin St. in University Square. For more information, you can visit www.franklinstyoga.com or call 929-0414.

Febreze is running a Surround Yourself Sweepstakes in which you can win $2,000 toward a new home theater system. Even if you don't want to enter, click this link because there's an opportunity to request a coupon booklet with $27 in coupons for Procter & Gamble brands including Febreze, Dawn and Cascade (the link to the coupon request form is over on the right).

As part of its Single Check Rebate program, Rite Aid is offering a free pedometer by mail when you buy $30 of qualifying products. I know, $30 sounds like a lot, but a lot of the included products are high-ticket items that you might buy anyway, such as Ensure drinks, Alli, Soy Joy bars, Zone bars and Viactiv chews. You can check out the full list of qualifying products on Rite Aid's Web site here. And, if you are unfamiliar with how Rite Aid Single Check Rebates work, you can read my explanation of the program here.

I have seen some unusual rebates, but this one may just take the cake...

If you missed our story last week, the City of Durham is offering residents $100 rebates for replacing their toilets with more efficient models. City officials said they have 3,000 rebates available on a first come, first served basis. If 3,000 toilets are replaced, the city could save nearly 21 million gallons of water a year. Details about the rebate are available at www.DurhamSavesWater.org or by calling (866) 522-3806.

Clif Bar is challenging people to share inspirational stories about how they have chosen to play differently and why.

The grand prize winner will get a trip for two to Napa Valley and the chance to hang out with the Clif Bar team on its annual Epiphany bike ride, plus a special dinner and a year's supply of Clif bars. Other winners will receive a $1,000 shopping spree. You have to submit a small essay (500 words or less) to enter, and you can do it here...

When Burger King introduced its apple fries earlier this year, I kind of thought it was a crazy idea. But apparently a lot of parents and kids think they are great. Designed to look very much like regular french fries, BK's apple fries are cleverly cut pieces of apple. But obviously they are much healthier than the traditional french fry side. The move was part of a larger effort to provide healthier options for the Burker King kids' meals. Now, five weeks later, Burger King has reported that sales have exceeded the projected demand by 85 percent, with 3 million servings sold nationwide.

I wonder if Burger King execs are walking around asking each other, "How do you like 'dem apples?"