Home & Garden Blog » Deal of the Day

Today’s special deal of the day is for savings found on Drs. Foster & Smith, the veterinary supply store that covers everything from household pets to farm animals.

A pet can be a wonderful addition to any family, but sometimes the cost seems to overwhelm the value of the pet itself. You may only spend $5 on the fish itself, but for the tank, the filter, the food, the nets, the cleaning supplies and the occasional snail to create a natural water cleaner, the total can be pretty steep to keep Mr. Fishie.

Let’s take a look at some of the bulk savings you can find:

Aqua Ferns from Drs.FosterSmith.com: $2.99/each

Barnhouse III DogHouse from Drs.Foster&Smith.com: $129.99

Find a Drs. Foster & Smith coupon at CouponMountain.com.

We all want to save a little money, but not thin down our quality of life. Electronics eat up a lot of power and money, so wherever you see an opportunity to save a little money and do things the “old-fashioned” way, I recommend doing it. Wash the dishes instead of putting them in the dishwasher, hang your clothes on a drying rack and let the water and detergent gently whisk away–it works nicely as a room smell-conditioner, too! Make sure you have the proper tools for whatever venture you go on: rubber gloves and sponges for the hand washing, drying racks for the hand drying. Here are some of the top clothes drying racks for you found on Smarter.com:

Expandable Drying Rack: $97.00

Collapsible Drying Rack: $19.99

Find more affordable drying racks at Smarter.com.

We all want to provide the healthiest, cleanest foods for our families, and that includes of course the water. The flu season is coming up (or has arrived already, if you’re thinking about swine flu) and drinking good clean water is absolutely essential to keep your family healthy. Invest in a water filter, either connected to your tap or in a separate container to go in your fridge, so that clean water will always be on hand for your family. You can never be too safe.

Brita 42364 Space Saver Water Filter Pitcher: $23.99

With a 2-quart capacity, this water will keep your family hydrated throughout the day before it needs to be refilled!

PUR 2Stage Faucet Filter Replacement Cartridge RF 3375: $14.99

Smarter.com always has your best interests at heart: stylish products with thrifty prices! Featured savings this week include decorative wall clocks, and who doesn’t like to be on time for great savings?

Howard Miller Devahn Distinctions Wall Clock: $55.27

14″” Diameter Chronicle Wall Clock, Metallic Gray Plastic Case: $29.52

Howard Miller Brentwood Home and Office Wall Clock: $50.37

Shop for affordable clocks at Smarter.com.

When we’re in transitional weather, we need to be prepared for whatever footwear is necessary for the day. In those unusually humid and sweaty days of September and October, you might still want to pull out the gladiator sandals left over from the summer. But when it gets too cold, or wet, or rainy, you want to have those knee-high rain boots or fur-lined clogs to keep you feeling your best. Before your closet or mudroom floor becomes a chaos of shoes and laces, check out some of these affordable shoe racks:

Mudroom Shoe Rack : $98.00

Metal Shoe Rack: $29.99

Small Cherry Shoe Rack: $106.99

Find more affordable shoe racks at Smarter.com.

Ladders are an utmost necessity for the do-it-yourself housewife or househusband. Standing on chairs only works until you’ve broken the prized family heirloom or smashed a lightbulb against your palm as you’ve tried to brace yourself from a fall on an uneven stool. Ouch! The best tool besides a hammer is a ladder, because then you can reach everything you want to hit.

Check out some of the top picks:

1. Deep-step aluminum ladder: $39.00-$249.00, depending on height desired

2. Step ladder with slip-resistant grip from GlobalIndustrial.com: $241.95

3. Telesteps Extension Ladder from Toolup.com: $209.00

Shop for more ladders at Smarter.com.

It’s the time of year when things are getting desperate. If you can’t figure out how to keep your guests cool during summer dinner parties or grilling sessions, then you won’t be able to get friends to stay over your house at all. Believe me, I ran that risk last night, where even the slightest boiling of water in my 3rd floor, un-air conditioned apartment resulted in us packing up the dinner picnic-style and moving out to the waterfront bay down the street. It was all in good fun, though not the most convenient, as we didn’t have a proper bathroom or trashcan, but it ended with some fun pick-up wiffle ball games and a good view of sunset.

I digress. Basically the moral of the story is that, at this time of year, even if you’ve gone the whole summer without sufficient cooling devices, you need them now almost definitely. And luckily, a lot of fans, umbrellas, and cooling devices are on sale because it’s so late in the season!

Top picks on sales and clearances for patio umbrellas:

California Umbrella SMCU758: $165.00, marked down from $194.12

Oxford Garden 6 ft Market Umbrella: $111.97, marked down from $159.95

Umbrella Source 6ft Lifeguard Umbrella: $221.22, marked down from $292.50

Find more affordable patio umbrellas.

Everything we ever want in life is time–time to work, time to sleep, time to dream, time to relax, time to exercise, time to change, time to stay the same. As the summer is rapidly rushing towards the finish, I like to think about what I can do to slow the time down, or speed it up, depending on how I’m feeling a particularly day. Today, for example, l want the time to slooooow down. A lot. And the only way I can think to physically change that would be to get a clock–and then slow down the time.

Smarter.com can help you jump ahead (or slow down the time) with it’s selection of beautiful wall clocks. Here are some of our top picks:

Time Zones Hanging Wall Clock Set 06909: $294.11

Kashmir Wall Clock: $857.50

Uttermost Brina Clock: $288.00

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more decorative wall clocks.

During the summer you always want to sit back and relax. Sometimes you want to sit back and relax outside by the pool. Sometimes your skin needs a break, and you need to sit inside. For that, you want to make your couch a dreamy oasis. And to do that, you need something to prop up your feet and lay back for a while. The perfect solution: discount ottomans! Use Smarter.com to help you find the right ottoman at your price!

Some of our top picks:

Alight Corner Ottoman: $339.00

Green Glider Ottoman: $82.99

Brown Leather Ottoman: $149.99

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more ottomans.

It’s mid-summer, and that means your camera is probably (hopefully!) over-flowing with fantastic memories from the summer.  You want to start organizing all those memories and printing out those pictures now, because come fall you’re going to be so busy with school, work and stress that organizing the summer photo album will be pushed to the wayside. Smarter.com’s thorough comparison shopping engine features plenty of great discounts on photo albums and frames.  Here are some of the top picks in photo album savings:

CR Gibson Heritage Series, Post Bound Photo Album with Soft Leatherlike Construction & Crocodile Accents with Eight 10” x 12” Magnetic Pages: 27.99

With 8 customizable pages and amble room for 5 more packages of photo and scrapbook refills, this durable and protective photo album is classic in design and preservative in function.

100 page Jumbo Scrapbook 11-3/4 x 14”: $7.99, $15.39 with shipping

Even the most ambitious and well-traveled of families will have difficulty filling up this jumbo-sized album with great designer cover!  Perfect for creating scrapbooks and spreads, big enough for newspaper clippings!  Acid-free and archival safe.

Pioneer Family Memory Album with Textured Cover Mulberry Cover, 12” x 12” Scrapbook: $11.85

Made with textured handmade paper, this album is beautiful and hand-crafted from the inside out.  Includes protectors and post extensions.  Acid-free and archival safe.

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for more affordable photo albums.