The Savvy Boomer

A Firefox add-on that can save you money

First of all, if you don't use Firefox, you should (you can download it by clicking on the Firefox button in the column on the right in the Software download section.)  It's faster than Internet Explorer, less prone to unwanted advertising and has thousands of things called extensions or add-ons you can choose from that will make your web browser easier and faster to use.  I found an extension a couple of months ago called "Retailmenot" which will give you coupon codes you can use if you happen to be looking at buying something on a site that participates in the program.

What I really like about it is that I had forgotten that I had installed it because I didn't go to to many shopping sites.  But when I did so before Christmas, up popped a little information box that said that there were coupons available for a site I was looking at buying something on.  I clicked on one and ended up saving 15% on my purchase.  Then recently, I went to a music site called Amiestreet to download some music someone told me about and up popped a coupon that gave me a $5 coupon which basically paid for the music download.

No squint for Firefox

This may be no big deal to the younger crowd, but to those who of us who now need those reading glasses you can never find when you need them, this is HUGE.  Since this site targets the 50+ crowd, we use a larger font because our eyes ain't what they used to be.  We also have told you about using the Ctrl+ keys to make the text on any internet page larger (Ctrl- for smaller).  But now, if you use Firefox you can download an add-on that allows you to control text size either by individual site or on all sites.  Plus, they give you 2 buttons on your command bar that allow you to increase or decrease the font size.  The mouse wheel can also be configured to change the sizes.  You can get the add-on here.

If you have never installed a Firefox add-on before (there are hundreds-we use about 6 which we'll discuss in future posts), you simply click the download button on the add-on page and a box will pop up.  Click the "install" button and it will run.  Firefox then needs to shut down and restart before it takes effect. Then you click on the "Tools" button and then the "Add-ons" button and you will see your add-ons.  Highlight your new add-on and then click on the "Options" button to personalize how your add-on works.

For more information on Firefox add-ons and a huge list of them,

Thanks to Lifehacker for finding this add-on.