Getting started - Online Shopping

Tuesday, March 8, 2011


If you follow my blog, by now you probably realized that I don't pay full price for pretty much anything. That goes for groceries, household goods, beauty supplies, and just about anything else you can think of.

I want to tell you about several sites and programs I use for saving money while shopping online. Every single one of them is free, and can save you lots of cash or at least reward you in some way.

1. First things first- before I shop at any website, I check and see if there is a coupon code available at Retail Me Not. Here you can type in any website and see the coupon codes available for that site. You also have the ability to share codes with others and report expired codes.

2. After you've found your coupon code, head over to Ebates, where you earn cold hard cash (really- they mail you a check) just for shopping through their website. You even get paid $5.00 just for joining! They also feature lots of online deals for various shopping sites.

3. My Points is another click-through shopping site, somewhat like Ebates, but instead of cash you earn points by shopping, taking surveys, even printing coupons that are redeemable for a ton of various prizes (I redeem mine for gift cards). The points are really easy to earn, and a lot of people save them up through the year then cash out for gift cards to use for holiday shopping.


4. Groupon, Groupon, Groupon!! If you haven't signed up for this incredible program then you've obviously been living in a cave for the last 6 months! I have scored the most incredible deals through Groupon, everything from dining out, travel, shopping, and more! The only downside of Groupon is that they do take advantage of everyone's impulse to jump at such hot deals (myself included- I definitely have to exercise a lot of restraint with them!) by giving a tight time limit to the deals they offer.

5. Living Social- Almost the same concept as Groupon, but with different daily deals. I recently scored a $20 Amazon gift card for $10 from this site (Free money? Yes, please!) so it's definitely a site worth watching!

Just a small piece of advice- make sure that when you're buying something it's something that you absolutely need. It's easy to get lured into buying something that is a great deal just because that's what it is. A $10 dress hanging in your closet with the tags that you end up giving away might as well be $10 in the garbage.

Also, if there is a major purchase you know you are going to be making, take your time, do research, and watch for sales. A lot of people don't want to wait, but I can't even imagine how many thousands of dollars I've saved by shopping around for the best price.

Have fun shopping everyone!! :)


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