In today’s world, shopping in “brick and mortar” stores seems so backward, dated, and boring. Huge numbers of people each year sit in their jammies while drinking wine and shop for clothes, household goods, gifts, and just about anything else imaginable.
One of the great advantages to shopping online are the numerous coupon, rebate and dollar-back programs available. If you click through a link, or use a coupon code, your savings can be considerable. In addition, you get all the myriad advantages of shopping online – no children to drag through stores, no gas costs to get there and back, and no hassle of dealing with crowds.
Thus, once you are persuaded to shop online, where can you find the savings? There are many ways to save money online. Let’s begin with coupons.
Discount Codes
This can be fairly standard. Go to one of several coupon websites and look for the store you want to shop with, or search by category, based on your needs. Be sure to click “apply” when you enter the coupon during checkout.
Even though in the early days of shopping online, online coupons were plentiful and generous (often you could find $10 off a $10 purchase with free freight), good coupons today are hard to find. Some stores (like Lands’ End) rarely offer coupons while others (L.L. Bean) often offer free shipping on any size order. When you order, or even though you don’t order, be sure to sign up with the website either by registering or signing up for coupons. These direct-email coupons are often some of the best you will ever find.
Here are a few excellent coupon websites to get you started:
MyBargainBuddy dot com, Here, a mom compiles good deals and coupon codes for you. The best deals need no coupon at all, but if there’s a great deal and a coupon to go with it, all the better.
FatWallet dot com, Lots of codes here along with active message boards where other deals are available.
MyCoupons dot com, The most effective part of this website are the message boards, which are alive with the noise of people saving money. Read the posts that have stickies on them in the beginning of each forum – there are often some good links to printable coupons here for favorites like Toys R Us and Chuck e Cheese.
One note: If you are looking for a code for a certain store, don’t assume that if it’s not available at one website, it doesn’t exist. There are different codes at different sites. Visit several coupon sites before giving up hope that a code does in fact exist for that store.
Rebates
This is how the big daddy of online rebate programs works. Go to Ebates and subscribe to an account. There is a sign up bonus of $5, so you have a free $5 coming to you. Then, when you are shopping, check Ebates before heading directly to an online store. Even if you have a coupon from another site, click through the store link on the Ebates page for more savings.
Let’s imagine you choose a brand new jacket from Kohls and you’ve got a $10 off a $75 purchase. Terrific. Keeping the discount code in hand, you head to Ebates and find Kohls among the list of stores. This store offers 2% back, so you click through the Kohls link on the Ebates page, and make your decision. You don’t only enjoy the coupon code you applied, but also got an extra 2% back on your purchase. Not necessarily a bad deal. Ebates will send money to your Paypal account or send you a check.
Points
Not everyone understands about the various point programs available, however since you are able to earn points without doing any shopping, the points programs are worth knowing.
Take a look at MyPoints and subscribe to an account. My Points will send emails (sometimes daily, sometimes several in one day). You click a link in the mail and automatically get 5 points. Subscribe to an offer or make a purchase through that link and earn even more points, from hundreds to thousands of points per offer.
My Points is very useful, nevertheless, when you are shopping online. It’s like Ebates in that you click through a link on the My Points site, and you get points for your purchase. Most stores offer a certain number of points (two to four on average) per dollar spent. Once you have at least 1,000 points, you can redeem the points for gift cards for restaurants, gasoline, traveling and clothing.
It’s not possible to use Ebates and My Points in the same purchase, so if a store is linked through both Ebates and My Points, you need to decide which will be the better deal for you. Whenever possible, attempt to combine a promotion code with the My Points or Ebates offer.
If you need to repair your credit, stay organized with a to-do list that ensures you won’t forget anything. How To Improve My Credit Report Before you start boosting your credit score, you need to know the basics. Lenders certainly know what sort of information they can get from a credit score.
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