You Win Some... And Win Some More

Ashley
Jan 18, 2017
3 min read

Maximize your savings potential

My mother in law dropped our teenagers off at Rue21 a few weeks ago to shop with money they had got for Christmas, after a while my phone rang, which I had Letari answer. On the other end I could hear my daughter say “We need to talk to mom!“, confused at the request he asked for her to explain as he thought something was wrong. You could hear frustration in her voice and at first it did sound as though something was wrong but what came next cracked me up! “We need a coupon!” she exclaimed. I couldn’t help but laugh as Letari passed me the phone with complete confusion written on his face. You see, there are people in my life that truly get me, lol. I’m resourceful, I can’t help it! Long story short they had picked up more than they could afford but didn’t want to put any of it back. Within a few minutes I had found a coupon they could use and saved them over $50 in store with money left in their pockets, they were thrilled!

I don’t know about you, but I love to shop online especially during the holidays. I don’t do crowds and if I shop in store I tend to buy more than I had planned for i.e. catering to my wants and not our needs. One thing I find beneficial when shopping online is not only gaining cash back through sites like eBates and credit card/bank promotions, but the availability of coupons as well! This is where you must understand the power of the world-wide web! Anytime I am shopping on a site, in the store or eating at a restaurant and they don’t immediately offer any discounts or promo codes I use the web to find one. Here is some of the best advice I can give you for shopping online:

Sign up as a subscriber on the company’s webpage. Many restaurants like Chili’s, Joe’s Crab shack, etc. will offer free food or discounts on your bill if you enroll; this is the same for some retailers also. In doing so you are set to receive special offers and promos through your email weekly, monthly or during the holidays (including your birthday!).
Use old fashion paper coupons. There are coupons that you can get in the ads, mailers, etc that will have online promo codes or additional savings in store.
Google Search! Although using a search engine isn’t always reliable it can still return useful information and is a great starting point. Being specific helps, this means describing what you are looking for; examples of this would be kids eat free, free shipping, free appetizer, (store name) online coupon codes, etc.
Use online coupon sites like RetailMeNot, Coupons.com, CouponCabin and Brad’s Codes. I like RetailMeNot the most as it shows the success rate of each code along with expiration dates and location.
Last, but not least, utilize cash back! You might get tired of hearing this but it pays in the end. If I had learned about eBates prior to my holiday shopping I could have earned hundreds of dollars in cash back on top of what I had already earned from my Credit Card. I have used this site, doing the shopping I already do on a regular basis and have collected $83.42 in cash back so far. That is during January alone people!

Some of us have to stick to a budget, so we are forced to save every penny that we can. Even if you don’t have a budget, why not let stores pay you to shop? We all could use a little extra cash at some point; if you’re disagreeing with me right now (you’d be absolutely insane if you were) then you should really consider adding funds to a savings because one day… be it tomorrow, next year or 10 years from now you are going to wish that you had done something rather than nothing at all. It isn’t difficult and unlike avid coupon-ing, it is a simple step that can save you a little or even a lot! Check out my other posts Forgotten Savings and Franklin shall set you free for tips on creating savings as well as investing in your future.