Finance Friday: How to Get the Best Deals for Your Money

Holiday shop and save

 

  • Have you been searching for gifts?
  • Are you trying to stay on budget?
  • Do you have few moments to plan your ship trip?

If you can answer, “Yes,” to any of the questions above then you can enjoy buying and saving at the same time.

PLAN FIRST

The best way to say if to know what you’re going to buy. Even if you don’t have all the details, have a general idea of what you need to purchase.

First, think what the recipients needs or wants.

When you have narrowed it down, think about the stores that sells the best quality of those items. Next, shop for a code.

Here are my top 5 places to find the best codes

1. EBATES – I love ebates because they give you cash back, and they tell you the current deals. Get a $10 gift card, just for signing up.

2. MY POINTS – Similar to ebates, My Points is a point driven system. I go here to find the latest deals in their daily deals section. I buy gift cards through them because they give me hundreds of points back when I do so. I print my grocery coupons by going through their system first so I can gather points by using printable coupons. They have lots of stores to choose from to redeem your points and points are not just earned by making purchases. A person can also earn points just by opening emails and going to merchant sites. With my limited amount of free time, this works well because it is something that I can do while watching a show and it doesn’t consume my time.

3. Retail Me Not – They have the latest codes and also have a convenient app that you can download on your phone.

4. Savings Star – Do you hate clipping coupons, but shop at a store with a rewards card? If so, this is a great site that sends coupons directly to your store cards. Over 84 participating stores.

5. ShopRunner – Great for free shipping at popular stores.

These sites help you find discount codes on merchandise and free shipping offers as well. Before you shop online always check which will give you the most cash back or points back.

SET A BUDGET

I love buying gifts and shopping, but I’m a part-time Work-at-home mom, so I have to shop on a budget.

SHOP ONLINE ONLY RETAILERS

If you know the sizes you need, it is easy to shop online only retailers because it is much easier when looking for specific sizes.

RUE LA LA – This is a online retailer that sells the same things found in department stores but cheaper. The quality of the items are great and the shipping prices are reasonable. This is one of my number 1 go to places to buy dresses and shoes for my daughters.

Zulily – Similar to Rue La La, this retailer has great prices from clothing to decor to accessories. Membership to may of these online retailers are buy indentation only, but they offer lots of sizes and a good range of products.

ideeli – For adults, this is a great site that has deals on designer clothes.

My Habit – Clothing retailer owned by Amazon. They have unique clothes from brand name designers.

NoMoreRack – This site sells a variety of merchandise, they send a lot of emails so make sure you set your preferences to not receive them too frequently.

Groupon – Great for restaurant, events, and travel deals.

Living Social – Great for discounts on local attractions.

Which is my favorite? My favorite and the one I use most often is My Points. The service is reliable and the gift cards from redeeming points make great gifts. The option that is the easiest to use is Ebates. I adore the initial gift card they give and how they list all of the discount codes on their site so they not only save me money by providing cash back they also save me time.

*The links enclosed are referral links. All of these suggestions have truly saved me thousands of dollars so I wanted to share them with my readers.

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