One of the great benefits to shopping online is the various coupon, rebate and dollar-back programs available. If you click through a link, or use a coupon code, your savings can be substantial. In addition, you get all the myriad benefits of shopping online – no children to drag through stores, no gas costs to get there and back, and no hassle of dealing with crowds.
There are several ways to save money online. Let’s start with coupons.
Coupons
Be sure to click “apply” when you enter the coupon during checkout.
Although in the early days of online shopping, coupon codes were plentiful and generous (frequently you could find $10 off a $10 purchase with free shipping), good coupons these days 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 if you don’t order, be sure to sign up with the website either by registering or signing up for coupons.
Here are some excellent coupon sites to get you started:
MyBargainBuddy.com — Here, a mom compiles good deals and coupon codes for you. Some of the best deals need no coupon at all, but if there’s a good deal and a coupon to go with it, all the better.
FatWallet.com — Lots of codes here along with active message boards where other deals can be found.
MyCoupons.com — The most beneficial part of this site are the message boards, which are alive with the sound of people saving money.
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
Here’s how the big daddy of online rebate programs works. Go to Ebates.com and sign up for an account. Then, when you go shopping, check E-bates before heading directly to an online store. Even if you have a coupon from another site, click through the store link on the E-bates page for more savings.
Keeping the coupon code in hand, you head to E-bates and find Kohls among the list of stores. This store offers 2% back, so you click through the Kohls link on the E-bates page, and make your purchase. Not only do you benefit from the coupon code you applied, but also got an extra 2% back on your purchase.
Points
Not everyone knows about the various point programs available, but since you can earn points without doing any shopping, the points programs are worth knowing.
Visit MyPoints.com and sign up for an account. You click a link in the mail and automatically get 5 points. Sign up for 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 most useful, however, when you’re shopping online. It’s like E-bates 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 (2 to 4 on average) per dollar spent. Once you have at least 1,000 points, you can redeem the points for gift certificates for restaurants, gas, travel and clothing.
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