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(THIS POST PROBABLY CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. OUR FULL DISCLOSURE POLICY IS REALLY BORING, BUT YOU CAN FIND IT HERE.)
If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know that I don’t fully trust coupons.
If you’re new here – HI! Thanks for stopping by. And you should know that I don’t fully trust coupons.
I know, I know, coupons are literally like money… unless you weren’t ever going to buy that thing in the first place. “Save 50 cents on (specific) shampoo” is not the same as finding two quarters on the ground. If the coupon sways you to purchase something you weren’t already planning on buying… well, that can be bad. That’s what coupons are designed to do, by the way. Sway you.
(I do like the checkout 51 app, because it’s easy to use and they sometimes have coupons for “any milk”, “any bread” ect, and that IS like finding money on the ground. It’s worth using – as long as you can show some restraint when it comes to their OTHER coupons, and only use the ones for things you would normally buy anyway.)
ANYHOW, I do realize that there are times when either you a) actually NEED to buy something, or b) just ARE gonna buy something, regardless of if you need it or not. My very favorite pajamas in the whole world come to mind. Did I need pajamas? No. Do I regret buying them? Really, really no. I lurrrv them.
So when I know I am, in fact, going to buy something online, there are a few things I do to make sure I am getting the best possible price. Just in case you haven’t tried these things, I thought I’d share them with you.
The internet is amazing that way. I can shop around and be sneaky about discounts (and I never even have to get OUT of my amazing pajamas).
How to (REALLY) save money when shopping online
I often purchase serenity formula (awesome stuff for anxiety) online and get it way cheaper than I can get it in the store. (This makes perfect sense, because think of how much lower the overheads can be for online stores.) But not only is it a lower price online to begin with, I find ways to make it EVEN CHEAPER.
My first step is to do a google search – NEVER go directly to one site – to see which online stores come up as having that product. Then I quickly check the price of the product on a few different sites – all the way through to the end, because lots of places charge sneaky high shipping or weird fees.
Once I have a general idea of where I can get the thing and how much it will cost, I google (again, not going directly to one site) coupon codes for THAT site. So if I’ve found my thing to buy on well.ca for example, I google “well.ca promo code”. (And just FYI there is 10$ off 50$ when you use the coupon code WELL10 right now!). Often, I find a promo code that isn’t readily available on the website.
If the site is offering a discount for buying multiples of something that won’t go bad, or free shipping for spending a little more, I weigh it up to see if it’s worth it. If I have to spend another 25$ to save 15$ on shipping – but I’m getting something that I WILL USE and have to buy again in the future, then it’s worth it!
Before I buy it, I compare the final price that I’ve managed to get to the final price through a cashback site like Piggy. (Ebates is another really popular cashback site… but they don’t often let you use coupons as well.) Piggy actually FINDS you coupons to use, as well as giving you cashback, so I start with that one.
TopCashback is another site I would check. (These cashback sites are all free to use, so it’s silly not to at least check them.) TopCashback works with amazon as well, which is super amazing!
Depending on what I’m buying, I’ve saved up to 50 or 60 bucks at a time this way. When there are NO good coupons or cashback for something I want to buy online, if I can wait a week or two before I order it, I do. That way I can check again.
This system seriously works. The last time I bought the Serenity Formula, for example, I got 12 bottles for $8.50 each, (there was a coupon code I used for “save $20 when you spend $100.00”) and the regular price online is about $12. The regular price in the STORE is $14. They will keep for the whole year, and I go through a bottle every month, so I would absolutely be buying it again soon anyway. 14 – 8.50 = 5.50 and 5.50 x 12 = 66. $66.00 is NOT insignificant savings!!
What are your favorite sites to find promo codes? Or where do you get the best deals online?
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