(via capl@washjeff.edu)
I have talked a lot about couponing lately but most of those posts have centered around using coupons in stores — and not really about getting great deals online. While I do try really hard to do the majority of my shopping locally, there are many times when buying online is just so much easier and in some cases, less expensive. Plus, there are many instances when buying online is the only way to find exactly what you are looking for.
One of the great things about shopping online is you can quickly compare prices between several stores. This can help you save a lot of money. Another great thing is that from time to time these online store offer coupon codes. COUPONS — yippee! These codes are usually good for free shipping, a percentage or certain dollar amount off an order and sometimes (if you are super lucky) you can find coupon codes that make items free — or almost free once you add shipping.
How to Find Coupon Codes
So how does one find these elusive coupon codes? It’s actually pretty simple. First of all, here at Kids Ain’t Cheap we have a Family Coupon Code Directory. There you will find many codes to help you save money on everything from baby furniture to audio downloads. Check it often because we get new codes all the time.
Search Engines
Another thing you can do is to do a search for: (your favorite store) coupons before placing an order.
Here’s an example, I was looking for a certain iPhone cover for a friend’s birthday. He wanted his alma mater’s logo and I had no idea where to find such a thing. I first searched for iPhone covers with his former university’s name. The company Coveroo.com came up and had exactly what I was looking for. The price seemed comparable to other covers I had seen — but I wanted to see if I might be able to save just a little bit more more money. On the home page of the site was 20% my order with xyz coupon code. SWEET! I still decided to look via my favorite search engine to see if it might turn up an even better coupon. Guess what — it did! So not only was I able to save 20% I also got free shipping. I was so please that when I was asked if I wanted to include personalization on the cover (my husband’s name) I said, “Heck yes I do!” So I got more that I had anticipated and still ended up spending less than I thought I would.
There are a lot of other ways to find coupon codes as well. If you love a certain brand, item, store, etc. sign up for their newsletters. It is a good idea to have a separate email account that you have these types of emails set to that way your personal email account does get overloaded.
Also, if you “like” certain pages on Facebook you can sometimes get printable coupons or coupon codes periodically. I have been waiting for a Petco coupon for while and haven’t seen any come through. My dog’s food is kind of spendy (but she’s so worth it!), so I try to stock-up when I find coupons for the food, which are extremely hard to come by. However, in my news feed on Facebook the other day there it was a coupon code! If I hadn’t “liked” their page I wouldn’t have seen it. If you are on twitter you can also follow certain brands and stores and some of them will periodically post special offers and coupon codes as well.
Coupon blogs
I have also talked a lot about following coupon blogs. These folks will also post details about online deals as well. This can come is especially handy with the holidays just around the corner!!! Speaking of the holidays shopping online can save you a trip to the post office and many online retailers offer free shipping during this time of year to entice you to buy from them.
So what are some of your favorite ways to save online?
