When buying a Christmas gift, birthday gift or doing some grocery online have you ever googled for a coupon code before making a purchase?
You know how annoying it is when you get all excited to save a few bucks, and then all the sudden, it appears that the coupon is a spam.
Or it has expired a day before.
I was tired of being disappointed like this, so I decided to do my research and share it in this post so you and me can shop smarter.
It is going to save you a lot of money in the long run, just keep on reading.
1. Install Honey
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If you haven’t heard of Honey yet, allow me to introduce to you one of the most popular money saving apps.
You can easily install Honey in your web browser using this link and start using.
But before that, let me ask you a quick question.
Have you ever google for a discount code before making a purchase and only find out tons of expired code?
Disappointing isn't it?
Honey is here to eliminate all that annoying process you have to went through
Here is how Honey work
When you shop online, Honey will automatically find a discount code that they found around the web and apply to your cart before you make the purchase.
How simple is that?
How Honey works in Amazon
Honey has partnered up with Amazon as well so you can shop smarter.
You can get a lot of stuff in Amazon for a cheaper price.
Honey makes you more aware of the price changes on Amazon by showing you the best time to buy the product.
Not only that, you can save that item into your Honey droplist and they will notify you when this product is dropped at its lowest price.
Here is how Honey looks like on Amazon.
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Get Honey now and shop smarter.
You are going to save a lot of money on this coming Christmas, Thanksgiving and Black Friday or even getting a gift for your loved one.
How much you can save with Honey?
Do you know how much we spend on gifts alone on Christmas in 2017?
According to Statista, average estimated spending on Christmas gifts alone in 2017 is $906!
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That is just a spending for Christmas gift alone, I haven't include birthday gift, anniversary gift and gift for your kids for no reason.
Let's have a rough estimation of how much you can save with Honey.
Imagine the average discount you can save with Honey is about 15% and we round it up the average gift that you spend per year is $1000.
You can save an estimated $150 per year.
This might sound not a lot, but hear me out what $150 can do.
- That's about 30 cups of Starbucks.
- Standard Netflix plan cost about $156 per year (it is like watching Netflix with just 50 cents per month!)
- You can order about 10 pizza (wow, you can throw a pizza party)
- You can get about 78+ cheese string
- You can get about 5 pairs of new earrings
I can go on and on and this post will be the thickness of a dictionary.
Here is the link where you can easily install Honey on your web browser.
2. Register with Ebates
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Would you like buying products online and earning money to do so?
It might sound too good to be true and you probably think it’s a scam, but it actually isn’t.
You can do this with Ebates.
Here is how Ebates work
So first, you find a store at ebates.com, then buy something through Ebates and Ebates will give you back money after you make a purchase, meaning you will receive cashback.
If you are planning to travel on this coming Christmas holiday or any long weekend holiday.
I got a good news for you.
You can find lots of hotels, Cruise, vacation packages or even airfare on Ebates.
That means you will receive cashback on your travel fees.
How much you can receive cashback on Ebates?
Ebates can give you up to 15% cash back.
Let's say you plan to travel on this coming long new year holiday and it cost you about $1000 per trip, (American spend about $1400+ per trip according to Statista, but I just round it up to $1000 for easier calculation) if you get everything booked using Ebates you can receive cashback about $100 if the cashback is 10%.
Not too bad isn't it.
Cashback isn’t something that sounds unfamiliar.
It’s just that everyone is too scared to try it while shopping online.
However, don’t worry about Ebates because it’s used by many people and you can shop on popular sites and get cashback.
Here is a list of Ebates partnered with :
- Amazon
- Groupon
- Houzz
- Forever 21
- Lululemon
- Sephora
- Kate Spade
- Nike
- Shoes.com
- Michael Kors
- Levis
- Samsung
- Walmart
and... there is too much for me to list it all here.
You got to check it for yourself.
Ebates was founded in 1999 and has helped over 10 million customers over the years.
It’s the company’s job to connect all the best brands around the world and help people save money on their online shopping.
Where to get started with Ebates?
If you want to give it a try, sign up with Ebates here using this link. (It is my referral link where you will get $10 cashback to start off when you make a purchase with Ebate)
How to install Ebates Cashback browser button for easier shopping experience
If you are the first timer, you will receive a pop up where they will suggest you to install the cashback button.
If that doesn't happen, you can easily do it using the instruction below.
Once you have signup with Ebates, log in to your account and click on the help button on the top right corner of the navigation bar.
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The click on "more features"
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After that click on "Ebates Cashback Button"
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Then they will guide you on how to install Ebates cashback button according to the browser that you are using.
So next time whenever you do an online shopping, Ebates will automatically tell you if you will get a cashback when you shop at that site.
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Can you use both Honey and Ebates to save more money?
The answer is yes, you can use both when you did an online shopping.
That is why I recommend both companies.
And there you go, this is how you can shop smarter with Ebates and Honey.
3. Shop at end of season
Nothing grabs the eye of people like seasonal sales. And companies are well aware of this.
It’s why they’re making seasonal sales in the first place. Not because they want to clear the shelves, but because they know people are more eager to buy a product when it’s on sale, rather than when it’s sold at regular price.
And while some of the companies provide discounts at the end of each season, others organize seasonal sales once a year.
So, one of my tips on shopping online is to wait for this period to shop.
You can also wait for the holidays to kick in because it’s when most companies offer discounts, knowing that people are more excited to spend more money during the holidays.
4. Sign up for Newsletter
One of the best tips on online shopping would be signing up for Newsletter in exchange for free shipping on the first purchase or other benefits while shopping.
It will mostly give you a 10% discount.
If you don’t know what this it, let me explain.
When you land on some online store, sometimes you will find a pop up where you are offered to sign up for a newsletter in order to get free shipping or a discount after making a purchase.
Sign up to their newsletter and get the benefits from them.
Is just that easy.
5. Add to cart and close your browser!
Apparently, if you choose your favorite product, add to cart and abandon the website or simply close your browser, after a day or two, most of the time you will get a coupon or discount code to finish off the purchase.
However, keep in mind that not every company is willing to do this to keep you as their customer.
Don’t forget to log in the store and leave your email address before you try this trick.
It may be unsuccessful, however, it won’t cost you anything to give it a try.
6. Wait for a holiday weekend
Most companies offer discounts and have promotions on holiday weekends.
So, it’s wise to wait for one and buy the things you like and save some money.
But when you do this, don’t forget to use a secure network connection. Never use public network because it can be hacked by anyone.
Keep your online information safe and secure while shopping for the holidays.
If you don’t have a holiday in mind, let me suggest a few.
First, Black Friday, one of the most popular ones, especially in the United States.
Second on my list is Cyber Monday.
It offers great online deals and sales the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Easter is also known for discounts and sales, especially when it comes to spring clothes.
Now you can shop smarter than everybody else
If you find this tips useful, share with your friends and family so they can shop smarter as well.