when i lived at home and my dad was retired, he used to joke about how close of friends he and the UPS man became because i had so many packages delivered to the house. sometimes almost everyday.
i know, it's awful.
i mostly like online shopping because i can see all the shirts or jeans. or i can find exactly what i'm looking for with a quick search and not have to go up and down aisles going through racks of clothes. i also like finding coupons and applying as many as i can to get the best deal. there's too much pressure at check out to know exactly what combination of coupons will save me the most. i'm not that great at math.
the best coupon site i have found is www.retailmenot.com they usually have all the store's coupons in one place. they also have an app for your phone or tablets. it's my understanding that the app will notify you of coupons if you're near a store with coupons. but i do not have the app so i don't know how accurate that is..
the other little gem i happened upon while searching ways to make money is ebates i've heard of ebates before but never fully understood what it was to try it. so on a whim i signed up and tested it out.
how it works:
- you sign up for an account
- once you're signed in, search for the site you want to shop at. let's say target - you search for target. it pulls up some coupons or deals related to target. click a button that says 'shop now' and it automatically loads a new page with the target website. it is the target website. not some condensed version.
- shop like you normally would. put everything in your cart. check out. (that's normal, right? buy all the things!)
- ebates will have record of your shopping trip. (like mine below)
- the website, like target, will send ebates your receipt and you'll get whatever percentage was assigned to the day of your transaction. like some sites are only 1% back and i have seen some as high as 20%. i'm not sure how high it goes but either way you're getting something back.
- now, i have had times where the store didn't send my receipt or for some reason it didn't communicate it back to ebates. you can file a claim and if ebates has record of your shopping trip, they'll automatically add your cash back. if there's no record of you shopping, then you don't get cash back for it.
- you'll have 3 months to rack up your money and then quarterly ebates will send you a check in the amount you earned. or you can request giftcards.
i really like ebates. i have a credit card that i earn points on while making my regular purchases. i know most people say stay away from credit cards. they're the devil. and that's true. however, if you're smart about it, then it can really benefit you. i got my first credit card when i graduated high school to help build credit. i would make small purchases on it and would stay under $250/month. then i would pay it off every month. i got in the habit of always paying off my credit card every month and keeping within my means. now that i'm older and i have a real big girl job, i got a credit card with rewards. i pretty much make all of my purchases on my card for the month - food, groceries, gas, shopping, entertainment. whatever it is, it goes on the card. at the end of each month i pay all of that off. but i couldn't justify using cash for daily meals or movie dates when i could be getting points for those purchases. i'm going to be doing them anyways, might as well get something back for them. i have racked up tons of points over the years that i have cashed out in giftcards that helped me make purchases for home projects or appliances i did need for the home.
combining earning cash back from ebates and earning points on my credit card, i'm hoping to buy a new front door for our home. nothing outrageous. but definitely not within my current budget. i believe by spring we'll have enough money to cover a door and not have to use either of our income. just only using points turned in to giftcards and my ebates cash back. how awesome is that???
No comments:
Post a Comment