5 Awesome Ways to Shop & Save Money

Now, to be honest, I don’t like spending a lot of time scouring through sales flyers. Am I leaving money on the table? Possibly. Am I going to let it keep me up at night? Nope! How I spend my time is more valuable to me.

1. Use your store card or app.

Most stores have an app and some have a rewards card. One of my faves is the Target REDcard. Just by using my REDcard I save 5%* each time I shop. The REDcard also gets you free shipping at Target.com without having a minimum spending amount. *Exclusions apply so be sure to read the fine print!

There are two card options, Credit or Debit. I have the debit card which pulls the money directly from my bank account. I pair this with the Target app for even more savings. All you have to do is scan as you shop to see if there are any discounts on the items you are already buying. With the app you can also find discounts by category or peruse the Cartwheel offers and Weekly Ad & catalogs.

So many stores have apps now that you don’t really have to worry about forgetting your coupons. Another money saving app I use is from Kohl’s. The Wallet in the app keeps all of my Kohl’s Cash, YES2YOU Rewards, Gift Cards, and Offers in one convenient place.

Like most people today, my smart phone is rarely far away. Why not put it to use as another money saving tool. Who isn’t into saving money?!

Target & Kohl’s are included because they are local to me and what I am familiar with. Please leave a comment with the stores you love and what they offer that helps you save money.

2. Ibotta

Are you looking for 1 great app that you can use to easily shop and save money? Well folks this is it! Ibotta has a variety of offers from grocery, hardware, and clothing stores to shopping online as well. You search through the stores you shop at and click on offers for items you plan buy or think you might buy.

Some offers are for specific products like Eggo Waffles. While others are for “any brand” items like fruit snacks. They also frequently have offers for $0.25 cash back on any item. 

I get it. You’re thinking, “It isn’t worth my time for a measly $0.25.” Normally I would tell you that you’re right. However those quarters tend to add up quickly. On top of that they have bonuses. It might be something like a $2.00 bonus for redeeming 5 unique offers. 

To give you an idea of savings, I earned $37.25 in cash back in April. I browse through the offers when I’m on my lunch break at work or waiting on dinner to finish cooking. Really, you can spend a few minutes a day and still get great earnings. 

If you are needing something specific you can use the search feature and type in the item. My son had an unfortunate incident with a cat (not ours) and got scratched (he is fine). I wanted to buy some Mederma to help with scarring. I checked on ibotta and there was a $5.00 offer. When I got to the store the package had a $3.00 coupon. I was ecstatic to save $8.00!

Please keep in mind that your savings will be different than mine. You may save less or your might save even MORE. It really depends on the products you buy and where you shop. Offers change frequently and seem to be different for each person.

Referring people can also score you some extra cash.  The offers change frequently, so you’ll want to check out the ibotta app for the latest offer.

3. Price Match

My family has saved quite a bit of money over the years by price matching and it’s super easy to do. So, let’s say you’re shopping for a new computer. You think you know which one you want, but you want to see it in person and touch it.

You’re at the store. You see it, you touch it and now… you want it. Are you sure you’re getting the best deal? Stop wondering! Just pull out your handy dandy smart phone and do a search for the make/model of the item you are drooling over.

You just found the item cheaper at another store (online or in-store). Yes! Now, show your phone to a store associate and ask if they price match that retailer. If they do SCORE for you! If not, ask if there is anything they can do to convince you to buy from them instead of the other retailer.

Many stores have a price match policy listed on their website. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with their policy before you approach an associate. Being an informed shopper is another easy way to help you save money.

4. Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates)

Are you someone who does a lot of shopping online? If so, you should check out Rakuten. There are a ton of different stores to save at. Just shop through the link and you’ll be saving anywhere from 1% – 12% without doing any work!

You can save when shopping at Groupon, Overstock, Macy’s, Old Navy, ebay, Staples, Walmart and Amazon, just to name a few. There are savings when shopping in-store too!

And, as if this isn’t enough great savings, you can earn $25 for every friend that you refer. How awesome is that!

For Google Chrome users there’s an extension to help you save when you’re shopping. Simply enable it and you’ll get a pop-up anytime you go to a website that has an offer through Rakuten. Just activate the offer and keep on shopping. It’s that easy!

If you’re anything like me easy is good because I’m often thinking of so many other things like laundry, work, school events, and SLEEP that I forget my savings tools. Especially when I’m late night shopping on Amazon after the youngster is asleep.

**Make sure you compare your savings apps! Sometimes one will have a better discount and you obviously want to go with the one that will save you the most money while you’re shopping.

5. Read Product Reviews before Buying

I can hear you now. You’re probably saying, “Wait, that is not a way for me to save money!” Are you sure? Think about it this way. You just purchased a new TV, got a great deal, but when you get it home the image quality is terrible or you realize that it doesn’t have enough ports to connect your cable box, Blu-Ray player, PS4, and Xbox.

You could return it. Does the store you bought it from have a restocking fee? Do you have to package it back up, request a return shipping label, and take it to UPS to return? These things take time and you’ve heard the saying, “Time is money.”

I highly recommend that you read through the reviews before making purchases. Whether it’s inexpensive or not this method can save you money.

Here’s another scenario. You buy a new hair dryer for $25.00. It works fine…for 3.25 months and then it dies. It’s just outside of the return window and you can’t return. I guess it’s time to buy another hair dryer. Grr!

This time you search online. You see the same exact hair dryer as the one that just died. It has 2.5 stars. While reading the reviews you learn this is relatively common for this model. (Insert eye roll here.)

You find a similar model with stellar reviews. Maybe it’s a few dollars more, maybe a few less. Either way you could’ve saved yourself time and, possibly, money by reading the reviews before you made the purchase.

Please leave a message in the comments section on your experience using these tools as well as any other ways you shop and save money.

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