Keep Your Money for Yourself - Part 2: Get the Best Deals

February 6, 2008 By Erica Barton

Finding the best deals does not need to be difficult. For some like me (the compulsive shopper), shopping can be an addiction. By making wise money choices, you give yourself the opportunity to make wise-money investments. This second article in a four-part series offers nine tips that will help you find the best deals on your purchases with very little time or effort, thus saving you hundreds and even thousands of dollars per year.

1. Download the Upromise Toolbar, even if you don’t need college money. Upromise.com has a free toolbar you can use to find the best deals on absolutely any NEW product you could possibly want. By simply typing the name of the product you are looking for, you will be given a list of thousands of matching items, prices, and the stores where you can buy your desired product. Once you have your list, you can then narrow it down by features, lowest price, brand, store, and cash rebate amount. With just a few clicks, you can find the absolute best deal whether you decide to buy it from www.Upromise.com or another website.

2. SIGN UP FOR A FREE EBATES.COM OR SAVINGSWATCH.COM ACCOUNT. Although I have no experience with www.SavingsWatch.com, many of my readers have commented that it is an excellent website to purchase products from and receive large rebates in return. I do, however, have a history with www.Ebates.com and I know that they do pay you on a quarterly basis no matter how little or how large your earnings are. Once you have found the best deals on Upromise.com, pop over to Ebates.com or Savingswatch.com to buy the product for the price you’ve found and receive up to an additional 30% off. By doing so, you will always get the best prices and make a little extra cash back on the side. (Right now, Ebates.com is having a sign-up special. If you have a friend who has an Ebates.com account, enter their email address to earn $5 instantly for you and your friend.)

3. SHOP AT HALF.COM FOR CHEAP BOOKS, MOVIES AND CDS. www.Half.com is an eBay company that allows everyday people to post their new and used books, music and movies for sale without paying a posting fee. A customer can then purchase the item for as little as $0.75 and spend approximately $3 for shipping and handling. Within one to two weeks, the items are delivered to your door. Compared to walking into a book or movie store, you can save a lot of money over a relatively short period of time. Just be sure to read the condition comments to avoid any surprises, and only buy from sellers with a good rating.

4. SHOP AT EBAY FOR MANY OTHER ITEMS (AND COUPONS). Since I mentioned Half.com, I may as well bring up www.eBay.com as well. Just like Half.com, you can find a wide variety of new and used products that people have put up for auction. Also just like Half.com, be sure to buy from sellers with good ratings and email them requesting details should you require more information. One more thing to look for at eBay would be coupons. Many people get hold of coupons for everything from travel to groceries, and you can purchase those coupons and save yourself a whole lot of money.

5. USE COMPETITOR PRICING TO DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN. Whether you are an entrepreneur trying to get the best pricing on your business purchases or a thrifty shopper, you can use competitor’s pricing to your advantage. By getting quotes from one company and presenting them to the place where you normally make your purchases, you can get your favorite stores to consider lowering the price just for you. In fact, many large department stores (like Sears and Home Depot) have price matching policies. They will often meet or beat a competitor’s pricing on a product, but only if you can present an ad listing the item you wish to buy. Just be aware, it has to be exactly the same item to get the best deal. Not only will this get you the best pricing, but it will also get you the best financing deals with companies you may already have credit with. (Check out competitor’s websites for printable weekly ads if you don’t receive the newspaper.)

6. USE COUPONS AND REBATES TO SAVE EVEN MORE. Many office supply stores have an “online rebate center” where you can see all the rebates being offered for their in-store and online products. It’s a great place to start when looking to make a large purchase. www.Coupons.com and www.Smartsource.com both offer hundreds of manufacturers coupons every month on grocery store products. www.Wow-Coupons.com offers rebates and coupons for restaurants, travel, retail and grocery items. Sign up for newsletters at your favorite shops and websites and you will soon receive exclusive coupons via mail and e-mail.

7. BECOME AN AFFILIATE. If you have a website, join an affiliate company. Not only will it help you supplement your monthly income when your friends, family and customers make purchases through your websites, but it will also help you find the absolute best deals on anything you want. One really good company to join for free is Commission Junction (www.cj.com). You can immediately search for thousands of products and make your selections based on price, available coupons, and commission. Every time you net $25, they mail you a check the following monthly pay period. By doing so, you can easily “earn” hundreds of dollars per year while also finding the best prices.

8. ALWAYS SHOP THE CLEARANCE SECTIONS. There is one in every store, and you can save as much as 80% off of regular-priced items by browsing this section first. Several times a year, the stores will slash clearance prices even lower to clear away out-of-season products and make room for new products. January, especially, is a great time to begin your search since stores over-purchased items for the Christmas Season.

9. TRADE SERVICES FOR WHAT YOU NEED. If you know someone who offers a product or service you need (like website development or video production), offer to trade services with them. Look for a need they have which you might be able to provide free-of-charge in exchange for something you need free-of-charge. This kind of win-win situation benefits everyone.
   

Try some of these tips today and see how much money you are able to save. Don’t forget to read article one in this series (“Keep Your Money to Yourself - Part 1: Cut Your Expenses”) to save even more. Also look for article 3, “Keep Your Money for Yourself – Part 3: Supplement Your Income” where I show you a few simple things you can do instantly to supplement your income.

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