My secret addiction for couponing may not be as serious as those from the hit tv series Extreme Couponing but it’s definitely a huge part of my life when it comes to shopping. There’s no better feeling than knowing that at the end of the day you’ll be saving a couple of bucks (which eventually add up to a lot more money than you would think). This all started as a kid and I’m extremely grateful to my mother for teaching me her savvy ways of becoming a smart shopper. Recently the launch of new websites and apps make the saving experience much more enjoyable. I’ll list a couple of the best ways to become a smart shopper down below and I hope after reading this article you’ll adopt some of these strategies into your shopping experiences.
If you do a lot of your shopping online then the following coupon websites/ apps may be perfect for you. They collect tons of coupons from numerous stores and helps shoppers find the best deals to save money on their next purchase. The best part about it is that they’re all free! The following are just a couple of the websites I use:
- Retail Me Not
- Honey
- Unidays– Student discounts online and in stores
If you prefer shopping in-store and are a regular customer at some of those stores then I recommend joining their reward/ loyalty programs. What better way to get special perks and gifts from stores you love shopping at for FREE? I know sometimes it may sound a little intimidating to join a program because you think that you’ll have to pay for it but almost 99.9% of the time it’s completely free. You get special offers sent to your emails or in your mailbox, accumulate points and receive a gift when reaching a certain amount and sometimes even get a surprise coupon code for your birthday. This doesn’t pertain just to clothing, these apps and loyalty programs also work for food places and my favorite one to use is the Chick-fil-A app.
After couponing for some time, I’ve definitely learned how to shop smarter. When I see certain things that I like, I tend to wait sometime before I buy them because I know that the store will soon have a huge sale or that I’ll be receiving a coupon in the mail. Although some places are very strict on the amount of saving/ combinations you’re allowed to do, other stores can be more lenient. Being able to combine numerous amounts of coupons is so satisfying because at the end of the day you’re receiving the best deal possible and getting so much more out of it than you expected. I know for a fact that I’ve saved hundreds of dollars from couponing and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. I hate it when people think they’re “too good” for couponing, I understand they might have the money to buy the item at full price but wouldn’t it be really nice to be able to save some of that money they’re going to spend and have it to purchase other things as well? All in all, I hope that if you haven’t been using these sites or programs already, that you start immediately. Trust me you won’t regret it and at the end of the day, you’ll be saving yourself some money.