When I first started this blog, the best ways to save at your favorite stores were to check sale fliers, use coupons, and use online coupon codes. Now there is plethora of ways to save on products you buy everyday and stores you frequent often!
1) Know your prices. It is helpful to keep track of prices on products you buy regularly that way when you see it on sale somewhere, you know if it is a good deal! See my post Keeping a price list for details.
2) Check sale fliers. We get the Sunday paper and like to check the sale fliers for CVS, Walgreens, Target, and OfficeDepot weekly. By having my price list, I know when the deals are good enough to make a trip to Walgreens and CVS for items I would not usually buy there. Target often has coupons and special deals to earn gift cards that you can find in their fliers.
3) Sign up for emails from your favorite stores. Some stores will send special coupons or deals through email that are not available anywhere else. This works best for shopping at the brick and mortar stores. I like using the Honey extension for shopping online and looking for coupon codes. It is much faster to use their service which tries out all the possible codes for you, rather than sifting through all of your old emails! See my post Save & earn money on your computer with Honey and Swagbucks for details.
4) Use online shopping codes and shopping sites for a percentage back on your purchases. As I described above, I prefer to use the Honey extension on my browser for this. I have saved and earned so much money this way!
5) Paper coupons – There are many ways to get paper coupons:
- Buy your local Sunday paper. Check for the coupon inserts and in the sale fliers from your favorite stores.
- Get on mailing lists (postal) for your favorite stores. (I love getting Michaels, Joann Fabrics, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Half Price Books coupons in the mail.)
- Check the weekly mailers that come in your mailbox.
- Check your receipts. Some stores offer coupons after you shop in their store. They are either attached to the bottom of your receipt or come out of a special receipt printer (Catalina coupons i.e. from Walgreens, CVS, Joann, Michaels, OfficeDepot and more).
- Look for coupons attached to products or from machines right in the store.
- Go to Coupons.com to print various coupons. You can also get to Coupons.com from Swagbucks and earn points for printing your coupons.
- Print coupons directly from a store’s website. I have done this with oil change coupons, Michaels store coupons, etc. See my post What does an oil change cost?
- Go to MoneyMailer.com to look for various coupons in your city.
- Go to Valpak.com to also find coupons in your city.
6) Digital coupons and store apps – If you have a smartphone, you may not always need to print coupons you find on store websites. Check your favorite stores’ websites to see if they have a coupon or deals section or see if they have their own app. I currently have the Target, CVS, Michaels, Joann Fabrics, and Baskin Robbins apps on my phone.
You can simply show the website page or app page to the cashier. I used to use Michaels website to find coupons (so I would not always have to remember to bring the flier with me) and I have found that their app is a much faster way. No need to print.
7) Sign up for text alerts. Many stores have deals they send you through text messages. I have gotten some great freebies and coupons from World Market this way!
8) Check the Shopkick app. Shopkick allows you to earn points for walking in stores, scanning products while shopping, and buying specific products.
9) Sign up for rewards programs. Many stores, gas stations, restaurants, hotels, airlines, and more offer their own rewards programs where you can earn free products, discounts, or gift cards for accruing points from shopping at their store. I particularly love the programs at CVS, Walgreens, OfficeDepot, Kohl’s, the Dapper Doughnut, and Ann’s Bra Shop. CVS and Walgreens are my favorites because you can earn great coupons and rewards to apply to your purchases!
Here are a few good articles on reward programs:
10) Use apps that offer rebates and gift cards for making purchases. I try once a week to check several apps for current deals on products we buy. Apps like Ibotta, Coupons, Fetch Rewards and Shopkick provide various cash back or point options for purchasing certain products and scanning your receipt. Check out my post 9 apps to earn money with your Smartphone! I love earning money right to my Paypal account or in the form of Amazon gift cards!
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Surviving on a tight budget 
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