Shopaholic’s guide to saving money online
I love to shop! Before I had kids, my shopping stamina was unsurpassed - I could literally shop all day long. After I had kids, my shopping stamina… well… remains untested. The problem is, my boys hate shopping. At least Tommy (my 6 year old) does. And shopping with a baby is not easy. What’s a mom to do?
Shop online, of course! It won’t be as much fun as going to the mall, but you can shop in the comfort of your own home and your kids won’t hate you for ruining their day. On top of that, you’ll save time and money. If you know what you want, and don’t have to have it immediately, shopping online makes a lot of sense. Here are the tools I use to make sure I get the best prices on the things I want to buy.
1. Comparison shopping - http://www.pricegrabber.com - If you know what you’re looking for, use Pricegrabber to find out who has it for less. The great thing about Pricegrabber is that it takes taxes and shipping costs into account. This is a great place to start, so you know what you can reasonably expect to pay for your items.
2. Coupon codes - http://www.retailmenot.com - But what if Pricegrabber found several stores with similar prices? How do you decide which one to buy from? This is where RetailMeNot comes in. You type in the name of the website, and RetailMeNot comes up with coupon codes that are available for that website. It’s definitely worth trying!
3. Look for more deals - http://www.slickdeals.net - Warning, this site can become addictive. On the front page is a list of the best recent deals. The best deals go fast, so if you don’t check on a regular basis, you’ll miss out. The fun part of SlickDeals is its busy message board at http://forums.slickdeals.net (or click Forums at the top of the site). This is where I found my great cell phone plan from Sprint, my $2 Victoria’s Secret slippers, great deals on kids clothing, toys, and more. Whenever there’s a great deal to be had, someone posts about it on SlickDeals right away.
Happy shopping!
Diane Scott responds:
Posted: July 30th, 2008 at 1:36 pm →
I’m with you, prior to… shopping was fun - now it is so much easier to get the job done right from home. Of course there are some things that you have to leave the house for, but overall… not many!
JMom responds:
Posted: July 31st, 2008 at 2:05 pm →
Shopping was fun when I could spend all day browsing without hearing someone whining, “I’m tired” “I’m hungry!” “Can we go home now?”
Now I shop mostly online so thanks for the links!