Welcome!

Welcome to my page. When I lost my job I decided to start couponing to save our family money. I've compiled a list of sites I love and ways for you too to save and earn money. Use some or all of the tips on this page to get started!! This page is updated periodically but is not a typical blog. I do not post daily or weekly. I'll add to the list when there is new information.

Some links included below are affiliate links that I earn rewards or points for people clicking and joining.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Couponing

Most of the coupons are in the Sunday paper – some are available online. The I typically get 2 papers every Sunday plus have a few different people get me inserts. If I know there's great coupons in a certain week, I'll grab more than 2. Each store has a different policy – the websites below will have details on how to combine coupons to get the best deals.


There are a ton of different site out there and ways to do this – I've listed the ones I like. I subscribe to their emails and once a day you'll get an email with the rundown of blog posts for deals. It's much easier than searching the web to try to find deals yourself. These folks do all the work for you. I get these sent to my main email address. When signing up for any deals on the product website, I use a generic gmail account to collect all the spam.


CouponMom — http://www.couponmom.com/

This site offers a weekly database of the best deals with coupon matchups including national chains. If I'm looking for a deal on a particular item – I can search it in the database for that store. It also offers grocery store deals by state for the larger chains.


Coupon Wizards — http://coupon-wizards.com/

This site offers video tutorials on how to get the best deals when shopping.



Totally Target — Target deals http://www.totallytarget.com

Wild for Wags — Walgreens deals http://wildforwags.com/

I Heart the Mart — Walmart deals http://www.iheartthemart.com/



Roundup sites that offer links on freebies, new printable coupons and recently found deals

Hip2Save — http://hip2save.com/

Krazy Coupon Lady — http://thekrazycouponlady.com/

Southern Savers — http://www.southernsavers.com/

Savings in Akron — http://www.savinginakron.com/


Surfing the Internet and Survey Sites

Opinion Outpost
Once you fill out your profile you will be notified of surveys that fit your demographic. Every 10 points you earn is worth $1. Some surveys have higher dollar amounts than others. You can redeem points for Restaurant.com, Amazon.com and Citi gift certificates or request a check when you reach $20. Click here to join.


Swagbucks

Search & Win

I recently started using SwagBucks and I've already, in less than a month, earned $25 in Amazon.com gift cards! There are a ton of ways to earn points and points = gift cards. Here's a list of easy ways to score points. My goal is to get an ipad at some point. The most bang for your buck is to use the amazon gift cards – you can stack them and they'll never expire.


Use the swagbucks site to earn random points while surfing the internet. I suggest making them your homepage so you remember or installing the toolbar and surfing through that. Fridays are mega swagbucks days and you earn larger amounts for most things that you do. I typically earn swagbucks with three searches a day - at random times of the day, searching what I normally would use Google for.


Other ways to earn Swagbucks quick and easy:
  • Use the toolbar every day = 1 buck
  • NOSO – click though and skip all the ads = 1 buck
  • daily poll = 1 buck when you complete it
  • click on trusted surveys = 1 buck and you don't even have to do a survey.
  • Check the widget on the sidebar of this page throughout the day for random codes.
  • Follow Swagbucks on Twitter and Facebook to get updates on new codes and how other people are earning!


Things that take a little longer but also earn you swagbucks:

  • Use their printable coupons and when you redeem you get 10 bucks for each coupon.
  • Play a game, make sure you submit your score and you'll get 2 points for some games.
  • Special offers are available – I will tell you that you that you will get spamed by some of them. I've setup a second gmail account for things like this that I don't want flooding into my main email. I never complete an offer that wants my phone number (that's just personal preference). Currently there's a netflix offer that you can try it for a month and earn 1,000 swagbucks. I would use my legit email account for this one so I know when to cancel the account so I don't get billed.
  • Trusted surveys can earn you some more points but take some time. If you're really bored, I would spend a little time to do these and see if you qualify.
  • Swagbucks TV – you can earn 3 bucks after watching 10 videos. I like to run this is the background while I'm doing other work on the computer. You just have to start each video and when it's done, start a new one, I've done this a few times a day.

There's a million other ways to earn – if you decide to start doing this I would check out the Swaggin for Dummies site for all the details on how to win and find codes. Click here to join!


Irazoo

Irazoo is similar to Swagbucks that you search to earn. You enter a search into the iRazoo search bar and you can win points for items like Amazon.com gift cards. You also can earn more points by commenting on the search results that you find. I'm relatively new to Irazoo and still starting out with it. I'll update this post with my thoughts on it. Click here to join!


GiftHulk

GiftHulk Earning Rewards The EZ Way
GiftHulk is a new site that offers most of it's rewards through offers, contests and tasks. You can also earn Hulk Coins by completing the daily poll and Fountain of Youth codes. You can find these codes on the GiftHulk Facebook and Twitter pages and are usually higher credit amounts. The only thing is that codes can only be used by a limited number of people, so you have to be fast once one is posted.

The thing I like most about GiftHulk is the redeemable items. There's a huge variety of gift cards to use at stores, online and eating out. Some of the retail gift cards are: Babies R Us, Bath & Body Works, Target, Whole Foods, Best Buy, Lowe's, Home Depot, Victoria's Secret, Zappos, Old Navy, A&F and Walmart. Dining gift cards include Starbucks, Subway, Dunkin' Donuts and many others. There are other entertainment items like Netflix subscriptions, Facebook credits and iTunes. Talk about a lot to choose from and that's just the beginning of the items in the Hulk Store! I've been using my coins towards Target and Lowe's gift cards as we're in the midst of some home improvement projects at my house.

They've recently updated their website and it's simple to use and keep track of what you've earned. It's definitely tied with Swagbucks as one of my favorite sites to earn. Another great option with GiftHulk is that you earn when your referrals earn as well - can't beat that! Click Here to Join!



Online Shopping

One of the quickest ways to save money is when I'm shopping online.

Before I buy anything I see if they're part of Ebates – you get cash back for all participating stores. So far I've earned almost $50 back in less than a year. They pay you by check 4 times a year if you have a minimum of $5.01 in your account.


Mr. Rebates is similar to Ebates, but not as good. I only use them if there's a store that isn't offered on Ebates that they have or if the cash back is a higher %. You will not earn your rebate if you a coupon code from another website. Minimum payment amount is $10 and they will send you a check or depsit in your Paypal account.

RetailMeNot has coupon codes for tons of online stores. You can use these codes with your Ebates purchases. Usually I end up getting free shipping or a % off my order – sometimes both. You cannot use discounts codes on purchases with Mr Rebates, it disqualifies the purchase.

I'm sure you all know about Groupon at this point. There's some amazing national deals which I use more than the local deals. We've scored some good stuff on blockbuster and redbox kiosks - $2 for 5 rentals and the body shop - $20 for $45 in stores. You can use Ebates to buy your Groupon and save even more!