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Saving money online might not be nearly as difficult as you think with these online shopping hack ideas.

With a few key insider tips from someone who shops online all the time, you could save thousands of dollars each year, and make your hard-earned cash work much harder.

Plus, you’ll save yourself the stress of worrying that you’re overpaying for something.

And, you’ll be able to get what you want for the price you are looking for. #win-win

I kinda think everyone knows by now (but it’s worth reminding you) to do a quick google search for whatever you’re buying and “coupon code” before you checkout because there are loads of online coupon websites where people share discount codes they’ve used or received to save others extra money. Spending a few minutes entering a discount code is worth the possible savings you could get (I’ve saved 25% Off before!). Below you’ll find a couple of tools that might be able to do this for you automatically.

Here are my best online shopping hack ideas to help you discover online savings and save big money this year.

discover online savings

Leave It In Your “Cart” To Save More

If you are not in a huge rush to purchase your items, then “abandoning” your online shopping cart can pay off big time to discover online savings. (Or do this first while you utilize the other tips below… by the time you check out you might have a steeper discount code to use.)

Here’s how:

  1. Add the things you want to your cart
  2. Leave it there and move on with your busy day
  3. Just let it sit in one of your open browser tabs (don’t worry, I’ve got a million open too)

Most companies will send you a follow-up email within about a day or two and include discounts or unique codes to entice you to complete your purchase!

That means you can rack up promo codes simply just by waiting it out. It’s my favorite sneaky way to save money online.

Although, slight warning: if you’re looking at a super hot deal, don’t wait too long or you might miss out.

You could also immediately sign up to receive the companies email alerts to get an immediate discount code (and then wait it out to see if they offer you more of a discount to get you to finish your purchase). I love the clothing at Chico’s and they offer 20% off when you sign up (text alerts too… but those are annoying and dangerous for your budget):

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Create A Plan For Your Money

These FREE Budgeting Spreadsheets will help you keep a pulse on your money (from the palm of your hand).

discover online savings

Shop Through A Savings Gateway

The best way to discover online savings is by first shopping through what I call a Savings Gateway with sites such as Swagbucks and Rakuten. You simply use their website as a gateway to an online store before you make your purchase.

Before making a purchase, be sure to sign in to your Swagbucks or Rakuten account, or install their specific toolbar in your browser to make sure you never miss an opportunity for cash back again.

The discount codes they provide can be combined with other offers to help you earn more money back on your purchases.

discover online savings

Add Browser Bar Extensions To Stack Savings

After finding a Rauken or Swagbuck discount link to shop through another online discount code toolbar extension to compare prices and look for discount codes. My favorite one is one called Honey because it takes all the search work out of online coupon codes to discover online savings. Before you checkout, click the little “H” in your browser bar (or set it up to automatically alert you) and Honey will help you find the best discounts you can use before checkout.

The part I love is that it will scan the web and test out the promo codes for you to make sure you are saving the highest amount possible on your purchase. Obviously, this might not work on every single website out there. That’s why I also like to do a quick google search if it doesn’t immediately bring back any codes to use.

Plus, you can use the Honey toolbar extension along with any gift cards, cashback offers, or anything else you’re using for saving money online.

A few weeks ago I needed to buy a temporary domain name for my website developer to use for testing things and I had searched for a coupon code on my own with no success. Honey found me one and saved me 60% Off! Woohoo!

Here’s what the Rauken and Honey discount boxes look like in action when searching for the best price for the Firestick TV device:

Rakuten shows you where you could purchase the item cheaper and Honey shows you the price trend and allows you to set up a “price drop” alert so you don’t miss out on purchasing it later at a lower price.

discover online savings

Combine Sales & Promo Codes With Discounted Gift Cards

While using a credit card at checkout might give you a little bit of cash back, you will likely only receive 1%-5% on your total purchase.

Instead, use a discounted gift card site (I use CardCash, Swagbucks or Raise) to buy discounted gift cards to save up to 20%. This is my favorite online and offline shopping hack to save money regularly.

Plus, remember that gift cards are just a secondary form of payment so they can be used along with any sales or promo codes. Score!

discover online savings

Use Paribus To Get Automatic Refunds

You know how stores guarantee they will match or beat the lowest price for 7-14 days after your purchase? 

Well, the only problem with this concept is that you still have to pay attention to the price comparison across all the stores to discover online savings for yourself. Instead of wasting your time watching your purchases to see if they lower their prices, Paribus will price watch for you. SAHWEET!

Just make sure you always have a copy of your receipt sent via email (if you’re shopping online then that should happen by default, but I’ve been selecting that in stores too so it can watch everything for me.) By accessing receipts in your email account, Paribus will contact stores on your behalf to get you a refund.

NOTE: The service does take a small commission for doing it for you, but you are basically earning money for doing nothing yourself. Now that’s saving smart money!

BONUS FREE DOWNLOAD

Create A Plan For Your Money

These FREE Budgeting Spreadsheets will help you keep a pulse on your money (from the palm of your hand).

discover online savings

Use In-Store Pickup For FREE Shipping

Shipping charges can turn that great deal you found online into a horrible waste of money. Sometimes the shipping can end up being even more than the cost of the item you bought. Heck, that’s one of the reasons why Amazon Prime is so popular… the free shipping is so enticing!

Many online stores also have brick-and-mortar stores where you can have your item shipped for FREE. Some even have a 2-hour pickup window so you can get your items on the same day!

That means you can avoid shipping costs by choosing to have your items shipped to your local store for you to pick them up. It’s a great way to ship for free while you’re saving money online.

discover online savings

Use The Amazon Waitlist 

This is not necessarily something you can use all the time, it’s most prevalent during the holidays when deals sell out. What happens is that when an item is sold out (or not on sale yet) then there will be an “add to waitlist” button that will add your name and email to the waitlist. Then…. you wait… for an email telling you that the item you wanted to purchase is ready for you to buy.

When someone misses their opportunity to buy… the opportunity goes to the next person. And you can score some serious deals. You’ll find the Amazon hottest deals that usually have a waitlist here. These are usually hot items or lightning deals only (you know, the limited-time super sale items).

You only have a small window to act before they move on to the next person on the list, so if you join a waitlist, make sure you are paying attention to jump on the deal pretty quickly.

As you can see, saving money online isn’t as difficult as it seems.

Discovering online savings will help you save yourself the stress of worrying that you could’ve gotten a better deal by researching until you’re blue in the face.

 By following these tips, you’ll make your money stretch a little further, and get everything you need for less.

discover online savings
Online Shopping Hacks To Rescue Your Everyday Spending
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