Deals, coupons and cash backs!

I plan to write a series of blogs on how to save money. Here is the first one. How to save money on things you need to buy anyway.

I am known among family and friends to be the extreme deal hound. People come to me when they need to buy things and ask for suggestion. They think it is a talent or gift.  Let me tell you, it is not. All it takes is a desire to live frugally, a refusal to pay retail if not necessary,  and know a few simple steps.

So what are the steps I go through to find a good deal? Here they are:

1. Search for a deal. I always start with a search on my favorite deal site: slickdeals.com. Pretty much anything listed here have to meet the minimum requirement: it has to beat everyday retail. So if you can find a deal for what you are looking for one this site, you are heading the right direction on saving money.

2. Find coupons, Most of the time, if you find a deal on slickdeals, people would likely also provide you with applicable coupons as well. However, it is not guaranteed. Then you need to do your homework to see if there are coupons out there. My favorite site to find coupons is called retailmenot.com.

3. Cash backs. You may not know, but most of the popular sites we shop online, you can get cashbacks by going through an online shopping portal. It may not be a lot for each transaction, but they really do add up. Here are a few of my favorites:

topcashback - This site has great cash back rate, great customer service, and you have the option to redeem your cashback by Amex gift card and get a 5% bones.

ebates

Note that depends on how big your purchases, it may worth it to buy something big online and choose in store pickup. For an example, if you want to buy a $1000 fridge from Lowes, and say a portal is giving 5% cash back, it will be worth it to buy it online and choose in store pickup, and get $50 in cash back, then to go into the store and buy it.

If you are new to online cashback sites, start slow, signup with a few of them and slowing build up so you are not overwhelmed, and get burned out.

4. Buy discounted gift cards. Note, this option does not always work out, so go with caution. This option may not stack with cash back and a lot of sites will deduct the gift card amount from your order total. So I open go through this option only if can get a much bigger discount by buying gift card than cash back, and I can get a e-gift card that I can get fairly quick. I would not go through this option if I found a great deal and am risking missing the sale. I do normally still go through a cashback portal even if I uses a gift card.

5. Cashback credit cards. This is a big topic and I would write in more detail in a future blog post.

Leave me with a comment below and share your tips and tricks on how to save money on everything shopping.

Amazon reviews - get product that you need anyway free or at a great discount

My latest hobby is to test and review products on Amazon. It all started about half a year ago. I was looking for a product I needed on Amazon. As always I went to read reviews to decide if that particular one was a good product to buy, I noticed this disclaimer that said the reviewer received the product for free or at a discount in exchange for an honest review. As a frugal person like me, I wanted to see how I could also get to test products and write reviews. So I did a quick google search and found a bunch of websites that offer products to people at a discounted price for reviews. I was like a kid in a candy shop. I've since reviewed about 100 products, ranging from natural beauty products to kitchen tools, and supplements, and a bunch of others. It has been fun and the only regret I have is that I didn't find out about it sooner.

Here is the basics of how to become an Amazon reviewer.

First, you will need to have an active Amazon account. It would be nice if you already have some reviews done on that account, but if not, it is never too late to start reviewing some of your past purchases.

Second, go sign up with Amazon Prime. It is not required, but trust me, you will end up saving so much money that it would pay for itself in a couple months. Besides, with prime, when I choose no-rush shipping, I get $1 to use for kindle books, amazon videos and movies, or music. 

Third, go sign up with some review sites. Here are the list of my favorites:

snagshout.com

amzreviewtrader.com

elitedealclub.com

Finally, start slow and don't get yourself overwhelmed. 

Enjoy and happy reviewing!