New Tips on Saving Money on Everyday Items

I've been on a bit of an extreme couponing fix for a few weeks and I thought I'd share some tips that I learned along the way.  One note before I begin: please don't end up buying items and hoarding them as some of the extreme couponers on TV.  Due to the reduction of food stamp funding, there are many worthwhile charities that you can give the food that you can't eat, and of course animal shelters could also use pet food donations.

Load coupons to your store loyalty cards by typing your card information onto the following sites:

• Coupons.com
• SmartSource
• Redplum
• Proctor & Gamble Everyday

Of course all of the sites above and many more have coupons that you can print out.  You can also sign up on savingstar.com.  It works slightly differently as the coupons don't automatically deduct from your purchases.  Instead, they are added to the site and you can choose to either get the money from them or spend it in their online store.

Think about the brands that you use everyday. This can be more difficult than you think due to the many brands bought by larger brands.  Proctor & Gamble is a great example here, but there is also Nestle which owns Purina and many more brands that you can find by visiting their site and scrolling to the bottom.  

There are coupons, rebates, sales, contests and more on many of these sites, but you have to look for them. Think about the pet food brands & toys, your favorite boxed, canned and frozen foods, soaps and cleaning supplies, then visit their sites to find their deals or join their email lists so that you receive new deals directly from the brands.  

Kita shares his toys with all of his
siblings, whether they want it or not!

All of this can save you quite a bit of money next time you go grocery shopping, but it will take a little bit of time to get started, so don't get frustrated and give up!  The money you save can be used for so many other things and any extra items that you end up with can be donated to people and animals that would be so grateful to have them.

Saving Money on Pet Supplies

Kita with his Christmas Gift

Pet supplies are expensive, but when you love your pets as much as we do, you can't help but spoil them. These are some techniques that we use to keep our pet supply costs down.

Post-Holiday shopping: Just like clothing goes on sale at the end of a season, pet supplies are marked down a lot right after the holidays.  Stock up on toys for the following year right after your favorite holidays and hide the presents for your pets or the pets of family and friends until the following year.

Make sure that you sign up for rewards cards at your favorite stores and register them online. Also, sign up for email updates to find out about upcoming sales and clearances, as well as to find out when there are free or discounted shipping deals.  Add items that you need often to your "shopping carts" online at stores like Petsmart and Amazon.  Then wait until the items go on sale to buy them.  Amazon - Up to 50% Off in Pet Supplies Markdowns

If you have picky pets, be sure to ask the pet store clerks if they have free samples of pet food that you can try out or whether they have an option of returning food that has been opened if your pets do not like it.  Many pet stores will offer one or both of these options, but they are rarely advertised.

Look for pet coupons in your newspapers and mail and ask your friends and family members to clip coupons for you of the items that you buy most often.  This can save you a lot of money if you buy common brands of pet food and treats.  Some stores have coupon books that they will give out or sell for a low cost.  A great example is the new puppy coupon book sold at Petsmart for $20.  The coupon savings in that book far exceed the costs and include discounts on pet supplies and visits to the vet, pets hotel and grooming salon.  Get Pets Coupons for Amazon.

Most importantly, make sure that you are feeding your pets healthy food made by trustworthy companies.  Chicken jerky treats can be particularly dangerous for dogs and sometimes food and treats from China cause pet deaths.  Sign up for alerts from the FDA on recalls, and if you aren't sure about a product, research it online before buying it.  Losing a pet is devastating enough without realizing that it was due to feeding them food that you thought was safe.

Movies on a Budget (part 2)

Now that you have chosen your movie and where you want to see it, here are some ways to save money on your movie or ticket purchases.

How can I save money on movies at the theater?

Buy tickets in advance.  This can take a little bit of investigation on your part, but luckily, you should only need to do it once.  If you belong to AAA, you can order tickets through their website, but you can also do that on some of the credit card reward/shopping websites.  Think of the rewards clubs and memberships that you already have, and check their sites to see if they offer any discounted tickets.  You can order as many as you want in advance as they often don't expire for a few years (check the expiration date to be sure).  Then keep them in your wallet or hang them on your fridge until the day that you plan to use them.

Another option is to buy a giftcard for the movie chain prior to going, which can be used to pay for movie tickets and/or for food & drinks at the theatre.  This is a good option if you use Giant Eagle gas rewards, for example, because the cost of the gift card will affect your gas discount the following month. You can also use an Entertainment book (coupon book) or any other coupon you can find to get a discount at the theatre window.

What is the cheapest way to watch a movie at home?

Zoey can also be a couch potato

Redbox has locations by grocery stores, convenience stores and gas stations.  If you aren't sure where the closest one is, go to their site and search by zip code.  You can order movies in advance if you hold them with a credit card.  Also before you leave, type "redbox coupon codes" into your search engine.  You will find sites that have listed coupon codes that you can type into the Redbox when you get there, and many of them will allow you to rent the movie for free.  Just be sure to return on time!

Netflix has better options for TV series than it does for movies, but you can find some old gems or the occasional new film by doing some searching.  Their membership is lower than cable and you can watch everything at your own leisure.  You can also watch TV shows and movies through Amazon, and their library carries different titles than Netflix.

If you have a minute...

Here is a new list of some amazingly simple things you can do online to help others:

Be a critic.  Start reviewing your favorite obscure books, movies, and small businesses to help them gain more customers.  Some sites that will let you start reviewing at are Google, Amazon, Yelp, IMDB, and Goodreads.

Be an expert.  Join a Google+ Community for a topic that you know a lot about.  If people post questions to the community, try to answer and help them out, or regularly offer general tips on the topic of choice.

Promote Adoptable Animals

Add a Petfinder widget to your site to help promote adoptable animals.  If you need help with this, contact me and I can walk you through the steps online.  http://www.petfinder.com/widgets-graphics/

Donate Items.  On Amazon, you can find wishlists for animal shelters & nonprofits.  Keep up with their wishlists and buy items when they go on sale on Amazon (you can ask friends & coworkers to chip in).  Then drop off or send your donations.

Share your favorite websites with the world.  Join StumbleUpon and add sites that you love but haven't gone viral yet.  Rate the sites that other people have added to help drive traffic to sites that you like.

If you have other suggestions on easy ways to help others, please let me know and I'll post them next week.

Save Time & Money on your online Purchases with just a few Tricks

I hate paying more than I have to for anything, but there are so many sites out there that either make you fill out a lot of personal information or download something in order to get coupons. These are some sites I found that make it really easy to be cheap without having to cut coupons or buy cheaper versions of what you want.

Priceblink: you can download this as an add-on for your browser and it will alert you whenever it finds a lower price for the item that you are currently looking at.  This is great for expensive items, because you can find the lowest price or you can tag it and Priceblink will email you when the price is lowered to your price range.

Amazon's been around forever, but it really can't be beat.  They almost always have the lowest price, you can get free shipping if you spend enough, and they deliver fast!  Since I get a lot of items from Amazon (gifts, household items, cleaning supplies, pet supplies, and more), I regularly add the items that I know I will need to my wishlist, and then I filter my wishlist to show only items that have recent price drops.  Then I wait until the price is within an acceptable range.

You should also click on Today's Deals on Amazon's Main Page.  There you will find low priced items, but you will also find coupons.  All you have to do is click on the coupons for the items you might want to buy, and then when you add that item to your cart it will apply the coupon automatically.  The coupons last for awhile too, so you don't have to buy the item right away.

If you have a Kindle, you can also add eBooks that you want to your wishlist and wait for the price to be lowered.  If you are just looking for something to read, check out their free books.  They change regularly and are ranked, so you can find books from lesser-known authors that have 4 or 5 stars and get them for free.  I have found some great authors this way, and have gotten to read many books for no cost at all (and without having to travel to the library).  If you follow @amazonkindle on Twitter, they tweet links to free books and books that are marked down to $1.99 every day.  All of the tricks I just noted for Kindle also work for mp3 albums that you can purchase and download on Amazon.

If you love to read but have trouble finding appealing books, check out Goodreads.com.  There you can rate some books so that they give you recommendations and you can join book clubs with people that have similar interests as you.  The site also lists Amazon prices for the books, so once you find a book you want, you can purchase it on Amazon.

If you have other suggestions on how to save money doing online shopping, I'd love to hear them.  Feel free to enter a comment or contact me directly!