Spend or save?

We all spend money online, but did you know it’s possible to actually save at the same time?  YES!  It is!  In fact, I’ve learned how and wanted to share so that you too, can save money while shopping online.

I follow a sweet techie girl’s blog and I learned from her a cool way to save a little money this holiday and WHENEVER you shop online!  I thought I would share with you.  Maybe you already know this little secret, but if you are like me and don’t, you are gonna love this!

Sometimes it’s just easier to shop online. Sometimes not…… but lots of times it is just so darn convenient.  Here’s an example. Christmas pj’s are a tradition at our house and I didn’t want to run all over town, hoping that I could find something for all 7 of us in one place!  (Like that would happen too, ha!)

Let me tell you how I bought Christmas pajamas online for my family with an original cost of $270.94 in my cart, but only ended up being $166.79 and had them shipped to my house for free.

Have you heard of Ebates?

Ok, listen to this great way to save money while shopping online.  I hopped onto Old Navy to buy pajamas.  But I didn’t go to straight to their website, I first went to Ebates.  Why did I go there?  Ebates is a rebate site where, once you sign up with them you can find a store you are looking for, click on it and be taken to that site, (ie. Old Navy). Then when you make a purchase, Ebates will refund you a certain percentage on what you have bought, as a way of splitting their affiliate earnings with you, usually anywhere from 2%-10% of the total; which might not sound like a lot, but it adds up!  Once you have reached a certain amount, like $5 or something, they will send you a check in the mail or deposit it into your Paypal account, whichever you choose.  This is not a scam, and it’s a totally legit way to save money while shopping online!

Through Ebates, I was shopping on Old Navy’s website, and found all of our pajamas and threw them in “my cart.”  I noticed a banner across the screen that Old Navy happened to be running a promotion that took 30% off any order automatically at checkout, without a coupon code.  Cool! I also noticed that they were offering free shipping with a minimum $50 order.  Well, I was surely gonna hit that!  Always look to take advantage of those kinds of promotions.

Another way to save money online

When I got ready to checkout, I didn’t pay with my credit card, I paid with a gift certificate from Raise.  Raise is a site where you can buy gift certificates at a discount for almost any store you can think of!  I purchased a $200 gift certificate to Old Navy on Raise for only $184.72! They are e-Gift cards and most of them come instantly to your email, but they do say to allow for up to 24 hours to receive it.  In my case, so far they have all come instantly or within a couple minutes.  Another layer of savings! Free shipping, OH, AND I used my cash back credit card to purchase the gift certificate at Raise! So there you go, another layer of savings!

PUT MONEY BACK IN YOUR WALLET AND SAVE MONEY WHILE SHOPPING ONLINE

To summarize, my purchase that was originally $270.94 became $189.66 (extra 30% off sale) which became 180.22 (Ebates rebate) which became $166.79 (Raise gift card).  If you have any other promo codes you can add those as well.  I mean if you are shopping online, you might as well save a few bucks, right?!  And it’s not hard!

Here is what you do.  If you click on this Ebates link HERE, they will give you an automatic $10 right off the bat! Sign up for free and make $10.  Then go to Raise HERE and sign up for free and receive $5 as well.  Buy your gift certificates where you know you will be shopping.  Then when you’re ready to start shopping go to Ebates and search for the store you wish to shop at!  At checkout click on “Gift Card” as your method of payment and type in the number and PIN you received from your Raise gift card.

Not too confusing, huh??  Let me know if you have questions!

And resume the holiday shopping!!!

Speaking of holidays, you may enjoy THIS post as well!