Top 3 Ways to Shop Smart & Save Money Online

With two infants and a crazy toddler at home, getting out of the house is no simple feat. Shopping online is seriously a lifesaver for me. I have had everything from groceries to furniture shipped to my doorstep. I am obsessed with saving a few dollars while I stock up on household supplies. There are three main ways that I save money anytime I make a purchase:

1. Save money by letting Honey find promo codes for you.

Honey is a free extension for the Google Chrome browser that does two great things.  First, it finds different coupon codes for you and applies the best one at checkout.  This feature saves me so much time!  With just one click, Honey runs through a sequence of codes and finds the greatest discount for your purchase in a matter of seconds.

Honey’s other feature is called HoneyGold. When you activate Honey through your extension, you can earn Gold Points when you make purchases.  Every 1000 points get you a $10 gift card to Amazon.com.

Go here to join Honey today!

2. Use Cash Back Websites for extra savings.                                  

I never buy anything without first checking to see how I can get the most cash back on my purchase.  The following sites are reliable, legit, and straightforward:

Ebates

I have been using Ebates for years, and it is my favorite! Ebates is a cashback site that is so easy to use! (They also have a Chrome extension to save extra time.)  You simply choose what store you want to shop on ebates.com (or just click the extension if you’re already shopping), then you complete your purchase just the way you normally would, and bingo! — you’ve just earned a rebate on your purchase.  Ebates will send you a check or deposit your earnings straight to your PayPal account.  You get real CASH back when you shop! They are reliable and offer a huge selection of stores, so you can save money anytime you buy something online. Plus, you can get a $10 cash bonus when you sign up through this link!

Related: Ebates Review: How to Save Money Shopping and Earn Cash

Lemoney

Lemoney is a fun new cashback site with a twist! Just like Ebates, you can get a percentage back by shopping at your favorite stores. But, that’s not all! You can earn money when the friends that you have referred to Lemoney get cash back from their shopping. Isn’t that incredible?! What’s even better is that Lemoney almost always offers a higher percentage in cash back than other sites. Although I’ve been loyal to Ebates for years, Lemoney is quickly becoming my new favorite. Give it a try!

Swagbucks

I love Swagbucks for a lot of reasons.  One of them is that every once in a while you stumble upon a store on their Shop page that offers more SB per dollar spent than the others offer in cash back.  Swagbucks don’t immediately translate into cash, but I use their other features (surveys, videos, offers) to earn SB and exchange them for gift cards.  Every month I get enough gift cards to pay for diapers and wipes.  Score! You’ll be happy to start using Swagbucks. When you sign up here, you can get a $5 bonus.

Related Article: 6 Ways to Get Free Amazon Gift Cards

TopCashback

TopCashBack works just like the other sites. What sets it apart is that you can request payout at any time with no minimum threshold.  Your cash back can be directly deposited into your bank account, your PayPal account, or redeemed as an Amazon gift card (with an additional 3% bonus!).  I love the options and the flexibility that TopCashback offers.  It’s definitely worth trying.

3. Use Paribus to get the best price even after you buy.

Paribus is a FREE tool that is so awesome! When you link your e-mail account with Paribus, they use your receipts to identify purchases. Then, they monitor the items you purchased to see if the price drops later. If there is a lower price, Paribus contacts the merchant for you, requesting a refund for the difference.

I love this! It feels like a huge win every time I get a few bucks back because I did absolutely no work to get — Paribus did it all for me. Amazon.com is a place where prices change every day, and it feels good to get the lowest price.

Sign up for Paribus here.

Bonus!

Invest your spare change and get even more cash back with Acorns.

I already love using Acorns to save and invest money effortlessly, but the Acorns app just got even better! They have a feature called Found Money, where you can get cash back into your Acorns account when you shop at stores that they’ve partnered with. The best part is that you don’t have to take any extra steps to get cash back; all you have to do is use a credit or debit card that you have linked to your Acorns account, and you have Found Money. It’s just that easy! That simplicity also allows you to double up on cash back. I ordered some flowers for my mom on Mother’s Day; I bought a $35 bouquet and got $15 in cash from Acorns plus $7.71 from Ebates. That’s more than 50% off!

You can read more about Acorns here or sign up here and get $5 when you start your account.

I hope these tips can help you save some time and money!

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may receive a small commission if you sign up through the links on this site. I only recommend products I use and love. You can read the full disclosure here. Thanks for your support!