Remember the days of cutting out coupons from the paper every Saturday morning? It almost seems nostalgic now, but when it comes to couponing in this day and age, it’s all about the internet.
Major retailers aren’t releasing their best bargains in print advertising anymore—instead, online coupons and special offers are offered to shoppers who order online.
However, we know the internet is a pretty big place, so where can you go to find the best coupons online? Once you know the basics, you’ll soon be saving plenty of time and money when shopping online.
Keep reading to learn how to find the best coupons online, even if you’re a complete beginner. Then, start saving!
Browser Apps Can Help You Save Money
Trawling the internet for the best coupons can take ages, so save yourself time by installing apps onto your browser that find deals on your behalf.
Say you like to order your family’s groceries online. Unfortunately, this is not cheap, with the average family of four spending $894—$1,068 per month on groceries.
Once you go to your online grocer and fill your cart, make sure you’re using a browser extension like Honey or Wikibuy. They scan the entire internet for any coupons that apply to that store and automatically apply the discount for you.
This can save your family money not only on groceries, but on just about any online order. Or, if you’re someone who tends to always be in a hurry when shopping online, the browser extensions will save you a lot of time.
Sign Up for Mailing Lists
Wondering how to find coupons online? The easiest way is when businesses send them straight into your email inbox!
Why would they do this? Often, as a favor to you for being an email subscriber. If you’re hoping for deals from your favorite online shops, we recommend signing up for their email marketing list.
Many companies do weekly email updates, letting customers know about new products, special promotions, or weekly deals. It’s the best way to find out what products are about to go on sale, before the general public finds out.
Some people may find frequent marketing emails to be annoying, so we recommend only signing up for the email lists of stores you love and shop at regularly.
Keep an Eye on the Holidays
Often, the best online deals are released during certain holidays. Huge online sales and coupons tend to be offered at certain times of the year, encouraging shoppers to buy big.
Look for sales around Thanksgiving (Black Friday and Cyber Monday), New Year, President’s Day, and Easter. If you have your eye on a big purchase, such as electronics, it may be worth waiting to see if your favorite retailer offers any holiday specials.
If there aren’t any holidays coming up, know that retailers tend to release the best sales over the weekends.
Know the Best Websites for Online Coupons
Serious couponers should make a list, or save as favorites, the best online couponing sites. Then, each time you go online to shop, get into the habit of first looking for any coupons that can help with what you’re about to purchase.
There are plenty of free sites where you can find glitch deals, discounted vacations and travel, deals of the day, or cashback deals for your purchases.
You may also be able to find Facebook groups for couponers, where you can connect with others and save tips for saving online.
Try Price Matching
The concept of price matching can help you save big. Here’s how: say you find an amazing new TV on sale at Walmart. But you’d rather buy it from Target, since you have a Target coupon—however, Target has the same TV for sale at a higher price.
Is there anything you can do?
You can ask Target if they would be able to match Walmart’s price and sell you the TV for the same price. Then, once you apply your Target coupon, you’ve saved even more!
Price matching is something that most major retailers offer, even if they don’t openly advertise it. We recommend always asking, as it can lead to big savings.
Leave Items in Your Online Shopping Cart
Here’s a clever trick to help you save when shopping online. Go to your favorite online store and place a few items, that you’re thinking about buying, into your online cart.
Then, don’t complete the sale—just leave the site. Most online shops are very sophisticated and will see that you didn’t finish the sale and will then offer you an incentive to do so.
Often, the company will send you an email saying that they saw you placed items in your cart but didn’t purchase, they will send you a small discount code or coupon to encourage you to visit again and buy.
It doesn’t always work, but it’s worth a try!
Use These Tips to Save Big
Ready to shop until you drop, without leaving the house? If so, you must try out the tips above to find the best online coupons.
Getting into the habit of looking for coupons online is one of the best ways to save money on essential items like groceries, clothes, medicine, and household items. You can use your savings to plan an amazing family vacation or something fun—try keeping track of your weekly savings from couponing and watch the money add up!
Get started today and make this the year you take control of your finances!
Did you find this helpful? If so, please keep reading for more money-saving tips.