I’m putting this post up for 2 major reasons: 1. We all want to save a little $, especially since many of us are working with tighter budgets than normal. 2. Most of us are probably doing a little more online shopping than usual right now. I have a love/hate relationship with online shopping. It’s great because I can do it in my PJs, everything gets delivered straight to my door and the selection/pricing always seems to be a little bit better. I hate it because I can’t try things on if I’m ordering clothing (though at least returns are pretty fast these days) and I occasionally decide that it’s a great idea to order things like mini drum sets and inflatable T-Rex costumes after a couple of glasses of wine. Anyways, it’s not going anywhere any time soon (online shopping has doubled during the pandemic) so I’m here to share some tips on how to save money shopping online. Read on + get ready to save some of that hard-earned cash.
How to save money shopping online
Take advantage of cashback apps: If you aren’t using a cashback app for your online shopping you’re seriously missing out! I’ve been using Rakuten (this is my referral link FYI – you’ll get $5 in your cashback account after spending $25) for a few years now (it used to be known as ebates) and at this point, my lifetime cashback is at $266.52 – aka found money. Rakuten offers cashback at a ton of stores you probably already shop at, like Sephora, Indigo, and Old Navy, and often has increased cashback offers. Pair these with sales and you’re laughing all the way to the piggybank. I haven’t checked it out yet, but I’ve also seen Ampli popping up as a new cashback app.
American friends, you might want to check out Rakuten (US version), RebatesMe, or TopCashBack.
Find + use coupon codes. Coupon codes are one of the easiest ways to save money shopping online, get free shipping, or add bonuses when it’s time to checkout. Before you check out, poke around online and see what you can find for discount offers. There are tons of sites that collect coupon codes for you to use and you’ll usually see the success rate of the coupon so you have a better idea of if it will work or not. One of my favourite coupon sites is RetailMeNot.ca, which I’ve been using for years. It’s one of the most comprehensive coupon sites with regular updates! I also love Honey for finding coupon codes; they have a really handy Chrome extension that will test out all of the codes they have at checkout before applying the one that gives you the best savings.
Plan purchases around sales. If you’re looking to make a bigger purchase and aren’t in a crazy hurry to get it, shopping around seasonal sales is a great idea. Plan purchases around known sales periods (like Cyber Monday) to make your $ go even farther. I usually end up buying a bunch of Christmas presents on Black Friday and it saves me a ton of money!
sign up for newsletters + reward programs. signing up for rewards programs is a no-brainer! There are so many amazing stores out there that have free rewards programs that you can sign up for. These help you get better discounts, access to sales, and points to be used towards purchases or rewards. Signing up for newsletters is also a great way to stay up to date on any sales or offers. You also often receive a welcome offer when you sign up. If you’re about to make a purchase, check their newsletter out to see if they offer a welcome discount!
Ship to store. If the store that you’re shopping from has brick and mortar locations and you find their shipping rates to be a bit too high check to see if they have a ship to store option for free. If the store is nearby and you don’t mind picking your purchase up this is a great option.
Shop around. One of the best parts of online shopping? It’s easy to compare pricing between different retailers to find the best deal. You can poke around on different retailers to see the difference or try a website like PriceFinder.ca or Shopbot to easily compare prices between a wide selection of shops.
As you can see, it’s unbelievably easy to save some of your hard-earned money when shopping online. Those are some of my favourite ways to make my money go a little bit further every time I need to order something. What are yours?
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