Effective Habits and Tools of Smart Shoppers

After having just come down from the frenzy of the holiday shopping season (even if many people cut back on their holiday spending in general), it seems sensible to go over a few habits of smart shoppers that could help save you money.

Even though many people have learned how to take advantage of the sales and the ball is in consumers' court right now, it does not hurt to take advantage of resources available to the savvy shopper that wants an even deeper discount on his or her purchase.

Here are a few tips on some shopping habits that can help save you money.

ShopItToMe.com: Take advantage of online resources that will send you alerts on sales that are happening at your favorite stores. Resources such as www.shopittome.com, will record what your favorite brands are and then search for online retailers that stock your favorites at sale prices. Shopittome.com markets itself as being like your own personal shopper, and that's exactly what it is. The web site saves you some time and could help you save some money. You must register to use the site, but there are no charges to reap the benefits.

PriceProtectr.com: Another cool online web site is PriceProtectr.com. This web site will watch prices for you to make sure that you are getting the best deal out there. The web site claims to have saved consumers in the tens of millions of dollars and will watch prices at some 150 different stores, including Amazon, The Apple Store, Best Buy and Costco.

It's like checking the Sunday newspaper advertisements every Sunday without all of the legwork (and the newsprint on your fingers). Every time the price changes on an item you are looking at, you will be sent an e-mail.

E-mail Blasts: A lot of your favorite retailers have figured out that viral campaigns can be good. If you have a favorite store, then sign up to receive e-mail newsletters/advertisements from them. Oftentimes, you will get the inside scoop on a sale earlier than the rest of the public. The retailers offer that to you as an incentive for letting them have your e-mail contact information.

The women's retailer New York & Company is a really great example of a retailer that offers great e-mail updates of their sales. Additionally, the company will oftentimes e-mail coupons to those who have signed up on their e-mail list.

Before you sign up for anything though, make sure you know what a store's privacy policy is. You don't want to give your contact information out to just anyone.

Return Policies: One of the most common sense ways of saving money is to know a store's return policy. It sounds like a no-brainer, but when you are in a rush and have to purchase something as a gift, you tend to not think logically.

Understand whether or not a store will provide credits, store credit, exchanges and what the time limit is.

Additionally, if you are ordering something online, you should know what the shipping price policy is and whether you will have to pay for shipping to return an item. Everyone always raves about the return policies for Zappos.com, an online shoe retailer, because of it's customer-friendly return policy. Not every e-tailer can afford to be so forgiving.

If you are buying from an electronics store, or buying a big ticket item, check to see if you will be charged a restocking fee if you return the item later.

Get Your Sleep: Never buy when you are tired. Never buy right after work. If you are tired, you are more compelled to grab whatever is in front of you regardless of price.

Google: As if the list of great things about Google couldn't get any longer, use Google to find out about sales. Let's say you are buying something like a TV and you can't decide. You've been doing a lot of comparison shopping and are about ready to buy your TV at retailer X. Before you buy, Google the phrase "promotion code" and the name of the web site or retailer that you are thinking about buying from.

Sometimes you will find a promotion code or other deal that you can use with your purchase that may not be something advertised to the general public.

Grocery Store Deals: Go to MyGroceryDeals.com if you want to find out about sale items at the stores where you live. What you do is enter in your zip code at the web site, and the search will return some of the deals being offered in your city. You can also choose to receive e-mails of sale items. The web site allows you to comparison shop.

Student Discounts: If you need software and are a student, you can receive a discount because of your student status. If you are no longer in school, see if you can find a friend or family member that is a student. By receiving a student discount, you can save substantially on software such as Microsoft Word, Adobe PhotoShop and more. The web site www.academicsuperstore.com is a great place to go for academic discounts on software. The site is easy to use and if you do want to purchase something, you just have to fax over a student I.D. and current class schedule. Pretty simple.