Saving a Mint Online: 5 Must See Sites

My boyfriend once asked me how I find such good deals. He doesn't understand how easy it is to spend a few minutes to really save! And in today's economy, keeping a few more dollars in the bank is always important! Thanks to the internet, it has become easier and quicker to look for discounts and take advantage of them. Here's five of the best, and sometimes most unheard of examples I've seen of incredible, easy savings:

Priceline.com

The "Name Your Own Price" deal, as crazy as is sounds, works! If you think the cost for the Hotel, Plane, Car, etc, is too expensive, give it a try! A slight discount over a longer trip adds up over the days! I was looking to rent a car, and I got it $3 lower per day than all other online competitors! And, I signed up for the Priceline Credit Card and used it to pay, and got an additional $25.00 off my rental. I saved $37!

Pros: Great deals, website is very user friendly

Cons: As part of the "Name Your Own Price" Guarantee, if your search price is denied, you aren't able to do an identical search for a period of time. Bummer if you go to low. And if it is accepted, you are booked with a well known hotel, car rental, etc, in the area of your choice, but you do not know the specific company until it is paid for. Irrelevant if you're renting a car at the airport, but it might be problematic if it's a hotel.

Artscow.com

Like Shutterfly and Snapfish, Artscow provides photos and photo-related gifts, like books, coffee mugs, and keychains. However, Artscow offers 600 Free 4x6" and 600 Free 5x7" prints upon signup, only paying shipping and handling. Very often in your email you will receive codes for other free products, like mousepads and holiday ornaments. This is a highly recommended sight for a scrapbooker or a photographer. Keep in mind they are located in Asia.

Pros: Great quality products at rock-bottom prices. Free/discounted products available regularly. If you do not use your offers for these products, you can generate a "code" and give them to someone else! AND, sometimes, expired codes will work in the US due to the time difference between here and there! If things get lost in the mail, they are very good about replacements. I also ordered eight photo books as family gifts, and it only cost about $72!

Cons: Plan ahead and expect to wait awhile for shipping, especially with larger, more complicated pieces, like blankets. I ordered one and it took 6 weeks...but it only cost me $34.99 including shipping, instead of $75+ plus shipping on other sites! Sometimes the red pigment on faces in the books is off slightly when you use old photos, but overall worth the price.

Upromise.com

Promoted as a site to help save for college, it enables you to sign up for credit cards and store discount cards, and you receive certain percentages off certain products in stores and online but shopping through the site. Very user friendly, it also enables you to invest the savings; BUT you do not have to. Your savings accrues in an account, and to access it, you can send a letter requested an amount, and a check will be mailed to you. Simple!

Pros: Easy to shop like you normally would through their site and get additional discounts. Very often deals just for Upromise members are offered. You can use these percentages off alongside coded discounts for sites. On grocery shopping, the percentage saved is off the regular price, not the sale price you may have paid.

Cons: Unless you specifically buy certain products in stores, the discounts are small (1% to 5% usually), and do not add up quick. If you forget and don't shop through the site, there is no way to get the savings back.

PayPal.com

While PayPal is predominantly used as an escrow service between your credit cards/accounts and online purchases and payments, it also serves many other purposes. It offers an investment account, like a money market account, where the cash you receive will be invested. You can withdraw at any time, and nothing changes. Your return is based on how much you have in the account at the time. I've been receiving approx $0.19 a month for the past six months. But why not? If your money is there, might as well make it work! This website also features an option to print shipping labels via the USPS. It is connected to your PayPal account, so you do not have to plug in credit card, and there is a discount for some services for printing USPS labels online.

Pros: User friendly, account available for online shopping without using credit card. Easy to use postage printing with some discounts.

Cons: It makes is VERY simple to spend your hard-earned money!

Retailmenot.com

The Mecca of discount codes, all you need to do before making a purchase on any website is search the site name here. With codes uploaded regularly by users, it will tell you instantly if any discount codes are available, and most times any restrictions or guidelines on them. How easy! I purchase I made on ninewest.comfree shipping code! netted me $50.00 after I did a search and found a 50% off and

Pros: User friendly, constantly updated on a regular basis

Cons: Makes it very tempting to spend money on unneeded products for good deals.