Using the Internet to Get the Best Deals: Part 1

Like most of us, I love to shop but it can be time consuming and frustrating at times. But I think I have found the secret to most shopping stresses. I get great deals this way and now I cannot bring myself to pay full price for anything! It has gotten worse over time since I usually can get a good deal on almost anything I buy, especially online.

I love to shop online because first of all I can do it at work on my lunch hour and I can get it delivered right to my door or do in store pick up and I don't have to run around looking for items only to find out they have run out of everything that was on sale! Also there is nothing worse then wasting gas and driving around from store to store getting stuck in traffic and then not ending up with anything! The first thing I usually do when shopping online is Google the item I want and find which stores sell it. Then I look (aka "Google") for coupon codes to that store. Some great websites to find coupon codes are Coupon Cabin , Flamingo World and Key Code . Sometimes I may end up purchasing an item at a more expensive store if it has a better coupon and offers free shipping or free samples. I also make sure I use my point credit card to double dip on the deal.

So to give an example, this Christmas I bought a flat panel TV at Circuit City, I looked it up online and found that Circuit City had the best price plus they do a price guarantee where if you find it anywhere cheaper within a certain amount of time they will credit you for the difference plus 10%. Since I didn't want to get it shipped I chose in store pickup. It was cheaper online then in the store (go figure) so I saved and still was able to get it that day. I am also a member of Ebates which gives me cash back for my online shopping at most stores. That day Circuit City had an online deal to get 10% off with the coupon code they gave on the site and because I shopped through Ebates I got an additional 2% back on that purchase. So to sum it all up the TV that I purchased cost about $1899 in store they had a deal online for $1399 plus the 10% off coupon code brought it to $1260 plus the 2% cash back of $25.20 from Ebates. I also earned 1% back from the credit card I used so I really got a great deal plus no shipping costs because I did the in store pickup. This is also a great way to not have to deal with sales people especially if you are someone who can be suckered into buying everything. Just make sure that you have at least visited the store in the past or have seen the item you are purchasing at another store before you purchase it because they don't always look the same as they do online. In my case I had a friend who had the same TV and I had seen it in another store previously. Also another thing to note is that not all stores have same day in store pickup.

Sound like a great deal? There are many more examples I could share, look for more articles in the future. The internet is a great tool to use to comparison shop instead of driving around like a maniac looking for things. It's also great to use in store pickup options that way you just go in and pick it up, no looking around and impulse buying, no sales people and no hassle. Saves times, saves money and saves gas. Have your shopping done before you get to the store!