This is the first thing you need to do when considering a purchase,
as if you don't find the best price for your item then you're already
losing out on precious pennies to spend elsewhere (or save in your bank,
but primarily for me, it's to spend elsewhere). I tend to visit sites
that I think will have the item I'm looking for to find prices out
first, and
then find the cheapest among them.
I also visit discount sites such as
allbeauty.com
and
Fragrancedirect to see if they stock the product I'm looking for -
for beauty related items, obviously. I also use Google searches and the
Google Shopping page to find and compare the price on various sites.
You'd be surprised how much you can save, just by taking the time to do
this.
Cashback Sites!
For many years, I have been using cashback sites whenever I shop
online and it has saved/made me more money than you'd think. For
example, I have used
TopCashback* since November 2008 and in total, I have earned
£1,861.39p
on purchases I have made and things I have signed up to (such as
switching gas/electric, Sky TV and such like), which is pretty good
considering it has cost me nothing and taken very little time (I went through a year or so of forgetting to use it after my break up too).
Before I used TopCashBack, I used
Quidco* and in the 3 years I used it, I earned
£986.52p
- plus £15 that I paid to Quidco as they charge £5 per year from any
earnings you make - if you earn nothing, you pay nothing! I still do use
Quidco occasionally as they sometimes have better rates or offers, but TopCashBack is my main one these days as it is
completely free (unless you upgrade to a plus member).
Using a cashback site doesn't affect
the price of the goods your buying, or any quote you're being given, nor
does it affect your statutory rights - it literally is just an added
bonus.
So, if you bought from Debenhams, you'd get 3.03% cashback from your
final checkout price (minus VAT and any delivery charges) just for
clicking to go to the Debenhams site through TopCashBack (you click the
orange button shown in the image above), it's so simple. It does add a
small extra step into what you're doing, but literally does only take a
moment to do it and you've already seen how it can build up to quite a
large sum of money.
Sometimes cashback is offered for
free things,
like surveys, sign ups to sites, free trials and suchlike - these things will
take time to do, but are useful to know about if you have a lot of
spare time and fancy earning small amounts of money that could mount up
into a larger sum.
Other cashback possibilities that you should look out for are
magazine sites that pay you a set amount (say £4) for a subscription as
quite often the site has 3 for £1/3 for £3 (and similar) trial offers that can
also qualify for cashback too; so you'd basically be being paid £3/£1 (for
example) to try 3 issues of a magazine. Some deals match however much
you spend, so you could pay £1 to trial a magazine and be paid that
much back, so you'd effectively be getting a free trial.
If
you want to do more than one magazine on this offer, do them one by one
as you should be paid cashback for each purchase. These are gradually
being picked up on and some terms changed, so please do read the
information before committing to your purchase - and don't forget to
cancel the Direct Debit once you've paid the trial subscription,
otherwise they will continue the subscription and take the full amount
out of your bank.
The only 'con' I can see for using a cashback site is that sometimes
your money/purchase doesn't track and you can 'lose out' on a small
amount of cashback. You can appeal this, but it's not guaranteed that
you'll get it - although mostly you do, especially if you can prove you
went through the cashback site (by matching up a date and time to one of
your outgoing clicks for the merchant in the appeal section) and it
helps to keep order confirmations etc.
It's such a
small downside though, and as long as you think of cashback as a bonus,
rather than a given (especially if you're relying on it to take the cost
of purchasing something down to an amount you can afford, which is not
advisable), you'll be over the moon with it, like I have been.
Discount Codes!
Discount codes are another way of saving money when shopping online
that can be used in conjunction with cashback sites for most merchants
(some say in their terms that orders made using discount codes will
automatically get cashback declined, you then just need to work out
which one will save you the most money, the code or the cashback - it's
usually the code), and are used when checking out your shopping online!
You can find discount codes on the merchant page of cashback sites, on sites like
HotUKDeals
(just don't click their links if you want the cashback as they will
pocket it if you complete your purchase via their link - if you do
happen to click their link, just clear your cookies for the site you're
buying from and start again - this will empty any cart contents and log
you out, if you do this, and you will need to go through your chosen
cashback site again), from the cashback websites above, and
MoneySavingExpert
(also very good for general money saving information and advice) and
even on the Facebook and Twitter pages for the retailer that you're
intending to buy from.
I do all this, each time I'm about
to spend money to maximise the amount of money I can save in any given
transaction - in fact, it feels weird on the rare occasions that I can't
find any cashback or codes.
Have you ever used cashback sites and discount codes? If not, will you be starting?
Sorry for such a long post, I got carried away there!
*
This
is my referral link, although it doesn't alter anything on your sign up
as it is free to join and I would only receive a bonus if you earn
yourself some money (and my bonus comes from TopCashBack/Quidco, not
you) - plus sometimes they give you a bonus too.
All offer information correct as of time of writing.
This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk
