Probably many of you are familiar with the very popular group buying website - Groupon. The concept here is a company offers a great deal (anywhere from 30 to 80% off) which you can buy. There is a minimum amount of these deals that must be bought by others for the deal to be activated (if the minimum is not met, your credit card is not charged) - thus the "group" part of the name. In most cases the deal is so good and interests enough people that the stated minimum is bought within a few hours of its posting (most deals are offered for 24 hours).
Now, there are many more sites out there that offer a similar concept. Some don’t even require the minimum number and some will give you the deal free if you share the deal with a few of your friends and they buy it. The offers can be on anything from restaurants or salon services, to car care, house cleaning, photographers, golf packages, various merchandise… just about anything and everything you can imagine.
Redeeming your deal: for most of the sites, once you purchase the deal (and the minimum has been purchased within the selling period), you will get an email notifying you that your deal is ready. Typically you will receive the email the morning after the day of the sale. The email will instruct you where to go to get your deal, for Groupon and LivingSocial it is the "My Deals" area on their sites. In the "My Deals" it will list whatever deals you have bought. You print your deal from there and take it to the store to use as cash. Just that easy!
Since we all like (or need) to save money, we thought we would share some of the sites we know about with offerings for Columbus with all of you just in case you weren’t aware of some.
GroupOn – The original group buying site.
ColumbusDailyDeal – This site’s deals are all local businesses.
LivingSocial – An additional perk to this site is the great incentive where if you share this deal with your friends and three of them buy the deal, you get the deal for free.
EverSave – Many of the items, but not all, are natural and organic products. This site also gives you $5 off your first purchase.
Some of the deals through these sites are just amazing. Not all the deals, or maybe even most, will meet a need or want that you have. However it’s worth to subscribe to each just in case that one great deal comes up. Like today for me, I need bike helmets for my recently turned three year old twins and it just so happens that through Living Socially, Roll has $60 worth of product for only $30. I love their helmets, but they are pricey. With this deal, I can get two for the price of one! Even if I don’t find another deal that appeals to a need I have this year, I’ll still be really happy about this one great deal I got today.
Do you know of other sites like this? Please share! Also, please share your experiences with these types of sites with all of us, by commenting below.
Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saving money. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Kid's eat free!
Below are some website resources that list places that have kids eat free deals or special reduced prices on certain days of the week.
www.mykidseatfree.com/states/ohio.asp
www.kidseatfree.com
www.kidsmealdeals.com
A few club mom favorites, which are listed on these sites as well, are:
- Champps offers two free kid's meals per each adult meal on Tuesdays.
- Max and Erma's offers one free kid's meal with each adult meal on Tuesdays.
- Roadhouse offers one free kid's meal with each adult meal on Tuesdays.
- Qdoba Mexican Grill offers one free kid's meal with each adult meal on Tuesdays.
- Hoggy's offers one free kid's meal with each adult meal on Wednesdays.
What about you? Do you have any favorite places that offer free or reduced priced kid's meals on certain days? Know any places not listed in the website resources above? Please share!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Ways To Save
Here are just a few ways to save in case you plan to do some online Christmas shopping.
http://www.ebates.com/
http://www.swagbucks.com/
http://www.ebates.com/
http://www.swagbucks.com/
Love a Freebie?
Check out http://www.bzzagent.com/
This is a great company! It's word of mouth marketing and they send out FREE samples. Sometimes these free samples are full size products such as a recent "Bzzcampaign" featuring full sized bottles of AVEENO NOURISH + Hair Care Shampoo and Conditioner.
It's free to sign up and the only obligation is that you agree to pass out samples and coupons to friends.
I've been a BzzAgent for 3 years now and I love it!
This is a great company! It's word of mouth marketing and they send out FREE samples. Sometimes these free samples are full size products such as a recent "Bzzcampaign" featuring full sized bottles of AVEENO NOURISH + Hair Care Shampoo and Conditioner.
It's free to sign up and the only obligation is that you agree to pass out samples and coupons to friends.
I've been a BzzAgent for 3 years now and I love it!
Calling All Frugalistas
A fellow club member asked me to post regarding all the deals and such that abound. Many months ago I discovered a few awesome websites that have enabled me to cut my grocery bill by 1/3. I supposed I could save more than half but because of these sites, I'm now purchasing a few luxuries (ie. Starbucks Frappaccinos in bottles) that weren't in the budget before.
The beauty of these websites is that these lovely women do all the work for you so all you do is cut the coupons and reap the savings. I would suggest that you start with one website. Read all of her tips regarding each store and then choose one store that you would like to master. Example: Walgreens. "Wags" as the couponers like to call it, is a GREAT way to save money on things like toothpaste, deoderant, razors, and tampons. In many cases you can get these things for free by watching for sales and the pairing your coupons with sales. It may seem silly to save just $1 here or a $1 there but honestly, if you are saving in all parts of your life, it adds up.
So, pick a store and figure out how it works. You might want to spend the next few weeks stocking up on items like the ones listed above. Once you feel like you've mastered the drugstores, move on to groceries.
I've found that Kroger seems to give the best deals if you learn to stock up when the sales are good. Last week I bought about 10 boxes of Zesta Saltine crackers. That sounds like a lot of crackers but at .99 a box, I won't be buying them at their regular price which is closer to $2. Along with stockpiling, Kroger doubles manufactuer's coupons up to .99 cents which leads to greater savings. Although Kroger's gas program isn't as good as Giant Eagle, I still save .10 cents per gallon each month and I feel like Kroger is MUCH cheaper than GE.
I remember trying coupons in the past and thinking it was silly to take .35 cents off when I could just buy the store brand for $1 less. What I am finding is that if you wait for a good sale, use the coupon at the best time, and get the coupon doubled (like at Kroger) you can buy your favorite brand at a much lower rate than the store brand. Now that my kids are in school this is paying off in several ways. I am cutting box tops so that's .10 cents per box to my childrens' elementary school. Also, I'm signed up for UPromise so often money goes into their college savings account as a result of my name brand purchases. Go to http://www.upromise.com/ for info on that one.
Here are my top 5 faves. If you have others I didn't list, please comment below and make our members aware of other great sites. Also, another hint, if you are on Facebook, become a fan of these sites. That way you will be getting up to the minute posts on the best deals out there. Example, one member Marcie, got a Tag Reading System for $2.48 as a result of one of these great sites. She saved over $38 dollars and her twins are loving her for it!
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/
http://www.dealseekingmom.com/ (this is a Central Ohio woman)
http://www.freebies4mom.com/
http://www.stretchingabuckblog.com/ (also local)
http://www.engineeradebtfreelife.com/
There are millions of these sites out there and many are quite similar to each other. Instead of trying to track all of them, I'd pick one or two and see what you find. Often they expose toy coupons (or other great items) out there where you can get a deal.
The key is to simplify your system so that it works for you and to not get too caught up in it. Be careful because you might find yourself buying denture cream at Walgreens because you're getting Register Rewards (Walgreens Bucks) for it. My advice is to buy only what you need, do it as inexpensively as possible, and have some fun while you are doing it.
The other key is to ask around. There is an amazing amount of wisdom out there and the more you network, the better deals you can find.
Hope this was helpful!
The beauty of these websites is that these lovely women do all the work for you so all you do is cut the coupons and reap the savings. I would suggest that you start with one website. Read all of her tips regarding each store and then choose one store that you would like to master. Example: Walgreens. "Wags" as the couponers like to call it, is a GREAT way to save money on things like toothpaste, deoderant, razors, and tampons. In many cases you can get these things for free by watching for sales and the pairing your coupons with sales. It may seem silly to save just $1 here or a $1 there but honestly, if you are saving in all parts of your life, it adds up.
So, pick a store and figure out how it works. You might want to spend the next few weeks stocking up on items like the ones listed above. Once you feel like you've mastered the drugstores, move on to groceries.
I've found that Kroger seems to give the best deals if you learn to stock up when the sales are good. Last week I bought about 10 boxes of Zesta Saltine crackers. That sounds like a lot of crackers but at .99 a box, I won't be buying them at their regular price which is closer to $2. Along with stockpiling, Kroger doubles manufactuer's coupons up to .99 cents which leads to greater savings. Although Kroger's gas program isn't as good as Giant Eagle, I still save .10 cents per gallon each month and I feel like Kroger is MUCH cheaper than GE.
I remember trying coupons in the past and thinking it was silly to take .35 cents off when I could just buy the store brand for $1 less. What I am finding is that if you wait for a good sale, use the coupon at the best time, and get the coupon doubled (like at Kroger) you can buy your favorite brand at a much lower rate than the store brand. Now that my kids are in school this is paying off in several ways. I am cutting box tops so that's .10 cents per box to my childrens' elementary school. Also, I'm signed up for UPromise so often money goes into their college savings account as a result of my name brand purchases. Go to http://www.upromise.com/ for info on that one.
Here are my top 5 faves. If you have others I didn't list, please comment below and make our members aware of other great sites. Also, another hint, if you are on Facebook, become a fan of these sites. That way you will be getting up to the minute posts on the best deals out there. Example, one member Marcie, got a Tag Reading System for $2.48 as a result of one of these great sites. She saved over $38 dollars and her twins are loving her for it!
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/
http://www.dealseekingmom.com/ (this is a Central Ohio woman)
http://www.freebies4mom.com/
http://www.stretchingabuckblog.com/ (also local)
http://www.engineeradebtfreelife.com/
There are millions of these sites out there and many are quite similar to each other. Instead of trying to track all of them, I'd pick one or two and see what you find. Often they expose toy coupons (or other great items) out there where you can get a deal.
The key is to simplify your system so that it works for you and to not get too caught up in it. Be careful because you might find yourself buying denture cream at Walgreens because you're getting Register Rewards (Walgreens Bucks) for it. My advice is to buy only what you need, do it as inexpensively as possible, and have some fun while you are doing it.
The other key is to ask around. There is an amazing amount of wisdom out there and the more you network, the better deals you can find.
Hope this was helpful!
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