Nowadays we are doing more of our shopping online than ever before. With fewer of us visiting physical stores, online competitors are wising up to our habits but, despite their best efforts, it is still totally possible to save money online. Whether you’re trying to find the best odds to place a bet on the game or doing your weekly food shopping, there’s a whole reel of tools that you should keep in your money-saving arsenal. Here are a few of the best of them.
Always Have a Coupon Ready
The first rule of online shopping anywhere is that there’s usually a coupon that will save you money. Unlike a trip to the supermarket, where you have to cut out and keep your coupon to present at the till, at an online checkout you can do a quick search and earn just the same savings. If you’re already in the know when it comes to coupons, then you can always type what you’re looking for into Google and try a few things out. If you don’t quite know where to start though, don’t worry. There are loads of apps that do the searching for you and some of them even test the coupons at the checkout stage too. Honey is just one of the browser extensions that you can install which will automatically search for money-saving coupons whenever you reach the checkout of a recognized site.
The Best Value Bets
If you’re shopping around for the best value bets on any sport at all then it can become a little tiresome. Many online bookmakers provide similar odds, so spending a great deal of time looking can be counterproductive. Instead of putting your time into looking for good odds, it can be better spent looking for promotional codes. These codes won’t magically change the odds for you, but they could give you more play money which in a way, does the same thing. Whether you end up with a deposit match bonus – where whatever you put into your play money wallet is matched by the provider – or just grab yourself a few free spins, you’ll feel like you’ve got something for nothing.
Making the Most of Cashback
If you’re way too familiar with your digital wallet already and need to find a way to curb your spending, or at least recoup a few of your costs, then cashback could be a good avenue for you to try. Most banks offer cashback to their customers and a fair few retailers do too. Cashback is an incentive for you to pay with your card at these online stores and in return you get a small percentage of your total spend back. Although this doesn’t generally amount to a great deal of money back in one transaction, if you become clever at using cashback whenever possible then you’ll find it quickly adds up.
Don’t Get Tempted By Bogus Bargains
When it comes to shopping for your groceries online, we tend to look for items that are on offer. Bargain hunting in this way is obviously a good habit to get into, but if you really look at the offers that are being presented to you, then you might notice that some of them aren’t really that great. Next time you find yourself checking out 3 pots of identical hummus because they’re on 3 for 2, ask yourself if you’ll really get through them. For most single households, it’s unlikely. One pot would probably be sufficient, but the idea of getting one free suckered you in. Now you’ve got two pots of hummus that are out of date, when you could’ve paid less for what you really needed. Make your shopping list beforehand and don’t deviate from it unless you are sure that you’ll actually use what’s on offer. It sounds like common sense, but if you look through your order history we guarantee you’ll have made this mistake before.
