There’s no question, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Problem is, it’s also the most expensive time of the year. Holiday shopping can quickly add up, but you can save some serious cash if you shop online with the right tools. Here are a few of my favorite money-saving websites.
Rakuten
You may not recognize the new name but Rakuten used to be known as Ebates. This site gives you cash back for shopping at certain online stores—this includes big names like Amazon, Walmart, Kohl’s, and Ebay. You’re probably already using a few of these sites, so it makes sense to get some cash back. Register with email and password on the Rakuten site, and click on any of their partner stores listed to begin shopping. Prices will be the same as shopping directly with those retailers, except now you’ll get cash back for every purchase. The site keeps track of your cash back balance, and you decide how you’d like to be paid—PayPal, check, or a Membership Rewards-enrolled American Express card, that you apply for.
Honey
If you aren’t using a coupon code for online shopping, you aren’t doing it right. Honey is a great Chrome extension that automatically tests known coupon codes when you checkout on a website. If you don’t want to install the extension, you can go directly to the Honey website and search for coupon codes for your favorite online stores. It never hurts to check for coupons before you click that order button.
Brad’s Deals
There are many sites that scour the internet for daily deals, and Brad’s Deals is one of my favorites. It’s a great place to browse if you’re looking for gift ideas and you love a good deal. Make sure you price check with other sites though. In my experience, not every deal on this site is as good as it seems.
SlickDeals
Slickdeals is my favorite deal site because it’s curated by users. The deals are posted by regular people, and the community can vote the deals up or down, so you can see how many others thought certain deals were good ones. The community can also post reviews. The best deals quickly rise to the top. My favorite feature is the ability to create keyword deal alerts so if you’re shopping for a specific item, you’ll know as soon as a new deal is posted before it sells out or expires.
