How To Save AND Make Money When Shopping Online!

Not only do I SELL online, but I also BUY a lot of items online. I love to be able to shop from the comfort of my own home and at any time of the day or night. However, I'm not willing to spend more just for convenience. In fact, I have a couple of tricks for not only saving money by shopping online, but also for MAKING money!

Many retailers are now automatically giving customers free shipping with a minimum order, although some sites still require you to enter a promotional code. Don't limit yourself to just free shipping, though, when you can also get a percentage off your order! Whether it's a free shipping or a discount code you are looking for, visit www.RetailMeNot.com BEFORE you shop! RetailMeNot is a website that gathers all available free shipping and discount codes for thousands of online retailers.

So, now that you have free shipping and a discount, you are going to place your order, right? Wrong! Why not go one step further and get money BACK? By going through the shopping portal www.Ebates.com, you will receive a refund on your online purchases. Simply go to www/Ebates.com, register, find the retailer you want to order from, click the link to that retailer's website, and shop. That's all you have to do! Once you place your order, your rebate will be recorded by Ebates. Four times a year, Ebates will automactially send you a check.

One thing to keep in mind when searching for promo codes is that not all retailers have discounts (Amazon, for one, never has promotional codes). Also, not all sites participate in Ebates (Ebay recently discontinued their Ebates association). However, the vast majority of retailers DO have codes at http://www.retailmenot.com/ and/or cash back through http://www.ebates.com/, so it is always worth it to check out both sites before shopping.

Also, sometimes you have to do a little backtracking in order to get the maximum discounts. For instance, if you get promo codes from RetailMeNot and click directly to the retailer from the RetailMeNot site, you won't get the Ebates discount. However, if you just go through Ebates, you won't have those promo codes found at RetailMeNot. What I do is first get my promo codes from RetailMeNot and write them down. I THEN go to Ebates and link to the retailer's website from there. That way, I get all three discounts: free shipping, percentage off, and cash back!

www.RetailMeNot.com doesn't require any registration - you simply go to the site and search for your codes. Ebates does need your information so that they can send you your rebate checks, plus you earn a $10 bonus for signing up! CLICK HERE to join Ebates.com and start earning cash back on your online purchases (remember, you must click to the retailer's site through Ebates in order to get a refund).

Using these sites may be a little intimidating at first, but going to them first before shopping quickly becomes second nature. I actually just placed an order from Gap.com. First I found free shipping and discount codes at http://www.retailmenot.com/. I wrote down those codes, then went to http://www.ebates.com/ where I clicked through to Gap's website. I scored FREE shipping, saved 25% my total order, AND will be 2% cash back through Ebates!

February Is "National Pull Your Sofa Off the Wall Month", Plus Other Crazy Celebrations This Month!

Everyone knows the two major Febraury holidays, Groundhogs Day and Valentine's Day. But did you know that there are several other celebrations going on in Febraury? Be sure to mark your calendar for:


National Pull Your Sofa Off the Wall Month (all month long!)
February 7: Wave All Your Fingers at Your Neighbor Day
February 9: Read in the Bathtub Day
February 11: Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day
February 18: Thumb Appreciation Day
February 23: Curling Is Cool Day (not sure if they mean hair or the winter sport)
February 28: Public Sleeping Day