While the holiday season (i.e., Christmas) means reduced prices for many items, retailers will use aggressive tactics in enticing customers to buy more products. Consumers like you should be vigilant about making every dollar count since you can easily be lured into going over your credit card limit and spending over your cash budget.
This is true for both over-the-counter (i.e., in-store) and online purchases. You may believe that the deals are better during the holiday season but, upon closer inspection, these are not. Fortunately, there are several ways that you can make every dollar count while still getting into the holiday season’s spirit.
Use Technology to Get the Lowest Base Price
Avoid impulse buys by making your shopping list, which should reflect the lowest possible base price. You can use technology to find the base prices and compare the best deals for the products on your shopping list.
Examples of websites that you can use for price comparisons include InvisibleHand, which automatically searches the web for the lowest base prices across dozens of websites; and TrackIf.com, which provides a 3-month price history of any item and alerts for price drops. Even waiting for a few days can bring in great deals for the products on your gift list.
Enter the Right Websites
Take advantage of the cash back programs in websites like FatWallet.com, Ebates.com, and TopCashback.com, which offer cash back options for shopping in specific retailers. By entering these online stores through their cash-back portals, you can save more money, perhaps even buy more gifts. For example, FatWallet.com offered its customers with 2% cash back at Kohl’s while TopCashback.com offered 6% on Amazon purchases for certain items.
But that’s not all there is to it. You can also use coupon codes, among other discounts, to reduce the total amount paid for your purchases. You may also use the cash back programs in your credit cards, such as Discover with its 5% to 15% cash back reward.
Use Automation for the Coupons
Using online coupons can be inconvenient, such as when you input several coupon codes without success. You can skip on the hassles by automating your coupon clipping activity by using Honey, a Chrome and Firefox browser extension. Users can use Honey to track coupon codes for hundreds of online retailers before applying the codes with the highest values to your online shopping cart at checkout.
With these effective tips, you can enjoy holiday shopping without hyperventilating about the high prices on the products on your gifts list. Now get on to the Target, Whole Foods, and Meijer websites for these coupons.