I love saving money! I may be more zealous in looking for great deals than the average person. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Here are 10 Effortless ways to save money! It’s not about buying stuff you don’t need or spending a ridiculous amount of time looking for great deals.
1. Join Amazon Prime for Students/ Amazon Mom (Get 1 years of 2 day shipping for FREE) here
– No Fee (you save $79 on prime membership)
-No Min. Order
-Get textbooks & millions of other items even presents like blokus shipped for FREE!!!
-All you need is a credited .edu e-mail (other requirements for Amazon mom)
-It lasts for 1 year
*Best part is that there is NO automatic renewal so in case you forget about it’s ok!
2. Digital Grocery Coupons – Don’t get paper coupons? Hate to clip them out?
A lot of grocery stores now offer savings cards as seen with Kroger, Ralphs, and Vons. Well all you have to is link these cyber coupons to your savings cards, once a month update and viola instant savings at the checkout! Plus you can use additional paper coupons on top of e-coupons!
*All programs are free, no spam and easy to use!
Cellfirehere
Shortcuts here
Safeway Grocery here
Kroger Grocery here
3. Where to get Printable Coupons (you do need a working printer)
You can to choose and print only the coupons that you want. These are legit sites for printable coupons. Coupon printer software very easy to install without being hassle or risk-free! I do this all the time and I haven’t had any problems at all. They often have better & more discounts than newspapers.
Plus these sites are always having new coupons and new companies joining all the time!
Coupons.com here
Redplum here
CVS in-store coupons here
Target in-store coupons here
Riteaid Video Value in store coupons here (RiteAid Pharmacy prgm -watch 30sec videos = special coupons)
** Also with “in-store coupons” you can stack them with manufacturer’s coupons = double savings!
Example: Welch’s Juice is on Sale $2
Target coupons $1 off
manufacturer coupon $1 off
Guess what! That juice is now ( = FREE+ tax) to you b/c you were able to use both coupons (in store/manufacturers!)
4. Save money and ditch your television channels! (you need high-speed internet)
I feel like everyone is so busy these days, conflicting schedules and always on the go! Who has time to sit at home at designated time each week to watch their favorite shows? Not me! If you have high-speed internet now you can watch your shows anytime you want! It’s legit!
You don’t have to install anything. It streams directly to your computer and if you have AV cable you can even watch it on your regular t.v. set.
Hulu here– they offer a variety of shows, post new shows usual next day!
CW here – hosts 5-6 full episodes of cw series
ABC here
TBS here
5. Top Money Saving Blogs !
Got some free time in between classes? Bored? Well check out these money-saving blogs that update the latest deals, coupons and sales! These are just my personal favorites. There are tons of blogs & websites dedicated to saving YOU money.
Hip2Save here
Deal Seeking Mom here
Slickdeals here (search forums, for updated info)
Coupon Gal here (So-Cal based)
6. Don’t like to cook? Special occasion? What to dine out? Restaurant Savings!
I love to eat and I love trying out new restaurants. However I hate overpaying or finding a “dud” restaurant since money is tight and you don’t ever want a special treat to turn into a nightmare. My suggestion is to do a little research about 5-10 min on the restaurant and you’ll save $$$!
Yelp here – It is a great site with current customer reviews, link to the main restaurant website, and if promotions are going on
Restaurant Week here– What to dine somewhere fancy and affordable. Find out about your city’s restaurant. For San Diego there is one Jan 16-27th!
Prices for 3 course meals range from $20, $30 and $40 per person.
Restaurant.com here – They offer free to up 50% off dining costs. Get ‘coupons – gift card’ for $20 off $35 meal! They are always having discounts codes and promotions on the website. So even there you never need to pay retail price!
Groupon here– They often offer 50-75% off dining gift cards to use in variety of restaurants. Changes daily! Why? The restaurants want you to try them out so it’s like advertising for the companies and you get to dine on a dime!
**Another tip is to go the RESTAURANT’S OWN WEBSITE…they often have happy hour times, current promotions, and join their e-mail clubs for more discounts! TGI Friday’s, MIMI’s cafe, Macoroni Grill, Famous Dave’s, Coldstone, Noodles & Co, and Claim Jumper are just a few that send special coupons, discounts and alerts to their e-mail members. **
**If you are in San Diego save those clipper & B1G1 magazines with restaurant coupons! You never know when it will come handy**
7. Shopping can be frugal and fun. But you’ll never feel cheap!
I can’t say it enough how important e-mail and internet advertising has become! You’ve got a favorite store or shop, well on their website and see if they have email subscriber list. You might complain that it’s going to be a lot of junk mail. Most sites can customize how often you receive e-mail, what e-mail you want to receive and you unsubscribe instantly at any time! I’ve got great discounts and information from being apart of these lists.
Stores with awesome e-mail updates & coupons: Express, Bath & Body Works, Charlotte Russe, and Sephora…just to name a few.
It really pays to “be in the know” and it costs nothing to join!
8. Movie Watching!
Seriously when did movie watching become so incredibly expensive? Movies at like $10 to $15 bucks is outrageous! Sure movie watching is a treat and great leisure activity. But imagine all the things you can do with $10 bucks after $10 bucks that you save! It really adds up.
-Purchase AMC silver tickets vouchers at your local campus activity office, online or Costco. ($6-7 bucks)
-Borrow movies from your local library
-Have a movies swap with your friends
-Rent from Redbox! It’s super convenient and easy to use. Only $1 dollar per day and you can return at any redbox location.
-Purchase used movies at Blockbuster or Hollywood video. These are usually sold at 50%-75% off
-Netflix here account. They have different plans, online streaming and you can split costs with roommates!
9. Online Shopping – If you are going to spend the money, way not get cashback?
I am advocate for online shopping all the way. These days you can buy anything online but fraction of the price in stores. Plus many chain stores have special online sales, discounts and FREE shipping. Why brave crowds, lacking inventories and waste gas if you don’t need to. You don’t need special software or special credit card to get cashback!!! I’ve been using cashback sites for over a 1 year and received $30 back just from purchases I make everyday that I need and use. My best cashback was through Ebates where I got 30% cashback for my purchases at Yves Rocher and that’s where I found one my favorite glosses. Most chain stores allow online purchases to be returned in the store and some sites are even offering free return shipping!
*To use cashback websites, you need to create an account. Go through their site link to the store website. That’s it! Your store purchases will be continued as normal, same treatment, same prices, and cashback will not track your personal information. All sites are free!*
Ebates here – They offer $5 reward for the first $5 in cashback you get, tons of websites and current coupon codes. (cashback in paypal/check)
Bigcrumbs here – No min. payout, variety of store like 30% cashback on Ebay purchases (cashback in paypal/check)
Evrewards here – This is *NOT* cashback site, but it allows you to type in a store and shows you what cashback sites will give you the most back, current store promotions and even cashback on different credit cards. Useful tons to see what the best deal.
10. Last but not least: SAVE THE WORLD, buy a WATER FILTER!
Though I’m guilty of this since my mother buys tons of bottled water which I don’t know why. But seriously consider buying a reusable water bottle and water filter instead of plastic bottles. It sounds like duh or silly b/c “plastic is recyclable” but it really can help the environment! So think about it. Drinking water is great for your skin, your health and even your mental well-being.
You can buy reusable water bottles about anywhere and everywhere. I see them on Amazon.com, Old Navy, Wal-Mart, Target, and even the Dollar store. It doesn’t have to be large or fancy. I’m sure there’s one out there for everyone. Plus Brita water filters are only like $20-30 bucks and a lot of times fridges also have a water purification system. Which reminds me I need to buy a re-fill.
Sophie's Dish 