Through The Tulips Words of 'Wiz'dom

I am one of those people who love knowing I’m getting a great deal and when I do, I find myself wanting to share it with everyone I know.   In the past two weeks I’ve found some deals on top of deals and thought I’d share with y’all how I happened to do that.  It’s a simple thing and it ended up saving me quite a bit of cash.

I’m not sure how many of you shop online, but it seems that more of us are doing it than ever- especially when more often than not we can get the same or even better deals online and don’t have to leave the comforts of home.   What I’ve learned is that there are some ways that you can save even more money at your favorite retailers simply by following a few simple steps.

•  Sign up for online newsletters.    What I do is use one specific email address for things that I sign up for and that saves the newsletters from coming into my regular email accounts.    The reason why you want to sign up for the newsletters is for several reasons.   Many sites offer a first purchase discount (of up to 15% from what I’ve found) just for signing up for their newsletter.  Plus you also get an insider view on sales, plus often there are special discounts and offers that only those signed up for the newsletters receive.   Trust me, it can be worth the little extra email in your box.
• Watch for Free Shipping offers.   Many websites offer free shipping with a minium purchase, while others have free shipping specials from time to time.  There are even a few that I shop at regularly that offer free shipping regardless of your purchase total.   Make use of that whenever you can and trust me- those savings add up.    I’ve skipped ordering from some stores in the past because I felt as though their shipping rates were just too high.  
• Add items to your shopping cart and leave them.   I know- this sounds a little crazy, but I actually did this not too long ago on a website on a handbag I wanted.  It was on sale, and yet even at the sale price, I wasn’t sure I wanted to order it.  I forgot about it, and a week later they sent me an email offering me an additional 25% off my purchase.   Needless to say, I didn’t think twice and cashed in on that sale, plus got free shipping.   I’m not going to say it will work everytime, but some places monitor your cart.  Again, I think you may need to be signed up for emails on the site to get these kind of deals.
• Never buy anything without looking for coupon codes first.    There are coupon codes out there that you may not realize.   Within the last two weeks I was about to buy some clothing on a website.  The items were on sale and then I received an additional 25% off the sale price (and free shipping) because I was signed up for the newsletter.    Then I did a quick search for coupon codes and found one for an additional 25% off that worked with the current offer.   I ended up saving yet another 25% off of the already low sale prices.    I ended up with 3 sweaters that were regularly $40.00 each for less than $7.00 each and again, free shipping.     The same thing was with a jacket at the same company-  I had it in my cart- had completely forgotten about it and decided since it was red and on sale it would be great for Christmas.   I paid $22.00 for an $80.00 jacket.        
• I also had the same thing with some cards that I ordered online.  I wanted them to be shipped to the person, and again, I looked for a coupon code and saved 25% off each card and the mailing of the card was free.   

All it takes is a little smart shopping and you can literally save hundreds in no time.  If you need any more information- please feel free to email me.