Saving Money, Being Thrifty, Earning Cash --Part 2

I’ve gotten a lot of questions recently about how I find all these amazing discount deals, how I save so much money, and how to earn a little extra cash here and there. Well I’ve decided it was time to do a post encompassing all of these things. Originally I was going to do this all in one post, but it began to get so long and I didn’t want to drown you with too much information at once, so I’ve decided to do this in parts.

Part 1 will detail earning cash back and using daily deal sites. Part 2 will detail using coupons and getting freebies. Part 3 will deal with how to earn extra cash by doing what you already do anyway.

Keep in mind I will only post about things that I have personally used or do use, so even though there may be other services/products out there, I am not going to recommend something I haven’t tried for myself.

One of the things I keep hearing from my friends is, “where do you find these deals, and how can I save money?”

Using Coupons:

Yes, using coupons. I’m not even talking extreme couponing here, although that is possible depending what stores you have in your area, I’m just talking about being thrifty with what you buy and using coupons to help bring costs down. If you look at my menu options, I have a page dedicated to just printing coupons. If you are really savvy I also have a community forum where you can help each other out by posting deals and coupon finds to share with each other.

The main coupon printing sites that offer the best selection and are easy to use are: coupons(dot)com and couponnetwork(dot)com. You can access either of those sites in the menu above, or by clicking the banners below. You can also print coupons directly from this site using the coupons(dot)com page in the menu bar. If you are really into coupons, try different zip codes as well. There will often be different coupons for zip codes in other parts of the country.

In addition to just simply printing coupons, you can check your local store’s weekly fliers to see what is on sale for the week and see if you have any coupons to match (sometimes you have to hang onto coupons for a bit before a sale comes up if you are going to try to shop this way). There are sites out there that will keep track of store ads for you so you can compare them all in one place, but I’ve found it to be a very time consuming process to go to this extreme, and currently I only use coupons for things I know I would have gotten anyway.

**there is a lot of work that goes into staying on top of coupons and deals that match; if you are interested in this please contact me by email or through the community forum and I can get you more information.

Using Freebie Sites:

I very frequently sign up to receive free samples of products in the mail, and it has gotten to the point where my husband just rolls his eyes every time a new package comes in the mail because it is probably some freebie I’ve signed up for. Unless you don’t mind getting sample size products for most things, freebies aren’t for everyone. There are companies who will give you a full size sample of something, but that is not usually the case for most things. I could almost dedicate another whole post to how to get freebies, and perhaps sometime down the road I will delve into it further, but for now I’m just going to list some of the places I frequent to find free samples of things.

A) Other blogs:

The one blog I find most useful in finding free samples is freesamples2fillupyourmailbox.com

The author of this blog, Jennifer, does a great job of finding free samples, most of which are things I want or could use.

There is typically no catch in requesting a free sample, just beware of any sites that offer you a free product in exchange for completing “program requirements” which typically mean you have to sign up for some service or buy something. Those types of freebies I DO NOT sign up for.

B) Free product testing:

I have partnered with several companies that offer free products for you to test in exchange for a review of the product. These companies are open to anyone who would like to sign up, but your chances of getting picked for something is greater if you are more socially active online. This type of sample is usually a full size product, and sometimes the companies have some really sweet products to offer. Examples of past products (I may or may not have received a sample of these): Kindle, Lawry’s seasoning, X-box, Snuggle softener, etc.

Here is a list of the companies I partner with if you are interested in checking them out:

Smiley360.com (sign up and complete a questionnaire to get started, then watch your email for offers)

allyou.com (get a daily email with a new sample to request each time–no product testing required!)

bzzagent.com (you used to have to complete bzzscapes, which are just reviews of products, in order to qualify to receive things, but they just eliminated that requirement so I’m not sure what the new requirements are yet.)

houseparty.com (you must host a party in your house and invite 6-20 guests in order to qualify for free products…be sure you are willing to do this!)

C) Facebook pages:

This can be hit or miss, but if you are a fan of a lot of different companies then pay attention because they will often run promotional giveaways where they offer free products by liking their page and filling out a form (often full size samples!)

Don’t worry, if you couldn’t possibly keep up with all the company fan pages that are out there, you can just pay attention to what other people “like” (by following your live feed on the right hand side), or by following a deal finding facebook page such as the one for the blog listed above. Their facebook page is: www.facebook.com/freesamples2fillupyourmailbox.com

If you have any questions about any of these topics, feel free to leave a comment and/or contact me at mothersofactivechildrennow(dot)com.