March 20, 2010

We all like saving money, right?  I check the Sunday newspaper every week for coupons, but it seems like most of the offers are for things I never ever buy; otherwise they're too puny to even mess with!  10 cents off 12 rolls of toilet paper?  Fugedaboutit!

There are lots of coupon sites out there, but I heard about a coupon database the other day that I think is pretty cool, and it seems to have lots of coupons I would actually use.  It's on MyDallasMommy.com, which features all kinds of freebies, deals, giveaways and other fun goodies to help you stretch your dollar a bit farther.

Some of the coupons are printable, others will refer you to another site like CoolSavings or Upromise, or to a Walgreens coupon book.  I think this database is really a portal that organizes all of the stuff out there for you in one place.  One great feature is that expiration dates are shown with the search results so you don't waste your time clicking all over cyberspace, only to find a bunch of expired offers.

On my first visit to the database, I found a $1 coupon for my favorite Sensodyne toothpaste.  I was referred to the manufacturer's web site and I did have to sign up before printing, but for a decent savings on an item I use and rebuy all the time, it's worth a few seconds of time for me.

So, that takes care of coupons for your usual “in-person” shopping.  What about saving money on the things you order online?  You need promo codes, of course!  Do you know about RetailMeNot.com?  I've been using it for years, and love it.  You just go to the site, type in your store's url, and poof!  You get a list of coupon codes.  Voila!

These codes are reported to the site by other users, so it can be a bit hit or miss, but you can easily see the success rate for a particular code.  For example, today you can use “KCOOK34” to get $5 off at DSW Shoes, and it has an 89% success rate.  If it doesn't work for you, just go back to the site and report the failure.  When I pulled up Amazon.com offers, they were all labeled as unreliable, with very low success rates, so I wouldn't even bother trying to use them.

I order supplements from Vitacost.com a lot, and always check RetailMeNot for a promo code first.  Right now, you can get 5% off your order at Vitacost.com using the promo code “pc13wb”.  The site tells you this code has a 94% success rate and that the average reported user savings are $6.03.

I also saw some great deals today for 25% off at Coldwater Creek, 15% off at Kohls and FootLocker, and free shipping at tons of sites.  Why wouldn't you use this site, I ask?  🙂

Now get out there and save some money!  And enjoy your weekend!

~BigSis