I usually try to do a post about this every year around this time, and add some new information that I have learned with it a long the way too. This year is a year of savings like no other, and everybody is looking for a deal. People are trying to save money, and have made major cutbacks in their holiday spending. Businesses are doing anything they can to get you to keep spending, even if it means less profit for them. You would be surprised to find the savings I found when doing just a few searches.
I am talking about promotional codes that websites offer, as well as the coupons that some websites will allow you to print off and take right into the store for an additional percentage off. I found some coupons that would give you an additional 50% off your purchase price with no strings attatched – and to major stores too, like Target.
How to use the search engines:
Most people do not realize they can just go to Google (or any major search engine) and type in “[whatever store name] promotional code”, or “[whatever store name] coupon code” and if that store offers a promotional code, or a coupon code you will find it as a result (you may have to sift through some pages and results), and can put that code in and save a certain percentage off. Let me give you some screen shots of what I am talking about.
Lets say you were shopping at Dicks Sporting Goods, and are about ready to check out – here is what you would see: Notice how the arrow is pointing to a place that you can enter a promotional code? That should get you thinking – where do you get such a code?
This is where using the search engines and the technique mentioned above comes into play. I am going to do a search on Google now for “Dicks Sporting Goods Promotional Code” and get the following results (see screen shot)
You see how every single one of the results that you get is a web site offering a Dicks Sporting Goods promotional code. I didn’t go through every site listed, but I found one that offered a 20% off code on any purchase. That means if you are spending $400 you will save a whopping $80 – that is a couple of fill-ups at the tank! IMO, the savings are significant, and if you are doing this with all of your purchases – you are saving a wad of cash this season. All you have to do at this point is get the code you just found, go back to where you were checking out, put the code in and apply it – and there you go – you just saved 20% on your Dicks Sporting Goods purchase.
You can use this technique with almost any site or store you want to shop at, it just will take you a little time to do some searches. I use Google for all my examples here, but if you don’t find what you are looking for on Google, you can always use other search engines like Yahoo or MSN when looking for promotional codes.
I want interaction with people!
Lets say you don’t want to do all of your shopping online, and want to actually interact with people and get out. You can still use the search engines and websites to help you find coupons that you can take into the store and they will scan and give you the discount.
Some printable coupon websites that I know of, and have used personally – there are many more, just search for “printable coupons” on Google
We are going to Macy’s today to finish up some holiday shopping, and a quick search on Google for a “Macys Printable Coupon” helped me find a site where I found this 20% off coupon:
The Bottom Line Here:
If you take some time and use the search engines to find coupons and promotional codes, you will be saving big money this season. So far this year, I have saved over $300 just from my Christmas shopping for the kids. Saving $300 could turn into a pretty good gift for myself this year!! I should probably be smart and put it away though! I hope this gives you some ideas, or reminders of what you can do this year online using the seach engines to save money. Good Luck, and Happy Holidays!
PLEASE ADD TO THIS:
If you know of any other really good promotional code sites (or techniques) or printable coupon sites then please feel free to comment and add them here. I want to build this up as a huge resource for anyone who reads this post.
I will surely pass this along to everyone in my mailing list. I’ve been meaning to add link to free testing for chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia to my website that I have been procrastinating on. This serves as persuasive reminder.