Actually, before I start, I recommendation to keep in mind: set up a "junk" email. Use it for all the couponing sites, newsletters, etc. Don't kill the email account you actually trust and get emails from your family on...because with a lot of freebies, comes spam.
Basic couponing.
I always recommend people read The Krazy Coupon Lady's "beginners" info here. It's a good idea to get an idea of how it's done and the lingo that goes with it all. Another feature from her site that I LOVE is the "print coupons" tab. This is a list of hundreds of printable coupons available listed alphabetically-if I know there are certain brands of products on my list, I always check the database to see if there's a coupon for it. She will also post match-ups every week for lots of stores-matching sales with available coupons.There are also printable coupon sites:
- Coupons.com
- Smartsource.com
- Redplum.com
- Couponnetwork.com
Inserts come in a lot of newspapers; if you can get a good deal, subscribe to a paper, or find someone who already does and doesn't use their inserts!
Savings & Deals
My favorite has been twitter. Whenever my favorite deal bloggers (Penny Pinchin Mom, KCL, Totally Target, Must Love Coupons) post a new blog post, it immediately hits my twitter feed and I can see the latest deals, ASAP. My computer is open pretty much all day and a tab for twitter is always up; I can check it as little or as much as I want and it only takes a few seconds. I am going to start using my twitter for this same purpose, just mostly "retweeting" the deals I think are really good. If you want to follow me, my account is @KaliRollins.Heyitsfree.net is a pretty good site for freebies.
The love of my life: my target card. If you shop at Target as much as I do, it's totally worth it. I still only buy things I would normally buy with cash and keep it paid off, but I get an extra 5% and free online shipping.
Point-Earning Websites
Swagbucks: You can invest a lot or a little time in this site. I mainly stick with the daily poll, NOSO, using the search & win bar, shop & earn, and coupons (this is the same database as coupons.com, except you'll earn 10 points for every coupon you redeem!) Points can be redeemed for giftcards, etc. A huge favorite is the $5 Amazon.com gift card-it's the best deal for the points and you can rack up a nice gift card balance on your amazon account. If you're interested, check out Swagging 101 and you can click as many or as few subjects on the left as you want. If you want to sign up: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/kalirollinsRecyclebank.com can be a hit or miss depending on the rewards available. You do "tasks" that teach you how to be more eco-friendly in return for points. These points can be redeemed for gift cards, coupons, or other goodies.
Rewardtv.com: You can take quizzes on shows you watched the previous day or take random surveys (surveys are usually worth more). Twice a week they do a "shopping spree"- at a specific time, 3 gift cards go "live" and you can redeem your points for these. The only catch is that there are only a certain number of each-I've only found success in the $5 gift cards; I open up the page on Google Chrome about 5-10 minutes before and once it goes live, I hit the redeem button as fast as I can.
Bing: Yup, the search engine. It can vary by month how many points/day you can get for searching, but it's usually between 10-20. I just type in a search with big words and backspace one letter at a time until I've reached my point limit. It takes less than a minute a day. You can redeem your points for gift cards, redbox rentals, etc. If you do 150 searches/month, you'll hit "gold" status and get rewards for even less points. I really like the Tango dollars because it's cheap and I can redeem them on the Tango site for various gift cards. If you want to sign up: click here.
Mypoints.com: I sign up for their emails; there are a lot that will give you 5 points for "clicking through" to the advertised site. I literally click through to get my points and close that tab without even looking at it. I also use this site when I shop online as it will give you a certain amount of points/dollar spent. If you're already shopping online, why not get paid for it?? If you're interested in signing up, you can give me your email and I can set you up as a referral-that way we can both get extra points ;)
And if you have a baby in pampers or huggies....ENTER YOUR POINT CODES IN THEIR SITES!! For real, though, if you have to spend a ton on diapers and wipes, at least get something free out of it.
Survey Sites
If you have a lot of free time on your hands or are a stay-at-home mom like me, these are great. If you have a paying job...you might not find them worth it. You'll never get rich of these, but you can definitely make some extra cash.Synnovate.com
Surveyspot.com
Pinecone Research (I believe this is invitation by members only; they send me an email when they have openings and I can pass it along)
I'm sure there's more. Once you've been doing it for this long, you get the hang of it so much that you actually forget all the stuff you do! If you have any questions, feel free to email or facebook me. I'm off to start tweeting!
