Coupon Chief Review

You know that I’m all about saving money these days and when there are deals to be had, I go after them. When it comes to shopping online, the rule is to never make a purchase unless I can find a coupon code for a discount or at least free shipping.



This is where Coupon Chief comes in. It’s a huge database of coupons that can be used for all different kinds of online retailers ranging from clothing to electronics to home goods to even baby products. Another plus that differentiates it from other coupon sites is, that once a coupon expires, it is removed from the site so you aren't left filtering through a bunch of invalid codes. Users are also invited to comment, rate and validate coupons. Coupons can also easily be shared with friends via quick links to social networking outlets, such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as e-mail.

My favorite part of the site is the option to register for their “Pays-2-Share” program, which offers participants monetary incentives to upload coupons and compensate them when they are used. Every time someone uses a coupon you've uploaded, Coupon Chief will give you 2% of the sales, which can be paid out via a check or PayPal. You can’t get any more convenient than that!
For all the latest information, you can stay up to date by “liking” their Facebook page.

FTC: I was compensated to write an honest review regarding www.couponchief.com

Chic & Cheap - Saving Money Online

Welcome to installment number two of my series on how to save some dough.

This week’s topic: Using the Internet to make and save money

The internet is a beautiful thing. Not only can we shop in our PJ’s, but we can also save money and make money. Here are my favorite sites for doing that.

eBates

I’m sure most of you are already familiar with this site and if not, you’re missing out BIG time. I’ll admit, I was as big a skeptic as anyone when I heard that I’d get cash back for shopping online in the form of a check each quarter. I was floored that there really wasn’t a catch and it’s completely legit. The hardest part is actually remembering to go to the site before you do your shopping.

In a nutshell, you go to eBates, search for the store you want to shop at and eBates takes you directly to the site, tracks your purchase and automatically deposits the percentage of cash back into your eBates account. Sometimes they do deals where you get 20% cash back at places like Old Navy. It’s rare, but it happens. You can expect to get rates of 3%-6% cash back at many popular stores. This can add up really add up. eBates automatically sends you a check each quarter with all of your accumulated cash back.

You can sign-up here. Yes, I get a referral bonus of $5 and you get it too after your first purchase. If you have questions about it, please let me know.



Swagbucks

This is a site that took me awhile to jump on the bandwagon. I was concerned about spam and pop-ups, but so far, so good. Basically you get Swagbucks for doing internet searches that can ultimately be cashed in for gift cards to places like Amazon.com, iTunes gift cards and other things. Instead of using Google, I use Swagbucks for my searches. It takes no effort because I’m doing something I would have done regardless. I do search for sites I know how to get to like Facebook, Yahoo and even Blogger just to try and get Swagbucks where I can. I usually earn from 7-11 Swagbucks each time I win them. There are other ways to earn them besides searching, but that is mainly what I use it for.



Deal sites

There seems to be a new one popping up everyday. Living Social and Groupon are my two favorites. Most of the time you can get deals for restaurants, fitness classes, spas, etc. up to half off. They also do deals online. I’m sure some of you remember the pay $10 for a $20 Amazon e-gift certificate. That was one I scooped right up and used to get a book and some nail polish. One was also recently done for Fandango which is great for movie lovers like Geof and I. It was only $9 for two movie tickets. We each bought that deal. One was already used for a date night a few weeks ago and we have another one to look forward to.



There are other sites out there, but these are my top three. I wanted to include one to make money, one to earn gifts/gift cards and one to save money. I hope this was helpful!

Are there other deal sites out there I’m missing out on?

Chic & Cheap

If you are anything like me, you’re trying to save money these days. I’m starting a new series with some of my tips and I’d love to hear any that you have to offer as well. My goal will be to post this as least twice a month.

This week’s topic: Grocery Shopping

The rule of thumb in this household is that we never go shopping without making a list based on the weekly circular or without coupons. There are always the necessities that may not be on sale, but for the most part we do not deviate from the list unless there is a deal of some sort. This also gives us the opportunity to try new things. For instance, there was a Yoplait Splitz yogurt that we had a coupon for. I had never tried it, but we got and love it.


Coupon Crazy!

In the beginning, this process was sort of a pain. I wasn’t a big fan of grocery shopping to begin with. Throw in preparing ahead of time and it made me cranky. This is now something I’ve got down to a science. Here is I handle it:

1. Buy the Sunday paper and clip coupons
2. Go through weekly store circular that comes in the mail from Red Plum and make a list
3. I’m annoyingly organized and make my list by sections of the store. I sort it like this:
-Fresh (Fruit, Vegetables, Bread, Meats)
-Helpers/Meals (Canned Goods, Sides, Pasta, etc.)
-Snacks (Pretzels, Soda, Crackers, Cookies)
-Frozen & Dairy (Frozen Meals, Cheese, Milk, etc.)

This helps me to find everything quickly and get in and out.

We also always use our shopper club card for additional discounts and the grocery store we shop at offers double coupons for anything under $1.

On our latest shopping trip, we saved over $80! I was floored that the bill came to $202 for a heaping cartful of groceries. This is enough for to last us month and we’re eating on about $50 a week (a little over $7/day for both of us). That’s money we would easily spend on one night out to dinner. If you read my weekend recaps, you know we still go out to eat now and then, but not anything close to what we used to. This has really saved us and when we do go out, it’s usually something cheap like pizza.



None of these tips are groundbreaking by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m just trying to demonstrate that using coupons, shopping the circular and being organized can save you big. In our case 30%.