Three Quick Steps Before Check-Out To Maximize Online Shopping
Just about ready to buy that new product online? Hold up - by taking a few quick steps, you could end up saving even more money on your final purchase without much effort.
Before making any purchase online, I always do three things: check for cash-back affiliate links, check for online coupons, and use a credit card that maximizes my reward.
Step One: Check For Cash-Back Affiliate Links
As I’ve mentioned previously in my post on cash-back affiliate websites, it is almost a cardinal sin to make a purchase at an online store without first checking to see if you can earn cash back by using one of the cash-back websites like Ebates, Cashbaq, or FatWallet. There’s little to no effort involved on your part — if one of the sites offers cash back for the store from which you are about to purchase, all you have to do is start your shopping session by using the link at the cash back site.
The website Rewardsdb.com makes this process even easier; when you’ve decided to purchase from a store — say Drugstore.com — all you have to do is go to RewardsDB.com, enter Drugstore.com, and it will tell you all of the sites that offer cash-back at Drugstore.com and what they offer, making easy to very quickly determine what your options are.
Step Two: Check For Coupons
The beauty of the internet is that there are very few secrets — and that is especially true with regards to any coupon or discount codes a store releases. There’s no need to search extensively, but a quick trip to RetailMeNot.com or a Google search for “ABC Store Coupon” can often turn up useful discount codes that you might otherwise not have known about. Never hurts to look!
Step Three: Use a Credit Card That Earns Rewards
Finally, you can make a further dent in the final cost to you by using a credit card that offers rewards suited to your purchase. For example, the Citi mtvU Visa Card offers (an equivalent) 5% back at a bunch of categories that includes Amazon.com. Even a general-purpose card that offers something like 1% cash back can make a dent.
These three steps really don’t take that long — a quick search of some place like Rewardsdb.com, a quick search of some place like RetailMeNot.com, and then using a rewards credit card — but the savings can really add up.
Any one else have any tips to share?
The 10-Way Pass
A mini-milestone will occur later today: I will completely use up my first ten-ride pass for my local commuter rail line. I have only had the pass for about six months, but I’m very relieved that I successfully used it up, as I was worried when I purchased it that some of it might go to waste.
A Range of Options
See, I don’t use the train often - maybe once every month or two, and so I had always figured that buying individual round-trip tickets was my best bet. Most frequent commuters quickly figure out that buying a monthly pass is in their best interest, but, at least in my experience, infrequent commuters are, for some reason, much less likely to embrace the option for which they might be best suited — the 10 way pass.
The 10-Way Pass
Most commuter rail lines, and many bus systems, offer a 10-way pass (or something similiar:
- Is good for ten one-way travels
- Usually gives a modest discount of something like 10%.
- Expiration dates vary, but in my experience, many are valid for up to a year.
- Can often be used for multiple people in the same group.
- An often-overlooked benefit: you don’t have to worry about buying a ticket if you’re running late, don’t have to worry about change, etc.
- Sometimes can be purchased with a slightly greater discount online.
Of course, in order to maximize the value of these 10-way passes, you have to not lose it and remember to use it before it expires.
So next time you’re about to take a train or bus ride, consider whether “investing” in a 10-way pass might be in your best interest. About to take a ride with 5 of your friends? Split the cost of a 10-way. Planning on making a few round-trips in the next year? Go fo the 10-way. Might save you a bit of money and a bit of hastle.
A Suspicious Phone Call
Late last week, I received a phone call on my cell phone that came up as an “Unknown Number”. When I picked up, the woman on the other end identified herself as being a customer service representative from a store from which I made a purchase recently. There was a problem with my order, and in order to get around it, she was going to cancel and re-submit part of the order; the only catch, though, was that she needed my credit card information to verify.
At that point, the defense mechanisms in my mind kicked into play.
Telephone Scams
You see, several years ago, I’m afraid to admit, I fell victim to a telephone impersonation scam. I had always considered myself fairly well educated on credit card scams and proper protections — this was right around when “phising” emails were becoming popular, and I was repeatidly stressing to my mother the importance of being on the lookout for dangerous emails. It’s somewhat ironic, then, that I fell victim not to a phising email, but to a phising phone call.
One day I was out running errands when I received a phone call from an unknown number on my cell phone. The woman on the other end identified herself as being from my cell phone company, and informed me that my cell phone bill had not been paid in full for the month, and that service was going to be discontinued if I didn’t immediately pay the remaining balance, which I was told was something like $9 or $10. Not wanting to lose my cell phone service, I provided my credit card information. And, with that, I provided my credit card information to a scam artist.
It didn’t take me long to realize that this story was suspicious. I quickly contacted my cell phone company that told me that my bill, in fact, had been paid in full and that they had not tried to contact me recently. I then immediately called my credit card company and told them what happened. Even though less than an hour had passed, the Citibank customer service representative informed me that there were was an authorization attempt for several thousand dollars on my card. Luckily, Citibank was incredibly helpful, and quickly had canceled the pending charges and had issued me a new card number.
In hindsight, there are several things that can be learned from my stupidity: Read more
Gift Cards: Why I Hate “Open-Loop” Cards
Dear Uncle Robert,
I know you mean well. I really do appreciate the fact that you still send a gift over the holidays even though I am now old enough where it is no longer an “obligation.” But please reconsider giving me these Visa-branded $25 gift cards, otherwise known as open-loop gift cards since they can be used anywhere that Visa is accepted.
Open-Loop Cards Make the Buyer Look Silly
For one thing, it pains me that anyone, especially a family member of mine, would buy these things, given the activation fee associated with it. Yeah, it is only a few dollars, but it seems silly that you paid $3 or $4 dollars on a $25 gift card. I was looking at American Express Gift Cards the other day, and the most basic version has a $4 activation fee. Yikes. You really could have simply given me cash (which, last I checked, has no activation fee), or even a normal gift card to a major merchant.
Really, this point isn’t so much for me as it is for you. I hate to see you waste money. Read more
Rewards Network: Free and Easy Rewards for Dining
This afternoon I ate dinner at a burger shop in town, and after charging the dinner to my Visa card, I earned about 100 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles — 3 miles per a dollar — simply for dining at this specific restaurant. What’s the deal?
Introducing The Rewards Network
The Rewards Network (formerly known as iDine) is a program that offers cash back or frequent flyer miles for each dollar spent at participating restaurants across the United States. How does it work? After choosing an iDine program (see below) and setting up an account, you need to register at least one credit or debit card (several can be registered, though). Then, every time you use that debit or credit card at a participating Rewards Network merchant, you are automatically credited for the dine, without ever having to do anything.
The best part about the program is that you can set it up and largely forget about it — you do not need to actively do anything when dining out except for using your registered credit or debit card. Obviously, to truly build rewards you need to actively go to restaurants that are in the network; however, I occasionally accidentally end up visiting a Rewards Network merchant, and since my default credit card is registered, I sometimes get surprised with rewards.
Most importantly, the program is free! No charges are ever made to your credit card — the only reason you need to register your credit card is so that they can automatically recognize your card when it is used at a participating restaurant.
Finally, there is no need to awkwardly mention the discount to the restaurant — everything is done independently and automatically when you use the credit or debit card.
List of Rewards Network Sites
Almost all of the major airlines offer a branded Rewards Network that offers frequent flyer miles. There is also a Rewards Network program for UPromise, and a standard cash-back program.
Earn Cash Back
- Standard Rewards Network Program - http://www.rewardsnetwork.com/ (From their page: “We’ll retain the first $49 in savings you earn per year. After that, additional Cashback Rewards are automatically credited to the card you used a couple days after you dine. “)
- UPromise Dining Rewards - http://rn.upromise.com/
Earn Frequent-Flyer Miles
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles - http://mileageplan.rewardsnetwork.com
- American Airlines AAdvantage Miles - http://aa.rewardsnetwork.com/ -
- Continental Airlines OnePass Miles - http://onepass.rewardsnetwork.com/
- Delta SkyMiles - http://skymiles.rewardsnetwork.com
- Midwest Airlines Miles - http://midwest.rewardsnetwork.com/
- Northwest Airlines Miles - http://nwa.rewardsnetwork.com/
- Priority Club Hotel Miles - http://priorityclub.rewardsnetwork.com/
- United Airlines Mileage Plus Miles - http://mpdining.rewardsnetwork.com/
- US Airways Dividend Miles - http://usairways.rewardsnetwork.com/
Some Rewards Network Tips
- In order to receive benefits, you have to use a credit card that has been previously registered. You can’t register after the fact!
- Unfortunately, restaurants tend to enter and leave the Rewards Network frequently, so check carefully before visiting a restaurant to earn rewards.
- Keep an eye out for bonus promotions that Rewards Network often runs — these can make dining even more lucrative.
- If you dine frequently, you can eventually reach elite status in the Rewards Network program, which offers greater rewards each time you dine.
- Pay careful attention to the details on the Rewards Network directory — some restaurants only offer rewards on certain days or for certain types of credit cards.
You won’t get rich using the Rewards Network program, but given that there really is no harm in signing up, you might find yourself slowly earning some useful rewards. What do you have to lose? You might be surprised which restaurants in your area participate — in my home town, there are very few, but around my school there are quite a few restaurants that we occasionally go to.
The Outrageous Cost of Movie Tickets
Last Friday, for the first time in a long while, I went and saw a new movie in theaters (Ironman, which was definitely an entertaining, if not lighthearted, movie), and I was somewhat shocked at the amount of money simply buying a ticket cost – $10.75 for an adult ticket, with no student ticket option, and that was before any sort of concessions.
Now, I realize that ticket prices are inevitably going to creep up, if for no other reason than inflation — looking at Box Office Mojo’s list of ticket prices by year adjusted for inflation helps illustrate the extent of this creep, though (As an aside, if you are interested in the economics of movie theaters, you might want to check out a pretty interesting article from Slate, “The Popcorn Palace Economy” by Edward Jay Epstein). Since 2000, ticket prices have gone up a little over 25%, to a current estimated average price of $6.88 for the year. That is a pretty significant increase in price. What can we do?
Do you need to see it in the theater?
The obvious way to save money on movie theater tickets is to simply not go. Over at the Get Rich Slowly blog, Kevin at No Debt Plan recently had a post “Dumb Money: The Movie Theater,” assailing the movie theater experience as largely a waste of money (as opposed to seeing movies at home), listing a variety of ways where movie going is an inconvenient and sometimes unpleasant experience.
If you’re willing to forgo the theater experience for your own living room, its not hard to see how microwaving your own popcorn and loading a DVD can save money. Some tips for saving while renting:
- If you watch movies often, give Netflix a try. I have been a subscriber for years, and have nothing but positive experiences. I stick with the 1 DVD at-a-time for $8.99 a month plan (so for the price of one movie ticket, you can get a good four or five movies a month).
- If you don’t watch movies often, check your public library. My public library offers movie rentals for only a dollar or two. While the selections are often limited, libraries are often quite receptive to suggestions for new acquisitions. (Better yet, you could read a book…)
- You can also check out Redbox, the new DVD kiosk service, which offers DVDs for $1 a night. The kiosks aren’t everywhere, and they often have a limited selection, but for new releases Redbox is a great option. Plus, with creative Google searches, you can often find coupons for free rentals.
- Try to avoid renting from major chains - at my local Blockbuster, it costs almost $5 to rent a movie, which is simply absurd. Try to find a local family-owned rental store, which often have cheaper prices and much better service.
Coincidentally, Mike over at Living the Frugal Life recently posted “Never pay to rent a movie again“, which has a much more extensive list focusing on getting free movies (one recommendation that Mike didn’t include - Hulu.com, which now includes some free movies in addition to their growing selection of free television shows).
If you need to see it in theaters…
While I understand and appreciate the arguments for avoiding movie theaters, sometimes it is just too hard to resist seeing a new movie in theaters, especially one that is generating a lot of buzz and excitement — it is never fun to be culturally out of the loop (I fully plan on seeing Indiana Jones 4 in theaters, for example). Plus, there is something to be said for the movie experience. So, if you absolutely must see a movie in theaters, here are some cost-saving steps that can help mitigate the blow from ticket prices:
Keeping Track of Rebates and Promotions (Remember the Milk)
Despite their negative reputation, mail-in rebates and similar promotions have the potential for being very lucrative and rewarding. The key to rebate success is not a secret, although a lot of people certainly have problems following it: pay attention to the details. This includes reading the fine print, following through with all terms and conditions, documenting your submission, and following up — all well covered territory (see “13 Ways to Track Down Wayward Rebates” at MSNBC’s Red Tape Chronicles, for example).
The hard part for me, though, has always been staying on top of promotions once they have been submitted. Invariably every now and then rebates and promotions fail to come through. Regardless of whether you take the optimistic outlook (mistakes happen) or the cynical outlook (companies purposely denying valid rebates hoping you’ll forget), the bottom line is that you will need to often times track and follow-up your rebates and promotions.
Enter “Remember The Milk”
I have recently begun using the web-based (and free) task manager “Remember the Milk” to keep track of things that I need to do. Remember the Milk is essentially a high-tech “To-Do” list, allowing you to keep track of tasks in a simple and fast method; it includes the ability to categorize, tag, and prioritize tasks, set due dates, schedule reminders, and more. Over at Lifehacker, they have pretty much fallen in love with Remember the Milk, and have a very helpful and highly recommended beginners guide to “Get Organized with Remember the Milk.”
Using “RTM” to Manage Rebates and Promotions
Remember the Milk is an amazing task manager, but it can also be particularly useful for staying on top of the details of rebates and promotions. Here’s my system:
- Create a “List” for Rebates and Promotions - In RTM, you can do this by going to Settings, then Lists. Creating a list just for promotions allows you to keep these items separate and isolated.
- As soon as you decide to participate in a rebate or promotion, create a task for the promotion. RTM allows you to include quite a bit of information on the task, so make use of it! I usually include: a title like “$20 - Norton Antivirus Rebate” that describes the reward and from where its coming, the due date for submitting or completing the promotion, and notes with information on the promotion — such as a copy/paste of the rules, a link to the promotion online, or even the file location where I’ve saved a copy of the rules on my computer. For purchases made online, I may include a copy of the receipt as a note.
Any tasks in my “Promotions” list during this stage are meant to help me make sure I complete specific requirements for the promotion. For rebates, this is often a quick process (fill out form, copy receipt, copy UPC code, etc.). This is more useful for complicated promotions, though. For example, Delta Airlines recently had a promotion where they offered bonus miles for every five partner activities, and I used RTM to keep track of my partner activity progress towards the requirements. - Once you complete the promotion, immediately update the task in RTM. For me, this usually means two steps: (1) updating the due date to reflect when I should expect the reward to arrive (such as 8-10 weeks), and (2) adding a note that includes when I submitted the rebate, where I can find supporting documentation (i.e. in my physical “rebates” folder in my desk, or virtual “rebates” folder on my computer), and (most importantly) who I can contact for support.
- Sit back and wait, and watch for any updates. Frequently rebate companies will send you some sort of tracking number for your rebate or updates you on the process — when I get these updates, I immediately add them as a new note to the task in RTM. In this way, each promotion in RTM becomes a sort of mini-portfolio folder including information on when I submitted and any update information I received.
- When you successfully receive a rebate, mark it as completed in RTM.
- The most useful part of RTM is that it will present your promotions in order of their due dates – so you always know what promotions have deadlines coming up or when to expect payment. It also gives you an easy and straightforward way of seeing what rebates and promotions you have outstanding and that need to be followed-up on. When a task becomes overdue, RTM will show it at the top in bold, and you’ll know you need to act.
- If you run into problems with a rebate, you can use the information attached to the task in RTM to follow-up with the rebate or promotion organizer. RTM adds a time stamp to all the notes you add, so you’ll have a clear record of when you sent things, and where you can find supporting documentation. Note: Often times when you follow-up, rebate companies will process your rebate but tell you to expect it to take another month or two — don’t forget to update with the new expected arrival date!
Having used these steps for a few months now, I can say that it has drastically improved both my organization and my promotion yield — I’m batting almost 100% for successful promotions. I should also add that you could use a similar system in Microsoft Outlook or a similar task manager, but Remember the Milk seems to provide a sleek, elegant, and easy-to-use interface.
End of Year: The Textbook Dilemma
One of the inevitable tasks at the end of a school year is what exactly to do with textbooks. As any one who has had the pleasure of attending college recently can attest, these books are not cheap — I cringe when I think about how much I spend each semester — which makes the problem of what to do with them all the more difficult. Over time, though, I have started to figure out a system that works for me.
Sending Books Home
The first step I always take is to identify which books I might want to keep for the future. I have never found much use in keeping old textbooks with me at school — all they do is take up valuable space — so I generally pack up and ship home any books that I want to keep.
Unfortunately, textbooks are often quite heavy, which is never a good thing when shipping. Thankfully, the US Postal Service provides a special shipping rate for boxes that contain books and media only, called Media Mail shipping. It is not the fastest shipping method, but gets the job done — to ship a five pound book across the country from New York to LA, for example, would cost a little under eleven dollars using the normal parcel post, but only three and a half dollars using Media Mail.
Selling the Rest
That is usually the easy part — the hard part is dealing with the books I no longer want. I quickly learned that selling back to the campus bookstore is a terrible deal. So instead, I have generally been selling them on the internet.
Despite my initial concerns, It is actually remarkably simple to sell used textbooks online. There are lots of websites out there in this field (just try searching Google for “sell used textbooks“), but I generally stick with Half.com, which is a part of Ebay. With Half.com, the process usually goes something like this after registering:
- Select “Sell your stuff” and enter the ISBN number for the textbook
- Fill out the quality information and description, set a price, and list it for sale.
- Wait to be notified that you have a sale
Once you make a sale, you need to mail the book fairly quickly; Half.com provides you a small payment to cover shipping costs on-top of your sale price. For each transaction, Half.com takes a small commission for itself, and then the rest of your earnings are held in your account, and soon thereafter are direct deposited into your bank account. It all is very straightforward, and I have had nothing but pleasant experiences as both a buyer and seller on Half.com
Just a quick note on pricing: one of the nice things about Half.com is you get to see the range of prices at which other sellers are offering your book. Not surprisingly, the cheapest copies are what people gravitate towards, and as a result I generally will be fairly aggressively in listing my textbooks at the lower end of the price range. It may not maximize my return, but it usually results in a quicker sale.
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