Save Money Online
Shopping online is as easy as clicking a mouse, but do you know where the best buys are? If you want tips on saving money online, read below for helpful hints on getting new and used goods for less.
Get it Free!
Use Freecycle.org to find pre-owned goods near you
Freecycle is a great idea. It's like an online garage sale, but everything is free. Yes, that's right - free! The idea is to help people get rid of stuff they don't want and keep it out of the landfill. So you just sign up, find a group near you, and see what's available! There are over 4000 groups with more than 4 million members across the globe, so if you're looking for some free goodies or want to get rid of items in your house, surf over to Freecycle.org to start your free membership.
If it ain't free, it's probably cheap on Craigslist
Can't find it on Freecycle? Try Craigslist
Craigslist started out as a small one-man effort by a guy named - you guessed it! - Craig, and even though eBay now owns a big share of this site, it still has a no-frills design and the feel of a do-it-yourself website. Who cares? It's a virtual smorgasboard of local goodies. Search for free stuff (yep, they've got a category), find used goods for sale, or look for local services. If you're a frugal shopper, this is one site you'll want to bookmark.
Try Before You Buy
Rental services like Netflix and GameFly can save you money
Use Comparison Shopping Sites
But don't stick to just one
If you're looking for a new product online and want to know who has the lowest price, make your first stop a comparison shopping site. These sites list prices from a variety of merchants and also allow you to calculate the shipping price, so you can find the lowest price for your item.
Good comparison shopping sites to use are:
Shopping.com (owned by eBay)
PriceRunner
Froogle (a Google service)
NexTag
The secret to making sure you're finding the lowest price at an advertised store is to use more than one comparison shopping site. Although many of the big name merchants will appear in most or all of them, some smaller stores may only promote themselves on one or two comparison shopping sites. Froogle is free to merchants, but the other sites charge each time someone clicks on their store link, so merchants don't always buy advertising on all the comparison shopping sites.
Good comparison shopping sites to use are:
Shopping.com (owned by eBay)
PriceRunner
Froogle (a Google service)
NexTag
The secret to making sure you're finding the lowest price at an advertised store is to use more than one comparison shopping site. Although many of the big name merchants will appear in most or all of them, some smaller stores may only promote themselves on one or two comparison shopping sites. Froogle is free to merchants, but the other sites charge each time someone clicks on their store link, so merchants don't always buy advertising on all the comparison shopping sites.
Save with Coupons
Clipping coupons used to mean sitting down with your scissors and the weekly newspaper ads and cutting out all the coupons that might interest you. No more! Now you can get instant coupons online with just a single code. How? After checking prices at several comparison shopping sites, go to your favorite search engine and type in the name of the store with the lowest price, followed by the word "coupons." For instance, if Overstock.com has the lowest price, type "Overstock.com coupons." If the merchant offers coupons, you should see a list of sites offering those discounts.
You can also go directly to a coupon site. Here are some good ones:
Alex's Coupons
Flamingo World
CoolSavings
Coupon Mountain
You can also go directly to a coupon site. Here are some good ones:
Alex's Coupons
Flamingo World
CoolSavings
Coupon Mountain
Buy Refurbished
Factory reconditioned products will save you money
So you've searched Freecycle and Craigslist and still haven't found the rock-bottom price you want on the latest gadget? Consider buying refurbished model. Factory refurbished or reconditioned electronics are much cheaper than the same items sold as new, but you're getting a great deal. Why?
Buy-Refurbished.com
Buy-Refurbished.com
How to You Get the Cheapest Books Online? Swap, don't buy!
Use online services to swap books and save
If you're a book lover, these services can help you save money. Rather than buying new or used books online, you simply swap with other readers. All you usually pay is a flat fee for shipping. So don't buy, swap!
Bookins
PaperBackSwap
Book Crossing
Bookins
PaperBackSwap
Book Crossing
YouTube videos on saving money
Books on Frugal Living
Advice from the pros on how to live cheaply and well
If you want more advice on how to save money online and off, check out these books from Amazon.com.
Baking Soda: Over 500 Fabulous, Fun, and Frugal Uses You've Probably Never Thought Of (Lansky, Vicki)
Amazon Price: $8.95 (as of 07/13/2009) 
The American Frugal Housewife
Amazon Price: $9.90 (as of 07/13/2009)
The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't
Amazon Price: $14.00 (as of 07/13/2009)
The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors
Amazon Price: (as of 07/13/2009)
Find More Frugal Shopping Sites
Share Your Frugal Shopping Tips
Are you a frugal online shopper? Let us hear from y ou!
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Posted June 26, 2008
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Posted May 30, 2008
by lisadh
I'm a Giant Squid 100 with two kids, two dogs, four cats, and a Squidoo addiction. Learn more on my lensography. (more)
