Shop and Save - Using the Internet to Save Money

OK, so you already get more than enough "junk" e-mails. We all do. Usually, when you sign up for e-mails from your favorite online store or other website, you end up getting e-mails from their "partners", which means tons of e-mail you don't want. But there's a way to make them work for you.

Step 1: Create a free e-mail account specifically for this purpose. A Hotmail or Yahoo! account works perfectly. Both have junk e-mail filters, so you can control which e-mails go to your regular inbox.

Step 2: Sign up to receive regular e-mail updates from your favorite stores. You'll receive updates on new arrivals, sales, and promotions (like free shipping offers). As an added bonus, many retailers offer a coupon for signing up (sometimes one-time at sign-up, sometimes regularly or seasonally). The best part is that if you don't like online shopping, you can still use the coupons at retail stores.

Examples of stores that currently offer an "incentive" (usually a %off coupon) for signing up:

www.barnesandnoble.com (with your membership, $25 fee per year)
www.bedbathandbeyond.com
www.biglots.com
www.borders.com
www.dswshoes.com (Discount Shoe Warehouse)
www.famousfootwear.com
www.halfpricebooks.com
www.hobbylobby.com
www.homedecoratorscollection.com (coupons often come with catalog)
www.LNT.com (Linens N Things)
www.michaels.com
www.newport-news.com (coupons often come with catalog)
www.pierone.com (coupons often come with catalog)
www.shopping.discovery.com (Discovery Channel Store)
www.spiegel.com (coupon comes with catalog)
www.worldmarket.com

Search and Save

Use your internet search engine to help you save money. Looking for the best price on a specific item? Find the item's model or product number, and enter the information into the search engine. You'll see a list of stores where you can purchase the item. Also, you can use sites like www.shopzilla.com or www.dealcatcher.com to compare prices on the item. However, don't rely on them to show you every site that sells the item.