Gretchen’s Note: This is a guest post from Amy, who blogs at German Pearls. I’m super excited to get some more insight into shopping with coupon codes, so here’s Amy:
When you’re living on a budget shopping seems like the last thing you should do. But there are times when you need to shop, whether it be out of necessity or just for some mental therapy. So, how do buy new clothes for your growing child and still stay within your budget? The key is coupon codes. Here we’ll share with you a secret to finding the best ones and always making sure you have them when you shop.
Store Coupons
We’ve all received coupons in the mail and through email. They’re a great way to save! A lot offer discounts off total purchase (sales items included!) which can translate into significant savings. But, they have their drawbacks.
Snail Mail Coupons
A lot of great stores send me coupons in the mail. While I love them I also struggle with keeping them organized and accessible when I need them. They usually pile up on the counter until I sort through and throw out the expired ones. Then, inevitably, I’ll stop at the store unexpectedly one day and the coupon for that store will be sitting on my kitchen counter, useless to me.
Email Coupons
So, maybe email coupons are a better way to go. Again, a lot of great stores offer coupons via email. They’re great to have when you need them but signing up for too many can make managing your email inbox a nightmare. So your choice is to unsubscribe and possibly miss out on a great deal or let them overwhelm your inbox so you end up missing important emails from your friends and loved ones.
There’s a better way!
Coupon Code Apps
There are two apps on my phone which have saved me hundreds of dollars on shopping trips. These apps give you instant access to thousands of coupon codes for popular stores. Here’s how they work:
- Download the app
- Shop :)
- Before you check out, open the app and select the store from the alphabetical listing
- View the available coupon codes and select the one that will save you the most money
- Open that coupon to view the coupon code
- While at the register checking out show the coupon code to the store employee
- Watch your total price drop! :)
While both apps work similarly they have different features and they sometimes have different offers so I like to use them both.
GeoQpons App: Coupons, Sales and Shopping Deals
GeoQpons was the first coupon code app I started using and still one of my favorite apps. I’ve saved money time and time again with this app. They have a large list of stores and sometimes multiple coupon codes per store. Ever taken a day trip to an outlet mall? I’ve found coupons for almost all of my favorite outlet stores in GeoQpons. According to their site:
“GeoQpons.com brings together the best discount coupons, printable coupons, digital coupons and latest savings offers for hundreds of leading stores and brands to help you save money.”
This app also gives you the ability to:
- search for stores by location
- search for stores by mall or shopping center
- save your favorite stores for quicker access
- store shopping lists
- calculate and tally savings
- set up savings alerts
To get started check out their website or download their app from the iTunes App Store, or Google Play Store for Android. The app is free!
RetailMeNot App
Have you ever used the RetailMeNot website? If you check out this post on finding great deals you’ll see how RetailMeNot is one of the 11 best resources for saving money when buying just about anything. Well, the RetailMeNot app brings you the valuable coupon codes you’ve come to expect from this resource and puts them in your pocket. The process for using this app is very similar to that for GeoQpons but the two apps sometimes have different coupons available. According to the RetailMeNot mobile website:
“The RetailMeNot Coupons app makes it easy to save in store with thousands of coupons at the places you love to shop.”
With the RetailMeNot app (which is free) you also have the ability to:
- search for stores by location
- search by store category
- save your favorite stores for quicker access
- view special daily deals
- get savings alerts
To learn more visit the iTunes app store or Google Play store for android.
Tip for Using Coupon Code Apps
Sometimes large shopping centers have bad cell phone signals inside the building. Nothing would be more frustrating than knowing you could save money and not being able to do so because you can’t get the app to load! To save this frustration, before you go into a mall, find the coupons for your favorite stores and take screenshots of their coupons. That way, if you don’t have signal, you can still go into your photo album and pull up the coupon for the store clerk!
If you need any help installing or using these apps, feel free to reach out to us with a the comment below or on the German Pearls website where we provide tech tips for non-tech types.
Do you have other ways you save on shopping trips? We’d love to hear about them, leave a comment below.
Hi! I’m Amy, an engineer and tech geek who loves to learn about and fix computers and gadgets. I’m often called upon by friends and family to help them with their tech questions. It brings me great joy to help others and, with the blog at www.germanpearls.com, I hope to be able to help more people realize the value of technology.
*This post may contain affiliate links
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This is a really great guide for people who are starting out with couponing. I use to be a die hard couponer, but dialed back big time due to my schedule and utilizing meal planning to save money. I have used Retailmenot and have received some great deals in the past. I am also a firm believer to only use coupons for the things that you normally use or need, so I use to order coupons from ebay. Those coupons also saved me lots of money.
Hi Petrish – thank you!
I hate paying full price for anything when I know there’s usually a way to save some money. I spent some time hard core couponing for a while as well (mostly because I was looking for a way to save on diapers and formula) but it was a huge time investment and one I couldn’t sustain. But, that frugal side of me will never die, so I just try to be smart about every purchase. These apps have saved me HUGE as a lot of times there offer significant savings at clothing stores, etc. I hope others will take the time to try them out…I’m sure they’ll be happy they did!
For those who shop online, don’t forget the cash back sites, like ebates, shopathome, swagbucks, etc. You can log into one of these sites, select the retailer and then transfer to the store. You’ll get anywhere from 1-15% back. On swagbucks site, you get “swagbucks”. But, still a great deal!
Yes – there are so many, and the savings can really add up!