Simple Ways to Save Money When Shopping!!

So you all know I love to craft and fix up my house, but the thing I don’t like to do is spend money.  My hubby is even more frugal than me so I look for simple ways to save money when shopping all the time!  With online shopping, it has become easier than ever to save a little money here and there.  After a while that little bit can add up!  Maybe it can pay for one of my favorite big expenditures, my Cricut Explore Air™!

I am an affiliate and can earn commission from Cricut and Target, but all my opinions are my own and I would never recommend something I didn’t already use.

Here are a few places to start:

Online Shopping

One of my favorite and easiest ways to save is to shop through Ebates.com.  Every time I am looking to buy something online I search on Ebates to see if they are a merchant.  Just by shopping through their site you can earn anywhere from 1% to 20% back on your order.  They also have coupons listed too.  It’s all FREE too!  Some of the big stores like Target and Walmart only give a small percent but if you are buying a lot, especially around the holidays it can really add up and it is so easy.  There is no excuse not to use it!  You can even convert your Big Fat Check into an amazon gift card instead of getting a check in the mail.  I have earned over $200 in the past few years just from shopping through the site, so it did pay for my Cricut!!!  You can also earn money from referring friends!

Click here to learn more and sign up: 

Shopping at Target

One of the biggest and easiest ways to save 5% off every purchase and get free shipping is to sign up for the Target Redcard.  I shop at Target a lot and I love this card.  This is the first card I opened in just my name.  My hubby and I only have a few credit cards but they are in both our names.  A while back, I heard a piece of advice that women should have at least one card in your name so you can establish your own credit just in case something happens.  I don’t like thinking about the “what ifs and just in case”  but it’s always good to have a few things set up for them.  So, that’s one of the reasons I signed up but the other is because I love saving money!!  I also link the card to my kiddos elementary school and Target donates a percent of my money back to them.  Win Win!!

Save 5% and get Free Shipping at Target – Apply for a REDcard

Target also has the Cartwheel app which has a ton of coupons and deals.  Just search your app store for it and download.  You can search for items under categories or I like the bar code scanner.  I just scan items I’m going to by and if there is a deal for it, it comes up and I add it.  Simple!

Of course always scan the ads before you go and check to see if they’re any coupons online.  You can look for manufacture coupons but also coupons on the Target site itself here:  Target’s Printable Grocery Coupons

Shopping at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts

Another one of my favorite stores that is close by is Jo-Ann.  I seriously probably go there a few times a week because I do not like to pay full price for anything there.  Make sure to follow their ads.  The majority of items will rotate being on sale and you can use your coupons for what’s not on sale.  If you use their coupons, you can get some great deals!  Make sure you sign up to get their mailers.  They have a lot of great coupons in them.  Also download the Joann app on your phone.  There are coupons on there too.  Lastly, sign up for their texts and emails.  You will get a text with coupons almost every week.  There are also free shipping days that you will get notified about.  Every other month or so there is an extra 15-25% off everything weekend (including sale and non sale items).  Find out when those are and do a good amount of shopping then especially if the things you need are already 30-50% off.

The one thing I love about Jo-Ann above other craft stores is that you can stack the coupons and use as many as you have.  I typically go in with 4-5 single item 40-50% coupons which I use on items that are not on sale between the mailers, ads, texts, and app coupons.  Make sure you give them your highest amount off first because that will come off the highest price item and then go down.  There are specifications on what you can use the coupons on, so make sure you read that first.  Unfortunately you can’t use it for any cutting machines or supplies so I make sure I wait until those items are on sale.  A few months ago it was all 50% so I stocked up on mats and vinyl!!  Also make sure you check out their clearance section, sometimes there are great finds in there. They were phasing out a ribbon brand and had all their ribbon 70% off so I stocked up on those too!  You can see how excited I get when I find good deals!!

Last bit of advice for now which most of you probably know, but remember to hit stores after holidays.  Target, craft stores, Walmart, Dollar Tree, etc will put the left over holiday items on clearance.  Usually they start around 30% off and then after a week they’ll raise it to 50% and then sometimes 70%.  You can get some great items for the next year, but you just have to remember where you put them!!  When my kiddos were younger I got all their dress up clothes after Halloween.  All the costumes would be $4-5 and I would just get a bunch in all sizes.  My kids have even worn some of them years later as Halloween costumes.

What is your favorite coupon that you get really excited when it comes out??