Five Money-Saving Tools for Online Holiday Shopping

This is a guest post. 

Holiday shopping is stressful, to say the least. Not only are you hit with an overwhelming amount of product launches and ads, but you’re never really sure if you’re getting the best bang for your buck. Luckily, there are ways to ensure you find the best price possible. Here are five easy-to-use resources that can cut costs and save you more money when shopping online this holiday season.

1. Your credit card rewards

During the holidays, your credit cards may offer an increase in cashback bonuses or reward points for purchases made at certain stores. If your cards don’t offer this, consider looking for a  balance transfer credit card that does because the savings can be significant. You may be able to use your everyday purchases as a way to earn discounts or even free travel!

2. Online coupon sites

Hundreds of online coupon sites offer the latest discounts for popular stores. Keep an eye out for discount codes that have a high success rating from other shoppers before attempting to check out. Otherwise, you might get stuck with an expired code and need to spend more time finding valid coupons, and when you’re after an in-demand gift, every minute counts. 

3. Online shopping browser plugins

Popular browsers like Chrome, Safari, and Firefox now offer third-party shopping plugins like Rakuten and Honey that can automatically search for discount codes and offer cashback on your purchases. These plugins typically have affiliate partnerships with stores where they receive a commission for every purchase made through their plugin. By using their plugin over another, the company will split the commission with you, so you can earn money for the things you already planned to buy. 

4. Price comparison websites and apps

It can be difficult to know whether you’re getting the best price possible when it comes to holiday gifts. Luckily, there are now websites like CamelCamelCamel and Price2Spy that will research the price history for you and ensure that you’re not paying more than necessary. These tools are so useful that even Amazon now offers price history as a standard part of its product listings. 

5. Gift card bonuses

If you’re planning to get loved ones a gift card this season, shop around to see which businesses are offering bonuses for buying a gift certificate from their location. Restaurants are especially great at providing an extra $5 or $10 gift card for free when you purchase a gift certificate over a certain amount. Drug store chains will typically offer these, too, though the products that are eligible for a free gift card bonus may be limited to a few categories. 

Nevertheless, when you’ve got to buy multiple gift cards, these bonus cards can really add up and might even get you a free meal or product. 

The bottom line

When holiday shopping this year, remember that the listed price isn’t necessarily the final price. Use any of these five resources as a way to stretch your budget and ensure you get the best deal possible for all the gifts on your list.