Free Money

There are several little things I do to save or make a little bit of money. However small it may be, it is still more than I had before. And as a poor graduate student, I can use all the help I can get! These are some of the things that help me (and that I enjoy doing!):

1) I recycle my ink cartridges at Staples. Staples now only accepts Dell, Lexmark, and HP cartriges. But for each cartridge you will receive a $3 store coupon good for any purchase $3 or more. I prefer to shop more online at Staples rather than in store. I am a Staples Rewards member, and so shipping is free (it is also free to sign up!), and you can use three coupons per purchase. With careful planning and the use of three coupons, I often have $9 orders that cost me .03 or .05. Also, have your friends and family save their ink cartridges for you! The stash in the photo above is mostly courtesy of my Grandma J., Grandpa R., and my sister-in-law K.

2) Use rebates programs for each online purchase. I mostly use Ebates.com and Luckymagrewards.com. You have to have a subscription to Lucky magazine to use Luckymagrewards.com, but anyone can use Ebates. You simply go to the rebates website of your choice and click on the link of the store you want to shop at. You will then earn a certain percentage back on each purchase. I love this since I make money on purchases that I was going to make anyway! Do know that not every store/website is listed on these rebates programs, but most major stores are. At the end of a certain time period, you are sent a check if you meet their requirements ($5.01 on Ebates and $15 for Luckymagrewards). If you don't meet the requirements, the money will continue to accumulate until you do.

3) Use a coupon code or coupon for almost every purchase. If I am shopping online, I always search for a coupon code. They are often for a percentage off, or if you're lucky, for free or reduced shipping. This is handy because I HATE paying shipping charges and I feel better if I save even a little bit. In real life, I also try to use coupons on nearly every purchase. There are always some needs that you won't have coupons for, but if you are patient and willing to try different brands, there are tons of coupons available. I purchase the newspaper every Sunday and clip and file nearly all the coupons. I also send off for coupons on products' websites. With clothing, I nearly always wait for a sale + coupon.

4) Mypoints.com. This is also a shopping portal like Ebates and Luckymagrewards, but you earn points instead of a percentage back. However, I do not use it as a rebates program since I like the others better. What I do is sign up for My Points emails. All you have to do is scroll to the bottom of each email and click the button and you get 5 points. I wait until I accumulate a certain amount of points and then I redeem them for gift cards! I've gotten several so far.

5) Use a credit card that earns a percentage back or points. If you are a person that cannot handle credit cards, DISREGARD this tip. It is not worth it to get yourself into financial trouble. What I do is subtract my CC purchases from my checking account as if I had written a check or used my debit card. That way the balance is not a horrible surprise; the money is already there to pay your balance! Plus, it keeps you from spending more money than you have just because you have a high credit limit. I use my CC on nearly all my purchases so that I can accumulate points. Once again, I prefer to get gift cards with my CC rewards points.

Monica over at The Homespun Heart (http://thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/) has a great post on rebates. I am picky about what companies I do rebates with. I like Walgreens and participate in their rebates monthly. I also recently did a rebate for my contact lenses and was pleased with the results. Don't forget which rebates you send in, and stay on top of them!!!!!

I will post more money saving tips in the future!