Save Hundreds On Christmas Shopping This Year With Coupon Codes

by Jean Gibbons

 When the weather is bad and the crowds are frightful, it's time
to head indoors, sit down at your computer and do a little
online shopping.

What surprises many new online shoppers is how much money can be
saved by shopping from your own living room. Used judiciously,
online shopping codes can save you a lot of money and time.
What's best is finding boxes at your doorstep days later. No
schlepping to the mall, dealing with parking and other people,
and then lugging things home.

But to get the most bang for your online shopping buck, you need
to understand the fine art of coupon codes and their various
uses. If you just go shopping online, ignoring the various
promotional deals, you might spend more than you would in a
brick and mortar store, and who wants that?

Here's how to get the codes.

First, for each online store you visit, sign up for their
newsletter or to be on their mailing list. Sure, this means more
email, but if it's a store you like, it's worth the bigger mail
download. Trust us. Stores routinely send notices of "secret"
sales, unique coupon codes good for 10 to 50% off your purchase,
and promos offering free gifts with purchase and free shipping.

Second, when you receive a package from an online store, be sure
to check all the paperwork. Often, the online stores tuck coupon
codes into the box enclosures for you to use later.

Third, check out the various coupon websites designed to help
you find and use online coupon codes. If you Google "online
coupon codes" you'll be met with a wide array of choices in
websites. Try to find a good site with a message board; you can
find more deals at the message board or find reviews of various
stores and experiences from people using certain coupon codes.

Finally, pay attention to all that paper you usually don't pay
much attention to. For example, your cable TV or satellite TV
bill might have a coupon code for Home Shopping Network. Your
Visa bill might come with an enclosure offering special deals
and discounts at various stores if you use your Visa card.

Then, learn how to use the codes.

Once you have some coupon codes you might want to use, how to do
you use them? Usually, you'll enter a code at checkout. Each
retailer has a different set-up. Some will ask for a code before
you hit the "checkout" button, while others ask for it last,
just before giving you a final summary before you submit your
order. Be sure to look carefully for the box to enter the code.
The site might ask for a code, a promo code, a discount code, or
a special offer code. Whatever they call it, that's where you
enter your code.

Once you enter the code, look for proof that the site has
accepted the code and applied any discount. For example, if the
coupon is for 10% off, make sure that 10% has indeed been
deducted for your total. Again, depending on the site, this will
look different. For example, some sites might take the discount
off each individual item, and the discount noted on each line of
the order. Others might take the discount off the total purchase
price and that will be noted at the bottom of the order.

If the code is not accepted for some reason, be sure to read the
code details again. Has the coupon code expired? Did you
purchase enough? (Some free shopping codes require a minimum
purchase, for example.) Are all the items on the order eligible
for the discount? Did you enter the code correctly?

How much can you save?

How much you can save using coupon and promotional codes depends
on where you shop and what you buy. If you have a lot of
shopping to do, you can literally save hundreds of dollars. If a
toy store has free shipping on a $75 purchase, you might save
$10 just on the shipping alone.

You can save even more by hunting for deals to combine. You
can't usually "stack" coupons, which means to use more than one
coupon at the same store at the same time. However, you can
often "stack" a free shipping code with a dollars-off one. For
example, that same toy store with free shipping on a $75
purchase might allow you to also use a code for $10 off the $75
purchase. So now your savings has increased from $10 to $20 just
by spending a few extra minutes finding another coupon code.

How else can you save?

There are a myriad of ways to save when shopping online besides
just using coupon and promotional codes. Combine these deals
with coupons and you really have a great deal.

For example, look for "buy one get one" promotional deals. It
might in the form of a free gift (free tote with purchase) or a
free like item when a similar item is purchased. Combine these
deals (which usually do not require a code) with a coupon and
free shipping and you might reduce your order total to half of
what it might have been without codes and special promos.

Be sure to also check out the online sites that give you cash
back or points for purchases. Simply link through their site
(entering the store via a link on the site's page) and then go
shopping as normal. Use all the special promos and coupons you
would otherwise use, but you'll also get a cash back rebate or
points you can redeem later for gift certificates.

About the author:
Jean Gibbons offers valuable tips and advice on <a
href="http://www.free-coupons-online.com">saving money
online</a>, internet coupons, and using <a
href="http://www.free-coupons-online.com">coupons codes</a> for
discounts.