Free Money: 5 Easy Ways to Get Even Bigger Discounts on Black Friday
Whether you’re agonizing over the Black Friday deals or just planning to do some holiday shopping in the next month, these options can make sure you’re getting even bigger discounts. Some require a little extra effort, others you set up once and earn rewards without thinking about it again.
Go on auto pilot! With these two options, the rewards roll in without having to think about which credit card to use or which link to go through after the initial sign up.
1. Automatically earn points every time you shop your 5 favorite merchants, including Amazon, Uber, Target, and more.
Earning rewards through Drop is super easy. You download the app, sign up (get 1,000 bonus points with my code), choose the 5 merchants you shop at most, link your credit cards. You’ll automatically start earning points that can be redeemed for gift cards at dozens of merchants. The best part is companies like Amazon, Uber, Whole Foods,etc are included.
2. Automatically get refunds every time the price drops
Not sure you’re getting the best price of the season? Afraid the price will drop closer to Christmas? For merchants that offer price adjustments, Paribus is a (now) free service that tracks your online purchases and automatically submits a request on your behalf if the price drops with the eligible time period and if the claim is approved, the credit shows up on your credit card statement without having to lift a finger. The merchants they work with include Costco, Target, Macys, Walmart, and more.
If you’re willing to put in a little more time and effort, you can stack your savings at major retailers online and in-store:
3. Online Purchases: earn cashback or miles through shopping portals
In addition to any sales the stores are running, you can often earn additional cashback or airline miles just by clicking through a shopping portal before you make your purchase. Airline shopping portals often have additional bonuses for hitting a certain level of spend.
There are dozens of options, so use Cashbackholic to quickly see the best offers. For simplicity, I recommend sticking to 2-3 sites that cover most of retailers, rather than trying to maximize savings and keep up with numerous cashback sites and payouts. I personally favor Ebates ($10 sign up bonus), Topcashback, BeFrugal ($10 sign up bonus, best for hotel bookings), and Mr. Rebates ($5 sign up bonus).
4. In-Store Purchases: Earn cashback through Ebates
This requires some planning, but Ebates now makes it possible to link your credit cards and earn cashback for brick and mortar shopping. Just log in or create an account, view the list of participating stores, and link your credit card to any you think you’ll visit.
How many times has the cost of shipping killed a good deal?
5. Get free 2 day shipping at over 130 stores
Shoprunner offers free 2 day shipping at 132 major retailers. It usually requires $25 minimum purchase to qualify which is still way better than 1. the minimum purchase amount to qualify for free shipping through the store 2. waiting on that free ground shipping to arrive. The best part is you don’t have to pay for this option! You can get a free Shoprunner membership if you have an American Express card or through your Paypal account.
