I often find several reoccurring themes during my conversations with my financially successful friends. The first is that most, if not all, have figured out how to make their money work for them even, at the simplest level. The second is, they’re always looking for ways to save and stretch their money-regardless of their financial circumstances. When I began my financial journey in 2014, I committed to making my money work for me and getting the most out of every dollar spent. 

While these tips require you to change your habits a bit,  they are not difficult at all. Some are as easy as the click of a button.

Here are 3 painless ways to save money everytime you shop online:

The Coupons at Checkout extension from CouponFollow

This might just be my favorite online shopping tool ever. It is a free internet browser extension that automatically scours the internet to locate coupon codes for you.

I would try to explain but I don’t need to since they’ve created this informative video to show you how awesome and easy it is.

A few things you should know:
+No registration is required to get the extension, which means you won’t receive pesky e-mails.
+Coupons at Checkout is compatible with PC and Mac computers and with all of the most popular browsers including Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Safari.
+The app searches for coupon codes that can be combined which means even more savings for you!

It is seriously a life changer. You can start saving immediately and download the extension here.

Ebates

I’ve been using Ebates for the past two years. To be quite honest, I have no idea how they make it possible but they do. Ebates is connected to over 1700 online stores and you earn cashback for online shopping. Popular stores include Macy’s, Amazon, Sephora, Forever21, Neiman Marcus, Kohls, The Gap, Teleflora, and the list goes on an on. You can even earn cashback on your Groupon purchases. You can actually save money using Coupons at Checkout (from above) and earn cash back using Ebates.

When making purchases through Ebates, keep in mind that some purchases are not practical. For example, I earned 8% cash back for the Mother’s Day gift I purchased for my mom. This purchase was practical because I was going to have to pay shipping and handling anyway. I considered ordering my pet food through Ebates, but after shipping and handling I would have spent more money trying to earn cash back. The goal is to spend smart.

Here are my earnings for the month. A portion of my earnings are due to affiliate sign-ups. You can earn money for sharing Ebates with your friends too!

You can sign up for Ebates here.

Plan purchases according to seasonal discounts

A little planning can go a long way. There are instances when you purchase an item out of necessity. Often times an item is not a necessity and we can delay the purchase. In this instance you can save a lot of money by purchasing the item(-s) at a discount.

LifeHacker compiled this chart to pinpoint the best time of year to purchase specific consumer items.

Words of wisdom…

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many ways to make your money work for you.

Don’t stop at these suggestions! Feel free to share below how you are making your money work for you in the comments below!

*This post contains affiliate links, which means that I will also earn money if you click on them.*