HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR SAVINGS ON BLACK FRIDAY

Can you believe that it’s almost Thanksgiving? I really haven’t processed that summer is over yet– it took our first snowfall yesterday to really open my eyes. Why does it feel like the older I get, the faster time goes by? That seems cruel. Does anyone else feel this way?

Anyway, with Thanksgiving next week, that means many of you will be scoring deals on Black Friday (but hopefully not breaking your commitment to No Spend November!) I wanted to share how I maximized my savings last year on Black Friday, all from the comfort of my living room couch.

MAXIMIZE YOUR SAVINGS ON BLACK FRIDAY

Let me start by confessing that I am legitimately terrified of Black Friday shoppers. I’m not brave enough or patient enough to stand in long lines and physically go to almost any store. Rather, online shopping is my jam. And despite sales that require to you make the purchase in store, I still think the best deals can be found online because of money saving websites and apps.

If you’re a long time lurker of Deeply in Debt, you know that I can’t be quiet about Ebates, Ibotta, and Honey. Today I’m going to break down how you can use all three to maximize your savings this Black Friday.

First, go to ebates.com and sign up with Facebook or your e-mail address to get an account. You’ll earn the easiest $10 of your life for signing up with my link here and making your first purchase. More on that later.

Next, go sign up and download the Ibotta app. It’s completely free, and again, you’ll earn an easy $10 just for signing up and scanning in your first receipt. (Again, more on that later, for now, just go sign up and download the app).

Then, go to joinhoney.com sign up, and add the Honey extension to your browser.

Now that you’ve done that, let me explain how this is going to work. First, let’s talk about ebates. Go to Ebates.com and in the search bar at the top, type in a store you would like to shop at. Let’s use Walmart for example.

Go to ebates.com. See the search bar in the top center? Type in “Walmart.”

Several different search results will pop up offering you different deals. The first one to pop up on my screen was 10% cash back on any shoes. Let’s say I was planning to buy my son shoes for Christmas. I click “Shop now” on the 10% cash back on shoes offer. Ebates will then automatically redirect me to Walmart’s website. I’ll find the shoes I want. I’ll add them to my cart and get ready to check out. But don’t check out yet! Leave this open. You will come back to this screen in a moment.

While your shoes from Walmart are still open, open up another browser (another tab in whatever browser you are using is probably fine, but I like to make sure I’m completely unassociated with ebates for this second part). Login to walmart.com and find the product you were ready to purchase (or whatever store you used in ebates.com to find the product you were ready to purchase). Now, click on your Honey extension at the top right corner of your browser (you should have downloaded that at the beginning of this post. It’s a grey or orange “h” in the top right of your browser if you are using Chrome). Depending on what deals are available for your product, Honey will provide you with any existing promo codes and ask if you want to use them in your cart. Copy and paste the promo code that best suites you.

NOW is where the savings really come! Go back to your open tab where you were using ebates and paste the promo code into the appropriate field in your shopping cart at checkout. You’ll get the promo code savings from Honey AND the cash back from ebates COMBINED with whatever Black Friday deal you were getting! Not too shabby. I will say that there aren’t always deals on both ends (sometimes you’ll only be able to find the deal on Honey OR on ebates) but that’s still ok! You’re still making money off of a Black Friday sale that is already a great deal!

Another option to maximize your savings is by using the Ibotta app. I found really great deals on Groupon with their Black Friday sales last year. There were already amazing deals (ex: we bought my parents an Amazon Echo which was on sale using Groupon and also received $20 cash back from Ibotta in the same transaction!). Simply open up the Ibotta app on your phone. Login to the retailer you want to purchase from, and you’ll earn the cash back automatically by purchasing it through the app. SO SIMPLE.

There’s literally no reason at all not to maximize your savings on Black Friday! It costs you nothing and requires very little effort on your part. You can do it all on Black Friday while you are sitting on your couch sipping hot cocoa and watching Christmas movies with your loved ones (at least that’s what I did).

What are some of the ways you maximize your savings on Black Friday? Comment below! 

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