Posted: June 1, 2018
Every family can benefit from saving a little money here or there. Families of children with special needs, though, can find that budgets can be even more of a challenge maintaining due to additional costs in the form of medical care, adaptive equipment and more. The Internet is full of different ideas and claims surrounding saving money but it becomes hard telling which ones are scams and which ones will help you save. Below are some suggestions we have for your family to try out this year!
An important note: the services and options below are not provided with any guarantee or assurances of quality by our organization. Be sure to carefully read any Terms of Use before using them to make sure they are a good fit for your family!
Honey Browser Extensions: One simple way to stay on-top of deals is through the use of plugins for your everyday internet shopping. An example you may have heard of is Honey, a browser extension that automatically does the work for you. In searching a database of coupon codes and comparable items, the plugin attempts to find the lowest price available for products and takes the ‘busy work’ out of finding deals. A powerful element to the program is its ability to compare prices with other sellers on Amazon, making comparison shopping on that site much more simple. While reviews are mixed, there does not appear to be any cause for concern and the comments are mostly focused on how ‘obvious’ or easy it otherwise would have been to find the coupon on your own. As one person said “better than nothing I guess.”
Ebates: Speaking of ‘better than nothing,’ another interesting app and browser extension to check out is this helpful cashback shopping tool. By simply visiting the site and clicking through to your intended shopping destination, Ebates will provide you a certain percentage back of your purchase. While not every online retailer is affiliated, and companies like Amazon limit the percent back based upon the type of purchase (i.e. clothes, technology, home and garden, etc.), this is another example of a service whose value can ‘add up over time’ with little to no work on your part. But with partners like Overstock.com, Macy’s, FTD, iTunes and more, as well as in-store savings opportunities, it can be an easy way to save without thinking every day. This program also has an enticing referral program associated with it that could mean extra money in your pocket by spreading the word!
Groupon: While you almost definitely have heard of the discount ‘voucher’ service, have you checked into the Groupon Goods options? Beyond being a partner of Ebates (meaning you can save twice over!), Groupon offers a wide range of local ‘event’ savings as well as purchase opportunities for discounted everyday items. When it comes to buying gifts for a family friend or planning out the holidays ahead of time, take a moment to scroll through their options to see if anything is a fit.
Google: Now before you roll your eyes and ask why we would recommend checking out the most popular search engine in the world, have you ever done price comparisons using Google? You may be very surprised to find that there are several different ways to save money through just a search browser. If you are getting ready to make a big purchase for an electronic, copy and paste the model number or specifications of the product into Google and check out the results. Beyond possibly finding a lesser known website carrying the item as a clearance item (i.e. TigerDirect.com), you may also discover a version of the product selling for less due to similar traits. An earlier model may be almost the exact same specifications or meet the same goals while being 70% of the price!
Have any suggestions we missed? Let us know what program or idea you use that helps you save money while on the computer by leaving a comment on our Facebook Page!
