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Daily Deals: AmazonLocal

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Amazon Local

Photograph Credit: Amazon Local

In using time wisely and stretching your dollars, daily deal sites, like AmazonLocal, Groupon, and LivingSocial, bring the deals to your inbox which saves you money, energy, and time.

Instead of searching for deals, daily deal sites bring those deals to you. Knowing the benefits of subscribing to your favorite locations, I will introduce you to daily deal sites I find helpful. Though a new subscriber to AmazonLocal, I am a longtime Amazon customer.

With Amazon’s consistent reputation, I confidently recommend AmazonLocal, a daily deal site that offers amazing deals up to 75% off. With a free subscription and no contracts, you have nothing to lose.

How to Sign Up

1. Start by clicking this link.

2. Either log in with your Amazon account or create a new account.

3. Select your city, and the national deals will also get delivered.

4. Enter your e-mail address.

5. Check your e-mail for notifications of new deals.

To keep your inbox clutter-free, you might consider using your junk e-mail account for subscriptions. I find the less my personal e-mail gets cluttered, the more time I can spend on my priorities.

In using time wisely while stretching your dollars, subscribe to AmazonLocal. With the deals delivered to your inbox, you need not worry about missing a deal. As new deals come available, you will received a notification. Keep using time wisely while stretching your dollars. Happy saving!

Question: What are some other daily deal sites to which you subscribe?

Couptivate: Saving Money by Organizing Daily Deals

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Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

The daily deal sites, to which I subscribe, continue to offer multiple options for family summer fun. The surplus of deals can overwhelm me in the midst of choosing options that fit my family’s level of fun and our budget.

During this delightful process, I focus and ground myself by viewing the options, reading the fine print for expiration dates and limits, and checking my Couptivate account before purchasing the deal.

My Couptivate account organizes all my daily deals for one e-mail address in one account. By checking my Couptivate account, I see all my current vouchers.

Earlier this week, I found a great deal on bounce house passes. My kids love jumping in bounce houses, so I purchase a variety of offers for indoor fun.

Before purchasing the deal, I viewed the offer, read the fine print, and then checked my Couptivate account. To my surprise, I found in my Couptivate account a voucher for the current deal offered. Since I did not need another voucher for this activity, I did not buy the deal.

By organizing my daily deals, I quickly see what vouchers I have to prevent buying duplicates. In using time wisely to organize my daily deals, I saved our family money which helps in stretching our dollars.

In stretching your dollars, create a Couptivate account for your daily deal vouchers and check your account before purchasing new deals. Using tools, like Couptivate, to stay organized may save your family money, energy, and time. Happy savings!

Question: How does organizing stretch your dollars?

2012 Quick Tip Week: Subscribe to Daily Deal Sites

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Mike Lewis)

Today concludes this quick tip week. It has been a catch-up week, and I’m still a little behind. But in moving forward, I am making progress. Yeah! 🙂

If you have missed any of quick tips this week, click on these links to each tip:

The last quick tip this week looks ahead for your travel plans to help in stretching your dollars.

Quick Tip #7: Subscribe to Daily Deal Sites

The value found at daily deal sites is far better than using a coupon. Almost all daily deals are 50% or more off from the regular price.

If you are planning a family vacation or will be traveling for a wedding or anniversary, then subscribe to those destinations at your favorite daily deal sites. For our family, I subscribe to the main cities in South Carolina and then certain cities in Florida, where we plan to spend our vacation with my extended family. As I see deals for activities that fit within our budget, I snag them.

Since the daily deal sites send an e-mail daily with the new deal, I choose to subscribe using my junk e-mail account. I then check my e-mail every other day to view the deals. Usually, the daily deals have a 48 to 72-hour time limit. By checking my junk e-mail account every other day, I can still snag a day-old deal.

My favorite daily deal sites are Groupon and LivingSocial. With so many deal sites popping up, I know of no exhaustive list. However, Biz Tech Day listed the Top 50 Daily Deal Sites as of June 2011.

In using time wisely, I subscribe to my two favorites and one local daily deal site. For these sites, the e-mail subject line identifies the type of deal. If you are not interested, you can just delete it without wasting time checking each e-mail.

As you prepare for your summer travels, use the deals at your favorite daily deal sites to stretch your dollars. By subscribing, I found an annual membership to a garden near a children’s museum that we plan to activate on our trip this summer.

I continue to watch for deals and plan to have a great family vacation while stretching our dollars. Continue using time wisely by subscribing to one or more deal sites. By doing so, the deals will come to you. Happy savings!

Question: What are your favorite daily deal sites?

Swag Bucks: Intermediate Guide

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Photograph Credit: Swag Bucks

Photograph Credit: Swag Bucks

Having had opportunities this week to chat about the benefits of Swag Bucks, I enjoy sharing more ways you can earn Swag Bucks to help in stretching your dollars.

For registration instructions, please visit Swag Bucks: Beginner’s Guide. After registering and conducting basic searches, you can increase your Swag Bucks by doing the following:

1. Download the Swag Bucks Toolbar

NOTE: The toolbar is only available for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari browser users. Chrome toolbar is coming soon. I use the toolbar through Firefox on my desktop while waiting patiently for the release of the Chrome toolbar for my laptop.

The Swag Bucks toolbar includes a search field. Anytime I need to search a topic, I open up a new tab and type the topic into the Swag Bucks toolbar. By skipping the step of searching for Swag Bucks and then my topic, I save time by using the toolbar.

Another feature I find helpful is the mail notices. Periodically Swag Bucks releases codes for free Swag Bucks. You will get a red envelope notice on the toolbar with instructions for redeeming that code.

Redeeming your Swag Bucks is quick when selected from the toolbar.

NOTE: Adding toolbars on your computer may cause your computer to slow down. My husband, the computer tech, informs me each time I mention waiting on my computer to process that my two toolbars are slowing me down. However, I choose to keep Swag Bucks since the benefits are worth a little extra time.

2. Bookmark Frequently Used Pages

If you visit your web site or e-mail account each day, then setup a bookmark to that account through a Swag Bucks search.

    • Go to Swagbucks.com
    • Type in your web site (i.e., Using Time Wisely)
    • Click “Search”
    • Verify that the site you want appears in the search results
    • Bookmark that page (click on the star in the address bar)

When you need to go to that site, click on your bookmark and Swag Bucks will re-search those words. You can save precious time using your bookmark while searching through Swag Bucks.

3. Print Coupons

After compiling your grocery lists, check Swag Bucks for more coupons. If you plan to use the coupons offered, then print them out and redeem them. For each coupon you print AND redeem, you will earn 10 Swag Bucks. This perk is nice, but it does take up to 3 months to see those Swag Bucks deposited into your account.

If you do not plan to use the coupon, then save your printer ink and bypass that coupon. You will not get any Swag Bucks for printing the coupon. You must print and redeem to get the Swag Bucks.

4. Search on Fridays

Fridays are Mega Swag Bucks Days. Extra Swag Bucks are given throughout the day. You have a good chance of winning 20 or more Swag Bucks for your searches on Mega days. Though there is no guarantee that you will win, Swag Bucks gives higher value Swag Bucks every Friday.

5. Purchase Groupons

Groupons.com is a daily deal site offering a new deal each day. The widget on my sidebar indicates the Groupon of the day. If I choose to buy that Groupon, I can also earn Swag Bucks. The process is a bit complicated, but worth the time to earn those gift cards.

Because Christina at Centsible Savings wrote a great explanation in a guest post on moneysavingmom.com, I recommend following these guidelines. If this process is too tedious, you can buy your deal through the link on Using Time Wisely. Using Swag Bucks is just another way to earn those rewards to stretch your dollars.

In using time wisely, the toolbar setup occurs once, the bookmarks used daily, coupons checked weekly, Friday searches weekly, and Groupons purchased periodically. Though there are many more ways to earn Swag Bucks (coming in next week’s post), I choose these five options to increase my Swag Bucks while using time wisely.

Note: Affiliate links included in this post where Using Time Wisely receives compensation by Swag Bucks for those registering through these links.

Question:  What is your favorite way to earn Swag Bucks? Please add your answer to the comments.

More Swag Bucks Posts:

Understanding Daily Deal Sites

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After posting about the LivingSocial and Groupon daily deal sites, I received some additional questions regarding how these sites work. To help you in stretching your dollars, I gladly want to address these three questions.

How do Daily Deal sites work?

Each day these sites offer one local deal that is deeply discounted – between 50-90% off the regular price. The deal is usually good for the day, and then the offer expires. Then tomorrow will have another local deal.

These deals range from restaurants, sporting events, theatre performances, oil changes, massages, and vacations. The Groupon.com advertisement on my sidebar shows you the current daily deals for your area. You can click the “view side deal” to see another offer in your area.

NOTE: The advertisements on my blog are my affiliate links. This means that Using Time Wisely applied to the affiliate programs for those sites and was accepted. Each program is a little different, but Using Time Wisely gets compensated with money, credits, or points when a reader clicks on the link and makes a purchase.

The prices are the same through these sites if you click through my link or just go through the company’s web site. These companies offer affiliate links because they want the advertising and continued support from bloggers, like myself. As you click through my link, you are supporting Using Time Wisely. Thank you!

How do you buy the voucher?

If you see a deal you want, just click the “purchase” or “buy it” button. If you have an account, then your purchase will be applied to your saved credit card and processed. If you do not have an account, then you will need to create one.

Your account will hold your vouchers, so you need an account. Setting up your account is free with no added costs. It is just a holding space for your vouchers.

Will the voucher be mailed to me?

No. After your payment processes, the company will send a confirmation to the e-mail address used at registration. (I use my junk e-mail account for most of the daily deal sites.) In the confirmation e-mail will be a link to your account. When you click on the link, you will be directed to your voucher’s page where all your available vouchers will be listed. You can then print the voucher to be used on your next visit to the establishment.

Using daily deal sites to purchase items you need or enjoy is a great way to stretch your hard-earned dollars. Thank you for asking questions. If you have additional questions or concerns regarding this post or any other information, please leave a comment, contact me, or post on the Using Time Wisely Facebook wall. My goal is to help you stay organized to save money, energy, and time.

Question: What is your favorite Daily Deal site? Feel free to start the conversation by leaving a comment. I will be sure to join you.