Coupon Codes and You

That's right; all the coupons.

Just about every time I make a purchase online, I tend to do a quick Google search to determine whether or not there are any coupon codes available for me to save some money. It takes seconds (unless you're still signing in through AOL via dialup, grandma!), and it can save you some serious cash.

The website that I do this the most with is Restaurant.com. Their coupons are already discounted ($25 certificate for $10? Que bueno!), and I've seen coupon codes that take up to an additional 90% off that discounted price ($25 gift certificate for $1? Sign me right up!). In fact, if you look at the banner for Restaurant.com down towards the bottom of this page, you can easily see what the coupon code is for whatever day you're looking at.

What can I say? I'm a helpful son of a gun. You're welcome, America (and Canada ... no one else, though).

Of course, a definite problem with Restaurant.com is that it doesn't cover all restaurants (it tends to promote local restaurants at the expense of chains), and there are some areas in the country that it doesn't cover at all (I'm looking at you, Fargo, North Dakota).

Another couple of website that I like to use when I'm looking for deals on things are Slickdeals and Woot. What I like about Slickdeals is that it provides a lot of different discounts that users have submitted. As the site has a devoted base of users, the deals are updated constantly. Woot has more of a deal of day feel to it, although Sellout section of Woot reminds me a bit of Slickdeals (and there is some noticeable overlap between the two sites.

A problem with both of these sites, however, is that it takes more of a long game view on spending money. That is to say, if you've been holding off on buying a flat screen tv, and Woot eventually offers a discounted price on one, you can buy what you were going to buy anyway at a discount (this is called being a crafty consumer, like Dr. Zoidberg fancies himself). It becomes a problem, however, when you start viewing the deals as something that you have to buy, without really needing the item (see my post on my problem with clever/nerdy t-shirts).

Recently, I came across an additional website that provides coupon codes for both local and national stores, so you can always search for what you need when you need it. The site is called CouponCodes4U.

The national stores include places like Lowe's. There are also pages where you can get Crutchfield coupon codes (for your audio speaker needs wants) as well as Dick Blick art materials coupon codes (which is a local art supply store here in San Diego.

In short, I think the above websites are pretty handy, albeit for different reasons, and I think that it could be useful for most everybody reading this site (read: people who like to save money).

Do you take time to search for coupon codes before you buy things online (or in brick and mortar stores)?  Let me know in the comments.

Photo by the Italian voice.