But They Sure Are Worth It
Help us help you and you just might win an Amazon gift card worth up to $100 – it’s one of 50 prizes we’re offering in a drawing to encourage readers like yourself to give us quick feedback. [Read more…]
Jackie Cohen is an award winning financial journalist turned turned financial advisor obsessed with climate change risk, data and business. Jackie holds a B.A. Degree from Macalester College and an M.A. in English from Claremont Graduate University.
I think we can all agree that shopping online is the bees’ knees, right? Not only are online prices super competitive, the “work” of shopping can often be done faster from home. And bonus; the items you buy are delivered right to your front door. As an added benefit, companies like Giving Assistant are actually paying customers to shop online.
That’s right. They give you cash back on the things you buy.
The first step is to create a free account with Giving Assistant.
After you log in to your account, you can start shopping either by store or by category. Each store offers a certain percentage of cash back on purchases. Five percent is the average discount percentage. However, many stores offer discounts of up to 7% and even more, depending on the day.
When you make a purchase, the store pays that cash back to Giving Assistant. If you’re a member, the cash back goes right into your account.
If you’re a non-member, Giving Assistant keeps the cash back and donates a meal to Feeding America. In fact, Giving Assistant donates a meal to Feeding America for every single qualified purchase.
As a bonus, Giving Assistant informs buyers of any online coupons that can help bring their purchase price even lower. When you combine coupons with cash back bonuses you save even more money on the things you buy.
As you accumulate cash back rewards, the site allows you to transfer those rewards to a debit card through Paypal. You’ll have the option to transfer your money once you’ve earned at least $5.01 in bonus cash. No waiting for checks to come in the mail or trying to reach high minimum payout balances.
Giving Assistant pays out pretty quickly as well – often within one business day when using Paypal’s secure site.
When members earn cash back, they also have the option of donating some or all of their earnings to charity. Members can choose from hundreds of non-profit organizations to donate to, such as Feed the Children or the Red Cross.
According to their website, Giving Assistant has over 2700 stores participating in its cash back program. Some examples are:
With nearly 3,000 stores to choose from, everyone is bound to find a shopping venue that fits their needs.
In this day and age, people are becoming more mindful of how their purchases affect the world as a whole. With Giving Assistant, shoppers can become a part of a growing conscious capitalism movement.
By combining shopping with charity, you meet your needs and help the less fortunate get their needs met, too. Shopping responsibly has arrived.
ATTN Stay-At-Home Moms: Make sure you bookmark or pin some of these resources for later!
Every parent knows having a child drastically changes your finances. One of the largest expenses to enter the picture is diapers. It’s a fixed expense for the first three years of a child’s life, right? So, how can we save money on diapers?
The list is long. I wrote a post about this earlier called “How to Save Money on Diapers.” That would be a good place to head once you’re done here.
Since there was more to say after writing that first article, I decided to write a follow-up post specifically talking about Amazon.
I’m not saying you should only shop at Amazon for your diapers. I actually buy mostly off brand diapers in bulk at places like Target or Costco. That’s just how I do my shopping.
If you’re a pretty active online shopper looking to save money on diapers, then give these tips a try.
No Prime membership required. All you do is sign up for Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program and choose from their selection of products. If there is something you need regularly, like paper towels or diapers, then subscribe. They’ll show up on your doorstep on the selected date saving you up to 15% off each time.
Want to know when diapers are at their lowest market price? Head over to CamelCamelCamel.com to find out. Enter the name of the product and look at its track record of the last year. That’ll help you determine when it’s best to shop next.
Do you prefer shopping on your mobile device? Save money on diapers by using the Price Tracker App. If you have Amazon’s store app already on your phone, then you have the Price Check feature within that app. That is a second method you could use to save money on your phone.
Find deep discounts on Amazon products on SnagShout.com. I first described SnagShout as a great resource when you’re searching for frugal Christmas gifts (read the full article here). But SnagShout can also be great for everyday items that aren’t quite as exciting but cost just as much green stuff in your wallet.
A.K.A. diapers.
Up until October 2016, SnagShout users were required to leave a review on Amazon in exchange for receiving the deep discounts on products. However, the policy was revised to reflect Amazon’s choice to make it illegal to require anyone to leave a review.
So, now you simply need to check out SnagShout’s merchandise, find the kids & baby section and see if there are any cloth diapers or nursing covers or other gems up for grabs.
If you’re having a baby shower, then consider registering on Amazon. Some perks include: free 90-day returns, millions of products from which to choose, 15% off Completion Discount on eligible items for Prime members.
Plus, people have the option of giving Amazon gift cards. Combine those with the 15% off through Subscribe & Save and you’ll get a bunch of diapers for not a bunch of money.
Image Credit: Janko Ferlic (UnSplash)
Mothers Day is almost here and although it may not be romantic, Gift Cards are something my wife always asks me for. I don’t make it the only gift but I do try to make it part of the gift. If you have read any of my articles in the past you know that we fell on pretty hard times and had no money to buy anything other than absolute necessities for a very long time. Nothing made her happier when family members clued into how bad we were and got her gift cards so she could shop for things she needed but that we couldn’t afford since it wasn’t an absolute necessity to get by.
I just got an email from Amazon, they advertise on our site and they have some Mothers Day themed gift cards that are easy to purchase and will arrive in plenty of time for the big day. If you want to make Gift Cards part of your Mothers Day, you can check them out at Amazon Mothers Day Gift Cards.
From the husbands/sons/father perspective, gift cards are great because of how easy they are to get and to give. Just don’t make it the only thing you give her. Being a Mom is a hard and incredibly wonderful job, show her she is worth more than the 5 minutes it takes to pick up a gift card.
What are you getting the moms in your life for Mother’s Day?
