21 Days to a Simple Christmas: Days 6 & 7

It’s Day 6 & 7 of the 21 Days to a Simple Christmas Challenge!

Today I want to take a little time to talk about ordering online — one of my favorite ways to find great deals and simplify my life! If you don’t typically shop online, I encourage you to read my post on DaveRamsey.com on How to Be an Online Shopping Ninja. Here’s a snippet:

Shopping online is not only convenient, but it also saves you money—especially if you’re armed with my secrets for sleuthing out super deals. Here are three of my favorite ways to get the best bang for your buck online:

1. Use a Coupon Code

My husband and I have a policy to never purchase anything without first finding a coupon code to use. I’ve tried a lot of different coupon code websites and I’ve also tried Googling for coupon codes, but in my opinion, nothing compares to RetailMeNot.com. They are the best coupon code website in existence right now.

All you have to do is go to their homepage, search for the store you’re planning to shop from, and ta-da! you have a long list of coupon codes that have been rated by their large community of users. More often than not, I’m able to find at least one coupon code from the long list that works for me. And, for possibly one to two minutes of effort, that coupon code will usually save me at least 10% off my order—sometimes even as much as 25%!

Read the full article.

There are so many ways to get great deals by shopping online. And my favorite part is that you never have to leave home — you don’t have to deal with traffic, you don’t have to find a parking space, you don’t have to stand in line… it’s just all around so much more efficient. Plus, a lot of times I find that the deals are better online, too!

I got this email yesterday that illustrates how great online shopping can be:

I just want to thank Crystal for recommending both Swagbucks and Rakuten (formerly Ebates). I am saving so much money this Christmas shopping season between these two places. I do most of my shopping on Amazon and can use my Swagbucks gift cards and while not all Amazon categories are eligible for rebates, I make sure to use Rakuten whenever they are.

I also did some shopping on other sites, like Kohl’s, JCPenney, and Target and got rebates on all of that. So far, I have almost $30 in rebates and have earned $140 in gift cards from Swagbucks. Thank you, thank you, thank you! -Sarah

Day 6 & 7 Project

1. Read chapter 4 from Celebrating & Savoring a Simple Christmas. (Did you sign up for your free copy yet? If not, click here and fill out the form to be emailed a copy.)

2. If you’re planning to shop online, be sure to sign up for Rakuten and check out RetailMeNot.com.

3. Take some time to just stop and enjoy your weekend — even if it’s just 5 minutes of quiet or taking time to write down blessings from this past week. Step back and refresh, relax, and refuel. Life doesn’t always need to be lived at breakneck speed!