Taking a Bite Out of Online Shopping

SALE (Photo credit: Gerard Stolk (vers le Midi Carême))

This post has been sponsored by netvouchercodes.co.uk

It’s fairly safe to say at this point that my shopping has fallen off the deep end while I’ve been working on paying off my debt. It’s been a necessary evil, and unfortunately one that the state of my wardrobe is starting to reflect.

I started shopping online a couple years ago after the purchase of my first pair of expensive jeans. Those suckers hurt my wallet, but almost 5 years later they still fit me perfectly in all the right places. Knowing the brand, style and size however, I was able to turn to the internet for them when they went on sale. I’m a sucker for clothes.

During the last year and a half, in an attempt to get my fashion fix, I’ve become a sucker for fashion blogs. After the first few weeks I was getting frustrated at the constant stream of Louboutin, Chanel and Balenciaga. I wanted to know how on earth they were doing it? Who can afford to buy all of these items, and still be able to refresh their wardrobes every time a store restocked its shelves? Are they trust fund kids? Are they kept? Even in a debt free state I sure couldn’t afford to do that.

I started to notice something else though. Every once in a while the bloggers would mention that if you typed in a code at the online checkout, the store would give you a discount. The offers frequently have time limits, and the discount would vary from free shipping to well over half off!

What rock had I been living under that I didn’t know about these before? To be fair, I always saw that there was a box for voucher codes at the checkout, but I had never actually used one myself. I never knew where to get them from, and I always kind of assumed they only went to *special* people. I wasn’t special enough for a discount. *facepalm*

I finally gave it a shot over Christmas when I was purchasing The Boy’s Christmas present. His golf bag kicked the bucket over the summer, and to say he was ticked off would be an understatement. I decided then that if he didn’t go out and get one for himself, I’d get him a nice one for Christmas. After dealing with a less than helpful sales associate in the store, I decided I’d look online for his gift. After locating exactly what I was looking for, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to look and see if I could find a voucher code for it before I hit the order button. Low and behold I found one for 10% off my order, which ended up paying for my shipping costs!

For better or for worse, when I find a brand that works for me I tend to be fairly loyal to it. It’s not necessarily helpful in getting rock bottom prices, but it saves me the frustration of trying things only to find they don’t work for what I need. I’m quite excited to have found a way to take a bite out of my online purchases without having to switch brands. I’ll definitely be using these in the future for my online purchases!

Have you ever used a voucher code? What is the best online discount you’ve ever gotten?

This post has been sponsored by netvouchercodes.co.uk

Double Challenge Month – Update #2

And now for the money side of week 1:

February 1  -$3.35 – coffee w/ friend
-$20.00 – fuel
+$19.50 – returned pop cans
February 2 – *No Spend*
February 3 – *No Spend*
February 4 – *No Spend*
February 5 – *No Spend*
February 6  -$8.96 – food bank donation
-$41.20 – veggie delivery
February 7 – *Pending No Spend* -$33.16 – fuel

Discretionary money balance: -$54.01 -$87.17

I wonder if I’ll be able to make that a positive by the end of the month?

I have today down as a “pending no spend” because I’m spending the beginning of it at home cleaning before I head to work. I can’t spend money if I don’t leave the house.

I think I did fairly well this week. I had plans to meet a friend for coffee, which we typically do at Starbucks. Unfortunately this time she wanted to go elsewhere, so I had to use money out of my account rather than off my pre-loaded Starbucks card. There was a $3 minimum to use the debit, and I didn’t have cash on me, so I ended up getting a latte rather than tea to make their minimum. The $8.96 went towards a couple multipack boxes of flavoured oatmeal, and some Campbells chunky soup that was on sale for less than the smaller generic brand cans of soup. I dropped it off in the donation bin on my way out of the store.

I beat most of the battle this week by spending time doing things at home. The rest of the battle, grabbing food on the run, I gave the heave ho by stocking myself up on snacks to keep the sweet beast at bay, and keeping my water bottle on me. The first half of the week I had rice crispie squares, and the second half I’ve been munching on homemade peanut butter cookies. I figure I’ll be out of cookies by Wednesday, so I’ll probably make some homemade Lara bars then. I have to grab some fuel tomorrow, more about that later, but otherwise I’m gunning for no spend days until next pay day. This last pay period was cut closer than I’d like, but that’s what happens when you set yourself a challenge. Next pay period looks to be about the same, because I won’t have any night shift premium on it. Boo that.

How are your financial challenges coming?

Recommended Reading: What Plants vs. Zombies Taught Me About Paying Off Debt.