How to Save Money on Almost Everything You Purchase

A big thanks to Groupon for sponsoring this post! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The limits of my frugality are very real since I utilize a budget I like to follow closely each month.

When you create a budget and commit to being frugal, one of the downsides I’ve noticed and common misconceptions is that you have to deprive yourself of certain ‘joys in life’. From the outside looking in, frugality seems like it’s all about giving up something just to save a quick buck.

I’ll be honest and say that there have been times where I felt like I couldn’t purchase something or do an activity because it was out of my budget. I’ve considered skipping birthday parties that my son was invited to and other outings because I didn’t have the money to participate. While I’m a firm believer that you don’t need a lot of money to have fun, I do believe that you must spend some money on entertainment and contribute something whenever you are invited to an event whether it’s food, a gift, etc. because that’s just the way society is.

This is why I’ve given myself a fixed monthly entertainment budget of $50 per month, a dining out budget of $60 per month, and a household budget of $30-40 per month. It’s not a lot to work with, but I’m making my budget stretch and enjoying obtaining the things I want and need with the help of Groupon.

Saving Money with Groupon Coupons

Groupon offers some pretty nice deals on dining, entertainment, and travel all over the country, but they also have a coupons section that may get overlooked. They provide shoppers with a huge coupon inventory with over 64,000 coupons at almost $10,000 different stores including:

• Sam’s Club
• Home Depot
• Bed, Bath, and Beyond
• Amazon
• Kohl’s
• And More!

Practically every major retailer you can think of has coupons accessible through Groupon. This option may be a nice alternative to retail store credit cards that offer deals that often get cancelled out by extremely high interest rates.

Whether you need a discount on clothes, an oil change or new tires for your car, regular household goods, or an electronic device, there’s most likely a Groupon Coupon for it. You should start by selecting the category tab to narrow down your search. You can also search for coupons by event like holidays, graduations, wedding gifts, travel, coupons for pets etc.

While searching for coupons in the past might have seemed like a tedious task, Groupon Coupons helps streamline the process by narrowing the best deals down quickly, plus you can do it all from the comfort of your own home.

Some coupons you can use in-store like for Best Buy, while others, will simply provide you with an updated promo code to make an online purchase.

Gifts for Special Events

Spring is a huge gift season aside from Christmas. There are weddings, graduations, and Mother’s Day which just passed. Not to mention birthdays and other events to kick off the warmer season. I like to use Groupon to get affordable gifts for family and friends because while I may not always have the money, I love giving gifts for some reason.

I got my sister a nice nail polish set for Christmas last year for about $12 and I took advantage of Groupon for some birthday gifts for my friend’s three children who all had birthdays last month. Like I said, last month was expensive, but I knew most of the extra expenses were coming up so I had time to budget for them accordingly and scour Groupon for deals. I don’t want to miss out of memorable life experiences and the deals I found on Groupon helped make sure I didn’t blow my budget either.

Whenever you Just Want to Get Out and Do Something

Everyone has those moments when you just want to get out of the house and do something fun. However you like to entertain yourself, make sure you carve out of the time and money to do so regularly to avoid getting burnt out and uninspired with life.

I’ve done a ton of fun things with my family over the years thanks to Groupon deals. Most recently, we used a Groupon discount to attend a comedy show to kick off my bachelorette party with my friends last month. The Groupon deal was actually cheaper than what the discount the comedy club offered for a bachelorette party so my sister who paid for the outing ended up saving $100.

Always Look for the Discount

One thing that I’ve learned over the past few years from using Groupon is to always find the discount. Being frugal is not about saying no to every single opportunity or need or want you have just to save a quick buck. That’s what being cheap entails. Being frugal means choosing how to spend your money wisely and strategically on the things that you value and matter most to you. Why pay full price for something you were going to do or purchase anyway when you can spend a minute or two checking to see if there is a Groupon Coupon or Groupon Deal out there to help you save money?

With Groupon, make sure you read the fine print on the offer and you are interested in and make sure you understand it before making a purchase. Most Groupons have a deadline in place so you must redeem them in a certain amount of time. You can also download the free app to search for deal conveniently when you’re on the go.

Have you ever used Groupon Coupons before? Do you ever feel like you are actively avoiding certain forms of entertainment and some of the things you want and need due to your budget constraints?