Yes We Can (Save Money)

I probably don’t have to tell you that the Internet is a wondrous thing. But did you know you can find lots of money-saving coupons on the ‘Net (and make your own Obama-type poster like the one to the right for free)?

I know these subjects don’t seem to go together but as you might have guessed from my recent blog entries, they’ve been on my mind lately – the frugal thing and our new president.

On the frugal front, Internet coupons have saved me a few bucks on online orders -- free shipping or 15 percent off the total cost -- simply by typing in coupon codes I found online with very little effort. You also can find coupons to print out for use at the grocery store, restaurants, retail stores and other walk-in establishments.

I’m including this link to an MSNBC article on how to save $1,000 a year with coupons (sounds pretty ambitious, but it might be fun to try). It recommends some specific coupon sites like http://www.thecouponmom.com/. I’ve had luck at http://www.couponcabin.com/, too.

I’ve also simply gone to http://www.google.com/ and typed the word “coupon” and a company's name in the search box in hopes of finding a money-saving coupon or a code to put on the blank on many online order forms where it says “apply discount” or “enter coupon code.”

The Google search returns a number of web site addresses where you can check for appropriate coupons. Some sites, such as http://www.retailmenot.com/, will even tell you how long the coupon is valid and the success rate of people who tried using it.

Is it worth the time and effort to search for the coupons? I’ll let you be the judge of that but if you ask me if it's possible to save some money this way, I've got to say -- YES, WE CAN.

If you want to make your own free poster like the one above to proclaim this or anything else, go to http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/. You do have to register your name and a password but basically, the site lets you upload any picture you want and it will put it into a format inspired by the well-known Obama poster by Shepard Fairey. You can add your own custom caption and then download it into your computer and print it out in any size, or insert it into an email, if you like. Give it a try!

And if you know of any other Internet sites that are great sources for saving money, please share!