Being a smart shopper

I really don't like to pay full price for things.  I almost always try to find things somewhat on sale, for purchase with a coupon, on ebay instead of a department store, etc...

Jason and I didn't have a ton of credit cards. In fact, we just had one and that card allowed us to earn Marriott points.  That card was in his name only so once he died, I obviously closed it up.  For several years, I have had a Discover card that I have used for various business purchases.  I made mommy necklaces for several years and I would always purchase my supplies with it so that I could keep business and personal separate.  Thankfully I still had that card and I decided to go ahead and keep it so that I'd have one for emergencies.  About a year ago, I decided to start putting everything on it so that I could earn the 1% cashback.  It's amazing how much you can earn if you put everything on it (even bills/utilities that will allow you to pay with cc) and then just pay it off at the end of the month.  Every month, my 1% goes into an account and I can then redeem that for cash back, gift cards to stores, or payment on my card.  I always use the money for gift cards for stores.  This is one way I'm able to justify purchasing a few expensive items from time to time that I might not normally buy.

For example, there was a Coach purse I had my eye on at Macys.  It was around $400 and that price was hard for me to swallow.  A couple times a year, Macy's will run a 25% off everything sale (they have sales all the times but most of the times the big fancy brands are excluded) I waited until this sale rolled around and  decided to use my coupon for the purse.  (hello $100 off!)  I also had a $50 gift card that I had saved from either a previous birthday or Christmas.  Then, I redeemed my Discover points for a Macy's gift card and ended up spending about $100 for the purse....which is what most people feel is a decent price for a great quality item.

Another example is Ebay.  While you certainly need to be careful that you don't pay top dollar for "fake" items....you can certainly score some deals on authentic brands if you do your homework.  Back in the fall, I saw these earmuffs in a Dillards catalog that was mailed to my house. I didn't currently own a pair of earmuffs but I knew that we would be taking our trip to Jackson Hole soon.  I really didn't want to shell out $75 for earmuffs so I started looking around.  I found a brand new, tags still attached, authentic (I got the cute black with black sequins in the middle) still in the box set of Ugg earmuffs for much less than that.   

Purchasing items off season is another sure way to score some deals.  Buy a new coat or boots at the end of the season and you are sure to save big bucks.  As long as you can justify those items sitting in your closet untouched until the next season rolls around :)

What money saving tips do you have?