Unclaimed Money

Whether you go all out for Christmas, or try to keep it simple, chances are you will be shopping during this season. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas at all, you still have to shop. We all need to buy things; to part with our hard earned money. There are ways to part with less of it, or to at least get some of it back.

Shopping online has several advantages. You can do it from home, at any hour of the day. Price comparison is easier with sites like Wize. There often is no tax. Merchants often offer free shipping incentives too. There also are many sites out there that offer you rebates or other rewards when you shop through their site.

The site I use the most for online shopping is Ebates. This lists coupons and specials for over 800 merchants. You also accumulate cash in the form of rebates when you shop at a merchant by clicking through the Ebates site. The rebate percentage varies from merchant to merchant, but can be up to 25%. You receive your rebate check quarterly.

Another popular rewards program is MyPoints. With MyPoints you are given points when you shop at a merchant by clicking through the My Points site. You can also earn points for taking surveys, and for playing games. When you’ve accumulated enough points, they can be cashed in for gift certificates for 100’s of merchants. Other reward sites include Bigcrumbs and FatWallet.

Of course when shopping online you can add to your rewards by picking a credit or debit card that also offers points or cash back rewards. Do be careful though. If you are going to use credit, be sure that you do not spend more than you can pay off. If you do not pay off the balance in full, the interest charges will negate all the rewards you’ve just earned. If you are trying to pay off credit cards, you may be better off just sticking with the debit card.

There is shopping that must be done for Christmas or other times. Get the most for you hard earned money. When shopping online or at a store, stick to your budget, and shop for the best deals. If you shop online, use sites that reward you for shopping with them. Use your savings to pay off debt, save, or to treat yourself.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at 5:30 am and is filed under money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.