Smart Shopping: How to do it.

Payday. We love it don't we? However, not many of us dislike the end of the month when our bank bleeds in agony. However, with a little bit of knowledge, you can make your money go further. Less guilt when shopping, sign me up.

1. Sign up for cashback websites

Quidco, Quidco, I love Quidco. Picture source: Quidco at LinkedIn

Now I know what you're thinking. "Kelly what is a cashback website?"

A cashback website is a website where you get a percentage of cash put back into your bank account after visiting a certain brand/company. The main ones are Quidco  and Top Cash Back. How they work is super simple, you simply sign up to the cashback site of your choice, then you search for a website that you were planning to use anyway. Access said website, via the cashback site and you'll then be paid an amount of money (either a set amount e.g. £9 or percentage e.g. 9%) for using that website and shopping as you usually would. 

The great thing is you can get cashback for pretty much everything, whether it's a summer holiday with your squad or that cute jumper that you spotted in the sale. It's super easy to withdraw your cash as well.

2. When possible use a discount code

Honey, Honey, Saves me money, (uh huh) Honey Honey. Picture source: BillyLoc Reviews

Discount codes literally do what they say on the tin. They take a certain percent/amount of money off your order which means you can get more stuff for your budget. So how do you know if a website has a discount code? Well, that's where Honey comes in. Honey is an in browser application that suggest and applies the best discount code for you, it's super quick to install and does the hard work for you. You can download it here and get 100 free honey coins (1$) just for signing up and an additional 5$ for every person you get to sign up with you. 

3. Remember to sign up for loyalty cards for places your regularly visit:

Can you talk about loyalty without mentioning a Georgia Steel? If you're British, the answer is no. No you can't. Picture source: Heatworld. 

In a previous blog entry, I spoke about the best loyalty cards to sign up for make-up. Loyalty cards as a concept also widens out to pretty much everything else. Booking a holiday? Hotels.com offer a rewards programme that gives you a free 1 night stay for every 10 nights you book through their website. Really like books? The Works offer 5p worth of points for every £1 spent and 50p worth of points when you sign up online. The sky is the limit when it comes to loyalty perks, just make sure you 100% know that you'll regularly use that store before you sign up to really get your monies worth. 

So there you have it, 3 very simple but extremely effective ways to make your money go further. Give them a crack, when you do your Christmas shopping. How much money have you saved via these tips? Comment below. So far, I've saved about £5 on my Christmas shopping after vouchers and cashback. 

Until next time, remember you are beautiful,

Kelly.