saving – Adventures in Polishland

Tag: saving

5 Ways to Save BIG at Michaels!

Posted on July 5, 2017July 4, 2017 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Wednesday! Today I am excited to share more of my money-saving shopping tips with all of you. I love going to Michaels for planner supplies, craft tools, and home goods. There are so many fun items to look at, but I always make sure to stick to my budget and only buy the items I really want and plan to use. Luckily, Michaels runs amazing sales and offers coupons on a regular basis, so there is always a way to save money. Today I’ll share how I maximize my savings at Michaels so you can live a fabulous and affordable life, too.

I am not affiliated with or sponsored by Michaels. I simply want to share my money-saving tips with all of you!

1. Always Use a Coupon

Michaels always has at least one coupon available for use each week. You can find the coupons available in your local area by visiting the coupon page on the Michaels website HERE. Michaels also has a free rewards program that sends out exclusive coupons to its members via email and snail mail. I recently received a flyer in the mail that had three exclusive coupons for the month of July. I was able to get 25% off my total purchase including sale items! You can learn more about the Michaels Rewards program on the store’s website HERE.

2. Shop the Entire Store

When I go to Michaels, I make sure to look at every section in the store even if the items I plan on purchasing wouldn’t normally be there. This is because products often get put on seasonal and holiday displays, on the end of aisles, and in hidden clearance sections. For example, I often get asked where you can find the $1.00 sticker books sold at Michaels. Unfortunately, I can’t give you one answer! I’ve found them in the kids section, on holiday displays in the center aisle, on seasonal displaces in aisles, and more. The trick is to look carefully in each section, because you never know where an item will be. Plus, while Michaels will often have a dedicated section for clearance, it can pop up behind the aisles and in the regular sections as well. Keep an eye out for the red and yellow clearance sings, and blue clearance price tags!

3. Become Familiar with Sale Promotions

My next tip is to familiarize yourself with the sales that Michaels runs each week. Even if you don’t plan to shop, take a look at the weekly ad. Michaels tends to recycle and repeat its sale promotions. For instance, washi tapes often go on sale for 50% off, and a few times a year they are 60% off. If you know that you want to pick up new washi tapes, wait for the sale to take place. Once you know what the regular Michaels sale promotions are, you can time your purchases so they line up with the sale. Of course, if you need to buy something at the last minute, this tip won’t be as helpful. Thankfully you can still use a coupon!

4. See if You Qualify for a Special Discount

Michaels also offers special discounts for teachers, members of the military, and senior citizens. You can learn more about these special discounts on the Michaels website. Click HERE for information on the teacher discount, HERE for information about the military discount, and HERE for information about the senior discount. What’s even more exciting is that sometimes you can stack this discount with a coupon! Make sure to read the fine print on your coupon for any exclusions.

5. Use Ebates to Earn Cash Back When Shopping Online

If you can’t get to a Michaels store in person, you can shop online now! Michaels does offer cash back through Ebates. You can sign up to Ebates for free using my referral link HERE. If you have any questions about Ebates and how it works, check out my blog post HERE.

That wraps up my shopping tips for Michaels! I hope this post helps you to save some extra money at your next Michaels shopping trip. As always, if you have any more tips, please share them in the comments!

Want a savings guide for another store? Let me know in the comments!

How to Use Ebates to Earn Cash Back in 3 Easy Steps

Posted on November 10, 2016November 7, 2016 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Thursday! Today I will be talking about the website Ebates, and how to use it to earn cash back on your purchases. I’ve used Ebates for about two and a half years now, and I’ve had a great experience. I often recommend it to all of you in blog posts, but I recently had a request for an Ebates tutorial. Ebates is really easy to use, but I’ve put together a post that demonstrates signing up and using the website in three easy steps. I will begin by explaining a bit more about Ebates, and then jump right into the tutorial!

Let’s start out with a simple question – what is Ebates? Ebates is a website that allows you to earn cash back on many of your online and in-store purchases. I know Ebates sounds too good to be true. In fact, I did not sign up for years because I was scared it was a scam. Now that I’ve been a longtime user of the site, I’m happy to share this is the real deal! Essentially, Ebates uses affiliate marketing to earn a commission for every purchase made through its site, and then shares a percentage of that commission back with each user. Think of when you buy a diamond ring at the jewelry store. The jeweler makes a commission on your purchase, right? Now, imagine if that jeweler gave you a small percentage of his commission to thank you for shopping with him. That is the role Ebates plays in your shopping process. I know this may sound a bit confusing, but I have never had any issues with Ebates. I find it to be a secure website, and I absolutely love how I can save money online while using this service!

STEP 1 – SIGN UP FOR EBATES

Now it’s time for my easy tutorial on using Ebates! Step one is signing up for your free account on the website. When you sign up using my referral link HERE you will get a $10 bonus upon making your first qualifying purchase through the site. What I love about the Ebates sign-up process is that it is super simple. All you need to do is enter your email address and create a password. Later on you can input more information onto your account page so Ebates will know where to send your cash back, but signing up only takes a minute of your time!

STEP 2 – SEARCH THE STORE YOU WANT TO SHOP

The only thing you need to remember when using Ebates is that you must always begin your shopping on the Ebates website. This definitely takes getting used to, but eventually you will get in the habit of always going to Ebates first. Let’s say I’m shopping at Sephora. The first thing I do is go to Ebates before I go to the Sephora website. In the image above you will see my Ebates home screen. All I need to do is type ‘Sephora’ into the search bar at the top and hit enter.

STEP 3 – CLICK ‘SHOP NOW’ AND START SHOPPING!

Once you type the store into the search bar, you will be redirected to the store landing page. Here is a picture of what the Sephora page looks like as an example. Each store page has two main sections. On the right you will see all of the current coupons and deals each store has to offer. I love that Ebates always lists out the available coupon codes for you so you don’t need to do an online search! On the left you will see the current cash back offer from the store and a button that says “Shop Now.” All you need to do is hit that “Shop Now” button, and Ebates will redirect you to the store from which you want to shop! You will know it is working when you get the ticket screen. An example of that screen is posted below for you to see.

When you see this screen, you are all set! Ebates is now tracking your purchases! I typically get a notification that the cash back has been deposited in my Ebates account once my order is complete, but it takes a bit longer for some stores. Nonetheless, you will get a payment every quarter. It’s always so much fun to get that bit of extra money!

BONUS TIP! DOUBLE CASH BACK OFFERS

I also wanted to share a bonus tip with you so you can learn how to earn even more cash back on your purchases. Every day Ebates will feature different stores that are double cash back, and sometimes even more! I always try to plan out my purchases to maximize the amount of cash back I receive. I recommend checking out the Double Cash Back tab every day to see which stores Ebates typically highlights. For example, Sephora is doubled to 8% cash back every once in a while. If I know I need something at Sephora, I’ll try to wait until it is double. There are even a few times a year, such as Black Friday, when a ton of stores are double cash back. That’s the perfect time to shop!

All in all, I hope this post helped you learn more about Ebates and the basic ways to use it. Ebates has expanded a lot in the years I’ve been using it, so there are many more features on the website that I didn’t touch on today. If you have any further questions, please leave them in a comment below and I will be happy to help you! With the holidays fast approaching, now is the perfect time to sign up to Ebates to start earning cash back. Please use my referral link HERE to sign up today!

Jet Away June Wrap Up | It’s Time to Book Your Trip!

Posted on July 1, 2014August 12, 2015 by Adventures in Polishland

Happy Tuesday! Now that it’s July, Jet Away June has come to a close. I hope you all enjoyed the themed month! You can see all of my Jet Away June posts in one place by clicking on the Jet Away June category HERE. In June, I shared many of my own personal travel tips with all of you, so I thought it fitting that I wrap up the month by sharing the websites I like to use to book my trips.

MY FAVORITE AIRLINE

Flying can be very uncomfortable, especially if you don’t fly often. I’ve recently tried JetBlue for the first time, and it is now my go-to airline. Not only are the seats more comfortable than other planes, because you have extra legroom, but each passenger gets her own TV with several different channels to watch for free. Plus, you get free, unlimited snacks! How awesome is that?! JetBlue employees are also really nice. Like any airline, there have been some bad press about JetBlue in the news, but it’s honestly the best airline I’ve ever taken!

FINDING A CHEAP FLIGHT

My first step is always using Kayak to find a cheap flight. While JetBlue is definitely my personal favorite, I’m willing to fly on another airline if it is substantially cheaper. Kayak is a great tool that finds the most affordable flights from many airlines in one place. They also offer what is called “hacker” flights that combine flights from different airlines to save you even more money. I’ve neve purchased from Kayak directly, but I always use it to search before I shop.

THE PERFECT ONE-SHOP-STOP FOR BOOKING YOUR TRIP

If you’re looking for affordable flights, hotels, rental cars, and more, Orbitz is definitely a great option! You can book your flight and hotel separately, or pick a package deal. I used Orbitz for the first time a few months back and had a great experience. On top of the every day low prices, Orbitz also has a rewards program and they send out coupons all the time!

EARN CASH BACK

Finally, don’t forget to use Ebates when you book your trip online! Many websites, such as Orbitz, offer you cash back when you book your vacation. Flights and hotels can be very expensive, so every bit that you can save counts!

Well, that wraps up my Jet Away June month! I hope you enjoyed all of my posts and found them helpful. Let me know in the comments where you’ll be traveling this summer. I’d love to hear all about your trip!

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.