17 Ways to Save Without Clipping a Single Coupon

Home

Tips

Money Tips

Hate coupons? I don’t get you, but I can still help you save money.

In fact, there are tons of ways to save money without coupons on everything from grocery to apparel to furniture purchases. Here are a few of our current faves:

1. Download Paribus to get cash back when there’s a price drop on your items.

Most retailers offer a price adjustment period, but I doubt you have time to track prices on items you buy to request cash back when there’s a price drop.

Enter Paribus.

Paribus will monitor your online purchases at certain retailers and alert you when items go on sale to help you get cash back. Yep, it’s free.

Paribus compensates us when you sign up for Paribus using the links we provided.

2. Type “as is” in the search bar to get up to 50% savings at Overstock and Wayfair.

For Overstock, type “as is item” to get access to hundreds of home items for dirt cheap.

Type “as is” in the search bar to access “open box” items at Wayfair.

“As is” or “open box” items have been returned because they’re the wrong color or have stains or scratches, so you’ll need to be willing to fix or clean your item, but at such a steep discount, it may be worth it.

You’ll see the highest savings on Overstock — some discounts reach up to 50% off — while 15-25% off is more typical for Wayfair.

3. Right click the image of an item you want to buy, and do a Google image search to find it cheaper.

This works whether you like the exact item but you want it cheaper or if you want something that looks similar but for less money.

Right click on the image and select “Search Google for Image” to browse for a cheaper option.

4. Use your phone as a calculator at the grocery store to keep a running total.

This is a surefire way to stick to your budget when you’re grocery shopping.

You can tally totals on a piece of paper as you go or just keep a running total on your phone’s calculator.

When you reach your budget for that shopping trip, head to checkout or start removing items from your basket in order to get essentials you need for that week.

5. Always round up when you’re calculating grocery costs.

This will cover for taxes and and may even help you come in under budget, which always feels good.

So, instead of putting $3.69 in your calculator for body wash, put $4.00 — even if your item is $3.19, round up to $4.00.

6. Add PriceBlink to your browser bar to see if your item is cheaper elsewhere.

While you’re looking at a specific item online, PriceBlink is busy scanning thousands of other retailers to see if there’s a lower price on the item you’re viewing.

When PriceBlink finds your item for less money somewhere else, you’ll get a notification at the top of your browser informing you about how much you can save if you make the purchase at another online retailer.

Plus, if there’s an easy promo code to apply to your order to save money, PriceBlink will send that your way too.

7. Make at least two freezer meals a week to avoid last-minute dining out.

If you have at least two meals in your freezer that you can put directly into the Crock-Pot to cook on days you know you won’t have time to prepare dinner, you’ll save a lot of money on last-minute fast-food trips.

RELATED: 20 Make-Ahead Freezer Dinners for Busy Moms

8. Shop Kroger Mega Sales.

These sales happen at Kroger, Fred Meyer, Fry’s or any number of Kroger-owned stores.

Here’s how it works — when you buy certain quantities of qualifying items, you’ll get a dollar-off discount. How much you’ll need to buy and the amount of your discount varies each time Kroger runs this sale, but here’s what we’ve seen in the past.

Buy 5 participating items, save $5.00
Buy 6 participating items, save $3.00
Buy 10 participating items, save $5.00

Learn all about shopping the Kroger Mega Sale like a professional.

9. Clear your “cookies” to outsmart dynamic pricing.

Think of dynamic pricing like pricing discrimination. Online retailers (like Amazon) use it to change prices based on supply and demand or based on their estimates of what you might be willing to pay.

“Cookies” are small files that are saved in the background of your computer while you’re browsing. They remember your login info and your browsing habits.

Retailers use cookies to determine how much you’d be willing to pay for items based on how often you visit their site.

This means you might pay more for an item online than someone else does, so clear your cookies before you shop, or go incognito.

10. Don’t pay for shipping! Use free in-store pickup instead.

Most stores offer free in-store pickup for items you buy online.

Typically you have a few days to pick it up after you get the notification that it’s ready for pickup. Your account won’t be charged until you pick up your purchase.

11. Plan your weekly menu around the grocery store’s sale flyer.

Plan to look at your grocery store’s sale circular online, or grab it a day before you’re going shopping to make a meal plan around it.

Sure, you won’t save as much as you can save on groceries with coupons, but you won’t pay full price either, and that’s a win.

Planning around your store’s sale flyer allows you to choose brands that are on sale, try out a different kind of meat than you normally cook, or stock up when there’s a particularly good price.

12. Check Amazon for generic versions of items like Brita filters and Sonicare replacement heads.

Check Amazon for generics of items like Brita filters and Sonicare replacement heads.

There are tons and tons of generic items you can get for dirt cheap on Amazon.

Plan to save up to 80% when you buy generic replacement heads for your Sonicare toothbrush.

You can save over 50% if you buy generic plastic food storage bins instead of Rubbermaid bins, or over 30% on spendy Brita filters.

13. Don’t shop without a discounted gift card from Raise.

You can find a discounted gift card from Raise for almost any store you shop — even if you’re shopping online.

There are steep discounts (like an H&M gift card for 34% off), and there are more modest discounts (like Walmart for only 0.09% off). But savings are savings, and discounted gift card prices fluctuate so check back often — especially for grocery store gift cards!

Find out everything you need to know about Raise.

14. Only buy non-perishables (like household items) in bulk.

When you buy laundry detergent, diapers, paper towels, toilet paper, body wash and razors from Costco, they’ll never expire so you’ll never waste your money.

When you buy produce, dairy or other items in bulk without a clear plan to use them before they expire, you risk having to throw them out.

Of course, if there’s a stellar deal on perishables at Costco or Sam’s Club, you might want to jump on it and make a plan to use it all up before it expires.

15. Shop through Ibotta when you’re buying from Jet to save an extra 7%.

If you’re buying something on Jet, it’s smart to initiate your purchase through the Ibotta app.

Why? Because you’ll score an extra 7% cash back from Ibotta.

There’s usually a Jet offer inside the Ibotta app, so always check it — it’s been known to climb as high as 10% off!

16. Use Walmart’s grocery pickup for free every time.

This is a convenience play, but when your kids have a busy week of music lessons and sports after school, Walmart grocery pickup can be a lifesaver.

Shop online and choose your date and time for pickup. Arrive during your hour window and call the number on the sign in the parking stall. An associate will bring out your groceries and load them into your car.

TIP: Arrive in the middle of the hour you chose in order to avoid the rush of people at the beginning of the time window and the rush at the end. So if your time slot is 1-2 p.m., arrive at 1:30 p.m.