The amazingness of Coupon Codes

One of my favorite little secrets, also my most used secret weapon against ridiculous retail markups, is the lovely "coupon code." Coupon codes were not always as well known as they are now, but due to the current state of the economy, they have never enjoyed such fame as they do now. As many of you may know, a coupon code is a string of numbers and or/letters which you can enter into a given text box in the checkout section of a website, and if the code is valid and has not expired, this little treasure can give you anything from a free item, to a percentage discount, to free shipping. Some sites (my favorites!!) even allow multiple coupon codes to be used at once, such as Victoria ’s Secret, which allows THREE!!! codes to be entered simultaneously (as long as they don’t restrict each other), therefore giving you TONS of savings!! I have been notorious among my friends to stalk them while they make online purchases and ENSURE that they find the best coupon codes before purchasing anything... and I am always successful.



So for those of you who have never experienced the heavenly bliss of knocking some dollars off of your purchase price and back into your pocket through the use of coupon codes, let me enlighten you on how to use their magic. First, make sure that the website that you are buying from accepts coupon codes. Usually, there will be a little box at checkout which will say “Enter promo/discount/coupon code.” After checking on that, its time to find the sacred code. One of the best ways to find these little codes is to type a query into a search engine (I prefer google), such as “ Victoria ’s Secret Coupon Codes,” replacing “ Victoria ’s Secret” with whichever store or online shop you are interested in. Also, to narrow your search you can include the current year or month, to ensure that older codes don’t come up as well as some descriptors such as “free shipping” or “$10 off” in order to help you narrow your search.

Once you are past that step, there will be MANY results.. make sure to choose wisely. My absolute favorite is retailmenot.com, but there are many other great ones out there, such as couponcabin.com and dealtaker.com. Now, when you find a code that you think you may want to use, go back to your shopping cart and enter the code. Sometimes, the code may not work because it may be expired or your purchase does not qualify due to quantity or content, but just keep experimenting. It WILL be worth it in the end!!


Also, online is not the only place that you can find these codes. Sometimes, stores may be generous and send you these special codes through their email subscriptions (a great secret weapon that will be covered in a later post), or even through good old snail-mail, on a catalog or in a flyer. No matter where you find these bad-boys they are sure to save you some dough!


For example, I just recently made some purchases from American Eagle Outfitters on their website. The clearance section was already very nicely marked down, with an additional 30% discount. Thinking that I had saved a ton already, I had a light bulb moment in which I thought to try a coupon code on top of my already highly discounted purchase. I searched and found a code for 20%-off and it worked on top of my other discounts!! I ended up getting $360 worth of merchandise and spent only $114!! (I also got free shipping because I bought more than 3-items which was another deal that they had going on at the time.) Two pairs of jeans alone would have cost me $100 but I got those two pairs PLUS 11 tops.. AWESOME!! I have posted some pics below of some of my favorite purchases! :)


So take after me.. the best way to shop online is to buy when there are multiple promos going on.. and USE COUPON CODES!!!

Finally, here's a little tidbit for you... 15%-off at American Eagle. Not too sure of the stipulations/restrictions or expiration but just test it out at checkout!! Code= 45109574




























Happy Saving!!



L