Easy ways to save money on home purchases
October 5, 2009
Anna Waters
SPECIAL TO YOURHOME.CA
You can have all the most modern and stylish things for your home without spending a fortune. Here are a few tips on how to save money on your home purchases:
Research, research, research
Ten minutes of hardcore googling can save you quite a bit of money through discount codes and printable coupons. If you know you'll be making a purchase from a particular store, try a search for its name along with some relevant keywords.
For example, a search for "Home Depot Coupons" will find you lots of sites with decent coupons, which you can print and then use in-store. The coupons shown might not always be current, so you might have to dig down through the search results.
Alternatively, for your online shopping, simply search for the store's name plus "coupon codes." You should be able to find codes, often to be entered at checkout from online stores, offering things like a percentage discount or free shipping.
And, there are a plethora of Canadian blogs and websites dedicated to finding and sharing deals and coupons – make sure to bookmark the good ones!
Sign up for mailing lists
This might sound very simple, but signing up for the email newsletters for all your favourite stores can save you hundreds of dollars on your houseware purchases. I recommend using a spare email for this purpose, such as a free Gmail account, so that it's no big deal if your address is ever sold to spam lists.
Once you've joined, the stores usually email you about all of their best deals. They may also send you free printable coupons which can be used for discounts in-store.
For example, Michaels Arts and Crafts stores send out excellent email coupons every week, with deals ranging from 25 per cent off your entire purchase to 50 per cent off single items.
If you're undertaking a bit of seasonal maintenance on your home, you should definitely join the mailing lists for major retailers like Rona, Home Depot, Lowe's and Canadian Tire.
Follow on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook
Further to registering for mailing lists, you can jump on the social media bandwagon and follow your favourite stores on Twitter or even become a fan on their Facebook groups. While a lot of companies use these channels for customer feedback, they do sometimes share great coupons and deals there too.
For example, Zellers is on Twitter and KitchenStuffPlus has a Facebook fan page.
Anna is a contributing author on Bargainmoose.ca, a Canadian deals blog.
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