Good Monday Morning Green Panda Friends!  Today we are starting a new series called Fun Financial Tools for Twenty Somethings.  Over the next few weeks we will discuss several different online and financial tools that will save us both time and money.

Today we are going to start with discussing the advantages of Online Shopping as well as the Best Coupon and Deals websites available online.  Online Shopping has become a very popular choice for consumers as our lives get busier and our schedules become more hectic.

More and more retailers are offering their products to online shoppers. There are three types of online shopping websites; the first is an actual store that has a website to offer their products to clients through the world wide web.  The second type of online shopping website, such as Amazon, offers a variety of products from several different vendors. The third type of online websites are deals websites, such as Groupon and Expedia, that offer a  variety of services such as travelling, food and dining, as well as clothes at discount prices.

The Major Advantages of Online Shopping

There are several advantages to online shopping and I very often take advantage of them all.  The first major advantage of online shopping is the convenience of shipping to an alternative address. I live in a different city from my parents and during the holidays or birthdays it is very convenient for me to shop online and have the order shipped to my parents address.

The second major advantage of online shopping is the lower pricing.  For whatever reason the prices of products online are a lot lower than the prices of the products in stores.  Some companies even offer special deals that are available only to online shoppers.

Why I Love Online Shopping

I admit that I am somewhat of a frequent online shopper.  The main advantage that I love about online shopping is that it gives me access to products that I would otherwise not be able to buy.  As a Canadian resident we don’t have a lot of the great stores that the US has to offer such as Victoria’s Secret, Sephora, Dr. Jays and Bath and Body Works.  Although some of these retailers have recently opened stores on the Canadian side of the Boarder, they are not in locations that are convenient for me to shop.

The downside of online shopping on these US based websites is that they do not offer free shipping in Canada.  Sephora offers free shipping on all purchases of $50 and over, and Victoria’s Secret offers free shipping on orders over $100; however the offers are not applicable in Canada.  Regardless of the additional costs I still continue to shop online because the products are worth the price even with the additional shipping costs.

The Best Coupon and Deals Websites

There are a variety of great coupon sites available for consumers such as Groupon, Deal Find and Living Social. These are sites that offer deals to the masses based on your location.  Different deals are available for different cities with local vendors.  I have found some great personal luxury deals on Groupon such as 30 minute massages at half price, and a $50 restaurant gift certificate for only $35.

I love shopping online at Chapters because the prices are significantly lower than in the store and all the books are always in stock.  Chapters also recommends other books that I may enjoy based on my previous purchases, which I always appreciate.  Sometimes we have to wait a few weeks before our online shopping order is delivered; however, my Chapters orders always arrive within a few days.

I am a frequent shopper at Beyond The Rack and Shop Bop.  These are two websites that offer designer clothes and accessories at discount prices.

Although I have never tried it, the blind bidding discount concept of booking travel through Hot Wire really fascinates me.

What is your favourite Coupon or Deals Website?

Photo by Orange Acid

Social Media is the new wave of interactive technology, and it’s not going away. Everyday social media outlets such as Facebook are expanding, changing, adding new features, and improving the user experience.  We may all be friends with our favourite sports stars on Facebook or we may be fans of our favourite authors on Facebook. Now, we can also save money by using the Facebook Deals mobile application for our Smart Phones.

What is Facebook Deals?

Facebook Deals is a new feature that allows Facebook mobile users to view and redeem up to the minute deals from their favourite merchants and vendors. 

Facebook Deals allows Facebook mobile users to search deals from their favourite merchants and vendors and then redeem them in store for discounts.  If we are out shopping we can “check in” to Facebook Deals and view coupons from our favourite stores.  The virtual coupon will be displayed on the touch screen of our smart phone; we can redeem the coupon by showing it to the merchant while we check out.

How is Facebook Deals different from Groupon?

Facebook Deals is only available to Facebook mobile application users.  These deals are not available to everyone, as they are “in store” virtual coupons that can only be redeemed at the check out by showing the coupon on our smart phone.

Facebook Deals do not have to be purchased in advance as needs to be done with Groupon.  While we are out shopping we can “check in” to Facebook Deals to find up to the minute deals from our favourite vendors.

How Much does Facebook Deals Cost?

Facebook Deals was created to increase advertising revenue for Facebook.  There is no cost to Facebook mobile users.  Unfortunately, Facebook Deals is only available to Facebook mobile users.  There are no commissions and no fees associated with redeeming Facebook Deals at the checkout in our favourite stores.  Facebook receives their revenue from the participating merchants and vendors who join Facebook Deals.

What Kind of Deals are Available from Facebook?

Facebook Deals can range from a free gift with purchase to a percentage off of our total sale.  Facebook Deals can also be a promotion on a specific product such as a 2 for 1 deal or a specific discount on an item such as a $5 pair of jeans.  The deals are always changing.  We will have to “check in” to view all up to the minute Facebook Deals.

To learn more about Facebook Deals please click here.  

Photo By DenHarsh

If you’re looking a limited budget or you want to reign in some of your spending expenses, I’ve gathered a small list of discount sites.  Using these can help you save some money while you shop for thing you love and enjoy.

Travel Sites

• Bing Travel: If you’re not sure if you should buy your plane tickets now or wait for a better deal, Bing can alert daily with prices and a forecast on price trends.
• Priceline: I use their Name Your Own Price option often with our trips and have saved an average of 50% on our hotel stays.

Food/Dining

• Restaurant: We’ve used this with a group recently and was able to a complete dinner for $13/person, including tax. Pay attention to any restrictions and you’ll be saving a bundle.
• Groupon: Deals of the day can be found on the site.

Clothes/Shopping

• Gilt: For those with expensive taste, but are looking for a deal, Gilt has some big discounts on apparel.
• Froogle: Pretty much use this  tool to see where the best prices are for items.
• RetailMeNot: This is one of my favorite sites to find a last minute discount for online shopping.
• FatWallet: Wonderful community that highlights deals around the web.

Thoughts on Discount Sites

I’d love to hear your best discount stories. I know everyone has their favorite deals and I probably didn’t include a few of them on my list. What discount sites do you use when you start shopping?How often do you use them?  How much do you save on average?

Check out Bing to see what deals are available.

Bing shopping is offering 20% cashback if you shop at Ebay.com and Walmart.com.

With Bing Shopping you can earn up to $2,500 with their cashback program in a year. The wait for the cashback depends on the store with a maximum wait of 60 days and there is a $5 minimum for payout.

If you use a Paypal account for your purchases on Ebay, Bing will automatically deposit the funds into your account. It should be noted that the cashback program is for US residents only.

If you like shopping online, this may be something you’d like to check up on to see if you can save some money on. Since they have different deals year round, you may want to find out other cashback deals by following Bing on Facebook and Twitter.

Panda Budget: Free Budget Tool for GPT Readers

PandaBudget is a simple budget program that can help you allocate your money.

• Create/edit monthly expenses
• Label expenses as critical (Rent/Food), important (Car payments), or luxuries (Cable TV)
• Note your bills as paid

Who is This For: Anyone wanting a simple budgeting tool for free (like a college student).

Who is This Not For: Someone who is looking for a A-Z program to track their budget, investments, and net worth. I would love to suggest that you try out Quicken or Mint for your needs.

System Requirements

• .NET framework if you’re running Windows XP or
• Windows Vista/ Windows 7
• Use Mono if you’re running Linux or a Mac

Feedback

This is a huge part of the software as my husband would love to make a more useful tool for people. Please send your feedback on what you like and what you would want from the software.

Download Panda Budget