Save Money Shopping Online With Google

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Paying full price for something is ludicrous these days. There are so many different ways to ensure you're getting a deal — all you have to do is a tiny bit of work.

You're already on Wise Bread, so you've (hopefully) already figured out whether this is an essential purchase or not. But once you know you're going to buy something online, what next?

The first thing you ought to do is comparison shop. If it's something you can get at a bunch of different places (say a book or a DVD), then make sure you check out a bunch of different sites. I'd start with Amazon.com and maybe Overstock.com. They usually battle each other pretty good when it comes to prices.

And depending on the item, Wal-Mart.com is worth a peek too. Also under "depending on the item," you may want to try EBay or Craigslist. Buying used can save you a bunch of money.

But if you really want to "go deep" you should entrust the services of the masters of search. Run a Google search and then look for the Shopping tab at the top of the screen. Google will look for prices across the whole web and find the cheapest price. Sometimes that will mean visiting "CrazyCheapElectronics.com." That might make you a little uncomfortable, especially when it comes time to type in your credit card number. But that's an individual comfort level thing.

Then there are times where what you want to buy is only available at one store. My wife and I recently bought some thank you cards from Tiny Prints. A friend had recommended TinyPrints and we compared their overall prices with some other sites. We went and added a custom picture of our newborn, tweaked it a little bit, and settled on a design template. It was really cute.

After doing all that work, you better believe we were going to buy from them come hell or high water.

But this is where people tend to get a little lazy. They figure they didn't do any comparison shopping so they're doomed to pay retail. Don't be a sucker, though! When you're checking out, keep your eyes peeled for some entry boxes labeled "Promotional code" or "discount code" or "Enter coupon code." Something that denotes the ability to get a discount it you have the right code.

Whatever that box is called, it means you can save some money. Say it says "Promotional code." Take that phrase, wrap it in some quotes, then add the name of the site you're on, and run a Google search for it. So for TinyPrints, I believe it was:

tinyprints.com "promotional code"

Then let Google do the rest. It will find sites that have coupons listed for your site. If a site has a "promo code" box in the checkout process then that means there are promo codes floating around somewhere, and who better than Google to find them for you?

I usually like to check Retailmenot.com, which allows users to vote up the coupons that are working for them to give you a better idea of what works and what doesn't. But this Google search will open the doors to any other coupons and deals that might be out there.

Maybe it's 10% off or free shipping or something. But trust me, there's a deal out there waiting for you. All you have to do is find it.