Saving 101: Discounted Gift Certificates part 1

Saving 101: Discounted Gift Certificates Part 1
Where to find them, and how to buy them.

Sean and I are avid players. What I mean by that is we do not like to sit around not doing anything. We love to be out and about, having fun.

When we decided that I would cut back on my hours spent working out of the home, the first thing we cut out was “going out”. Whether that meant eating out, going to movies, golf, miniature golf, etc we were going to STOP COMPLETELY. We figured it was the only way to afford everything with less income. It did NOT take us long to realize that we weren’t cut out to sit at home.

So I decided to figure out what we could still go do, but spend much less. That is when I found the daily deal sites!! This was even before I discovered coupons, but I was so excited for the money savings!

What are daily deal sites? They are online companies that work out great deals with local companies to get a Gift Certificate for a discounted price. Usually saving you 50-75%. Some sites give a limited number of certificates for ONE company for the day.  Others will give you the choice of many different companies at the same time. Either way, with these sites you DO NOT want to wait to purchase your certificate. Because you never know when the site will hit their limit and be out of stock.

There are many different online sites so the best way to keep up with them is to create an account with them and sign-up to get their daily emails to inform you what the current deal is.

Deal Sites:

GoDealGo – Gives you one deal a day and lets you print your gift certificate right from your computer.

Screamin Daily Deals – Gives you at least one, sometimes more, deals a day. Screamin Daily Deals lets gets you your gift certificate the following day. Another great benefit of Screamin Daily Deals is that when you refer friends, you get a $10 credit to spend on any certificate of your choice!

Groupon – Gives you one deal a day. The only downside to Groupon is that they sell theirs based on a minimum requirement. If they do NOT sell a certain amount of certificates that day, they will cancel the deal and you will not be charged for your purchase. They do give you a $10 referal credit as well. So when you see a deal that you really want; purchase it, and then use your referal link to get all of your friends to buy it as well. That way you make some money and they will meet their minimal requirement. Once the deal is done for the day, you will get an email with a link to print your certificate.

Utah’s Best Deal – Give you one deal a day and emails you your certificate the following day so you can print it at home and use it ASAP!

The Daily Deal – Give you one deal at a time. Some deals last longer than a day, but your certificate is avaiable to print within 24 hours of the deal ending. They also give you a $10 credit for refering a friend! But this one does have the downside where if not enough people purchase, they will cancel the deal. So make sure when you find a deal you want, purchase it and then refer your friends for the same deal. You will get the credit as well as help meet the minimum requirement!

City Deals – This is not like the others. City Deals has hundreds of gift certificates available! They have locations for all over the nation and are always opening more areas. Some of their deals are a limit of one, but others you can buy multiples. They add deals everyday, and have the biggest selection. From car care, food, shopping, fast food, travel, spas and SO MUCH MORE.
City Deals also has a friend referal program. Refer a friend and get $10.

When a certificate comes up that is something you might use, or have uses, buy it!!! Most of them last for a few months, and are great to have on hand.

Stay tuned for Discounted Gift Certificate part 2: How to impliment them into your daily life

~Get your thrift on!