It’s interesting that I chose this week to write multiple blog posts on extreme couponing, as this is considered to be National Thrift Week. Why? Because Ben Franklin’s birthday is this week, January 17th, and he is considered to be one of the “founders” of thriftiness. Anyway, after writing about extreme couponing for healthy food and extreme couponing at CVS, some of the Suddenly Frugal readers ask me to write about extreme couponing for clothing. Thus the topic of today’s post.
Let me admit upfront that my take on extreme couponing for clothing isn’t as traditional as extreme couponing at the supermarket. When I think about extreme couponing for clothing, it’s more about finding creative ways to save money versus clipping actual coupons from the newspaper.
For starters I believe one of the best ways to save money when shopping online for clothing is to go through a portal that pays you back. I know that some people use Swagbucks.com as their starting point for shopping or searching online. I prefer Ebates, the site that offers a percentage back on your purchase, depending on which site you go to and shop. (Full disclosure: I have links here on Suddenly Frugal to Ebates that allows me to earn $5 each time someone signs up for Ebates for the first time and then goes shopping.)
To give you a sense of how Ebates can fit into the notion of extreme couponing and provide some savings, over the holidays I bought my daughters the clothing they wanted by shopping online. While I did most of my shopping on Zappos, which, unfortunately, does not participate in Ebates, when I shopped on other sites, including QVC, I started at Ebates. On average I got back about 5% of what I spent on my purchases, or about $10 in free money.
Speaking of getting money back, I also believe that it’s smart to get rewards in others ways to help offset the cost of buying clothes. For example, while most frugal people like to spend with cash, we buy everything with credit cards–and pay off the balance each month; we only buy what we can afford with plastic. However, we use our Discover Card exclusively, because Discover gives us cash back on our purchases or allows us to apply our cash back bonus to gift cards to stores, such as The Gap.
And when it comes to gift cards, definitely be sure to use any gift cards that you’ve gotten for birthdays or the holidays–or as rewards–to reduce the cost of buying clothing. I’ll even add in rebate cards that you get when you submit rebates. Recently, I was able to use about $60 worth of rebate debit cards to bring the cost of a pair of pants down to just a few bucks. Yes, those were expensive pants but I bought them because they fit, they looked good on me, they were on sale for 30% off, and I knew that the rebate cards I was going to use would make my out-of-pocket expenditure practically nothing.
Some other quick ways to extreme coupon for clothing include:
- Using coupons from an Entertainment Book
- Buying clothing on sale (no brainer, right?)
- Choosing to shop at retailers that will reward your purchase with money off a future purchase, such as the $10 gift card I earned at LL Bean for spending $50 at LL Bean
- Joining affinity programs at retailers that are NOT tied into that retailer’s credit card. I joined The Limited’s program, free, and recently got $20 off a purchase.
What are some of the ways you are able to extreme coupon for clothing?
READ LEAH ON HOME GOES STRONG
I will only shop at the GAP to buy things on sale when I have a coupon or coupon code to shop online. Best time isn’t right after the holidays, but two or three weeks after. I got three nice long sleeve shirts for under $30.
Like Jen, I shop at the Gap occasionally, but I usually only do so when I have a credit to spend. I got a Gap Visa once when I was making a large purchase and they offered 15% off the total purchase price. Though I’ve thought of cancelling the card since then, they send $10 and $20 reward credits to spend, which does motivate me to keep the card. Though you reward get points for spending money in (and out) of Gap affiliated stores, I usually only use the Visa card when shopping there (and I pay it off in full).
Occasionally they have promotions where they give you a $10 or $20 credit if you make 3 purchases at a gas station or grocery store or something, during the month. That month, I’ll make those purchases using the card so I can get the credit (though I’ll only do it for a very small purchase). I do forgo a little of the benefit, since I’m not using my cash-back credit card for those purchases (or I’m a little extra for gas by using a credit card instead of cash), but it means I essentially get an $8 credit instead of a $10. I use the Gap credits on sale items. My last trip to Gap Kids I got my kids 3 needed long-sleeve shirts on sale, plus a 3 pack of boys’ underwear, used my $20 Gap credit, and spent only $2.50. Free clothes! Another time I got a $10 sale dress for free using a credit. It makes a great swim cover-up and I use it often on vacation and in the summer. I got my daughter an on-sale $30 spring coat (separate outer and fleece layers) for $10, which has lasted 2 years so far, and will be passed down to my niece after.
I forgot to mention that the Gap does price adjustments–I think it is within 14 days. So if you happen to buy something at The Gap, and then discover the item has been reduced in price, you can bring your receipt back and get cash back on the different. That’s another way to save!