Last minute coupons: 5 websites to check before buying anything

I’m shocked at how many people pay full price.

There are tons of free coupons you can find online, meaning savings are just a click and a promo code away.

I now make it a point to diligently check coupon sites before I buy anything online.

Below are 5 of the big sites that are definitely worth checking out.

1. RetailMeNot

RetailMeNot is a simple website that has coupon codes.

You search for a company name, and you will get a list of coupons.

Occasionally people will rate whether the coupon worked for them, so you may also find a “success rate” giving you an idea of whether the promotion is still valid. (Though I generally ignore this and try codes to see if they work).

Example of savings: Recently my friend was booking a trip to Europe through Gap Adventures, a travel tour company. Before he made his reservation, he decided to check RetailMeNot for codes. He found a promo code that worked and saved him over $120.

2. Slickdeals

Slickdeals is a deals forum with a very active community. Deals that hit this website often sell out and are killed by their own popularity.

Still, Slickdeals has a coupon page with some decent offers that make it worth checking out.

I also search the forums for codes. People will often find coupon codes that can combine with other great deals.

Example of savings: A few years ago I was buying a Dell Monitor. I found a coupon code on Slickdeals that saved me an extra $35 as it combined with a sale Dell was already having.

3. FatWallet

FatWallet is another deals website that I use in addition to Slickdeals.

There is a good amount of overlap between the two sites, but I find that it is worth checking a couple places and I regularly check FatWallet.

4. Flyertalk

Flyertalk is a very active community that mostly focuses on travel related issues. But it is an interesting site as people are just deal-oriented are find all sorts of strategic deals.

An infamous example of saving: people on Flyertalk found a way to rack up free credit card rewards by gaming a U.S. Mint program designed to circulate $1 coins. People figured out they could buy the coins at face value on their credit cards–with no shipping or service charges–and then they could simply deposit the coins into the bank to pay off the bill. This had the effect of racking up credit card points at no cost. This caused a lot of outrage and got coverage in the Wall Street Journal among other papers. The U.S. Mint eventually eliminated the loophole by ending credit card payments.

While I don’t agree with some of the strategies, I do like to hear the interesting schemes from this deal-minded community.

I will often do a search on Flyertalk before I do anything travel related.

5. Company website

A final place I will check is the company website. This is not going to have huge savings, but occasionally a restaurant or retail store will list some useful coupons.

Example of savings: Sarpinos pizza is one of my guilty pleasures, especially since they deliver late at night. You pay full price if you order over the phone. In my area, if you instead order online, you can find “store specials” and you can also get 10 percent off your order.

Sites that didn’t make the cut

A couple other places you could check are:

–company Facebook pages
–Groupon / LivingSocial / other daily deals sites

I know a lot of people use these sites to get deals. But I think they are better suited at helping you learn about new products and trying new things out. Personally I have never found a relevant coupon on these sites when I have already decided to buy something. Though obviously your experience may vary so feel free to check them out.

What sites do you use for coupons?

Help others save: please leave your suggestions and experiences in the comment section.