To wrap up the discussion of money-saving tips, let me stress the importance of shopping online. It not only saves you on car gas, but you can comparison shop to get the best price. Best of all, many online retailers offer a place at checkout to enter a Coupon Code or Promotional Code, which can save you even more.

Say, for instance, you need some copy paper, so you compare prices at the major online office supply stores, and decide to go with Staples. Before you confirm your order, open a new window in your web browser, and google “Staples Coupon Code”, and you’ll pop up links for sites like Coupon Cabin and RetailMeNot. It takes a few minutes, but scroll down the lists on these sites and see if there’s a coupon code that applies to your purchase (ie. “20% off orders of $50 or more”). If so, enter that code at Staples’ checkout, and you’ll see the discount reflected, saving you more.

And don’t hesitate to shop sites like eBay for stuff you use a lot of. We go through a LOT of packing tape shipping our orders, and a pet peeve of mine is the cheap, flimsy tape a lot of manufacturers sell. I like Manco or 3M’s offerings, but they’re pricey at Staples, OfficeMax, etc., and we need LOTS of rolls. So I search for it on eBay, and narrow the listings to only the “Buy It Now” offerings (so I don’t have to go through the annoying process of bidding on stuff, and possibly not getting it), and I can usually find bulk boxes of good tape for about half what I’d pay retail, even after adding in shipping costs. And best of all, I don’t have to waste my time at the store.

The lesson is this: with the Internet, you can shop anywhere in the world, and easily compare prices. Discounts abound. So use your computer to save you time and money whenever you can, and don’t forget those Coupon Codes!

And then use the savings to buy TwoMorrows stuff, of course. End of economic discussion; hope it helped!