Customer loyalty matters for every business, big or small — and not just online shopping.

Let’s take a look at some facts and figures.

• It costs a company about 5-25X more to acquire a new customer than keeping an existing one.
• Existing customers will end up spending 67% more than new customers. 
• 82% of US adults say they’re loyal to brands.

And that’s not all. Take a look at this image.

In short, building a customer loyalty program will up your e-commerce game. But the question is, how do you create one?

We’ll answer this question in detail throughout this guide on customer loyalty. As you read it, visualize yourself implementing the steps we outline. That way, you’ll be more prepared to implement them in real life.

What is Customer Loyalty?

Customer loyalty refers to a customer’s willingness to buy from or work with a brand time and again. It’s the result of positive customer experience and the value of the products or services the customer gets from the transaction.

That said, customer loyalty is much more than giving a one-step checkout experience to buyers. There are many nuances that we’ll discuss further. But before we get to them, let’s explore the importance of customer loyalty.

Why is Customer Loyalty so Important?

Image credit: Rmagazine

These graphics say it all! The crux of customer loyalty is to attract and retain happy customers who buy your products and drive revenue. 

Loyal customers convert and spend more with your brand and end up telling their friends and colleagues, too. This helps drive free referrals.

Word-of-mouth marketing is more effective at attracting new customers than advertising and branded content. These referred customers, in turn, become loyal customers that are likely to spend more than average.

We inhabit a world where there are hundreds of different options for virtually any product or service of our liking. Wouldn’t you agree? Then why do we keep going back to a handful of brands? It’s because we trust and love some brands so much that the value we get from being their customer outweighs the potential benefit of a lower price or a different product from another brand.

Now, 

• What are the actual tips and tricks to use when building your very own loyalty program? 
• How do you convert happy, satisfied customers into loyal brand evangelists? 
• How can you make the best use of positive Yelp reviews, glowing tweets, and Instagram mentions to propel your brand’s growth?

We’ve answered these three questions collectively for you in the form of nine actionable ideas. You can start using them right away. After going through the list, you’ll also get to know three of the best loyalty programs.

7 Actionable Ideas for Building Your Customer Loyalty Programs

1. Use a Simple Point-Based System

This is the most commonly followed loyalty program principle. Frequent customers will earn points, which translate into some type of reward. Whether it’s a discount, a freebie, online cashback, or special customer treatment, customers have to earn a certain amount of points to redeem their reward.

However, many companies falter when using this method because they make the relationship between points and rewards too confusing.

An example of a confusing point-based system:

Seventeen points equal one dollar, and twenty dollars earn 60% off your next purchase in April.

An example of a clear point-based system: 

50 points = $1. Redeem your reward after collecting $5. 

Using familiar mathematical and currency symbols makes it easy to relate to the system at a deeper level. Also, like our second example, conversions should be simple and intuitive.

This system works best for businesses that encourage frequent, short-term purchases. 

This gamification principle can dramatically improve your customer loyalty!

2. Partner with another company to provide an all-inclusive offer

Strategic partnerships for customer loyalty can prove effective in retaining customers and growing your brand awareness. These partnerships are also known as coalition programs. 

How do you zero in on a company for a partnership? You can decide this by fully understanding your customers’ everyday lives and their purchase processes.

Let’s understand this through an example. Consider that you own a dog food company. You might partner with a pet grooming facility or veterinary office to offer co-branded deals. Such deals would be mutually beneficial for your company and your customer. 

When you provide your customers with value that’s relevant to them and is also different than what your company alone can offer them, you’re showing them your care for their needs. Plus, you can grow your network to reach your partners’ customers, too.

3. Reward Initial Loyalty and Encourage More Purchases Using a Tiered System

If you’re running an online retail brand, you need to strike a balance between attainable and desirable rewards when designing loyalty programs. You can do this by implementing a tiered system that rewards initial loyalty and encourages further purchases.

Present small rewards or cashback as a base offering for subscribing to the program. At CheckoutSaver, we do that by providing a $5 bonus to new members. Encourage repeat customers by subsequently increasing the value of their rewards as they move up the loyalty ladder. 

Here is a snapshot of a three-tier loyalty program.

Image credit: Marketing Insider Group

From a business perspective, tiered programs work well for high commitment, higher price-point businesses like hotels, airlines, or insurance companies.

By the way, do you know why customers love to be a part of such loyalty programs?

Let us decode it for you. 

Tiered Loyalty Programs Use Behavioral Science

Tiers help you set up a loyalty program ladder – and the rules that customers should follow to receive rewards and benefits. But famous loyalty programs also give these customers a “status” that makes them stand out and feel more acknowledged and invested in the brand. 

In addition, such programs also provide a goal for members to achieve, and therefore an incentive to keep them interested in the loyalty program longer.

When comparing loyalty programs to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, tiers can satisfy the upper three categories.

Think about video games you play, where you collect treasures to unlock a higher level. Once you reach it, more awesome rewards are unlocked for you that weren’t available before. Ultimately, you get addicted to this gameplay loop, because it lets you experience a series of incremental achievements that feel very satisfying.   

4. Play Loyalty-Based Games

Build on this idea by turning your loyalty program into a game where returning customers can play and win points. You can give these points a name of your own. This will further solidify your brand’s image.

A good gaming-cum-loyalty strategy should be similar to the one shown in this image. 

Image credit: GameZBoost

However, here is a word of caution. In contests or sweepstakes, you may give customers the feeling that your company is jerking them around to win their business without providing rewards. To avoid this, make sure customers win frequently. The odds of winning should not be less than 25%, and the purchase requirements to play should be reasonable. 

Also, consult your company’s legal department before you make such games public.

5. Charge an Upfront Fee for VIP Benefits

Loyalty programs should break down barriers between customers and your business. So why are we telling you to charge them a fee? Are we serious?

Sometimes, a one-time (or annual) fee that lets customers bypass common purchase barriers is quite beneficial for both a business and its customers. You can customize a fee-based loyalty program to address the issues customers face during checkout.

According to a study of 500 leading global brands, cart abandonment rates touched 75.6% across retail, travel, and fashion. This abandonment is often caused after tax and shipping prices have been applied to the price of an item. Amazon found a way to combat this issue by charging an upfront fee for its loyalty program, Prime.

6. Structure non-monetary Program Related to Your Customers’ Values

Loyalty programs are not always about money. They’re also about understanding your customers’ values and sense of worth. Shared values have a huge impact on a customer if he or she is loyal to a brand. In fact, CeB surveyed consumers on customer loyalty and discovered that customers were loyal “not to companies, but to beliefs.”

Depending on your industry, your customers may find value in non-monetary or discounted rewards. For instance, CheckoutSaver offers its users “One-Time Coupons” that they won’t find anywhere else. Users can also sell unused coupons. This helps them save money and also earn a few dollars.

Similarly, businesses should find new ways to provide amazing value to the customer and grab that unique opportunity to connect with their audience.

7. Build a Great Community For Your Customers

Customers are more likely to trust their peers than to trust a business. Whether it’s social media, customer review sites, or forums, the slightest slip up can be recorded and uploaded for the world to see. But you can create a positive image for your brand by establishing a community that encourages customer-to-customer interactions. 

Self-service support resources are good. If you have a knowledgebase, you can create a community forum. Such forums encourage customers to communicate with each other on various topics, such as troubleshooting the product or retelling service experiences. Even if they leave negative feedback, it gives you valuable information about where your products are going wrong and what matters to your customers.

As your community grows in size, you may formalize it to keep things organized. A consistent system ensures fairness and keeps customers satisfied over time.

These are the ideas that work best for building a sustainable and profitable loyalty program.

Top Customer Loyalty Programs in The World

We’ll discuss these programs in this section:

1. Amazon Prime
2. American Express Plenti
3. Sephora Beauty INSIDER & VIB

Let’s begin.

Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime users get free, two-day shipping on millions of products with no minimum purchase, and many other benefits.

Why have we included it first on the list? Because Amazon provides enough value to make shoppers feel like it’s benefitting them. Industry analysts estimate Amazon loses $1-2 billion per year on Prime. But the company covers it in increased transaction frequency. 

American Express Plenti Program

American Express has a huge partner base with many companies. The company’s Plenti program was launched in May 2015 and lets consumers pool their rewards from various retailers like AT&T, Macy’s, Rite Aid, Hulu, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and more. 

Plenti members can earn points for shopping at these partner sites and redeeming their points by linking their existing store loyalty card to their Plenti account. 

Flexibility is the USP here as customers can earn and redeem rewards at a variety of retailers. Plenti helps American Express tap into the broader customer base of its partners, save on program costs, and boost sales by offering a more appealing program to customers.

Sephora Beauty INSIDER & VIB Programs

Sephora, a leading cosmetics brand, is an example of a company following the points-based loyalty program. This is how it works – 

1. Customers swipe their stylish Beauty Insider card during every purchase, and the card tracks the amount of money spent. 
2. Every dollar spent is equal to one Beauty Insider point. 
3. Shoppers can redeem points during checkout. 

Sephora offers VIB and VIB Rouge programs for its more loyal customers. It offers customers more rewards after spending enough money at Sephora to reach a certain threshold. Thereafter, it scales up the rewards depending on how much the customer spends. This acts as an incentive for customers who can save money by shopping more and again earning new points. 

Final Thoughts, and Good Luck Building Your Customer Loyalty Programs

Once you have successfully launched your customer loyalty programs, measure its effectiveness. This can be done by analyzing various parameters, such as: 

• Customer retention rate
• Negative churn
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Customer Effort Score

Loyalty programs won’t achieve success overnight, so you have to be patient and let them build. Follow a systematic plan, and you will surely reap the rewards of your time, effort, and investment.

Good luck!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Building Customer Loyalty Programs appeared first on The Checkout Saver Blog.

Three primary companies maintain their own Credit Report about your credit trustworthiness. This report contains a ton of information, such as your past residences, loans and contracts such as phone bills, and of course, credit card records detailed with your utilization and repayment schedule for every month.

The three primary credit bureaus are Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Each maintains their own report on you, and a related Credit Score, which is a representation of your credit history. You are entitled to receive a free credit report from each agency once per year. Credit Scores on the other hand, are much more accessible.

AnnualCreditReport.com is the federally-approved portal to receive your credit reports for free.

Credit Scores range between 300 and 850, with a score > 700 considered good. Having a higher credit score provides more options for you – higher credit limits, better credit cards, and better rates when taking out loans.

Credit Scores can be accessed on a monthly basis through a variety of services. One of the best is Mint, a financial tracker which takes all the information from your bank accounts, credit cards, trading accounts, and more and aggregates them in a central place with pretty graphs to keep tabs on your progress.

Mint’s free service offers a peek at your TransUnion credit score every month, along with a glimpse of some higher-level details of your credit report. It looks a little something like this:

Mint hints towards the most critical factors that contribute to your credit score, but let me break them down exactly.

The standard FICO scoring system is comprised of the following five factors:

1. Payment History accounts for the majority of your score, comprising 35%
2. Amount Owed is the next large factor, at 30%
3. Length of Credit History is 15%
4. New Credit – Avoid opening too many new accounts at once – 10%
5. Credit Mix – Different types of credit, such as loans and credit cards, account for 10%

Mint even goes a step further than most and shows you a summary of the categories, with a ranking indicator. As you can see below, I’ve been building credit for 3.8 yrs, which ranks Moderate.

You can get access to your credit score from a number of sources, and another good one is from credit cards. Some credit cards offer access to your credit score as part of their service. However, like all good free perks, it can be hard to find sometimes. First, make sure your card offers free credit score checking. Then, look for access to it on your account page. At Citi, the credit score link blends in:

Of course, another great feature of credit cards is earning points and cashback. The Citi Double Rewards card essentially offers 2% cashback on every purchase – but do you know how to stack cashback?

Building and maintaining credit is simple in theory, just pay things off on time and keep a low balance, right? Well, if it were easy there wouldn’t be a ranking system to decide how trustworthy a potential lendee is. Life gets in the way, and we’ve got a few tips to help you maintain that positive score even should the unexpected occur.

One of the best things you can do for your financial and emotional well being, and for your credit score, is to build an emergency fund. An emergency fund can help cover unexpected expenses, so your on-time payment history or outstanding balance doesn’t take a negative hit.

By the way, if you’re interested in credit scores, emergency funds, and making money, check out our main site: https://www.checkoutsaver.com. We’re inventing new features and techniques all the time to save you the most money possible when you shop. We take a very small % of the money we save you to keep the lights on, so it’s in our best interests to save you the absolute most that we can. Please support our independent business, and we’ll support you on your financial journey too! Thanks for reading, and please leave any comments and feel free to reach out!

The post How to Check Your Credit Score for Free appeared first on The Checkout Saver Blog.

We’ve all been there. We try to find a coupon for a site we’ve never been to, and no luck (even with the hardcore coupon apps). Making it worse, when we receive the package there’s a coupon inside for the NEXT purchase, but it expires in a month! Wouldn’t it be great to have access to coupons you can’t find anywhere else, and be able to sell coupons you won’t use for cash?

Checkout Saver makes this possible, and it couldn’t be easier. Next time you come across a One Time Coupon, sell it on Checkout Saver. When someone buys it, they’ll save money and you’ll get paid!

Take a look at the following image. Now, you have a way to sell the code you’d get from something like that – for CASH!

For buyers, you’ll have access to a rare breed of coupons that you won’t find anywhere else. Many coupons expire once after they are used, so good luck finding one online before anyone else. However, someone may be willing to sell it for a portion of your savings. With Checkout Saver, purchase and apply unique coupons at checkout and save money!

Our browser extension makes this process a breeze. You’ll simply get an alert at checkout if coupons are available. We’ll iterate through available public coupons first, and if we strike out we’ll offer you a reserve one-time use coupon you can purchase at an overall discount of your current checkout price!

How does selling a coupon work?

Once we’ve finished development, you’ll be able to sell coupon codes using your account. On the sell coupon page, you can select from our supported retailers. Then enter in the coupon details, such as the unique coupon code itself, the discount %, and it’s expiration date.

From there, we’ll verify the code and list it for sale. When a user with the browser extension visits the retailer, they’ll get a popup alerting them of an available paid coupon. The buyer will see a breakdown of how much the coupon will save them. IE if cart is $200 and the coupon is 10%, they’ll save $20 (minus how much they pay for the coupon)

How much can I sell coupons for?

Coupon pricing is dependent on the purchasing user’s subtotal. Larger subtotals mean bigger discounts, and the more potential money you stand to make from selling your coupon. Checkout Saver handles this process automatically, and it works like this:

You’ve received a unique coupon code from bodybuilding.com and you list it for sale on checkout saver.

Alice is making a $200 purchase at bodybuilding.com to get swole, and she’s also got the Checkout Saver browser extension installed.

The popup informs her a 10% coupon is available for purchase, and it’ll cost 5% of the total. Alice completes the purchase, paying $180 at bodybuilding.com ($200-10%coupon) and $10 at checkout saver for the coupon.

So Alice paid $10 for the coupon and saved $20 on the subtotal for a final savings of $10. Of that $10, Checkout Saver takes a small commission, and you’d walk away with $7.50.

Imagine selling coupon codes you received from purchases

Retailers include coupons all the time in the shipments they send your purchase in, or by email after the purchase is made. Typically, they’re trying to get you to make a repeat purchase… but you’ve already made your purchase and the coupon expires in a month!

Imagine selling dozens of those coupons for $2.50, $5, even $10 or $25 depending on how valuable the coupon is. Part of the excitement is not knowing how much you’ll save, which is based off how much money the buyer of the coupon saves using it.

If you provide a 20% off coupon and a user makes a $2,000 purchase, you could expect to make around $150!

What kinds of coupons can be sold?

Not every type of coupon can be sold, in fact, most can’t. We’re looking for unique coupon codes – ones with a unique code that looks like a secure password more than a savings code word like “Autumn”.

These types of codes are usually sent directly to the consumer, whereas public coupon codes are advertised on the site or at coupon websites.

Public Coupon Codes

Public Coupon Codes cannot be sold to Checkout Saver. These are codes like “FREESHIP” or “PRESIDENTSDAY” that can be used by many different customers. If you’re trying to sell a coupon code that’s found on other websites that won’t work. These types of coupons are awesome, because everyone can use them, and we love to provide these to users in our browser extension. But we only pay for unique, one-time use codes.

Examples of Public Coupon Codes

• WELCOME
• SAVE5
• CYBERMONDAY
• COUPON25OFF

One Time Coupon Codes

Checkout Saver buys One Time Coupon Codes. These coupon codes resemble passwords in terms of complexity, and can only be used once. They are usually sent from a retailer as a thank you to a customer, or as a temptation to come back and make another purchase.

These codes typically carry a high value, like 10 or 20% off, and sometimes they can expire in a matter of weeks or months. When you can’t use it in that time frame remember to list it for sale on Checkout Saver. You’ll help someone save money, and you’ll get paid for providing the coupon.

Examples of One Time Coupon Codes

• SCR10FV2SNY7
• BLUE8148592
• 12DEC8159243JOHN

Manufacturers Coupon Codes

The most common coupons, manufacturers coupons which are typically for a $ amount off a specific product, are not yet supported by Checkout Saver.

However, there are some fantastic marketplaces which you can sell these coupons at! For manufacturer coupon codes, sell them at The Happy Couponer Marketplace. For every other type of code, get the best rate at CheckoutSaver.com.

When I sell a coupon, how do I get paid?

First you list your coupon, store credit, or other redeemable code for sale at Checkout Saver. Once someone is able to use it, we’ll pay you 85% of the face value.

This extremely high rate gets you the most amount of cash for your coupon, lets us take a very small profit to keep running, and lets the purchaser of the coupon save some money too.

Once the coupon is sold, we’ll deposit the cash into your Checkout Saver account. From there, you can withdraw via PayPal, or keep the cash in your balance.

Keeping it in your balance will let you use it in the future to buy discounted gift cards or coupons to save money down the road – the best option.

Install the Checkout Saver Browser Extension to Buy One-Time Coupons

The browser extension is the easiest and quickest way to save money at checkout. Simply install it and it will alert you at checkout if you can save money.

When you list your coupons for sale, this is how people will buy them! You should sign up to start taking advantage of both buying and selling coupons!

The post Sell Your Coupons for Cash appeared first on The Checkout Saver Blog.

Yes, there really is a difference. More often than not people just seem to say “oh, just put it on the card.” “The card” has come to mean any piece of plastic people can use to pay for something. There are some major differences between charge cards, credit cards, and debit cards, though, and it’s important to do your research before you choose which card to get and use on a regular basis.

Charge Cards

Charge cards and credit cards are the most similar of the three, but there are some tricky differences between the two that you should know.

• Charge cards do NOT have a preset spending limit.
• You generally have to pay your charge card bill in full every month. (Although it’s always a good idea to pay off your cards completely and not carry a balance, but that’s another story!)
• Charge cards often have an annual fee.
• There are fewer charge card issuers than credit card issuers.
• If you lose your card or someone steals it, typically you aren’t responsible for any charges that were made.

It’s also important to note that if you can’t make a full payment each month, the charge card issuer reserves the right to shut down your card and charge you a fee. However, charge cards usually don’t have a spending limit on your card, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have unlimited spending power.

Credit Cards

Credit cards can sometimes offer more flexibility than charge cards, depending on your lifestyle.

• Credit cards DO have a preset spending limit.
• You do not have to pay off your credit card each month. You will be issued a minimum payment, and any balance beyond that will be carried over with interest to the next month. (Again, it’s a good idea to not carry a balance and to always pay off your credit card bills!)
• Credit cards can have an annual fee, but there are many options that offer cards without fees, like Discover.
• There are many options when it comes to issuers of credit cards.
• If your card is stolen, you usually won’t be held responsible for the money that has been spent without your knowledge.

Credit cards give you flexibility if you can’t make a full payment at the end of the month, but there will also be a cap on how much you can purchase on credit throughout the month. 

Debit Cards

Debit cards are fairly different from charge cards and credit cards.

• Debit cards are linked directly to your bank account, either checking or savings.
• Money is automatically pulled from your account to make the payment.
• There is no “monthly payment” on a debit card, since you are paying for your purchases directly throughout the month.
• You cannot overspend with a debit card, as your card will be declined if your bank account does not have enough money to make the purchase.
• If your debit card is stolen, you are less protected against purchases made with your card.

Debit cards are easy to get, even if you don’t have good credit, and are usually accepted anywhere.

For easy reference, here are some of the biggest differences between the three:

Choosing between credit, debit and charge cards can be a big decision. If you’re just starting out, choosing a credit card with no annual fee, a good rewards program (like cash back), and a low credit ceiling is a good option. This can help you build your credit without tempting you with lots of credit that could get you into debt. 

The post The Difference Between Charge Cards, Credit Cards and Debit Cards appeared first on The Checkout Saver Blog.

If you haven’t heard, emergency funds are really important. An emergency fund is a separate savings account that has at least six months of living expenses. If you’ve got a lot of debt, it’s okay to start small – start saving towards $1,000 in an emergency fund in case of the unexpected. Once you’re out of debt you can build that up more. 

But what if you don’t have debt, but you are on a budget or want to focus on saving for retirement, a vacation, a new car, or anything else? Assuming you have at least a baby emergency fund of $1,000, there are a few ways you could handle the situation.

1. Give to the Emergency Fund First

I know, your upcoming wedding or that new house in the next neighborhood may look a lot more attractive than an emergency fund, but the smartest thing to do is build up that safety net. Emergencies can arise at any point, whether that’s an unexpected layoff, a car engine breakdown, or a broken pipe in your home. Having a solid emergency fund will decrease the stress of that situation.

Pro Tip: Set up automatic contributions to an emergency fund, preferably to a separate savings account you don’t have to watch carefully. Online savings accounts, like Marcus by Goldman Sachs or CIT, have great yields and are perfect for an emergency fund.

2. Save for Your Vacation/Car/House First

Putting money aside for the fun purchases is a lot more exciting and motivating. You have either an exact number or a good estimate that you’re trying to reach, and you’ll have a reward once you’ve hit your goal. Whether you’re looking to buy a new home because your family is growing or if you’re planning that trip to Paris you’ve been dreaming about for years, you are more likely to follow through on saving, or make small sacrifices in order to put money away.

3. Build a Retirement Fund First

Ah, yes. Retirement. This can almost feel like a mix of the first two. It’s fun, because you can envision a time in your life when you won’t be working out of necessity and you’ll be able to do what you like. It’s also somewhat boring, like the emergency fund, because there’s no immediate return. You might have a time you’d like to retire, but that’s not a guaranteed countdown. However, saving for retirement will definitely pay off in the long run, and it’s best to start saving for retirement as early as possible.

Save for All Three, at the Same Time

“What?! But that’s too much to save for! How could I possibly save for all three?” Take a deep breath, it’s okay. There’s a fairly easy way to save for all three at the same time, but it might take a bit of money out of your budget. Make sure you’re not going into debt, and then consider this approach. 

1. Emergency Fund: Consider this a line item in your budget. How much can you afford to give to your emergency fund each month? Is it $100? Is it $1,000? Is it $10? Whatever it is, commit to building your emergency fund until you reach at least six months of living expenses.
2. Fun Savings: This is something you’re excited about and looking forward to, right? Make a small sacrifice, whether that’s making coffee at home instead of going out, spending Saturdays at the park instead of the movies, or any other small change you can make. Put the money you would have spent toward your fun savings. If you’d rather not make sacrifices, find a way to bring in a little extra money on the side. Complete online surveys for money, create a blog with passive income, or find a way to get cash back and sell gift cards and one-time coupons, right here at Checkout Saver.
3. Retirement: Many employers provide a retirement savings match program for their employees. At the very least, give to your retirement fund the amount your company will match, otherwise you’re leaving “free money” on the table! If you’re self-employed or if your company does not offer this, make a line item in your budget for retirement savings, just like you did for the emergency fund. The earlier you can save for retirement, the more your money will grow with interest. If your employer offers a match, it’s best to setup automatic contributions to at least get the match (typically 2-4% pre-tax from your paycheck).

Automatic contributions are the key here. No matter what your goal is, setting up recurring automatic contributions (try for every payday) to a separate savings account is one of the best things you can do to achieve your goal. 

It is possible to build an emergency fund, save for retirement, and save for fun purchases at the same time. It might take some sacrifice or a little extra work, but it’s certainly possible. Be sure to take a look at how Checkout Saver can help you save more money than any other platform by combining cashback, discount gift cards, and one-time coupons to your online purchases. Let us know how we can help you save for your goals!

PS. Want a super cool trick to earn a little extra cash? Check out this post on selling your coupons for cash.

The post How You Can Build an Emergency Fund on a Budget appeared first on The Checkout Saver Blog.

1. Pay with Cash, Not Card

Studies have shown that we are often less likely to overspend if we pay with cash. In fact, one study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied showed that consumers tend to treat credit, debit, or gift cards like “monopoly money.” It is psychologically more painful to hand over cash than a credit card. Challenge yourself to use cash whenever possible for the next 30 days and see how many purchases you change your mind about before buying.

2. Consider Your Card Payments

You might be thinking, “that’s great, but what about my online payments?”. True, there are certain times it’s incredibly inconvenient or nearly impossible to pay by something other than a credit card. That’s okay. If that’s the case, and if we’re not talking about a utility bill, take 24 hours before you make the purchase. Leave the item in your online cart and think about it. If you still think it’s a good idea 24 hours later, make the purchase. Again, see how many purchases you decide not to make in the next 30 days.

3. Cut the Extras

If you’re someone who loves going out to eat or getting a fancy coffee every morning, consider taking a break this month. Buy ingredients in bulk at the store to save money (you can freeze if you have more than you need!), and try out a new recipe. My best recipe hack is referencing Hello Fresh recipes – over 2,500 simple, quick, delicious and cheap recipes available online with picture instructions FOR FREE. Make a big batch of soup or salsa chicken or whatever sounds good to you on the weekend and use that to meal prep for the week. Not only will you save money, but you’ll save time, too!

4. Get Cash Back

For those purchases we mentioned above that have to be made with a credit card, consider harnessing the power of Checkout Saver. You’ll save some money on each purchase you make, on qualifying websites, so you can feel a little better about using your card. (Remember, no other tool saves you money with Cashback, Auto Gift Cards, and One Time Coupons)

What money saving tactics do you use after the holidays? Or did you have some pre- or during-holiday saving plans? Let us know in the comments below! 

The post 4 Ways to Save Money After the Holidays appeared first on The Checkout Saver Blog.

How would you like to generate more passive income from the blog you’re already maintaining? If you’re a blogger and you’re not already generating passive income, you are missing out. There are so many ways to generate income, so let’s take a look at a few here:

Sell Advertising

Advertising is actually one of the more difficult ways to make income, because you need to have a fairly high, consistent amount of visitors to your site. That said, if your blog consistently ranks on Google, you could certainly sell advertisements to companies.

Sell Information

If you’re an expert in something, or even if you are passionate about something, consider selling your thoughts. E-books, online courses and membership sites are all hot ticket items right now. These typically take a lot of work upfront in creating the products, but once that’s established, you can market and bring in money.

Affiliate Programs

Being an affiliate is one of the best and easiest ways to make money passively, especially if you already have a good-sized following. Simply endorse products, brands or companies, and if someone from your audience purchases using your link or code, you make a commission. This is one of our favorite passive income methods here at Checkout Saver, so we created a version of affiliate commission of our own!

If you want to go this route, we recommend one of the following affiliate networks to get started with: ClickBank, CJ Affiliate, and Share-A-Sale

Refer Checkout Saver and Earn Money

Let’s face it – everyone wants to save money, especially if it’s easy. So no matter what your blog niche is, chances are high that you will be able to find a way to offer Checkout Saver to your readers and maximize your earning potential. Here’s how it works:

Inform your followers about Checkout Saver, and offer them your referral code to use when they sign up on our website. This code will either be a link or an actual code they can enter at registration. Using this code gives your follower $5 just for signing up, and when they make their first purchase we’ll send you $5!

Why?

Well, we’re a lean startup and funding is minimal until we grow our platform. We want all of our users to love this platform, and you can help us promote our brand while you bring in some extra cash! And we’re not talking about pennies here. If you invite 20 people a month this year that would be an extra $1,200 that you can withdraw to your PayPal account. And all you did was tell your followers about Checkout Saver and helped them save money.

Ready to Get Started?

So do you want to earn passive income? Sign up now, before this feature disappears! Eventually the referrals will generate a set dollar amount rather than percentage, so lock in this awesome opportunity now!

The post How to Generate Passive Income with your Blog appeared first on The Checkout Saver Blog.

Actually, it was just before mainstream media ran their campaign starting in the summer of 2017. I could sense the market heating up, and knew things were about to get crazy. I stockpiled as much as I could into some of the larger coins, like Ethereum and Ripple, as well as some really risky alt-coins which had huge potential payoffs.

I timed things perfect.

Every single coin I invested in exploded, and I locked in at least 2-3x gains on everything, and even an 5300%+ gain on a hail-mary –  enough to turn $1,000 into $53,000 dollars. The problem was, I wasn’t prepared for my opportunity. I was just beginning my financial journey and every dollar was at work – I had < $1,000 to spare for an investment like this. Granted, I was able to make enough profits with that $1,000 to kick-start my emergency fund and start Checkout Saver, but had I been ready for this opportunity properly, I could have retired in my 20’s.

Just a short while later, I’m in a radically different position ready to take advantage of that next opportunity. I’ve made a framework, to help you ready yourself for opportunities as well.

1. If you’re in it, get out of debt. You want your money invested, earning you money – not borrowed, working against you.
2. Track your finances and create a budget. Debt or debt-free, you need to measure your finances and create a budget to help you maximize savings.
3. Amass an emergency fund. The peace of mind it brings is heavenly.
4. Start building your investments, but also keep some extra cash in reserve. This cash is to be used for other types of investments..
5. Specialize in something. You have a talent and aptitude for something that sets you apart from everyone else. Embrace it, and learn how to monetize it. Specializing in a craft or field presents opportunities you won’t find in traditional places. You could be the best broken appliance flipper or a handmade dog collar artisan – find something that interests you and start honing your skills. Because you have extra cash set aside for capitalizing in your special field, you’ll be ready when the next opportunity comes along.

The post A Mistake I’ll Never Repeat – How to Prepare for Opportunities appeared first on The Checkout Saver Blog.

Next time you’re at an online checkout, take note of that gift card field.

Soon, our browser extension is going to alert you at hundreds of the largest online retailers, offering to auto-fill a discount gift card into that field for you.

So, how does it work? It’s stupid easy.

1. First, Sign Up for an account at CheckoutSaver.com (it’s free).
2. Install the browser extension (It’s a very simple + lightweight app which lives in your browser, only waking up when it’s time to save you money)
3. At checkout, click the Checkout Saver icon and you’ll have the option to purchase an available discount gift card. We’ll always display the best price, say, $20 for a $25 Gift Card.
4. Purchase a gift card using your Checkout Saver account balance or credit card with a click of the mouse.
5. The gift card will be auto-filled into the checkout form.
6. Pay the remaining balance on the order, and you’ve just saved money!

Let’s say you’re buying $30 of avocados at Walmart.com. At checkout, you use Checkout Saver to purchase a $25 Gift Card for $20 (a 20% discount!). The gift card is automatically applied with a single click, and the outstanding total is cut to $5. You finish paying however you’d like, and smirk at all those free avocados*. (Note: The way things are going, a savings of $5 may only represent a single free avocado, not plural as the punch line suggests. Still, a free avocado in 2019? That’s cause for celebration)

The post Announcing Auto Gift Cards appeared first on The Checkout Saver Blog.

Discount gift cards are sold by people who’d rather have cash than a gift card, and are willing to sell it at a slight discount to receive cash instead. Consumers can buy discount gift on online marketplaces and save money at their favorite retailers. However, the checkout process takes time while the consumer pays and waits to receive the card in email. Even worse, a card buyer may try to consume the value on a retailer, and find out the seller of the card already used it, and sold a worthless card.

The post Use Discount Gift Cards to Save Money appeared first on The Checkout Saver Blog.